It’s not uncommon for fans to be abusive to rival players during games but for home supporters to be abusive towards their own player there must have been a falling out between the two. Here are 10 times fans have fallen out with their own player.
10. Rio Ferdinand – Man United
It may come as a surprise to some that Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand received abuse from United fans but back in 2005 this was the case.
Ferdinand was stalling on signing a new contract with the club whilst also flirting with a move to Chelsea. United fans weren’t best pleased with this and the center back was booed in all games during preseason.
The abuse must have worked because Ferdinand signed the contract and the rest is history.
9. Fernando Torres – Chelsea
Fernando Torres is one of the many forwards who fell to Chelsea’s No.9 shirt curse. Due to his horrid performances over several years at the club, Chelsea fans had enough.
On his 100th appearance for the club against Swansea in the League Cup Torres was booed all game and when he was replaced by Demba Ba, the stadium erupted in cheer.
8. Emmanuel Eboue – Arsenal
Eboue produced a simply terrible performance for Arsenal against Wigan. After coming on as a half-time sub the The Ivorian couldn’t get anything to go his way, with constant loose passes and poor tackles he had to be subbed off and was given an overwhelming amount of Abuse.
Eboue even went on to admit he cried over the incident.
7. Granit Xhaka – Arsenal
It finally seems that Arsenal might be getting back to where they want to be as a club, however back in 2019 this was far from the case.
Granit Xhaka was captain for the start of the 2019/2020 season but as things started to decline so did Xhaka’s behavior. When the Swiss international was subbed off against Crystal Palace he was met with abuse which led him to swear at home fans.
This action resulted in Unai Emery stripping Xhaka of the captaincy and handing it over to Aubameyang.
6. Wayne Rooney – England
Back in 2016 the England team was far from loved by fans due to poor performances and early exits from tournaments. This lack of love was finally shown after a lackluster performance against Malta in which England labored to a 2-0 win.
Rooney was the main target of abuse from fans due to his poor attitude and making no impact on the game.
5. David Beckham – LA Galaxy
In 2009 two years after moving to the MLS Beckham announced he was willing to sacrifice a big portion of his wage to stay on loan at AC Milan. This obviously angered LA Galaxy fans who proceeded to call him a “part-timer” and “fraud”.
However, Becks went on to repair his relationship with the fans by helping them win two MLS Cups in consecutive seasons.
4. Gareth Bale – Real Madrid
Even scoring Champions League final goals can’t protect you from abuse from your own supporters. There have been many occasions where Madrid fans have turned on Gareth Bale due to poor performances.
However, the Welshman hasn’t helped the situation with his infamous banner which says “Wales. Golf. Madrid, In that order”.
3. Neymar – PSG
After flirting with a move back to old club Barcelona for a full summer, Neymar couldn’t have expected a friendly return to the Le Parc des Princes.
Upon his return to PSG, Neymar was booed rigorously, even after he scored a last minute bicycle kick to win a game against Strasbourg. The Brazilian was targeted again after crashing out of the Champions League against Real Madrid after having a commanding lead.
2. Jorginho – Chelsea
Although Jorginho is now a key man for Chelsea after helping them win the Champions League and Club World Cup he did have a rough time at the club under Maurizio Sarri.
During a Europa League tie against Malmo, Jorginho was brought on for Ross Barkley and was welcomed by a chorus of boos at Stamford Bridge. This was quite harsh from Chelsea fans considering it was his debut season at the club. However it’s all in the past now and he is an excellent player for The Blues now.
1. Ashley Cole – England
Cole, an ex-Arsenal and Chelsea left-back, took the brunt of England fans’ frustrations during a 2008 win over Kazakhstan. The Three Lions went into the break level at 0-0 as Fabio Capello’s side struggled to break the deadlock.
England eventually scored and quickly went 2-0 up, before another wayward back pass from Cole handed Kazakhstan a lifeline. The hosts would go on to score three more times but Cole was still met with boos whenever he was on the ball. The left-backs private life definitely didn’t help matters due to his public marriage with Cheryl Tweedy.
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