Top Ten Football Brawls

[notsosilentbob]

1. Battle of Berne - 1954
The World Cup quarter-final between Hungary and Brazil - the two best footballing teams in the competition - degenerated into a nasty battle with horrendous fouls and a number of punches thrown and landed. Three men were sent off by referee Arthur Ellis and the battles didn't stop at the final whistle, with Ferenc Puskas (who missed the game through injury) allegedly hitting Brazilian striker Pineiro with a bottle after the game, which Hungary won 4-2.

2. Battle of Santiago - 1962
Chile and Italy's battle two World Cup's down the line was just as ill-tempered and again it was an English referee trying to keep the battling teams apart. Ken Ashton sent off two Italian players, but could have dismissed many more - especially Leonel Sanchez who broke Italian captain Mario David's nose! Police came onto the field on four occasions to pull players apart. Chile won the game 2-0.

3. China-QPR - 2007
Fighting in a competitive match may not be defensible but you can at least understand it when there is something on the line and tension is running high. But in a training game? China's Olympic side were in London to shape up for next summer's tournament when a melee broke out that involved many players from either side as well as the training staff. In the aftermath, seven Chinese players were sent home, Zheng Tao joined them nursing a broken jaw and R's coach Richard Hill was dismissed from his post.

4. Barcelona-Athletic Bilbao - 1984
A year earlier the 'Butcher of Bilbao' Andoni Goicoechea broke Diego Maradona's ankle with a horror tackle and following more punishment during the Kings Cup Final, which the Basque side won to complete a domestic double, the diminutive Argentine decided to measure some revenge launching a Karate kick at his opponent. There followed numerous similar attempts from both sides, the most notable coming from Barca midfield general Bernd Schuster.

5. Inter-Valencia - 2007
This incident put into the shade the 'handbags' at the end of the Carling Cup Final. Valencia's David Navarro seemed to have learned something from wrestling legend Ric Flair, when at the end of the game, he ran onto the pitch and landed the mother of all cheapshots at Nicolas Burdisso who was left with a broken nose. Navarro then scampered away with the Inter team in pursuit.

6. Leeds-Liverpool - 1974
The Charity Shield should never be a place for fisticuffs, but especially this occasion when Liverpool were led out for the final time by Bill Shankly. Years of resentment between the sides boiled over as soon as the game got underway though and there were three melees, including a right hand punch from Johnny Giles and numerous digs at Kevin Keegan from Billy Bremner before the Liverpool man lashed out and received his marching orders alongside the Leeds captain.

7. Arsenal-Manchester United I - 1990
Bad feeling had been brewing between the teams for two years after Brian McClair was goaded by Nigel Winterburn following a penalty miss. In this match Anders Limpar and Denis Irwin were the surprise catalysts for a 21-man melee involving every player bar David Seaman.

8. Rangers-Celtic - 1987
There are many incidents in Old Firm clashes from down the years to pick from but this clash at Ibrox where Frank McAvennie, Terry Butcher and Chris Woods were all sent off is the one that sticks in the mind most.

9. Arsenal-Manchester United II - 2003
Who can forget the sight of Martin Keown jumping at Ruud Van Nistelrooy after the striker's miss from the spot at the end of this league clash at Old Trafford? The former England defender received an FA charge for the incident, that led to a series of pushing and shoving from players from both teams, but consolidated his place in Arsenal fans' hearts.

10. Arsenal-Chelsea - 2007
Although the sending off of three players was probably a little excessive, no Cup Final in recent memory had seen scenes like those at the end of this showpiece in Cardiff.

Source - sky sports news


cant believe they missed off the battle of bramal lane when the shefield united / west brom match was abandend because there was not enough players left on the field.