Stupidest red card in Premier League history | Soccer News

Some red cards in football create a sense of injustice, while others simply create disbelief over time. Or, even better, hilarity.

Some layoffs are unfortunate, some are deserved, but some of the rarer and more interesting layoffs are purely bizarre.

Fans have already been treated to three treats in the Premier League this season.

This article is about the players’ weird moments, not anything the match officials got terribly wrong.

For example, the wrongful red card involving Arsenal’s Kieran Gibbs and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at Stamford Bridge in March 2014 was such a bad call that it was not brought up.

From hair pulling to handball, friendly fire to complete head loss, here are the 10 stupidest red cards in Premier League history.

Everton’s Six Minutes of Madness, 2026

Typically, ‘bizarre’ red cards occur every few games in the Premier League, but how unusual were the two red cards handed out in six minutes in the closing stages of Everton’s 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday.

Fans of the women’s game will quickly learn that hair-pulling is an automatic red card offense. Just look at the sending off of Germany’s Katherine Hendrich in the 2025 European Championship quarter-final against France, or the red given to West Ham United’s Ines Bellomu for a similar offense against Chelsea’s Alyssa Thompson in September.

That happens much less often in the men’s game, for obvious reasons. Everton goalscorer Michael Keane clearly forgot a little-used part of the rulebook when he was sent off after a VAR review in the 83rd minute for pulling Tolu Alokodea’s hair. Everton appealed this decision.

Jack Grealish showed a little too much cohesiveness. The on-loan Manchester City winger received a yellow card for a complaint about a red card.

Three minutes later, still playing smart with referee Thomas Kirk, he sarcastically applauded when a free-kick was awarded. This led to an automatic second yellow and Grealish followed Keane into the dressing room.

Steven Gerrard’s 38 second red card, 2015

Continuing the Rapid Red theme, Gerrard’s appearance as Liverpool lost 2-1 to Manchester United was quite unique.

The Liverpool captain was brought on as a substitute at half-time in a 1-0 lead between the two sides at Anfield in March 2015. Will Gerrard produce a memorable moment in his 30th and final appearance in the historic match?

Yes, but not as much as he expected. After the restart, it took less than a minute for the attacks to start flying. Gerrard responded to Ander Herrera’s strong tackle by stomping on the Spanish midfielder. Gerrard received an immediate red and later apologized to his team-mates and Liverpool fans.

Backpass rule broken Simon Tracey, 1992

The term “panic station” comes to mind. The backpass rule, which prevents goalkeepers from intentionally handling balls returned to them by teammates, was introduced in 1992 to improve the pace of the game.

In this case, it certainly provided plenty of entertainment for the audience. In the early days of the rule, in September 1992, Sheffield United goalkeeper Tracy became its signature player. He received the pass and tried to dribble past the onrushing Tottenham Hotspur player.

Instead, he took the ball out for a throw-in, tried unsuccessfully to wrest the ball back from the ball boy, and flattened a Spurs player who tried to take Tracy out of position and receive the throw-in. Tracy, the linesman, lunged forward to rugby tackle an opponent who was sitting in the front row. Naturally, the keeper was sent off.

Steven Taylor’s goalkeeping heroics, 2005

To be fair, it was a good save, but it’s not an acceptable save for an outfielder. Newcastle United defender Taylor was the last man standing to face Aston Villa’s Darius Vassell as he drove into an empty net.

Taylor sacrificed himself to block Vassell’s shot with his hand, keeping the score at 1-0. He was neither the first nor the last outfield player to be forced to play goalkeeper, but he appeared to try to prove that he had been hit in the torso and not the hand, sinking to the ground as if he had been shot, making his sending off memorable.

Referee Barry Knight was unimpressed and Taylor’s performance was not enough to keep him on the pitch. But that wasn’t the most famous red card of the match…

The Civil War between Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer, 2005

It is no exaggeration to say that these two red cards are almost unique in the history of the Premier League. Supporters may be rooting for their players to be sent off for defying their opponents, but Bowyer and Dyer got into a fistfight in that 3-0 defeat (at 2.38 in the video above).

In some ways, the tension behind the scenes meant a fight was brewing, as The Athletic detailed that day. But the way it exploded on the pitch, with the aftermath of a hastily scheduled press conference – with both Dyer and Bowyer dragged before the media like schoolboys sent to the principal’s office, was unprecedented.

Ricardo Fuller slaps Andy Griffin, 2008

This did not quite match the spectacle of the battle between Dyer and Bowyer. Fuller’s red card for slapping the Stoke City captain is another classic of the genre, although mainly because his team-mates quickly broke things up.

Moments after West Ham’s Carlton Cole made it 1-1, replays showed Griffin and Fuller staggering towards each other. In what was clearly an unfortunate but relatively low-key exchange, Fuller reached around a teammate separating the two and slapped the captain in the face.

Stoke lost 2-1. Griffin later described the incident as a “violent argument” in the program notes, but the two appeared to have resolved the issue and played together at Stoke until Griffin’s departure in January 2010.

Fuller later told BBC Radio Stoke that it had “made us stronger as a unit”. Perhaps it would have been a better idea for the confidence to fall during training.

Idrissa Gayet slams 2025

The next time he was sent off for punching a team-mate in the Premier League was a 17-year gap, and Gueye’s red card at Old Trafford in November paled in comparison. In the 13th minute, Guyet and Keane started to get annoyed with each other.

After some pushing and shoving, Guye slapped his teammate. The only relief was if the force used was deemed “negligible”, but referee Tony Harrington didn’t think so.

Manager David Moyes said the team had progressed quickly, adding: “We want passion. We don’t always want the style that we showed on Monday night, but we certainly want that passion and that dedication from all of our players.” Keenan Dewsbury-Hall certainly helped to soften the blow as Everton won 1-0.

Cesc Fabregas hitting Chris Brunt with the ball, 2015

It’s an incident that Fabregas can laugh about now, but the former Chelsea, Arsenal and Spain midfielder’s antics in that match summed up an unusual off day for Chelsea in 2014-15. West Bromwich Albion defeated Jose Mourinho’s already-crowned champions 3-0 in May 2015, despite playing the majority of the game with 10 men.

Referee Mike Jones had to calm the crowd in the box as Tony Pulis’ side took the lead at Side Berahino. If Fabregas, closest to the loose ball on the other side of the area, was going to hit Chris Brunt on the head, it was a pinpoint cross.

Perhaps he was bored with the ensuing confrontation and did not think too deeply about where the ball would land as he sent it flying into the crowd of players. Chelsea lost 3-0, one of just three defeats in the title-winning season.

Yusuf Mulumbu’s Pinpoint Pelter, 2013

Now, this was certainly intentional and delivered with impressive precision.

When West Brom lost 3-1 to West Ham in stoppage time in March 2013, Mulumbu was clearly not in the mood when Gary O’Neill cheekily tried to pull him back as Mulumbu tried to break through from his own half.

Before referee Andre Marriner could blow his whistle, Mulumbu literally took matters into his own hands, picked up the ball and punted hard toward O’Neal.

No harm was done to the West Ham players or the recently appointed Strasbourg manager, and Mulumbu was sent off.

Gabriel Martinelli’s super efficient double yellow, 2022

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said after Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Wolves in February 2022. The Spaniard was not talking about Gabriel’s winning goal, but about Martinelli’s unusual feat of being presented with three cards (two yellows and the resulting red) in a matter of seconds.

Leading 1-0, Martinelli pushed Daniel Podence in an attempt to delay the throw-in. Referee Michael Oliver played in his favor and Martinelli, chasing after Chiquinho, clearly thought enough time had passed for Oliver to put the past behind him.

it’s not. Martinelli stopped the Wolves forward’s advance and Oliver beckoned for a yellow card to be issued for both fouls, handing the Brazilian forward his marching orders.

This article was originally published on The Athletic
© 2026 Athletic Media Company