Hardmen of Ewood Park

[...]

David Batty.... 👀 

[den]

Walter Joyce.

[Herbie6590]

He’s been mentioned higher up but John NcNamee probably the hardest I’ve ever seen in Rovers colours. 

[jim mk2]

'Killer' Keeley was a dirty so-and-so - saw him stupidly get sent off at Fulham in a match in which Bobby Moore and George Best were playing. But he wasn't hard. Ken Knighton always struck me as "hard" - mess with him and he'd boot you over the touchline

[Tim Southampton Rover]

Just thinking about the last few years. I know he was/is still young but I reckon Jan Paul van Hecke has something about him and is a bit of a throw back to the likes of Nelsen, Hendry. I reckon he's the sort that would take out his granny if it meant he got the last Werther's original.

[Mike E]

Honestly think Nelsen deserves higher ‘Hardman’ praise even than he’s getting. Remember he broke his leg (a fracture is a fracture) early in the first half of an away game at Charlton and still finished the match.

Must be the natural instinct of a Kiwi.

[simongarnerisgod]

faz and keeley certainly did`nt take any nonsense

david mail was pretty granite,went full on with billy whitehurst when whitehurst was playing for reading(think he got sent off for one to many elbows)

nicky reid liked to mix it up and he could take it as well

later on kevin moran was genuinly hard,loved getting stitches did kevin

craig short was pretty hard as well,he used to relish getting stuck in

[Mike E]

Not sure if ‘Hardman’ is a good descriptor but I always thought David Thompson was a scrappy fucker on the wing.

[B16Rover]

Not sure if he was hard, but he looked it and played with a heart attack didn't he? Givet?

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

11 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

'Killer' Keeley was a dirty so-and-so - saw him stupidly get sent off at Fulham in a match in which Bobby Moore and George Best were playing. But he wasn't hard. Ken Knighton always struck me as "hard" - mess with him and he'd boot you over the touchline

I never saw an opponent take any liberties with Ken Knighton. That tells you all you need to know. Rile him and you would regret it.

[Comfortably numb]

Interesting that all these names are mostly from decades ago.

There just aren't these type of players around any more. Can anyone name a current hard man ? I know I'm struggling.

For what it's worth I'll go Nicky Marker.

Crocked Ardiles in his first and last game for Rovers (and was signed a few months later if memory serves me right)

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 minute ago, Comfortably numb said:

Interesting that all these names are mostly from decades ago.

There just aren't these type of players around any more. Can anyone name a current hard man ? I know I'm struggling.

For what it's worth I'll go Nicky Marker.

Crocked Ardiles in his first and last game for Rovers (and was signed a few months later if memory serves me right)

 

Refereeing standards being much more stringent and games being closely televised. You can’t get away with anything these days. Watch the Chelsea v Leeds FACup replay from around 1970 to get an idea of the game could be back then.

[Comfortably numb]

15 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Refereeing standards being much more stringent and games being closely televised. You can’t get away with anything these days. Watch the Chelsea v Leeds FACup replay from around 1970 to get an idea of the game could be back then.

Yeah I watch The Big Match revisited Saturday mornings on itv 4 ( I think) , and the age in particular of the refs is laughable compared to the super fit ones of today.

They all look in their 60's😄

[JPTSwindon]

Shearer was (surprisingly) physical - defenders seemed to bounce off him.

Not necessarily hard, but off the scale looking for trouble - El Hadji Diouf or Paul Dickov.

Andy Todd always looked like he would explode at any random moment.

Oh, and Souness in training - didn't he take out a few of our players?

 

[Aqualung]

Jay Bothroyd anyone? 

[because of boxing day]

John Coddington for all his penalty aberrations was a lumbering beast though not in the same mould as McNamee.

I witnessed McNamee's debut vs Tranmere away. It was breath-taking; he was a galvanising force for Rovers and against all opposition. I haven't seen a harder tougher competitor in a Rovers shirt before or since.

Man's game in those days. Compare with the sneaky feigning modern tactics adopted generally in the game these days.

[FairviewRover]

Flitcroft is unlucky not to get a mention here.  Don't think he did anything particularly 'hard', but there was definitely never a physical battle he shirked

[Wegerleswiggle]

Samba needs a mention too. Man was an absolute beast

[because of boxing day]

Didn't Flitcroft  take out Duncan Ferguson in an aerial assault just minutes into his debut at Ewood vs Everton?

[MarkBRFC71]

He was only here fleetingly, and played sparingly - but Patrick Valery was pretty uncompromising.  I love the fact he arrived from seemingly nowhere - looked as Gallic as it is humanly possible to look - played a few times and mullered a few oppo wingers, and no-one ever heard him speak - then mysteriously disappeared and was never heard from again. Classic cult player.

[Aqualung]

30 minutes ago, because of boxing day said:

Didn't Flitcroft  take out Duncan Ferguson in an aerial assault just minutes into his debut at Ewood vs Everton?

And got sent off for it. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, MarkBRFC71 said:

He was only here fleetingly, and played sparingly - but Patrick Valery was pretty uncompromising.  I love the fact he arrived from seemingly nowhere - looked as Gallic as it is humanly possible to look - played a few times and mullered a few oppo wingers, and no-one ever heard him speak - then mysteriously disappeared and was never heard from again. Classic cult player.

The only pro player I’ve seen that couldn’t jump for a ball. He just couldn’t get off the ground.

[Mercer]

18 hours ago, Herbie6590 said:

He’s been mentioned higher up but John NcNamee probably the hardest I’ve ever seen in Rovers colours. 

My goodness, you would sh1t yourself if a bloke like this approached you menacingly!  This guy was really, really hard.  According to Alex Ferguson:

• McNamee threatened to "kill" Ferguson at the end of one game
• Ferguson dismissed the threat but "nearly fainted" when he saw McNamee waiting for him after the match
• Ferguson hid until the Celtic coach had departed, reflecting that he was "dealing with a monster"

Says it all!

So all depends upon what you mean by hard - my definition, players your opponents wouldn't want to mess with.

Rovers' players I readily recall:

Fergie, Knighton, McNamee, Branagan, Keeley, Speight, Batty, Shearer, Flitcroft, Todd and Mokoena.

Some 'tough' competitors have been mentioned like Nicky Reid, Faz, Hendry, Moran etc but, IMO, not as 'hard' or as 'feared' as those named above.  In fact recall reading an article many years ago where John Fashanu supposedly put the frighteners on Hendry in the tunnel pre match and Hendry was physched out by it.

 

 

 

[Tim Southampton Rover]

6 hours ago, Comfortably numb said:

There just aren't these type of players around any more. Can anyone name a current hard man ?

From the current Rovers team the 'hardest' person at the club is probably Valerien Ismael 🤣

Out of the players, absolutely no idea! Perhaps Miller just because he looks like he wouldn't shy away from a boisterous person who'd get in his face. The others would probably sh*t themselves! 

[dingles staying down 4ever]

6 hours ago, Comfortably numb said:

Interesting that all these names are mostly from decades ago.

There just aren't these type of players around any more. Can anyone name a current hard man ? I know I'm struggling.

For what it's worth I'll go Nicky Marker.

Crocked Ardiles in his first and last game for Rovers (and was signed a few months later if memory serves me right)

 

It was Ardiles first match for Rovers but it wasnt his last. MArker signed for Rovers a couple of seasons later.