Gareth Barry, Lee Cattermole, Joey Barton, Vinnie Jones… the dirtiest Premier League footballers of all-time, revealed
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LEE CATTERMOLE, Joey Barton, Vinnie Jones... these are usually the names that spring to mind when you think of "dirty" footballers.
But who is in fact the most card-happy player in the history of the Premier League?
According to research from DirtyPlayers.co.uk, none of the trio above are the filthiest footballers of the past 25 years.
In fact, that "honour" goes to West Brom midfielder Gareth Barry.
The former Aston Villa, Manchester City and Everton man has picked up more "dirty points" - based on 25pts for a red card and 5pts for a yellow - than any other player.
Barry has racked up 745 points during his long career... but is he technically the dirtiest player?
After all, the ex-England international has played 636 times - averaging 1.19 dirty points per game.
Perhaps it would be fairer to look at which player holds the highest per game ratio... with that title going to Sunderland man Cattermole.
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Incredibly, the feisty midfielder averages 2.08 dirty points per game, just ahead of Barton (2.01).
Cattermole and Barton are the only two players to average two or more points per game, with Vinnie Jones just behind at 1.93.
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Patrick Vieira, Danny Mills, Dennis Wise and David Batty are all unsurprising inclusions in the top ten - all above 1.69 points per game.
El Hadji-Diouf, Lee Bowyer, Duncan Ferguson and Roy Keane also crack the top 20 at 1.42 dirty points per game or more.
Ferguson, Vieira and Richard Dunne boast the highest "red" dirty points with 200 apiece - the equivalent of EIGHT sendings-off.
Meanwhile, it's Barry who's way out in front in the "yellow" dirty points standings, at 595.
