The Premier League has hosted a host of stars with questionable discipline over the years, with one Manchester United icon among the dirtiest of all time. The division is no stranger to skulduggery and has featured a long line of players who are regular entries in the referee's black book. As such, the most carded players in the history of England's top flight is a who's who of ill discipline.
Players known for technical ability and dirty work
While some are famed for their technical ability and brilliant skills on the ball, others do their dirtiest work while out of possession. The division has cleaned its act up somewhat since the league rebranded in 1992, but there are those adept in the old ways.
Certain stars have played enough Premier League games that their yellow card counter ticked upwards through sheer volume. However, there are more than a couple of surprise entries as Express Sport looks back on which stars left their mark in more ways than one.
17. Joey Barton (78 yellow cards)
Joey Barton's 78 Premier League cautions are something of a feat considering he only made 269 appearances in the division, the fewest of any player included on this countdown. The ex-Manchester City, Newcastle and QPR enforcer is viewed by many as a typical example of football thuggery, and the officials often agreed.
16. Nicky Butt (79)
In addition to being sent off six times in the Premier League, 1999 Treble-winner Nicky Butt also racked up an (almost) impressive 79 yellow cards.
15. Phil Neville (82)
Phil Neville was the definition of a team player and made up for a certain lack of technical nous with his physical nature and workhorse mentality. As it so happened, that also landed the former Everton and Manchester United defender in bother with the officials at least 82 times.
14. James Milner (82)
It's to be expected that James Milner makes the cut considering he broke the Premier League's appearance record earlier this year, retiring with a ridiculous 658 games under his belt. It's also to be expected that kind of volume comes with a certain number of cautions, sitting level with the aforementioned Neville on 82.
13. Phil Bardsley (83)
When he wasn't knocking Wayne Rooney out in his spare time, Phil Bardsley was a hard-hitting full-back for the likes of Man Utd, Sunderland, Stoke City and Burnley at his day job.
