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Battle of the Infamous Footballers

fredfertang

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Going back a few years Sid Hobbins deserves a nomination, he who was responsible for the "Compton knee"
 

Uppercut

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Nominate

Luis Suarez
Pepe
Rene Higuita (kidnapping drug addict)
Diego Maradona
Joey Barton
Rio Ferdinand
John Terry
Marlon King
Luke McCormick
Ron Atkinson
Luis Aragones
Danny Guthrie - Danny - YouTube
Martin Taylor
Lee Bowyer
Ben Thatcher
Dan Smith
Lee Cattermole
Paolo Di Canio
"...and anyone else who has ever tackled an Arsenal player".

If I have any left I'll second Atkinson.
 

Pothas

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Higuita did not actually do any kidnapping himself did he?

Don't think I have any seconds left but Marlon King and Danny Guthrie are certainly worthy.
 

LongHopCassidy

International Captain
Confirmed:

1. John Terry
2. Dennis Wise
3. Luis Suarez
4. Vinnie Jones
5. Ashley Cole
6. El-Hadji Diouf
7. Marco Materazzi
8. Joey Barton
9. Toni Schumacher
10. Craig Bellamy
11. Mark Bosnich
12. Roy Keane
13. Pablo Di Canio
14. Bruce Grobbelaar
15. Diego Maradona
16. Lee Hughes
17. Stan Collymore
18. Sam Allardyce
19. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
20. Robin Friday
21. Paul Gascoigne
22. Uli Hoeneß
23. Eric Cantona
24. George Best
25. Cristiano Ronaldo
26. William Gallas
27. John Fashanu
28. Stan Collymore
29. Mark Wright
30. Mario Balotelli
31. John Barnes
32. Kieron Dyer
33. Robbie Savage
34. Ryan Shawcross
35. Andy Townsend
36. Rivaldo
37. Lee Bowyer
38. Ron Atkinson
39. Pepe
40. Franck Ribery
41. Ben Thatcher
42. Marlon King
43. Lee Cattermole
44. Danny Guthrie
45. Dan Smith
46. Thierry Henry (by battle-runner fiat)
47.
48.


Need secondings:

Sid Hobbins
Adrian Mutu
Alan Hansen
Luke McCormick
Luis Aragones
Danny Guthrie
Martin Taylor
Glen Hoddle
Sinisa Mihajlovic
Micky Gooding
Paolo Montero
Bruno Fernandez
Pele
Romario
Lee Trundle
Jason McAteer
Alan Stubbs
John McGinlay
Sean Thornton
Norman Hunter
Gerd Muller
Artur Boruc
Graeme Souness
 
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BoyBrumby

Englishman
I'll second Fatty "Alleged Rapist" Trundle

& nominate:

Claudio "Not So" Gentile
Andoni "The Butcher of Bilbao" Goikoetxea


For the sterling work they did in kicking Maradona from pillar to post. Gentile's marking/hatchet job on Diego in the 1982 world cup clash was a masterclass in his own dark art and Goikoetxea famously had the boot that snapped the ankle ligaments of god cast in gold and mounted in a glass case.

Loath as I am to stand up for the fat little cheat, when people mention Messi or Ronaldo in the same breath as him it should always be noted that the football they play is pretty much a non-contact sport whereas the climate of the 80s afforded centre-halves far more latitude in the methods they used to negate skillful players.
 
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wpdavid

Hall of Fame Member
I'll second Fatty "Alleged Rapist" Trundle

& nominate:

Claudio "Not So" Gentile
Andoni "The Butcher of Bilbao" Goikoetxea


For the sterling work they did in kicking Maradona from pillar to post. Gentile's marking/hatchet job on Diego in the 1982 world cup clash was a masterclass in his own dark art and Goikoetxea famously had the boot that snapped the ankle ligaments of god cast in gold and mounted in a glass case.

Loath as I am to stand up for the fat little cheat, when people mention Messi or Ronaldo in the same breath as him it should always be noted that the football they play is pretty much a non-contact sport whereas the climate of the 80s afforded centre-halves far more latitude in the methods they used to negate skillful players.
I wondered about Claudio ("no signor, it is not ballet school") Gentile earlier in the thread, but I actually have something of a soft spot for the Italians of that era.
Goikoetxea is something else though. A class 'A' thug of the first order.

From another era, Alan Hardacre might be worth a mention for his overt racism ("wops and dagos") and his blatant insularity that went a long way to holding back the English game for years.


And if there's a team award, there's the Estudiantes side from the late 1960s who dragged the game somewhere below the gutter in their World Club Championship matches against Celtic and Man Utd.
 
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LongHopCassidy

International Captain
The Final Cut:

1. John Terry
2. Dennis Wise
3. Luis Suarez
4. Vinnie Jones
5. Ashley Cole
6. El-Hadji Diouf
7. Marco Materazzi
8. Joey Barton
9. Toni Schumacher
10. Craig Bellamy
11. Mark Bosnich
12. Roy Keane
13. Pablo Di Canio
14. Bruce Grobbelaar
15. Diego Maradona
16. Lee Hughes
17. Stan Collymore
18. Sam Allardyce
19. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
20. Robin Friday
21. Paul Gascoigne
22. Uli Hoeneß
23. Eric Cantona
24. George Best
25. Cristiano Ronaldo
26. William Gallas
27. John Fashanu
28. Stan Collymore
29. Mark Wright
30. Mario Balotelli
31. John Barnes
32. Kieron Dyer
33. Robbie Savage
34. Ryan Shawcross
35. Andy Townsend
36. Rivaldo
37. Lee Bowyer
38. Ron Atkinson
39. Pepe
40. Franck Ribery
41. Ben Thatcher
42. Marlon King
43. Lee Cattermole
44. Danny Guthrie
45. Dan Smith
46. Thierry Henry (by battle-runner fiat)
47. Rene Higuita
48. Norman Hunter

First battle coming at whatever time.
 

HeathDavisSpeed

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Best XI from that line up?

Simple 4 - 4 - 2, Best and Ronaldo on the wings.

1. Toni Schumacher
2. ?
3. Ashley Cole
4. John Terry
5. Norman Hunter
6. Roy Keane
7. Georgie Best
8. Paul Gascoigne
9. Eric Cantona
10. Diego Maradona
11. Cristiano Ronaldo

Doesn't look like there's a right back in there, so maybe go for the 3 - 5 - 2, play Mark Wright instead of Ashley Cole and Rivaldo playing as third CM?
 

LongHopCassidy

International Captain
Round 1, Battle 1:


Ashley Cole (Chelsea, England)



Crimes:

- Defender of John Terry over the racism brouhaha
- Used the 'Princess Diana defence' after being caught doing 104mph in a 50 zone
- Left 'trembling with anger' after Arsenal only offered him 55,000 quid per week
- Shot a sports science student with an air rifle from point-blank range
- Cheated on his wife, Cheryl, with three women
- After she stuck by him, cheated on her with another four
- Caught smoking after explicitly promising Jose Mourinho not to

"You've been naughty." - Prince William to Cole after he tweeted the FA were a #bunchof*****

"And what are his crimes really when it comes down to it? Cheating on the nation's sweetheart, Cheryl, who nobody actually seems to like much anymore? Let he who has not drunkenly vomited on a hairdresser cast the first stone here. Doing those adverts for the National Lottery where he wore a white suit and looked like an incredibly condescending p!mp? Water under the bridge." - The Guardian

"It is hard to believe that a professional athlete can take up a habit that is so damaging to one's health (smoking that is, not shooting students–that’s more damaging to the health of students) but Ashley isn’t the only one." - Charles Lawley

"Mr Cole did not hear, and could not have believed, understood or misunderstood Mr Ferdinand to have used the word 'black'." - Well, that's alright then


Ryan Shawcross (Stoke City, Wales/England)



Crimes:

- This tackle on Aaron Ramsey:


- Refusing to play for Wales in a bid to crack some legs with England, despite living there all his life
- Throwing hands with Robbie Van Persie in the tunnel

"People who grew up in Wales often can't represent the country they've lived in most of their life because their nearest maternity hospital is in England." - Wales coach Brian Flynn, lamenting the dearth of talent in Wales like Ramsey, Giggs and Bale

"Spare me about how nice Shawcross is." - Arsene Wenger


Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris St-Germain, Sweden)



Crimes:

- Money-chasing turncoat
- Broke own rib while practising taekwondo moves on an unimpressed teammate
- Written up for head-stamping at least twice
- Had his own name trademarked
- Ruthlessly undermined, threatened and publicly dissed Pep Guardiola while at Barcelona

“Arsene Wenger asked me to have a trial with Arsenal when I was 17. I turned it down. Zlatan doesn’t do auditions.” - The man himself

"What did you get for your wife's birthday?" ”Nothing, she already has Zlatan.” - On gift-giving

“An injured Zlatan is a pretty serious thing for any team.” - Whilst playing with Messi

"You bought a Ferrari but drive it like a Fiat!" - To Pep Guardiola on being played out of position at Barca

“Jose Mourinho is a big star…He’s cool. The first time he met [my wife] he whispered to her: ‘Helena, you have only one mission. Feed Zlatan, let him sleep, keep him happy!’ The guy says what he wants. I like him.” - Zlatan on his expectations of his giftless wife
 
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HeathDavisSpeed

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I don't believe Shawcross has done that deliberately. There's guys in this comp who tackled like that and did them deliberately and with sociopathic malice. **** tackle, mind, and Shawcross has a history of **** tackles (broke someone else's ankle with a similar challenge, as I recall).

Ashley Cole on the other hand is a nasty piece of work, and so he earns my vote here.

Ibrahimovic a bit of a tit, though these head stomping antics are news to me and that might actually move him up the list of ne'er-do-wells.
 

fredfertang

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I don't believe Shawcross has done that deliberately. There's guys in this comp who tackled like that and did them deliberately and with sociopathic malice. **** tackle, mind, and Shawcross has a history of **** tackles (broke someone else's ankle with a similar challenge, as I recall).

Ashley Cole on the other hand is a nasty piece of work, and so he earns my vote here.

Ibrahimovic a bit of a tit, though these head stomping antics are news to me and that might actually move him up the list of ne'er-do-wells.
Cashley is a bit special, and should pass untroubled through the early rounds
 

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Yeah it's Cashley. Shawcross, meh. Ibrahimovic would be a tool to know in real life but as a footballer he just churns out great entertainment on and off the field.
 

GIMH

Norwood's on Fire
I like Cashley, Shawcross is meh. Zlatan by default really, would rank most over these.
 

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