We all admire skillfull players, but what about the guys who had balls made of steel?,you know,the players who would stick their heads where the boots are flying.

Step forward Ron Harris,Mickey Droy,Joey Jones & king Ossie to name just a Chelsea few.

But what about other players from other clubs?.........how about Terry Butcher and to be fair, Tony Adams.

While Lionel Messi is truly a wonderfull player to watch for any football fan,I kinda miss watching the good old fashioned 'hard nut' ply his trade,not dirty you understand but, hard as nails nether the less.

Maybe it's a throwback to a bygone age,but are there any personal favourites out there?.

Scott Parker

John Terry

We all admire skillfull players, but what about the guys who had balls made of steel?,you know,the players who would stick their heads where the boots are flying.

Step forward Ron Harris,Mickey Droy,Joey Jones & king Ossie to name just a Chelsea few.

But what about other players from other clubs?.........how about Terry Butcher and to be fair, Tony Adams.

While Lionel Messi is truly a wonderfull player to watch for any football fan,I kinda miss watching the good old fashioned 'hard nut' ply his trade,not dirty you understand but, hard as nails nether the less.

Maybe it's a throwback to a bygone age,but are there any personal favourites out there?.

not allowed to have hard men in your team anymore in the modern game..........because of the likes of ronaldo,messi, our own drogba, and rooney etc......touch them and they roll around as if shot and their good looks destroyed for ever!!

terry & bran & vidic spring to mind at present---willing to put their heads where others wouldn't...

Edited May 9, 201115 yr by saran75

Didier Drogba as he stopped a Civil War.

Didier Drogba as he stopped a Civil War.

Anyone else hacked off that Drogs spent a large part of yesterday, hugging, shaking hands with, patting the heads of, and apparently generally agreeing with every Man ure player on the pitch ????

BRING BACK THE OLD VENGEFUL DROG !!!

When the "hard men" of football are mentioned, players such as Billy Whitehurst, Billy Bonds, Graeme Souness, and Don Mackay come to mind. There are a host of others.

I guess Roy Keane could be added to the list. Not only was he physically tough but he appeared to have a psychological edge over his opponents. I rergarded him as a paranoid schizophrenic.

Mark Dennis and Terry Hurlock, hard as nails.

David Webb, Eddie McCreadie, Bill Garner, Tommy Smith, Joe Jordan, Duncan Ferguson, Terry Yorath, Trevor Hockey...

Mark Hughes, Jimmy Case, Colin Lee.

(OK, maybe not Colin Lee.)

Mick Harford was pretty tough.

I wouldn't of wanted to mark,...shearer he was like a bull,and a player that made wisey look timid,lil ol Speedie

David Webb, Eddie McCreadie, Bill Garner, Tommy Smith, Joe Jordan, Duncan Ferguson, Terry Yorath, Trevor Hockey...

No Micky Droy?

And I would throw the name Duncan Ferguson into the mix, not only hard as nails but also a complete mentalist.

Edited May 10, 201115 yr by dkw

Thomas Gravesen, more of a nutter though really

Thomas Gravesen

He's even got the pictures to prove it:

Didier Drogba as he stopped a Civil War.

Haha love it :)

No Micky Droy?

And I would throw the name Duncan Ferguson into the mix, not only hard as nails but also a complete mentalist.

Alan '82 had already listed Micky Droy in his original post - and Big Dunc is in my list! Have you woke up yet? ;)

Alan '82 had already listed Micky Droy in his original post - and Big Dunc is in my list! Have you woke up yet? ;)

Christ, Ive had a mare havent I. Im not well so can blame it on that.

Billy Whitehurst is by many reputed to be one of the hardest men in football. Couple of others top of my head , Johnny Giles, Paul Reaney, Claudio Gentile and hows about Bert Trautmann played with a broken neck now thats what you call putting your head on the line for your club.

This little guy had some big stones.

We all admire skillfull players, but what about the guys who had balls made of steel?,you know,the players who would stick their heads where the boots are flying.

Step forward Ron Harris,Mickey Droy,Joey Jones & king Ossie to name just a Chelsea few.

But what about other players from other clubs?.........how about Terry Butcher and to be fair, Tony Adams.

While Lionel Messi is truly a wonderfull player to watch for any football fan,I kinda miss watching the good old fashioned 'hard nut' ply his trade,not dirty you understand but, hard as nails nether the less.

Maybe it's a throwback to a bygone age,but are there any personal favourites out there?.

Look no further than JT for that. Remember that incident in the Carling Cup Final with Diaby?

The original psycho.

Stuart Pearce.

Edited May 13, 201115 yr by Elliott

Vinnie Jones if none have mentioned him.

a lot of x pros mention Mick Harford

Kevin Muscat thinks of himself as a hard man, but he's just a c**t who tackles with an insane anger.

neil ruddock was tasty on the pitch and vinnie jones wouldn't fancy a tackle off those two ask andy cole lol.....big duncan ferguson i agree with aswell this is a man who when he woke up to find two people burgle his house ironed them out and tied them up sat on them till the polioce arrived.... take a bow son..