World Football: 13 Biggest Sociopaths in History

What exactly is a sociopath, anyway?

Our dictionary tells me that a sociopath is a person with a personality disorder that manifests itself in extreme antisocial behavior, and a complete lack of conscience.

Well, this ought to be fun, then.

The subject is sociopaths. The context is football.

Easy enough, right?

But let us say this while we're here: This isn't just a list of football's hard men. We'd love to include Psycho Pearce on that list, but for all his toughness, he was pretty clean.

This list is for the dirty ones—the filthy, tough tacklers, the guys (and gal) whose actions could lead to jail time on the street—and sometimes on the pitch.

Read on, and by all means, let us know who we missed.

Ron "Chopper" Harris really came into his own over the two-legged 1970 FA Cup final against Leeds.

Somehow, Harris managed to out-Leeds Leeds, the dirtiest, meanest club in England. That was saying something.

Here are some of the highlights.

In a 20-year career with Chelsea, Harris earned a reputation for being the hardest man on the pitch. Check out this description from the Sabotage Times:

Delicate wing-halves, so it is said, would tremble at the mere sight of Chopper’s name on the Chelsea team-sheet. Entire stadiums would quake in anticipation as football’s hardest hard man jumped in for another rib-caving tackle.

Back in the days of Norman Hunter and Ron Harris, men had cool nicknames like "Bites Yer Legs" and "Chopper."

Also, men played football then.

There might have been a few of the delicate divers and finesse players around. But men like Bites Yer Legs Hunter dominated.

They made tackles like this one and generally terrorized opposing players. And they got into fights like this.

If more players played like this today, football would be America's favorite sport.

These days, Liverpool legend Tommy Smith insists he was a tough, but fair, player.

But he also admits to saying stuff like this.

"I did warn players," said Smith. "When Tottenham striker Jimmy Greaves came out at Anfield one time I handed him a piece of paper. He said: 'What's this?' I said: 'Just open it.' It was the menu from the Liverpool Infirmary."

And his manager, Bill Shankly, said this: "Tommy Smith wasn't born, he was quarried."

That's how you come to be known as the Anfield Iron.

Ten Stone of Barbed Wire.

Billy Bremner was the dirtiest of a dirty, dirty Leeds side of the 1960s and 70s. Perhaps his most famous, most sociopathic moment came in 1966, when he went in for a late tackle on Dave Mackay, who had recently returned from a broken leg.

That kind of aggression didn't endear the 5'5" Bremner to Mackay, who grabbed the little Scotsman's shirt and looked ready to for anything.

Who is Leonel Sanchez?

He's only the guy who started the Battle of Santiago in 1962, the dirtiest football match of all time.

That's him in the video, punching Italy's Humberto Maschio.

Vinnie Jones was so good at being a sociopath on the football pitch that he became a sociopath on the silver screen.

Here's perhaps his greatest moment: grabbing Paul Gascoigne's jewels in a match.

Jose Batista is best known for getting himself sent off 56 seconds into a World Cup match against Scotland in 1986.

What did he do?

Look and see.

Batista is the dirtiest player ever to play for Uruguay. And that's saying something.

Willie Woodburn earned a lifetime ban in 1954 for being too dirty.

Think about that. Being too dirty in 1950s football was like Christina Aguilera getting too dirty in the early 2000s.

Here's what his hometown paper said of him after an international match against Denmark. His hometown paper, mind you!

If any of our players perpetrates such a foul as Woodburn did in the second half on Saturday, when, with a scythe-like sweep of the foot, he sent the Danish centre-forward crashing to the ground after the latter had beaten him by skilful footwork, he should be dealt with appropriately.

Scathing!

The Butcher From Bilbao.

Why?

That tackle kept Maradona out for months.

And an apocryphal story has it that Goiko kept the boots from that tackle in a glass case for years.

Also, he severely injured German Bernd Schuster.

Yeah, that tackle ended Alf-Inge Haaland's career.

The whole story is a long one.

It started in 1997, when Keane injured a ligament in a loss to Haaland's Leeds United at Elland Road. Haaland thought Keane was faking an injury and stood over him, yelling, while Keane lay on the pitch.

Three and a half years later, in 2001, Keane got his retaliation. That's the foul you see in the video. It initially earned Keane a three-match ban and a fine of £5,000.

But it got worse. In his autobiography, Keano said this:

I'd waited long enough. I f***ing hit him hard. The ball was there (I think). Take that you c***. And don't ever stand over me sneering about fake injuries.

Psycho!

The popular story is that Billy Whitehurst earned extra money by bare-knuckle boxing with gypsies.

He's also alleged to have beaten up Vinnie Jones.

The rumour is enough for us.

Duncan Ferguson has been convicted of assault four times.

One of those incidents happened on the pitch.

Other times, he's gotten away with it.

Here's a great takedown, and here's a textbook headlock.

Yes, Elizabeth Lambert is the biggest sociopath in football history.

She once played college soccer for the University of New Mexico.

If they played on the same pitch, Roy Keane would fake an injury.

Duncan Ferguson would take anger management courses.

Billy Whitehurst would give up boxing.

Vinnie Jones would grab his own crotch.

Why? Here's why.