logo
logo

17 times ball boys went rogue, ft. Hazard, Walker, Vertonghen & more

Ball boys aren’t really supposed to even be noticed, but sometimes they are – as Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham players have found out over the years.

Eden Hazard kicking the Swansea ball boy is one of the most bizarre tales, but that wasn’t the only case of pitchside youngsters getting too involved.

Here are more times the ball boys got a little more involved than they should have.

Tunisian Ligue 1

We’re not sure why the ball boy has this player’s boot, and we’re not sure why he decided to throw it into the crowd, but we’re very glad all of this happened.

Ballboy throws in the stands a player’s shoe, who retaliates afterwards (Tunisian Ligue 1) from r/soccer

Yeovil

When one of Yeovil’s ballboys started time-wasting towards the end of the Glovers’ 3-1 win over Bromley, the referee amusingly decided to send him off.

Then, for reasons we can’t quite explain, he decided to send the rest of them off, too.

On 90 minutes, Yeovil tweeted again: ‘The referee runs to get a ball for Adam Smith (because he’s sent the ball boys off…).’

Brilliant.

Wolves vs Hull City

With Hull’s coaching staff keeping the ball between them to waste time, one Wolves ball boy took matters into his own hands, much to the delight of the home support.

Jan Vertonghen

This ball boy at Bournemouth’s Dean Court wasn’t happy when Vertonghen tried to get the ball off him, throwing it at the defender and bouncing it away. But he got a good telling off for it.

Eden Hazard

The most famous of ball boy clashes. Tom Victor got really into it.

READ: A forensic analysis of Eden Hazard kicking the Swansea City ball boy

Isaac Success

The best wink since Cristiano Ronaldo got Wayne Rooney sent off at the 2006 World Cup.

Kyle Walker

The cheek of this in a Manchester derby…

Spurs vs Bolton

At least everyone seemed to see the funny side of this one in 2010. This ball boy was a bit too eager to retrieve the ball, doing so before it had even gone out of play.

Sulley Muntari

Muntari scored AC Milan’s winning goal in this match at Chievo Verona, but one of the home ball boys still didn’t want his shirt.

Kevin Mirallas

The fake throw. The shove. Classic.

Spurs vs Famagusta

Why always Spurs? This just takes the title ‘ball boy’ a bit too literally.

Alexis Sanchez

Consider yourself duped.

Rob Green

Wholly unnecessary, but downright bloody brilliant.

The non-league kid.

There’s something a bit bizarre going on in this youngster’s mind.

Joe Hart

Hart lived up to the stereotype of the Brit abroad at the 2014 World Cup, swearing at the locals.

Facundo Ferreyra

The looming possibility of Shakhtar Donetsk getting knocked out of the Champions League on away goals by Roma obviously got to Ferreyra, who took it all out on this poor ball boy.

Simon Tracy

It’s a very harsh red card, but the ball boy has absolutely rinsed the former Sheffield United goalkeeper, here.


More from Planet Football

A forensic analysis of Eden Hazard kicking the Swansea City ball boy

Six Brits abroad who made everyone cringe: Moyes, McClaren, Adams…

Watch: Son Heung-min’s latest brilliant handshake with Serge Aurier

Can you name the last all-English Premier League starting XI from 1999?