It doesn't really take much to make yourself unpopular in football – but certain figures have done more than most to become villains.
From the boardroom to the 18-yard box, we've tried to cover all bases in our rundown of the top people football fans (and, in many cases, others within the game) just cannot stand.
Let's dive straight in...
32. Pepe
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Pepe’s longevity has to be commended – he was still playing at the highest level beyond his 40th birthday – but he didn’t endure without infuriating a fair few opponents (and more) along the way.
Over the course of his career, the notoriously nasty Portuguese centre-back gained quite the reputation for cynical fouls and other card-worthy antics.
31. Sergio Ramos
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Defensive teammate of Pepe for many years at Real Madrid, Sergio Ramos ascended to the thrown of King of the Dark Arts – an entertaining role in a way but not exactly one which brought him great popularity…
Few players in the history of football have picked up as many cards as Ramos (although he’s probably not overly bothered considering how many times he’s also picked up the Champions League trophy).
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30. Graham Westley
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Described as “the worst manager I ever experienced by a mile” by former player Neil Mellor, Graham Westley has made his fair share of enemies throughout English football.
A coach with a reputation for enacting dramatic squad overhauls, Westley courted controversy at Farnborough Town – where he took majority ownership, appointed himself boss and tried to engineer a merger with fellow non-League club Kingstonian.
29. Vincent Tan
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There’s no guidebook on how to run a football club, but there are a few things it ought to be fairly obvious you shouldn’t do – and one of them would be changing the team’s historic playing colours.
Vincent Tan didn’t get the memo on that one when he bought Cardiff City, changing the Bluebirds’ strip from blue to red (although, amid intense pressure, that move only lasted three years).
28. Steve Evans
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Able to wind people up simply by opening his gob, Steve Evans is certainly one of the game’s characters – but the Scottish manager’s reputation for employing rather, uh, robust tactics hasn’t made him a popular one.
Many argue he shouldn’t be involved in football at all: he pleaded guilty to tax fraud while in charge of Boston United and was handed a suspended prison sentence.
27. Sir Alex Ferguson
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He’s arguably the greatest manager of all time; he’s certainly towards the very top of that list – and yes, it’s borne out of jealously, let’s be honest, but that’s exactly why Sir Alex Ferguson is so hated by some.
Frankly, neutrals just got a bit sick of Manchester United winning everything (and scoring goal after goal in ‘Fergie Time’ for most of his 27-year reign at Old Trafford.
26. Francesco Becchetti
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When Italian businessman Francesco Becchetti bought Leyton Orient in 2014, the East Londoners’ had just missed out on promotion to the Championship after losing the League One play-off final on penalties.
Just under three years later, Orient dropped into non-League for the first time in their history. Becchetti sold up in 2017 – after refusing to sanction any signings seemingly in reaction to fan protests. It all got a bit weird, really.
25. Neil Warnock
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‘No-nonsense’ would be an apt description of Neil Warnock’s managerial style – one that has brought the veteran Yorkshireman plenty of promotions to the Premier League but also plenty of enemies.
Famously, the former Sheffield United and QPR boss’ name forms an anagram beginning with ‘Colin’; we’ll have to leave you to work out the second part…
24. Mark van Bommel
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A red card for an awful tackle during his last ever game represented quite an apt conclusion to Mark van Bommel’s career: the Dutch midfielder was as dirty as they came.
And the 2010 World Cup runner-up was seemingly fully aware of it, describing that parting dismissal as “the most obvious red card of all”.
23. Mike Ashley
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Mike Ashley owned Newcastle from 2007 to 2021 – and he spent more than half of his tenure facing vociferous protests from supporters about the way he ran the club.
Heavily criticised for a lack of ambition and some deeply unpopular managerial changes, the controversial businessman eventually sold the Magpies to a Saudi-backed consortium – much to the delight of fans on Tyneside.
22. Kevin Muscat
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The ‘Reputation’ section of Kevin Muscat’s Wikipedia entry is longer than many players’ whole pages, such was the extent of the Australian’s nasty streak.
He appeared particularly fond of stamping on opponents and committing brutal fouls from behind, earning numerous lengthy suspensions over the course of his career. Ex-England international Ashley Young even claimed that Muscat once threatened to “break [his] legs”.
21. Antonio Rattin
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England and Argentina’s footballing rivalry goes quite a way back, and it arguably started at the 1966 World Cup – thanks to Argentine captain Antonio Rattin.
Sent off for “violence of the tongue” during his side’s quarter-final defeat to the Three Lions, Rattin reacted furiously and eventually had to be led off the pitch by two policemen – after protesting by sitting on a red carpet reserved for the Queen!
20. Ken Bates
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Ken Bates famously bought Chelsea for £1 in 1982 and transformed the club into regular trophy winners by the end of the century. Then, in 2005, he took over at Leeds…
And that’s where the hatred comes in: under Bates’ ownership, the last English champions of the pre-Premier League era entered administration and tumbled into the third tier for the first time in their history.
19. Paolo Di Canio
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Paolo Di Canio is one of the most iconic players of the Premier League era, producing some moments of pure magic – primarily in the colours of West Ham.
But there was another side to the Italian: already controversial for pushing over referee Paul Alcock during his Sheffield Wednesday days, he laid bare his fascist sympathies with a straight-arm salute to Lazio’s right-wing fans in 2005 (pictured).
For that and other moments of unbridled aggression, Goikoetxea – who kept the boot used to commit the aforementioned foul at home in a glass cabinet (blimey!) – was dubbed The Butcher of Bilbao.
17. Diego Costa
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Among Europe’s top strikers at his peak, Diego Costa gave defenders nightmares with more than just his prowess in the box…
Booked 31 times – but somewhat surprisingly sent off only once, for trying to headbutt then seemingly biting Gareth Barry – during his three years at Chelsea, the former Spain international will be remembered as one of the Premier League’s biggest villains.
16. Karl Oyston
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In 2010, Blackpool fans were loving life as their team reached the Premier League for the first time; within six years, they were watching fourth-tier football – pretty much all because of one person: deeply unpopular owner Karl Oyston.
After threatening legal action against supporters and being found guilty of “illegitimate asset stripping” as they clung to power at Bloomfield Road, Oyston and his father Owen finally sold up in 2019.
15. Steve Dale
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In August 2019, Bury became the first club in 27 years to be expelled from the EFL. It was an historically sad turn of events for the two-time FA Cup winners – one which saw owner Steve Dale understandably vilified.
Dale repeatedly showed that he had seemingly no real care for the Shakers, astonishingly admitting that he “didn’t even know there was a football club called Bury”.
14. Diego Maradona
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Yes, he’s revered in Argentina – and in Italy for his inspirational exploits at Napoli – but Diego Maradona isn’t universally popular, as any England fan will fervently attest.
Rarely has one incident made a player so despised as Maradona’s unforgettably controversial ‘Hand of God’ goal in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final. Even after the all-time great’s passing in 2020, beaten goalkeeper Peter Shilton couldn’t contain his long-held anger.
13. Ken Richardson
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Hands up if your club’s owner has ever plotted to burn down the ground for the insurance money? No? Doncaster Rovers fans can’t relate: that’s exactly what happened to the Yorkshire outfit in 1995.
Ken Richardson was jailed in 1999, with the plot having failed after the man he hired to start the fire at Belle Vue (pictured) – former SAS soldier Alan Kristiansen – left his mobile phone at the scene of the crime.
12. Bernard Tapie
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The 1992/93 season was a great one for Marseille as they were crowned European champions for the very first time – but it ought to have been even better.
They had initially also won the French title, but that was taken away from them after president Bernard Tapie was implicated in a match-fixing scandal. Marseille were allowed to keep hold of their Champions League title – but banned from defending it.
11. Luciano Moggi
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Serie A has been no stranger to controversy over the years, but the mid-00s saw Italy’s top flight engulfed in perhaps its biggest ever scandal: Calciopoli.
A number of clubs were implicated for influencing referees, but Juventus paid the heaviest price of all as they were demoted to Serie B and stripped of two league titles. General director Luciano Moggi was sentenced to two years and four months in prison.
10. Jose Mourinho
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Jose Mourinho’s silverware record speaks for itself: the legendary Portuguese tactician has won league titles in England, Spain, Italy and Portugal, and the Champions League with multiple clubs – but he hasn’t done it without riling plenty of people en route.
From hostility towards officials – ex-UEFA referees chief Volker Roth scathingly labelled him an “enemy of football” – to boring supporters with his park-the-bus approach, Mourinho’s success has been entwined with criticism.
9. Pete Winkelman
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They’ve spent most of their short existence in the bottom two divisions of English professional football, but MK Dons may be one of the most hated clubs in the world – certainly in terms of the strength of feeling their very existence provokes.
In 2004, Pete Winkelman led the consortium which bought 1987/88 FA Cup winners Wimbledon and controversially relocated them 60 miles north-west to the Buckinghamshire town of Milton Keynes.
8. Luis Suarez
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Luis Suarez is one of the most prolific goalscorers the game has ever seen; he’s also one of the most controversial players ever to take to the pitch, sparking outrage and attracting great infamy through numerous indiscretions at club and international level.
Banned for biting opponents while playing for Ajax, Liverpool and Uruguay, Suarez also served an eight-match suspension for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra.
7. Cristiano Ronaldo
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No one can deny that serial Ballon d’Or Cristiano Ronaldo is right up there with the very best players of all time – but, as we’ve already seen, footballing greatness doesn’t make you universally likeable by any stretch.
There’s always been a strong undercurrent of posturing arrogance in the Portuguese’s game, and high-profile spats like the series of strops which led to his 2022 Manchester United exit haven’t helped his cause.
6. John Terry
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Few English players can boast a career as glittering as John Terry’s – but there are even fewer who the general football public love to hate so much.
From allegedly having an affair with Chelsea and England teammate Wayne Bridge’s former girlfriend in 2009, to being accused of racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand during a game, Terry has made headlines for all the wrong reasons.
5. El Hadji Diouf
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He was one the heroes of Senegal’s memorable run to the 2002 World Cup quarter-finals – but El Hadji Diouf was anything but idolised in Britain, where he spent the majority of his club career after that.
Accused more than once of spitting at opponents and fans, the former Liverpool and Rangers forward was sent off during his time at Leeds for making lewd gestures towards travelling Brighton supporters.
4. Michel Platini
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The first player to win the Ballon d’Or three years running, French icon Michel Platini would have had to do something especially controversial to taint his legacy – and he managed exactly that.
Implicated in the 2015 FIFA corruption case, Platini – who served as UEFA president from 2007 until then – later claimed that the 1998 World Cup draw was fixed to ensure France and Brazil could not meet until the final.
3. Harald Schumacher
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When you come above Adolf Hitler in a poll of the most hated people, you’ve done something very wrong – as Harald Schumacher was reminded when the French public declared him their most despised individual.
A touch OTT? Being sensible, yes, but their ire is understandable: the West German goalkeeper committed perhaps the single most sickening act ever seen on a football pitch when he brutally wiped out Patrick Battison in the 1982 World Cup semi-final (it’s worth a reminder that he didn’t even get booked!).
2. Sepp Blatter
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As President of FIFA from 1998 to 2015, Sepp Blatter was football’s big boss – and to say he took advantage of his highly privileged position would be putting it lightly.
Hit with a lengthy ban from the game for multiple breaches of FIFA’s ethics code, Blatter’s reign ended in disgrace amid one of the biggest corruption scandals in sports history.
1. Joey Barton
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Where do you even begin when it comes to why Joey Barton is such a loathed footballing figure? The stubbing out of a lit cigar in a youth player’s eye? Numerous other acts of violence on and off the pitch? His frankly disgusting social media attacks on women in football? The list goes on and on.
Barton had a long top-flight career, but his inability to behave decently means he’ll be remembered for pretty much anything but that.
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Tom Hancock started freelancing for FourFourTwo in April 2019 and has also written for the Premier League and Opta Analyst, among others. He supports Wycombe Wanderers and has a soft spot for Wealdstone. A self-confessed statto, he has been known to watch football with a spreadsheet (or several) open...
