10 Hardest Players in Newcastle United's History

Newcastle United are a club that pride themselves on steely determination, and the Geordie faithful love anyone that fights tooth and nail for the badge. Every

Newcastle United are a club that pride themselves on steely determination, and the Geordie faithful love anyone that fights tooth and nail for the badge.

Every side needs a hard nut, someone who is well in tune with the dark arts of the game and is the first on the scene when a scuffle breaks out on the pitch, and Newcastle have showcased their fair share of dogged players over the years.

Having imposing defenders, snarling midfielders and bruising strikers has been part of the Magpies' lifeblood for decades, and here are ten players who were just that: 

Andy Carroll

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Big strikers of yesteryear such as Les Ferdinand, Duncan Ferguson and Alan Shearer had made their mark in black and white and the Englishman's intimidating presence, aerial ability and physicality as a young lad had Newcastle fans dreaming.

Given the sacred number nine shirt, the local-born striker had the city in his palms, but his off-field antics started to take over and a training ground bust up with Steven Taylor in 2010, which left Taylor with a broken jaw and Carroll needing an operation on his hand, was followed by him pleading guilty to a serious assault whilst partying in Newcastle.

Joey Barton

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The midfielder came with serious baggage and at the start of the 2008/09 season he was retrospectively banned for six matches, with a further suspended six-match ban, for assaulting Ousmane Dabo on the training ground whilst at Manchester City.  

After missing three months with a knee injury in 2009, he announced his return with a straight red card for a sliding challenge on Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso.

By 2010/11, Barton was a first team regular but saw the red mist once again and punched Blackburn Rovers' Morten Gamst Pedersen in the chest and was given a retrospective three match ban and charged by the FA. 

Aleksandar Mitrovic

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It quickly became apparent that the bullish Serbian striker came with a wild side when he was booked 22 seconds into his debut after coming on as a substitute.

Two weeks later, the Serb was sent off in the 15th minute against Arsenal and, in the same season, became only the sixth player in Premier League history to score, assist and be sent off in a game when he was shown red for lunging at Kyle Walker's shins.

Lee Bowyer

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Infamous on Tyneside for the on pitch brawl with teammate Kieron Dyer in 2005, which is highly regarded as being one of the Premier League's most famous scraps.

Both players were sent off and given a three match ban but the incident had greater implications for Bowyer, as he was given an additional three-game ban and fined six weeks wages for throwing the first punch.

Alan Shearer

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The former Newcastle and England captain frequently came out on top in physical battles against defensive powerhouses and loved bullying those who dared to mark him.

Shearer was one of the few from his era who stood up to Roy Keane and their legendary confrontations always added that extra bite to Newcastle's games against Manchester United. The most famous coming in 2001, when Keane was sent off for swinging forShearer's face in a 4-3 win at St. James' Park.

David Batty

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His three red cards in the 1997/98 Premier League season is an unfortunate club record.

His most famous clash came in Newcastle's famous 5-0 victory over Newcastle United, when a naive Nicky Butt shoved Batty after a tackle. Relishing this type of confrontation, Batty proceeded to strangle the future Newcastle man - almost lifting him off his feet in the process.

Scott Parker

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Doesn't look like the stereotypical mould of a hard player but Parker added a hardness in midfield which is often overlooked and always gave everything in black and white.

The main reason for his inclusion is his bravery in a 1-0 win over Arsenal in 2005, when Jens Lehmann's raised knee knocked his tooth out and he refused to be substituted - playing on whilst biting on a cotton gauze before the physio forced the manager to take him off.

Cheick Tiote

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A centre midfield duo of Barton and Tiote must've been a frightening prospect for any opposition during the 2010/11 season. The Ivory Coast international was adored by the fans for never shying away from a tackle.

Tiote picked up 25 yellow cards in 50 league games on Tyneside. 

Stuart Pearce

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Pure passion and a rocket left foot, this frosty defender had the death stare down to a tee. Nicknamed 'Psycho' for obvious reasons, Pearce would hound the opposition in his dogged pursuit of the ball and loved immobilising pacy wingers with his thunderous tackles.

Famously used to enjoy kicking two shades out of Ruud Gullit when he joined in with training sessions whilst he was manager in 1998/99.

Billy Whitehurst

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Regarded as one of the hardest men to ever play the game, Whitehurst was signed from Hull City by Jack Charlton in 1985.

The Yorkshire-born striker grew a notorious reputation in the 1980s/90s with rumours circulating that he earned extra cash through bare knuckle boxing.

Even the elite in this category, Neil Ruddock and Vinnie Jones, labelled Whitehurst to be the meanest striker they've ever faced.