10 Hardest Men That Ever Played For Newcastle United

9. Billy Whitehurst

A striker of non-league origin when Jack Charlton brought him to Newcastle in 1985. Whitehurst hails from the rough South Yorkshire village of Thurnscoe and was a bricklayer before making it as a professional footballer when he signed for Hull five years before his move to St James' where he became a cult figure amongst the Toon faithful.

"Billy was as hard as goats€™ knees," Joe Allon told the Chronicle and it's little surprise that he developed a notorious reputation with rumours of Whitehurst taking part in bare-knuckle boxing with local gypsies to add a few extra pounds to his pay packet every month. Even chief bruisers Neil €˜Razor€™ Ruddock and Vinnie Jones consider him to be the the hardest striker they've ever come up against.