10 Hardest Players In English Premier League History

Show of hands: who saw this coming?

The most prolific hard man in the entirety of the Premier League era. Roy Keane was a dominant midfielder of great dynamism, but more than anything he was a GREATLY dreaded opponent by nearly any and every player that would have to come up against him. An almost unmanageable man who was just as hot-blooded without a ball at his feet as he was lunging in double-footed on unsuspecting victims.

Roy Keane was such a maverick that not only was he one half of a now legendary feud (between himself and Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira) but he was also one of the only players in history to ever directly challenge Sir Alex Ferguson head-on, resulting in his inevitable departure from the starting 11 and eventually leading to the Irishman doing the unforeseeable - being relieved of his captaincy role in the squad, and later his presence entirely.

This unthinkable clashing of big personalities was nothing in comparison to the unbelievable ferocity of Keano's tackles. Time after time he succumbed to dismissal as he built a collection of red cards - with his crunching leg-breaker of a challenge on Manchester City's Alf-Inge Haaland being a notable highlight that saw him losing his career through said injury.

Unlike others on this list, he may not have done prison time during his Premier League days but his conviction was completely unmatched by those before and those who would come after.