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Liverpool Echo

Sport

James Chittick

Aleksandar Mitrovic ban is nothing compared to Liverpool man and longest in English football history

Aleksandar Mitrovic Liverpool Luis Suarez Football Chelsea Eric Cantona Joey Barton Mark Bosnich Rio Ferdinand Sean Dyche

Aleksandar Mitrovic’s lengthy ban is nothing compared to some of the longest suspensions ever in English football, including the one given to ex-Liverpool striker Luis Suarez

Mitrovic has been handed an eight game ban following his recent dismissal against Manchester United, with the Premier League taking a strong stance on the Serbian’s aggressive outburst. In that match, Mitrovic put his hands on match official Chris Kavanagh, and was promptly shown a red card that will now see him out for the majority of Fulham’s Premier League run-in.

The striker has been in fine form for the Craven Cottage outfit, netting 11 times in 21 appearances this season, so his absence has already been felt. But despite being set for such a long time on the sidelines, Mitrovic’s ban is minimal compared to some of the longest in English football, with former Reds star Luis Suarez serving one of them.

Suarez was banned for ten games in 2013 after biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic. The referee actually missed the incident at the time, allowing Suarez to score a late equaliser to add insult to injury.

It wasn’t until after the game that the bite was picked up and a ban dished out, but it wasn’t the first time the Uruguayan had been in trouble for biting, nor would it be the last.

In 2010, while at Ajax, he was banned for seven games for biting PSV midfielder Otman Bakkal, but his longest biting ban came in 2014, where he was suspended for four months after sinking his teeth into Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini during the 2014 World Cup.

However, the longest ban in English football history belongs to an ex-Manchester United player, that many will not have heard of. Enoch West was a forward for United back in 1915, and was suspended for match fixing, along with three teammates and four Liverpool players.

Although he pleaded his innocence, West was handed a lifetime ban, which was not lifted until 1945, by which time West was 59 years old, and never played professional football again. A more well-known ban was that of United’s Rio Ferdinand, who missed eight months, and England’s 2004 Euro’s campaign, after the defender missed a drugs test.

But perhaps the most infamous ban in English football history was awarded to Ferdinand’s former Red Devils teammate, Eric Cantona. The French enigma was banned for a whopping nine months in 1995, after he vaulted the advertising hoardings and leapt into the crowd to karate-kick a Crystal Palace fan who had been shouting abuse at him.

There are disputed versions of what was said to Cantona to provoke such a reaction, but the striker was out of action for a long time following his moment of madness. Alongside Cantona, Paolo Di Canio was a player well-known for controversy, and the former Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham and Charlton Athletic forward was frequently on the wrong end of the officials.

But probably his most famous altercation came in a 1998 match for Wednesday against Arsenal. Having already been sent off, the Italian lashed out at the referee, who fell to the floor in a heap, landing Di Canio an 11 game ban.

Another infamous ban was the six months handed to Vinnie Jones, with the former Wimbledon player suspended and fined £20,000 for ‘bringing the game into disrepute’ following his appearance as the presenter on Soccer’s Hard Men.

Joey Barton is another name many will also associate with disciplinary issues, from scraps on the field to gambling scandals off of it, Barton was rarely far from trouble during his playing career. In 2017, the then QPR midfielder was handed a 17-month ban - later reduced - for a series of gambling offences, having breached the FA’s betting rules 1,260 times from 2006-2016.

Kolo Toure was handed a six-month ban while at Manchester City back in 2011 for failing a drugs test, as the former Ivory Coast defender accidentally ingested a banned substance via some water tablets. Adrian Mutu, formerly of Chelsea, was banned for seven months for using cocaine in 2004, which saw his club terminate his contract. The Romanian, who now manages Rapid București back in his home country, would again be banned for anti-doping-related issues while at Fiorentina several years later.

Mark Bosnich was another former Chelsea man to be banned for using cocaine, with the Australian goalkeeper missing nine months in 2002 before being released by the club. Bosnich struggled with addiction before returning home and signing for the Central Coast Mariners, and now works as a pundit.