Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, QPR, Southampton and Sheffield United players and staff feature in the list that nobody wants to be on.
It has been a vintage season of football, and unforgettable one in the Premier League capped off by a storybook final day, but this season has not been without it’s sour moments. Here are seven of the most shocking…
Carlos Tevez refuses to play
File this one under madness, and two stubborn men. Roberto Mancini and Carlos Tevez spent much of the early part of the season locking horns over the Argentine coming back to the City side out of shape, and he didn’t like being left on the bench. They had an infamous row in Munich when Tevez was accused of refusing to play, and although he maintains it was a refusal to warm up, the admission of refusing to follow orders was telling. Tevez spent the winter working on his golf swing, and returned just in time to help City claim their first title in 44 years. He topped off a scandalous season by holding a ‘RIP Fergie’ sign, forcing his club to publicly apologise on their day of celebration.
Luis Suarez/Patrice Evra race row
There is no doubting that this saga was an unsightly blemish on a wonderful season. Luis Suarez landed up getting banned for eight games, and Patrice Evra became a hate figure among Liverpool supporters. When the clubs met at Old Trafford, Suarez refused to shake his hand, and as Sir Alex Ferguson later said, he could have caused a riot. The saga led to great divisions between the two sets of supporters, greater than usual, and saw Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish lambasted in many quarters for his unerring support of Suarez, complete with t-shirts. He was later forced to apologise by his own club, along with Suarez, and it is an episode which will continue to be raked up while both players remain at their clubs.
John Terry/Anton Ferdinand race row
This is still ongoing, and its repercussions have been heavy. Dating back to a game between QPR and Chelsea last Autumn, Terry is accused of racially abusing the QPR defender. The row led to Terry’s removal as England captain, and Fabio Capello later stepping down as manager. Terry faces a court date on July 11, and if he is found guilty, then the FA will be left with little option but to invoke an eight-game ban similar to Suarez. The recriminations have escalated off the field too, with Ferdinand stating he has received death threats, and arguing that it could make players less likely to report racial abuse.
Joey Barton loses it
If we had Joey Barton’s book of quotations to hand, we’d say something wise here, but we’ll tell it like it is, Barton completely disgraced himself in the past week. He had fought so hard all season to turn around public perception of his bad boy image, but let his guard slip on the final day. We doubt that after his red card for elbowing Carlos Tevez and assault on Sergio Aguero and attempted headbutt on Vincent Kompany, that he will be invited back on NewsNight any time soon. He is likely to receive a huge ban after being charged by the FA, and QPR are said to be considering off-loading him.
Billy Sharp taunted over death of his son
Southampton and Premier League bound striker Billy Sharp unwillingly found himself at the centre of one of the season’s msot sickening moments. After the tragic death of his baby son, Sharp was reported to be subject to vile taunts from Barnsley fans. The club denied it officially, but the stories made the national press. A month later, Sharp was targeted on Twitter by sick trolls who mocked his loss, and police are investigating. There have been a number of incidents where Premier League footballers on Twitter have also been subject to racial abuse, including Newcastle’s Sammy Ameobi, and pundit Stan Collymore, illustrating a problem which still exists in our society. A Tweeter was jailed in March for mocking Bolton’s Fabrice Muamba after he collapsed on the pitch against Tottenham.
Garry Cook resigns after mocking player’s sick mother
Manchester City’s former CEO Garry Cook will be regretting sending a certain e-mail out every day, especially in light of the club’s league success. Cook was replying to Nedum Onohua’s mother about his transfer status, when he accidentally sent a reply which was meant for someone else. The problem? She had told him she was ravaged with cancer, only for him to type ‘Ravaged with it!! I don’t know how you sleep at night.’ and sent it back to her. His ill-judged ‘joke’ was pretty sick any way, and once the story broke in the tabloids, he had little option but to resign.
Ched Evans jailed for rape
Sheffield United’s top scorer Ched Evans would have hoped to be toasting promotion right now, but instead he is behind bars and his team slipped down to the play-offs. The striker was convicted of rape last month, and faces five years in jail, and his career will never be the same again. There have been a number of high profile rape accusations against footballers in the past, but none ever resulting in even a trial, and the conviction was national news. The Football League caused further controversy by including him in their team of the season, a move which was roundly criticised.
What else should we have included on our list?
image: © dannymol
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