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Top 20 Horror Tackles - Not for the Squeamish!

May 6, 2008 | Filed Under: Features 

The “beautiful game” this certainly isn’t and these videos are not for the faint of heart or queasy of stomach! Here are 20 of the most sickening, limb snapping and downright brutal tackles stretching back to 1982 and compiled into one handy, gruesome list. Perhaps it’s best not to watch these during your lunch break!

20. Boris Johnson on Maurizio Gaudino

Something nice and tame before getting into the proper stomach-churning stuff. The newly appointed Mayor of London appeared in a charity football match in 2006. Shortly after his introduction to the field he bowled over former Manchester City player Gaudino much to the amusement of the crowd and commentators.

19. Roy Keane on Neil Pointon

The first of Keane’s two appearances in this list. With no Keane or Eric Cantona in the side, Oldham defender Neil Pointon had given the Manchester United team a hard-time during their first meeting in 1994. In the return fixture, Keane was back and only too willing to dish out some retribution.

18. Joey Barton on Dickson Etuhu

Model professional and never-in-trouble midfielder Joey Barton launches into Sunderland midfielder Dickson Etuhu during his Manchester City days, right in front of the referee.

17. Peter Cavanagh on Chris Todd

Sky Sports subscribers were treated to a classic late challenge from the Conference. Accrington captain Peter Cavanagh leads by example and launched into Exeter City defender Chris Todd. No contact with the ball was made and he remarkably got away with just a yellow card.

16. Dean Windass on Neil Young

A dull, goalless draw in League One was livened up when veteran Bradford City striker Dean Windass jumped two footed into Bournemouth defender Neil Young. Unsurprisingly, he was sent off.

15. Stephen Hunt on Peter Cech

The first minute of a clash between Chelsea and Reading in October 2006 saw keeper Cech and Stephen Hunt challenge for the same ball. Hunt’s knee collided with Cech’s head, leaving the player concussed and he later underwent surgery for a depressed fracture of the skull. As a reuslt of the collision, Cech suffered intense headaches and was warned by doctors that returning too early to the game could be fatal. He returned from injury in January 2007, sporting a rugby-style headguard which wears to this day.

14. Thierry Henry on David Weir

Your 1-0 up in second-half stoppage time and your opposing defender is going nowhere. What do you do? Take it easy and ride out the remaining few seconds of the game or attempt the world record long jump through your opponent’s shins? Step forward, Mr Henry.

13. Clement Palimaru on Mirel Radoi

One from the Romanian league. Poli defender Palimaru demonstrates how to take out arguably the best player on the opposing team, Steaua Bucharest’s midfield maestro Mirel Radoi.

12. Abou Diaby on John Terry

The 2007 Carling Cup final saw Chelsea captain John Terry knocked unconscious after his head was almost booted clean off his shoulders by Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby when both challenging for the same ball.

11. Michael Brown on Ryan Giggs

Former Manchester City midfielder Michael Brown got one over his old rival Ryan Giggs by jumping too footed into his shins. Amazingly, he remained on the field.

10. Michael Brown on Sean Davis

Brown was involved in a similar incident later in the season, this time with Portsmouth midfielder Sean Davis. A similar two footed lunge this time earned the Fulham player a straight red card.

9. Phil Bardsley on Steven Pienaar

Sunderland defender Phil Bardsley welcomed on-loan Steven Pienaar to the Premiership by almost snapping his leg in half. If he had been caught head-on, his career at Everton may have been over before it had even begun.

8. Sunday League Shenanigans

Sunday League football is a hotbed for limited talent, the long ball game and of course, vicious thuggery. Matt Loft was the unlucky soul to be on the receiving end of a sickening challenge on a windswept pitch somewhere in Surrey.

7. Commins Menapi on Riki Van Steeden

Auckland City beat bitter crosstown rivals Waitakere United 3-2 to win the NZFC Trophy final, but a horrific tackle from United striker Menapi on Van Steeden saw the City defender carried off.

6. Harald Schumacher on Patrick Battiston

This famous entry occurred in the 1982 World Cup. Germany goalkeeper Schumacher collided with French defender Patrick Battison, leaving him unconscious on the floor, minus two front teeth, a broken jaw and damaged vertebrae. Team-mate Michel Platini thought Battison was dead and unbelievably, referee Charles Corver awarded a goal kick.

5. Rachid Bouaouzan on Niels Kokmeijer

Midfielder Bouaouzan made Dutch history when he became the first player to be taken to court by the Dutch government for battery, following this foul on Kokmeijer in 2004 which forced the Go Ahead Eagles defender to retire from the game. In March 2008, the Dutch Supreme Court upheld a six-month suspended prison sentence and Bouaouzan has had to put his career, now at Wigan Athletic, on hold in order to complete a jail term.

4. Ben Thatcher on Pedro Mendes

Not so much a tackle, more like old-fashioned assault. Manchester City defender Thatcher knocked Portsmouth midfielder Pedro Mendes unconscious in August 2006 when he intentionally led with his elbow as both players chased a loose ball. This was the second time in as many months that former Millwall defender Thatcher had hospitalised an opponent, following an incident during City’s pre-season tour of China. During his Wimbledon days, he also displayed similar acts of thuggery against Sunderland’s Nicky Summerbee and Tottenham’s Allan Nielsen.

3. Roy Keane on Alf Inge Haaland

Keane’s second entry in this list and by far his most infamous. The Manchester United captain waited four long years to injure Manchester City midfielder Haaland, according to his biography, out of vengance. Keane missed most of the 1997/98 season with a cruciate ligament injury caused by an attempt to tackle Haaland, then a Leeds United player. As the United midfielder lay on the ground, Haaland stood over him, accusing him of trying to hurt him and feigning injury to escape punishment. The revenge tackle in 2001 saw Keane incur a five-match suspension and a £150,000 fine. Haaland never fully recovered and retired through injury a year later.

2. Martin Taylor on Eduardo

In form Arsenal striker Eduardo lasted just three minutes of the Gunners match against Birmingham City before being on the receiving end of an horrific tackle by opposing defender Taylor. The Brazilian striker suffered a double compound fracture to his left tibia and fibula and an open dislocation of his left ankle and the quick-thinking of Arsenal physio Gary Lewin was credited with saving the striker’s foot. Ironically, Eduardo was the accidental perpetrator of a similar injury to team-mate Marijan Buljat during his days at Dinamo Zagreb.

1. Denis Irwin on David Busst

Often quoted as the worst injury in the history of the Premiership, Coventry City defender David Busst saw his career end just two minutes into a match against Manchester United in April 1996. The defender collided with both Denis Irwin and Brian McClair, resulting in extensive compound fractures to both the tibia and fibula of his right leg. The match was delayed for 12 minutes for the blood to be removed from the pitch and the footage shows a clearly distressed Peter Schmeichel, who was reported to have vomitted upon seeing the extent of Busst’s injury and needed counselling afterwards along with other players. During his stay in hospital, Busst contracted MRSA which caused further damage to his injured leg and at one point, ran the risk of amputation. After 26 operations, Busst retired from the professional game in November 1996.

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