There is only one reason why big Dunc’ is on this list and that is protection. Sometimes when you go out it is inevitable, whether you deserve it or not, that trouble might find you at some point. There is no other footballer – past or present – that I would rather have by my side in a pub brawl than Duncan Ferguson. The fact that Ferguson has four assault convictions (two for taxi-rank scuffles), a 3-month prison sentence for a head-butt whilst playing football shows that Ferguson does not shy away from a fight. However, the story of how he put a burglar in hospital for attempting to rob his house, a personal favourite story of mine, was a key factor in why Ferguson won the battle to be one of the top five footballers to go down the pub with (especially if it could get messy).