Of course the top of this list has to feature Roy Keanes horror tackle on Alf-Inge Haaland. As far as being a professional footballer goes, purposely setting out to seriously hurt an opponent is likely the worst thing that you can do. Granted, there have been many great players over the years who have had moments of madness and lashed out at opposing players, but Roy Keane was involved in one of the most infamous and despicable incidents in the history of the beautiful game. When Man Utd played Leeds Utd early in the 1997/98 season, Keane suffered an injury as he attempted to tackle the Norwegian Haaland. As Keane lay on the turf, Haaland taunted him about claimed he was play-acting. Keane was most definitely really injured, and hed actually miss the rest of the season as Utd missed out on the Premier League to Arsene Wengers Arsenal. A firm believer in an eye for an eye, Keane would look to get his revenge on Haaland during a 2001 Manchester derby. Haaland was now playing for rivals Man City, and with five minutes left on the clock Keane struck. And struck hard. A horrendous knee-high tackle left Haaland in a heap. Keane was sent off, initially receiving a three-match ban and a £5,000 FA fine. Only further adding fuel to the fire, Keane would go on to discuss the incident in his 2002 autobiography, admitting how he wanted to hurt Haaland and that the damage done was most definitely intentional. In Roys own words, the book read: Id waited long enough. I f*cking hit him hard. The ball was there (I think). Take that you c*nt. And dont ever stand over me sneering about fake injuries. Forcing the FAs hand, Keanes book led to the midfielder being charged with bringing the game into disrepute and being given a further five-match ban and an additional £150,000 fine. Sticking to his guns, Keano maintained his stance, even then partaking in an interview where he bluntly reiterated: My attitude was f*ck him. What goes around comes around. He got his just rewards. He f*cked me over and my attitude is an eye for an eye. As for Alf-Inge Haaland, his career would effectively be over after Keanes horror challenge. The Norwegian would actually finish the Manchester derby, play a friendly for his country, then play over an hour of the next Man City game and make four substitute appearances the following season. A long-standing injury to his left knee, not the right knee which Keane injured, would see Haaland officially retire in 2003.
Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics.
As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic.
Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.
