Some say football is no longer a contact sport.
Gone are the days where you can get away with a lunging tackle with both feet off the floor.
In yesteryear, you could get away with pretty much anything as long as you won the ball.
Nowadays, getting the ball is irrelevant is you use excessive force and endanger the safety of an opponent.
Quite rightly, too. We don’t like seeing a players’ career threatened by a needlessly aggressive lunge.
The Premier League is considered the most physical league in Europe and there have been some pretty dirty players to grace England’s top-flight.
And FourFourTwo have named the 50 dirtiest players in Premier League history ranked on how many fouls they’ve given away.
47= Jordan Henderson – 293
The next Premier League-winning captain loves a tackle.
47= Raheem Sterling – 293
A shock name with 28 yellows and a red to his name.
47= Branislav Ivanovic – 293
A familiar name with the Serb smashing forwards for nine years at Chelsea.
47= John Carew – 293
An impressive 293 fouls in 123 appearances for Aston Villa and Stoke.
46. James McCarthy – 295
Provides some much-needed bite in Crystal Palace’s midfield.
45. Nigel Reo-Coker – 298
The former West Ham captain certainly got stuck in.
43= Morten Gamst Pedersen – 299
A surprising 299 fouls in 260 matches for the winger.
43= Clint Dempsey – 299
Only 21 bookings despite the 299 fouls.
42. Tom Huddlestone – 303
The former Tottenham and Hull midfielder committed plenty of fouls during his time.
41. Scott Parker – 306
Considering his 368 appearances, 306 fouls isn’t actually too bad.
40. Didier Drogba – 307
104 goals scored, 307 fouls committed.
39. Andy Carroll – 311
In just 224 games, Carroll gave away 311 fouls.
36= Cheick Tiote – 315
A massive 315 fouls in 138 appearances for the late Tiote.
36= Morgan Schneiderlin – 315
Most of those fouls were probably down to his lack of mobility…
36= Emmanuel Adebayor – 315
A nightmare for defenders.
35. Phil Bardsley – 317
Once knocked out Wayne Rooney in his kitchen.
34. Fernandinho – 318
Did someone say tactical fouls?
33. Vincent Kompany – 321
Did someone say tactical fouls?
31= Ryan Shawcross – 323
Nothing tactical about the way Shawcross tackled…
31= Dimitar Berbatov – 323
Surely not?
30. Kevin Nolan – 326
Less of a surprise…
29. John Obi Mikel – 328
Gave away 328 free-kicks in 249 games.
28. Alex Song – 331
Song averaged 1.74 fouls per Premier League match. Impressive.
27. Charlie Adam – 334
His lack of pace probably had an impact on the number of fouls Adam gave away.
CLICK HERE TO DISCOVER THE DIRTIEST PLAYERS IN PREMIER LEAGUE HISTORY (25-1)