Top 5 Most Red-Carded Players in Football History
Getting a red card in football is something every footballer expects during their career. No matter what you do, it’s almost inevitable that you would get sent off during your playing career. However, a few footballers take that to the extreme, collecting reds like they are going out of fashion. Today we present to you this (dis)honorable list of bad boys who have been sent off the most in their careers.
Here the top five most red-carded players in football history.
5. Paolo Montero
Paolo is a former Uruguayan international who played for 17 years between 1990-2007. The gifted but tough-tackling defender was a mainstay in Italian football, where he featured for Atalanta and Juventus. His aggressive style of play usually saw him enter the cautions book, earning himself a total of 21 red cards in his entire football career. Montero also holds the record for the most red cards received by a player in Serie A history, picking up 16 red cards during his time at Italy.
4. Alexis Ruano Delgado
The no-nonsense Spanish defender played for various clubs during his long career from 2002 to 2020. The center back notched up an astonishing 22 red cards during his playing days, featuring mostly for clubs in his native Spain, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. He never played for the Spanish senior national team despite his time with the cadet under 17, 19, 20, and 21 sides.
3. Cyril Rool
The French man was highly notorious for his tough tackling and aggressive style of play. During his 18-year career, Cyril amassed a whopping 25 red cards. The midfielder also managed to receive a whopping 187 yellows cards to cement his position as the bad boy of French football.
2. Sergio Ramos
The bad boy of Spanish football is no stranger to the caution booklet of the referee. The highly decorated footballer has been sent off an astonishing 27 times over the course of his career, he received 26 red cards while playing for Real Madrid out of which 21 were in La Liga, four in the Champions League and one in Copa del Rey. Ramos’s aggressive defending and gamesmanship often land him in the bad books of match officials. Sergio Ramos moved to PSG in the summer of 2021, and picked up his 27th red card in his third game for the club.
1. Gerardo Bedoya
When your nickname is ‘the beast’ then it will be no surprise that you will be topping the list of the most red-carded players in football history. The former Colombian international has received a gargantuan 46 reds in his 20-year football career. The most recorded for any footballer in history. He is usually featured as a defender or defensive midfielder. Since retiring, he has gone into coaching. Amusingly he was sent to the stands in his first game in charge as a manager.
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