Former Everton forward and Premier League hard man Duncan Ferguson once ‘scared’ an England icon on the pitch after a match.
Ferguson, 53, was one of the most-feared forwards during his time in the Premier League with Everton and Newcastle United.
Several so-called hard men, including Roy Keane, Neil Ruddock and Dennis Wise, have previously recalled battles with Ferguson, but an England icon once caught the brunt of an angry Ferguson after a Premier League game.
Ferguson would often raise his game when the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United visited Goodison Park.
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Jamie Carragher once explained how Ferguson elbowed him in the lip during the ex-Liverpool man's first Merseyside derby, but it was another former England player who wound up on the wrong side of the Scot after another game.
When speaking to Chris Stark and former Premier League striker Peter Crouch on ‘The Peter Crouch Podcast’, Ferguson revealed how he ‘refused’ to shake David Beckham’s hand after a match.
Ferguson said: "David Beckham? I blanked David Beckham. He came up to me, I said, 'get tae f*ck'. You know? It's David Beckham. Icon. I couldn't have laced his boots.
"I'm just playing up to a stupid thing where I don't shake people's hands. He just looked at me and I walked away like 'f*ck off'. I wish I met him now, I'd be dragging his shirt off him! And he'd be blanking me now, wouldn't he? "He'd be saying 'who's that?'"
In another interview with the Mirror, he elaborated further: “After a game, when the final whistle went, I would just walk off the pitch. I would not go near anybody. Maybe that was building up that aura that I was a big hard case, and people would be saying, ‘don’t go near Duncan Ferguson, he’s going to flatten you’. Maybe I played on that a wee bit.
“As the years go on, you just think ‘what a t*** I was’! I should have been ripping the shirt off his back and keeping it as a memory for my kids. Cristiano Ronaldo? One of my sons idolised Ronaldo. I never even shook his hand. Daft things.
“So, David Beckham, sorry… although he will not be bothered his a*** about that. He won’t care two s***es!"
Topics: Everton, Premier League, Football, Roy Keane, Jamie Carragher, Peter Crouch, England
Luke Davies