11 Most Controversial British Footballers in History [Ranked]

Britain’s biggest footballing icons are no stranger to controversy. England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have produced their fair share of stars who made the headlines for the right and wrong reasons during their time playing in the likes of the Premier League, Champions League and Scottish Premiership.

Our list covers a wide range of controversies, from the in-game antics of renowned wind-up merchants like Scott Brown to the off-field shenanigans of wild genius Paul Gascoigne and even the transfer dealings of Ashley Cole. With all of that in mind, here are the 11 most controversial British players in football history.

11 Scott Brown

Career span: 2002-2022

Former Celtic captain Scott Brown loved to wind opponents up and quickly earned a reputation for his aggression and frequent confrontations during games. Even his trademark shaved head was the result of an intentional effort to “intimidate people” and “be horrible”.

Unsurprisingly, Brown reserved his most antagonising behaviour for clashes with Celtic’s great rivals, Rangers. In 2011, Brown aimed a pointed celebration at then-Rangers forward El-Hadji Diouf after scoring. Eight years later, after Celtic triumphed in an Old Firm derby at home, Brown celebrated in front of the travelling Rangers support – though he escaped punishment despite his goading.

10 Robbie Fowler

Career span: 1993-2012

Robbie Fowler remains an immensely popular figure among Liverpool fans, where he spent the best part of a decade across two spells, scoring 183 goals for the club.

However, his legacy is far from being blemish-free. A member of the media-dubbed ‘Spice Boys’, Fowler’s most controversial moment came in the form of a goal celebration during the Merseyside derby in 1999, where he simulated cocaine use with the white paint of the byline as a response to accusations of drug abuse from Everton fans. The result was a £60,000 fine and a six-match ban – two matches of which stemmed from a separate transgression in which he had aimed a provocative gesture at then-Chelsea defender Graeme Le Saux.

9 Duncan Ferguson

Career span: 1990-2006

Duncan Ferguson is most commonly known by his nickname ‘Big Dunc’ – but he also earned the moniker ‘Duncan Disorderly’ during his 16-year playing career. Earned is the right word to describe how he came to be referred to by the latter of those two nicknames. Ferguson was sent off eight times in his Premier League career – the joint-most in history alongside Richard Dunne and Patrick Vieira.

Beyond his on-field disciplinary issues, ‘Big Dunc’ was even convicted four times for assault, the last of which even led to a three-month prison sentence in 1994 during his time at Rangers after a headbutt on Raith Rovers defender John McStay.

8 Craig Bellamy

Career span: 1996-2014

Craig Bellamy was a hot-headed wandering forward, playing for nine different British clubs. The most memorable of his catalogue of controversial instances came during his first spell at Liverpool, though, and earned him the nickname ‘The Nutter with the Putter’.

In 2007, prior to a Champions League match against Barcelona, Bellamy got into an argument with teammate John Arne Riise at a bar and, in a rage, went to the Norwegian’s hotel room later than night and attacked him with a golf club. Bellamy scored in the clash with Barcelona and celebrated by miming a golf swing in reference to the incident.

7 Ashley Cole

Career span: 1999-2019

Ashley Cole entered the world of controversy at a young age, following his infamous move across London from boyhood club Arsenal to Chelsea in 2005. He was fined for attending a ‘tapping-up’ meeting with Chelsea without gaining permission from Arsenal, having been left dissatisfied with their refusal to meet his demands of £60,000 per week. In his autobiography ‘My Defence’, he recalls that, upon hearing that the Gunners’ final offer was only £55,000 per week, he was “incensed” and left “trembling with anger”.

Cole’s controversies did not end there, however. In 2010, following allegations of adultery, his wife Cheryl Tweedy filed for divorce. It was the second set of allegations, following rumours in 2008 that he denied. There were also incidents of speeding and allegations of accidentally shooting a sports science student at Cobham with an air rifle that further tarnished his reputation.

6 Wayne Rooney

Career span: 2002-2021

Wayne Rooney is Manchester United’s leading all-time goalscorer and sits second in that department for England. He claimed 16 pieces of silverware during his time with the Red Devils, including five Premier League titles and one Champions League.

However, the former England captain was involved in his fair share of controversy. He was sued by former Everton manager David Moyes in 2006 for libelous remarks made in his autobiography, was convicted of drunk driving and – in 2018, while playing for D.C. United in the United States – was charged with public intoxication and use of profanity in public.

5 George Best

Career span: 1963-1984

George Best is a footballing icon. He won the Ballon d’Or in 1968 after helping Manchester United become European Champions, as well as finishing as top scorer in the First Division with 28 goals. That was the pinnacle of his career, but there were plenty of low points and off-field controversies to contend with, too.

Best’s autobiography details allegations of domestic violence by his second wife and a former girlfriend, while he was charged with assault on a waitress in 1972. The latter years of his career – including the final few seasons at United – were marred by misconduct, with him missing training and even games frequently due to his drinking habits and playboy lifestyle.

His alcoholism eventually became a serious problem and he was sentenced to three months in prison for drunk driving and assaulting a police officer in 1984. Six years later, he appeared live on a television chat show while drunk. He died in 2005, aged only 59, and allowed the News of the World to take a picture of him in the hospital shortly before his death and publish it with the caption: “Don’t die like me.”

4 John Terry

Career span: 1998-2018

Former Chelsea defender John Terry – club captain, no less – was embroiled in plenty of scandal. His early transgressions ranged from allegedly drunkenly taunting American tourists in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001 to allegations of brawls with nightclub bouncers.

Subsequently, Terry, a married man, had a four-month affair with then-teammate Wayne Bridge’s girlfriend and allegedly paid her a hefty sum to keep it quiet, before being found guilty of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand in 2012, leading to his retirement from international duty. He even earned the ire of social media after celebrating Chelsea’s Champions League final victory in full kit despite being suspended for the showpiece event.

3 Ryan Giggs

Career span: 1990-2014

On the field, Ryan Giggs was the model professional. He is Manchester United’s record appearance-maker, featuring 963 times for the club in all competitions. He sits third for Premier League appearances (632) and holds the record for Premier League assists, with 162 – 49 clear of second-placed Kevin De Bruyne. His 24-season career at the top level with the Red Devils alone is testament to his professionalism and dedication.

However, it is a very different story off the field. Giggs – who was married from 2007 to 2017 – was involved in an affair with his brother Rhodri’s wife for eight years, which came to light in 2011 along with another affair he had been conducting with Welsh model Imogen Thomas. In 2021, he was charged with assaulting his ex-girlfriend and her sister as well as coercive and controlling behaviour. However, no verdict was reached at the trial and the charges were withdrawn in 2023.

2 Paul Gascoigne

Career span: 1985-2004

Paul Gascoigne‘s controversial moments are sufficient to fill an article all on their own. ‘Gazza’ was an infamous prankster, pulling off a variety of stunts like hiding a fish (or two) in a teammate’s car and leaving it to rot, setting fireworks off in a teammate’s bathroom, bringing an ostrich to training and even defecating in a teammate’s sock.

Gascoigne’s controversies were, sadly, not all in the form of pranks. He admitted to violence towards former wife Sheryl and continuously battled with alcohol and substance abuse, leading to multiple instances of sectioning under the Mental Health Act. In 2010, he was arrested on separate occasions for drunk driving and then possession of cocaine. In 2015, he racially abused his bodyguard and in 2018, he was arrested for sexually assaulting a woman on a train, though he was not convicted.

1 Joey Barton

Career span: 2002-2017

Joey Barton was given two prison sentences for assault, both in 2008 for six months and four months – the latter of which came after he attacked then-Manchester City teammate Ousmane Dabo. That assault on Dabo led to one of his three instances of being charged with violent conduct by the FA – the second came after he punched Blackburn Rovers’ Morten Gamst Pedersen in the stomach and the final incident was his infamous meltdown against Manchester City on the final day of the 2011/12 season.

Barton’s transgressions do not end with violence, however. In 2016, he was banned for 18 months after breaking rules on gambling on football matches and made ‘vindictive remarks’ towards female commentators Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward in January 2024. Like Gascoigne before him, Barton’s rap sheet is long enough to warrant an article of his own – and it earns him top spot on this list.