11 Legendary Hardmen Who Make Modern Footballers Look Like Wimps

5. Roy Keane

Roy Keane hasn't been out of the game as long as most of the men mentioned on this list so far - but he was a hardman of epic proportions in a game that was beginning to phase his type out. Of course, his rivalry with Patrick Vieira during the great Manchester United/Arsenal games of the 1990s and 2000s is a particular highlight when considering Keane's antics - especially the infamous heated debate they had in the dugout prior to a game at Highbury in the Premier League. Keane infamously ended the career of Alf-Inge Haaland with an outrageous X-rated tackle, in an act of self-confessed vengeance years after Keane had suffered a horrendous injury of his own whilst Haaland was playing for Leeds United. But despite that moment, which earned Keane two punishments (one retrospectively), the player was a lot more than an anachronism: he was tactically astute and a giant of a leader for United, even if his final days weren't quite as shrouded in glory.