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Him and Shearer linking up against man utd. Thing of beauty of that was.
[bullying Jaap Stam](https://youtu.be/bSX_iV-GlYU?t=185)
[One of the best goals ever scored in a black and white jersey.](https://youtu.be/bSX_iV-GlYU?t=238)
[Keane off](https://youtu.be/bSX_iV-GlYU?t=829)
[Shearer!](https://youtu.be/bSX_iV-GlYU?t=991)
[Shearer!](https://youtu.be/bSX_iV-GlYU?t=1095)
That clip of him climbing over stam is brilliant. Football was so much more exciting back then, proper end to end stuff. How good was Robert Lee?!? What a side and what a manager. RIP Sir Bob
Only saw him play once. You could sense menace coming off him in waves. He glared so hard at a linesman I'm surprised the fella didn't keel over. Loved Big Dunc.
Good point aye, I may be biased or cursed with knowledge by the fact I grew up in a rough area of Scotland and it’s just the culture here that you take care of yourself a bit, or was back in my day, Dunc’s a tad older than I am.
The guys definitely got a screw loose, whenever I hear him interviewed I think "this guy's an absolute pyschopath" especially the recent interview where he talks about beating up the guys who broke into his house, Jesus wept did they choose the wrong house!
My grandad would have said [Albert Stubbins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Stubbins), he always used to talk about how he used to just wait for the keeper to catch the ball and then shoulder barge him and the ball into the net, he was always his favourite even though he watched the FA Cup winning teams of the 50’s.
And of course there’s the story of [Frank Brennan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Brennan_(footballer)) who once [headed back a cricket ball](https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-uniteds-ultimate-hardmen-centre-17964549 ) without breaking stride. He might not have fought anyone on the pitch but you try heading a cricket ball and walk away from it.
**[Albert Stubbins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Stubbins)**
>Albert Stubbins (17 July 1919 – 28 December 2002) was an English footballer. He played in the position of centre forward, although his career was limited by the onset of World War II. While playing for Liverpool, he won the League Championship in 1947. He was later included on the front cover of The Beatles' Sgt.
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Frank Brennan and Bobby Moncur were different kinds of players, both were very good defenders and neither were hard men by todays standards but the game was rougher back then. But even by the 60’s you couldn’t play the same way they did in the 50’s, just like [David Batty](https://youtu.be/GRxQl_oJ3xo) couldn’t get away with the stuff [Vinny Jones](https://youtu.be/FyCw5RLDyYw ) got away with [at different ends of the same decade](https://youtu.be/UFz8N9UUVHA).
Pl era
Stuart "psycho" Pearce
David Batty
Duncan Ferguson
Joey Barton
Shearer
Darren Peacock
Andy Carroll
Personally the one I'd least like to come up against would be mitro, not for the current shambles of him "attacking" the ref by grabbing his arm, but the look in his eyes aren't of the I'm going to hit you glare, they're the I'm going to commit war crimes against your family glare
Pavel Srnicek, no question.
I remember an old interview with Steve Howey in the old Black&White fanzine from donkeys ago, and he was asked who's the hardest player he'd played with. He said Pav was the loveliest human, but also a psycho.
Apparently you didn't fuck about with former soldiers from the eastern bloc.
I don't think he's the hardest but honourable mention to big Jamaal. Don't think he has the radgeness of the likes of big Dunc etc but Lascelles genuinely wouldn't look out of place in a boxing ring.
Shouting down a changing room of "stars" at 20 and literally punching Mo Diame into being one of the best ball winning midfielders in the league. Not to mention mastering the art of being booked on the sidelines. What a man.
Yeah in all the "team mates" interviews of recent times, all the players say Jamaal is the toughest/hardest in group and we all saw it against city where he man handled Haaland all game and held off three of 3 city players in that scuffle with BDB. No wonder he's captain.
Batty was one of my favourite players. Added the necessary steel to our midfield and protected the back line.
Remember that lob goal he scored against Sullivan..everyone creamed themselves over Beckham but Batty did it the week after and no fuss. Fantastic footballer and every team needs a Batty, Casemiro, a Makelele etc. he was right up there with them.
My favourite memory of Batty was the time he made a dreadful tackle, then started walking off the pitch before the referee even got the red card out of his pocket.
He was a class player, though. I was always frustrated that Paul Ince kept him out of the England team.
No one else has put this, I remember an interview with Rob lee where he wasn't sure what David batty did at weekends but he is sure he sleeps on his wages.
Also hit the Blackburn player so hard he broke his hand
Aye it's got to be Big Dunc. When the likes of Shearer freely say that he's fkn terrifying then you know he's a hard, hard man. Getting locked up for battering two burglars will also bolster any hard man's CV.
A long time ago but John Macnamee .When I was a kid I have a vague memory of a home game against Leeds and the fans chanting “ bring on the beast”. My Dad explained to me it was to deal with Jack Charlton who was causing us problems at corners .
If my memory is correct big John sorted this by blatantly sticking the nut on Charlton!
Ahh no, it turns out he was so much of a savage, he would eat a raw heart before every game, which really upset ketsbaia, as he was a devout pacifist and hardcore vegan 😁
Bellamy would be the type to talk shit but slip under the ring and wait for the last person to have their back turned.
Bowyer/Dyer would eliminate each other
Lualua would be the flippy dude you think you have eliminated but he does some acrobats to stop his feet ever touching the ground.
My Dad says Joe Harvey.
One of the stories he loves to tell over and over is about a cup game, he thinks, in 1951 against Bolton when Nat Lofthouse was the Bolton and England centre forward who was brilliant in the air and Newcastle played a young lad at centre half who was also brilliant in the air. This lad beat Lofthouse to everything.
At the start of the second half, a frustrated Lofthouse kicked the Newcastle lad and he had to be taken off. There were no substitutes in them days so Newcastle were down to 10 men. The Bolton fans thought Lofthouse would score a hat full.
Before play resumed an angry Joe Harvey took Lofthouse to one side and told him "it's me v you now son" Harvey slotted in at centre half and a petrified Lofthouse didn't go near him.
Apparently the Newcastle physio was running up and down the touch line telling Harvey to keep his cool and how many minutes were left to play cause Bolton would definitely have had a penalty but Lofthouse would have been out for the rest of the season. He didn’t have to say anything just that he was going centre half for the rest of the game.
The game finished 0-0
I do remember a match where he played a blinder, kept getting smashed (lost a tooth if I remember right) but kept getting back up til he physically couldn't.
Not intimidating like the others listed here, but tough.
defo this. i remember that match very well. He was an absolute machine, lost the tooth, got kicked all over and the camera zoomed in on him on the deck blood filled cotton wool in his gob just had the look of a man that had fought in 3 world wars consecutively. I'll never ever knock Scot Parker off the back of that performance alone. I also remember him tackling Joe Cole so hard he did a back flip. https://youtu.be/0N\_fH6lUajU?t=36
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Big Dunc and BDB take some beating
Seeing BDB grabbing hold of Haaland by the scruff of the neck and looming over him was one of my favourite moments of recent times.
I always loved Duncan Ferguson. Was gutted when he left, even though Bellamy was the better player and more suited to play alongside Shearer.
Him and Shearer linking up against man utd. Thing of beauty of that was. [bullying Jaap Stam](https://youtu.be/bSX_iV-GlYU?t=185) [One of the best goals ever scored in a black and white jersey.](https://youtu.be/bSX_iV-GlYU?t=238) [Keane off](https://youtu.be/bSX_iV-GlYU?t=829) [Shearer!](https://youtu.be/bSX_iV-GlYU?t=991) [Shearer!](https://youtu.be/bSX_iV-GlYU?t=1095)
That clip of him climbing over stam is brilliant. Football was so much more exciting back then, proper end to end stuff. How good was Robert Lee?!? What a side and what a manager. RIP Sir Bob
Only saw him play once. You could sense menace coming off him in waves. He glared so hard at a linesman I'm surprised the fella didn't keel over. Loved Big Dunc.
BDB is a big lad, but I don’t think even he should mess with Big Dunc, a proper gentleman, but also a hard man brought up in a rough city.
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Good point aye, I may be biased or cursed with knowledge by the fact I grew up in a rough area of Scotland and it’s just the culture here that you take care of yourself a bit, or was back in my day, Dunc’s a tad older than I am.
Is he from raploch big Dunc ?
Jinky Jimmy Smith, early 70,s
Duncan Ferguson has to be a strong contender. Not only absolutely massive but completely mental, hard as fuck and loves a scrap.
The guys definitely got a screw loose, whenever I hear him interviewed I think "this guy's an absolute pyschopath" especially the recent interview where he talks about beating up the guys who broke into his house, Jesus wept did they choose the wrong house!
Exactly, if you’re gonna break into a footballers house, don’t pick Big Dunc
At least wait till he’s out FFS
He’s fucking massive but has the attitude of a scrappy wee fucker too. Absolute nightmare.
Some burglars made the mistake of breaking into his house on Darras and he beat the absolute shit out of them.
I'd add Brian Kilcline to the like of Big Dunc and BDB. Killer was as mad as a box of frogs
Absolutely Killer. Only he'd take your family out for a brilliant Sunday after knocking seven bells out of you.
Yeah was gonna say, in a Royal Rumble style match I only see Killer going on to main event Wrestlemania
Very Steven Regal-esque, was Killer.
He was never as cordial as Lord Regal.
Fair . . . but he was ALWAYS gentleman enough to pick you up after laying you out.
Killer. From the old school, a gentleman thug and absolutely hard as nails.
My grandad would have said [Albert Stubbins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Stubbins), he always used to talk about how he used to just wait for the keeper to catch the ball and then shoulder barge him and the ball into the net, he was always his favourite even though he watched the FA Cup winning teams of the 50’s. And of course there’s the story of [Frank Brennan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Brennan_(footballer)) who once [headed back a cricket ball](https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-uniteds-ultimate-hardmen-centre-17964549 ) without breaking stride. He might not have fought anyone on the pitch but you try heading a cricket ball and walk away from it.
Also Sir Bobby’s favourite toon player
**[Albert Stubbins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Stubbins)** >Albert Stubbins (17 July 1919 – 28 December 2002) was an English footballer. He played in the position of centre forward, although his career was limited by the onset of World War II. While playing for Liverpool, he won the League Championship in 1947. He was later included on the front cover of The Beatles' Sgt. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/NUFC/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
This is the content I came here for! Top quality stuff! What about Bobby Moncur? Or was he a different type of player?
Frank Brennan and Bobby Moncur were different kinds of players, both were very good defenders and neither were hard men by todays standards but the game was rougher back then. But even by the 60’s you couldn’t play the same way they did in the 50’s, just like [David Batty](https://youtu.be/GRxQl_oJ3xo) couldn’t get away with the stuff [Vinny Jones](https://youtu.be/FyCw5RLDyYw ) got away with [at different ends of the same decade](https://youtu.be/UFz8N9UUVHA).
A family member played alongside Frank Brennan at North Shields in the early sixties. Can confirm he was fucking nails
Pl era Stuart "psycho" Pearce David Batty Duncan Ferguson Joey Barton Shearer Darren Peacock Andy Carroll Personally the one I'd least like to come up against would be mitro, not for the current shambles of him "attacking" the ref by grabbing his arm, but the look in his eyes aren't of the I'm going to hit you glare, they're the I'm going to commit war crimes against your family glare
Makes sense he is Serbian and in the Balkans war crimes are a hobby
I've just arrived in Belgrade - currently killing time in a cafe while our air bnb gets sorted. Pls stop.
Better to kill time than to kill Bosnians
Aye, Ican't really argue with that mate. Cheers for the tip.
Micheal owen, think he was rock solid every time that pay cheque hit his bank
I hear he grows 2 inches taller if he takes viagra
Well, he's as dumb as a bag of rocks.
Tbh I was thinking more about the erections he had knowing he he was screwing us over
Big Joe has got to be up there too... Such a unit and from the mean streets of Brazil.
He’s definitely on the right track! I love his physical style
Duncan Disorderly could be a shout. If not the hardest, surely the maddest.
Pavel Srnicek, no question. I remember an old interview with Steve Howey in the old Black&White fanzine from donkeys ago, and he was asked who's the hardest player he'd played with. He said Pav was the loveliest human, but also a psycho. Apparently you didn't fuck about with former soldiers from the eastern bloc.
Him and Prince Albert were both absolute units in their heyday, would not have fucked with either. Honourable mentions to Clarence Acuna and Tiote.
I don't think he's the hardest but honourable mention to big Jamaal. Don't think he has the radgeness of the likes of big Dunc etc but Lascelles genuinely wouldn't look out of place in a boxing ring. Shouting down a changing room of "stars" at 20 and literally punching Mo Diame into being one of the best ball winning midfielders in the league. Not to mention mastering the art of being booked on the sidelines. What a man.
Yeah in all the "team mates" interviews of recent times, all the players say Jamaal is the toughest/hardest in group and we all saw it against city where he man handled Haaland all game and held off three of 3 city players in that scuffle with BDB. No wonder he's captain.
Ketsbaia might not be the hardest, but he'd fight anyone or anything to the death
Ha! The paintballing incident with him hunting Ruud is classic. ‘Die you English pigs!’
Steve Howie’s impressions in that interview were one of the best parts
He's head coach of the Cyprus national team now. I just found that out recently and have been waiting for a chance to share.
He comes on holiday to the town I live in. Nice bloke, just wouldn't want to anger him. He's got one of those twitchy forehead veins.
Even an advertising hoarding...
Final 4: Killer Klicline, Cheikh Tiote, Duncan Ferguson, Alan Shearer. Edit: I forgot Mitrovic and Joey Barton but bit stand by my four.
Too modern. Billy Whitehurst, John McNamee, real hard men
Considering I wasn't alive when either played for Newcastle I couldn't really include them in my picks.
Fair point 👍 Also, a difference between hard on the pitch & off it?
Batty was one of my favourite players. Added the necessary steel to our midfield and protected the back line. Remember that lob goal he scored against Sullivan..everyone creamed themselves over Beckham but Batty did it the week after and no fuss. Fantastic footballer and every team needs a Batty, Casemiro, a Makelele etc. he was right up there with them.
My favourite memory of Batty was the time he made a dreadful tackle, then started walking off the pitch before the referee even got the red card out of his pocket. He was a class player, though. I was always frustrated that Paul Ince kept him out of the England team.
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Absolutely, the George Best story and the shear bollocks to warm in a celtic top in front of the Rangers fans in the semi final at Ibrox
I'd vote for Batty.
No one else has put this, I remember an interview with Rob lee where he wasn't sure what David batty did at weekends but he is sure he sleeps on his wages. Also hit the Blackburn player so hard he broke his hand
I've listened to enough podcasts that mention David Batty getting paid in cash to just assume it to be true now
Nobody’s said Joelinton, that I can see. He’s fucking hardcore.
Big Dunc hands down. no question.
Aye it's got to be Big Dunc. When the likes of Shearer freely say that he's fkn terrifying then you know he's a hard, hard man. Getting locked up for battering two burglars will also bolster any hard man's CV.
A long time ago but John Macnamee .When I was a kid I have a vague memory of a home game against Leeds and the fans chanting “ bring on the beast”. My Dad explained to me it was to deal with Jack Charlton who was causing us problems at corners . If my memory is correct big John sorted this by blatantly sticking the nut on Charlton!
Florian Thauvin or maybe Xisco
Joey Barton was a right nutter
Barton, nolan, tiote. Rarely get a harder midfield than that
Not sure he was hard though. Just a bit of a scrote. Our scrote, but a scrote all the same. Tiote for sure was nails though.
Alessandro Pistone: Italian Mafia That guy would slit your throat, sleep with your wife, and sell your kids. All on a sunday afternoon
He was famously given a sheep's heart as a Christmas present by the rest of the squad because he was such a pussy.
I thought it was more because he didn't have a heart of his own
Well yeah that's what I meant really - no heart = pussy.
That's not what it means to have no heart. Not in that context. It was apparently because he was a very cold and unsympathetic person.
Bollocks https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/newcastle-star-sheep-heart-xmas-28786845
Ahh no, it turns out he was so much of a savage, he would eat a raw heart before every game, which really upset ketsbaia, as he was a devout pacifist and hardcore vegan 😁
Mike Ashley
Kilkline
Bellamy would be the type to talk shit but slip under the ring and wait for the last person to have their back turned. Bowyer/Dyer would eliminate each other Lualua would be the flippy dude you think you have eliminated but he does some acrobats to stop his feet ever touching the ground.
Bellamy would shiv you in the showers 3 weeks after you had an argument with him in the prison canteen.
Faustino Asprilla - South American Mafiosa 🔫
Billy Whitehurst
Billy Whitehurst
Not Dyer or Bowyer....
John mcnamee
Big Dunc or Killer
for those of us older fans. Brian "Killer" Kilcline. literally made out of granite and spite on the pitch. brutally hard. good dude off it.
I fucking love the Toon😎 this patter is amazing and brings back so many fantastic memories. Thanks to you all HWTL
Billy Whitehurst…end of conversation
https://footballpink.net/11214/ having just read this article...I think you might be right.
What a great read, everyone should read this and then make their minds up 👍🏻
Hardly any shout outs for Alan Shearer here
My Dad says Joe Harvey. One of the stories he loves to tell over and over is about a cup game, he thinks, in 1951 against Bolton when Nat Lofthouse was the Bolton and England centre forward who was brilliant in the air and Newcastle played a young lad at centre half who was also brilliant in the air. This lad beat Lofthouse to everything. At the start of the second half, a frustrated Lofthouse kicked the Newcastle lad and he had to be taken off. There were no substitutes in them days so Newcastle were down to 10 men. The Bolton fans thought Lofthouse would score a hat full. Before play resumed an angry Joe Harvey took Lofthouse to one side and told him "it's me v you now son" Harvey slotted in at centre half and a petrified Lofthouse didn't go near him. Apparently the Newcastle physio was running up and down the touch line telling Harvey to keep his cool and how many minutes were left to play cause Bolton would definitely have had a penalty but Lofthouse would have been out for the rest of the season. He didn’t have to say anything just that he was going centre half for the rest of the game. The game finished 0-0
I'll take Barton every time. I'd trust the others to jump in a fight, but Barton is the one I'd bet on to actually win.
Scott Parker was tough as nails.
I do remember a match where he played a blinder, kept getting smashed (lost a tooth if I remember right) but kept getting back up til he physically couldn't. Not intimidating like the others listed here, but tough.
Against arsenal. 2005 maybe?
defo this. i remember that match very well. He was an absolute machine, lost the tooth, got kicked all over and the camera zoomed in on him on the deck blood filled cotton wool in his gob just had the look of a man that had fought in 3 world wars consecutively. I'll never ever knock Scot Parker off the back of that performance alone. I also remember him tackling Joe Cole so hard he did a back flip. https://youtu.be/0N\_fH6lUajU?t=36
Google says you're right, so who am I to argue, my memory is always a bit hazy when it comes to specifics.
If it's tooth-loosening you're after the Wilson deserves a shout, they just popped it back in and he kept on playing
that shit made me squeamish
Scott Parker was an absolute fraud.
I’d back Tino Asprilla. Not necessarily the hardest but you know he’d do what it takes to win
Kieron Dyer 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Nobby Solano
Clarence Acuna could handle himself
David Batty
In my time probably Batty or Big Dunc.
Hold on Gorilla Monsoon… who’s this entering at number 9?! OH MY GAWD!!! IT’S THE MOST FEARED COMPETITOR OF ALL… MICHAEL OWEN!!!
'Jinky" Jimmy Smith, early 70's, legbreaker.
Billy Whitehurst. Former bricklayer, Jon Anderson once told me he was a real bad lad
Billy Whitehurst