Longest Player Bans in English Premier League History (Part 2)
Yesterday I posted the first part of the longest player bans in Premier League history. Check it out here. Let's go through the worst of the worst player behaviour resulting in the worst bans in EPL history:
4. Rio Ferdinand - 8 months
After winning the Premier League in his first season with Man United, Rio Ferdinand refused to take a random drug test. As a result the FA banned him from football for 8 months and he missed out on playing at Euro 2004 for England. Rio still never tested positive though, true?
3. Eric Cantona - 8 months
How in the hell did Eric Cantona get the same length of ban as Rio Ferdinand did? Cantona kung-fu kicked a Crystal Palace fan because he was p!ssed off that he got sent off and was given an earful by the fan as he left he pitch. Cantona always referred to the Palace fan as "the hooligan".
To be fair to Eric, the hooligan did shout racial insults and threw something at Cantona. Justified? Maybe.
United's shares however took a £3m nosedive as a result of the kick and a judge sentenced Cantona to two weeks in jail. He was granted bail three hours after the hearing and his jail term eventually reduced to 150 hours of community service.
2. Mark Bosnich - 9 months
Hmmm. Another Chelsea player, another cocaine ban. Bosnich got stung in a random drug test in 2002, was banned for 9 months, and sacked by Chelsea. Bosnich revealed that he didn't knowingly take cocaine before he was banned.
Once he was suspended however, he spiralled and battled with an almost £3000-a-week cocaine addiction. Bosnich eventually kicked the habit as a result of almost shooting his dad, mistaking him for a burglar during a four day bender.
1. Joey Barton - 18 months
Oh Joey Barton...considered one of the dirtiest football players in history with a rap sheet to match. He knocked a Man City teammate unconscious at training who ended up in hospital. And we all remeber his last day antics against Manchester City during their 2011/12 title winning game.
More recently Barton's been accused of kicking his wife in the head. Yes, the same Joey who's served 77 days in jail for his involvement in a street brawl.
While playing at Burnley in 2017 a 34-year old Barton was done for betting. It's now what we'd expect Barton to be on this list for, but only Barton can do something that ends up as the longest ban in English Premier League history.
An 18-month suspension for placing 1260 bets over a 10 year period, including games he played in, led to Barton's retirement. Good riddance.
YES, ANOTHER FOOTBALL BLOG...
Football Blog FC is a spin-off of Wolfgang Sport, an American and British sports blog I created in 2017. The beautiful game isn't what I remember it to be as a kid and using satire is my way of coping with it. FBFC was created to write about football with a bit of fun reflecting the current state of football.
Hahaha Joey Barton was a huge case 😂. I expected that Cantina one. He kicked the fan from the stand in Kung Fu style.
The cantona kick, what a classic :D In my opinion one of the most misunderstood players in football's history but this ban was definetly deserved.
How not to remember Cantona's iconic kick, maybe it deserved more time because it was a kung fu style kick hahahaha. Barton for me has a place as the dirtiest player in the history of the Premier League and I think with such a record he will stay there for a long time.
Joey Barton's career baffles me as a whole with clubs still buying him.
Well,some of these player bans were due to, bad behaviour, drug addiction and nonconforming attitude towards the law.
Some of the players ban look to me, as refining process to change the match performance,its nothing more than a "vacation ",I think not supposing it as suspension and some time off the pitch --thats a good thing,indeed.
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The Cantona kick has come up before - just burned in my memory as I was watching the game live. Still my fave player of all time, the swagger, the ego, the genius. What a dude.