Top 10 player protests
Featuring irate children and an angry Kaiser
1 “Come on, darling, we’re leaving”
“It’s not for you to demand things that you’re not entitled to,” barked German delegate Hans Deckert at West Germany’s 1974 World Cup winner Uli Hoeness, fresh from victory over the Dutch. Hoeness was furious when his wife Susi was asked to leave the team banquet at Munich’s Hilton Hotel. Skipper Franz Beckenbauer led the mass walkout to an adjacent bar, leaving the German suits alone with their steins.
2 Kneesy does it
After three consecutive salary-free months, third-tier Spaniards Pontevedra dropped to their knees shortly after kick-off in their January 2011 clash with Lugo. “We’re like soldiers out there for the club, and we deserve better,” explained one unnamed midfielder. Sporting T-shirts reading “Solutions now!”, the players lost their Lugo battle 3-2 but won the war, and were paid by the end of the week. Result!
3 Red Devils skipper is Buchan the trend
Whether he was embarking on a trip across the Australian outback or refusing to accept freebies from sponsors as it was unethical, former Manchester United skipper Martin Buchan wasn’t a stereotypical footballer. When asked to hand in his passport for safekeeping prior to a pre-season tour, Buchan grumbled: “I’m not a child.” Manager Dave Sexton didn’t punish the Scot, saying: “Footballers need to think for themselves.” Refreshing.
4 Teenage netbuster gets the hook
“I believe they cause great harm to the wild salmon, and I’m not impressed,” 14-year-old Vancouver Island player Freyja Reed fumed in 2015. Her team’s new sponsor was Marine Harvest – the biggest operator of open net fish farms in Canada. After venting via Facebook, Freyja was dropped for breaking club social media rules. “It’s not appropriate for players to complain about the sponsors online,” argued a club spokesman. Nothing like free speech…
5 “It’s not right,” said Fred
“We’re“W doing this to highlight how the national team will suffer in the World Cup,” explained a ‘Common Sense FC’ spokesman in October 2013. The movement saw Brazil’s top-flight players sit on the field and cross their arms to demand changes to the fixture schedule. “We’re exhausted,” said Fluminense star Fred, “and we can’t function properly.” Maybe he was just getting in his excuses early for Brazil’s World Cup semi-final humiliation nine months later.
6 Bobo isn’t clowning around
Christian Vieri built a reputation for throwing strops throughout his career. But even he excelled himself when, following the sale of strike partner Hernan Crespo to Chelsea in 2003, he refused to celebrate scoring for Inter. “I will play to my usual excellent standards, and continue to score plenty,” the not-so-modest forward supposedly huffed, “but I’ll take no pleasure playing at the San Siro.” Vieiri was later sold – to fellow San Siro tenants AC Milan. Ah.
7 A slap on the wristband
In June 2009, four Iranian stars were banned from international football after wearing green wristbands during a World Cup qualifier against South Korea. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had strongly objected to the players showing support for his election rival Mir-hossein Mousavi, leader of the reformist Green Path of Hope movement (pictured in the poster above). It was later revealed that the internationals, including ex-bayern Munich midfielder Ali Karimi, had been ‘retired’ after their gesture in Seoul. “I’ll never regret what I did,” insisted Karimi.
8 Price hikes irk tykes
In July 2014, an astronomical hike in football pitch fees (£1,800 to £5,000) around Liverpool saw hundreds of young players, and their parents, gather at the Netherton Activity Centre in Sefton to vent their annoyance at the unfair rise. “Perhaps Premier [League] clubs could give some of the money they earn to grassroots football,” argued one irate youngster. He’ll be suggesting clubs cut ticket prices next next.
9 “What? 5p each?! We’d better use paper ones…”
Unhappy Celaya players wore brown paper bags over their heads in a club photograph in March 2014, in protest at not having been paid for three months. Before their Second Division clash with CF Merida, an unnamed player for the Mexican Second Division side said: “As well as no wages, we’re also furious that we often have no running water or heating in our dressing room.” Amid a huge storm of national interest, the owners miraculously switched back on the utilities, and coughed up the cash within a fortnight.
10 Injustice hard for Reed to stomach
In 1929, Leeds’ George Reed went down with a seriously dodgy belly. It wasn’t the first time Reed had succumbed to a tummy bug and, convinced he’d been poisoned in the team’s canteen, he boycotted the club’s grub. Thinking Reed was being “elitist and unprofessional”, boss Dicky Ray threatened to drop him. It took Reed two months to end his half-arsed hunger strike, by which time he’d suffered a knee injury anyway.