10 Footballers Who Hated Football

Stephen Ireland was once one of the most talented midfielders in the Premier League, serving as a regular fixture of the Manchester City side that underwent one of the biggest upheavals in the history of the sport under the ownership of Sheikh Mansour.

However, despite representing both his club and country at the highest levels of the sport, Ireland was never too keen on the game itself. In a 2007 post on the now-defunct social media site Bebo, Ireland is said to have written: "Football Is SH*T Why Did I get Stuck Doin It."

Ireland would later become embroiled in controversy after it emerged that he had lied about the death of his grandmother in order to travel home from international duty. After press investigations revealed that his grandmother was alive, and as you can imagine, shocked to read news of her passing, Ireland admitted that he had made the story up after finding out his girlfriend had miscarried.