20 Hardest Football Hardmen Of All Time

By Sean Mills /

14. Andoni Goikoetxea

During his time with Athletic Bilbao, Andoni Goikoetxea gained a reputation as a ferocious tackler, and gained the nick-name €˜the Butcher of Bilbao€™, but one act more than any other gained him notoriety in the football world. During a match with Barcelona in 1983, Goiko infamously tackled Diego Maradona from behind, leaving the mercurial Argentinian with a severe ankle injury. To add insult to injury, 'the butcher' then had the boot he used to destroy Maradona€™s ankle mounted in a glass case, and to this day keeps it on his mantel piece. Goiko was also responsible for a serious knee injury that hindered the career of Bernd Schuster in his Barcelona days, leaving the Catalans fearing the sight of the dreaded butcher.