Wayne Rooney and the Top 10 hostile crowd receptions for returning former favourites

By Mirror Football in Mirror Football Blog

Published 23:00 08/09/10

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Everton fans have promised returning former hero Wayne Rooney a hot reception following revelations he let his tackle do the thinking while his fingers did the walking,

At least Rooney can rest assured he's not the first player to suffer outrage at the hands of an unforgiving public after getting himself in trouble.

MirrorFootball's Richard Arrowsmith looks at 10 other returns that have stirred crowd hostility to the extreme...

10) Peter Shilton
Shilton was caught with his trousers down by the husband of a woman he was entertaining in his car before driving into a lamppost as he tried to escape. For allowing his supposedly safe hands to wander he was subjected to a barracking from the terraces to the tune of 'Shilton, Shilton, where's your wife?'

9) Cristiano Ronaldo
The Portuguese 'faking winker' was christened football's public enemy No. 1 after the part he played in England's demise at 2006 World Cup. Even ze Germans jeered his every touch during the following semi-final against France, although that must have sounded like sweet music compared to the abuse he received on his return to the Premier League.

8) Robbie Savage
MirrorFootball columnist Sav earned the wrath of Spurs supporters after his theatrics got Justin Edinburgh sent off in the 1999 League Cup Final - and it's a grudge that's never been forgotten. Whenever he returns to White Hart Lane he gets hate-filled abuse far beyond the usual pantomime insults he has come to expect at other grounds.

7) Justin Fashanu
The first professional footballer to admit being gay must have wondered if he'd have been better off staying in the closet after being subsequently denounced by practically everyone in the game, including his own brother. Fashanu was farmed out to a succession of small clubs and was given homophobic treatment at every turn before his tragic suicide in 1998.

6) Paul Ince
Ince infuriated West Ham supporters when he was pictured wearing a Manchester United shirt before his transfer had been completed. He's been greeted with heart-felt invective every time he's returned since, irrespective of which club he's representing.

5) Lee Hughes
Hughes may have served the time but few supporters will let him forget the crime after he was jailed for a hit and run incident that claimed the life of another driver. He was released from prison and joined Oldham where he encountered a cauldron of abuse typified by the cutting chants of 'Murderer, Murderer'.

4) Ashley Cole
Cole earned the nickname 'Cashley' after almost crashing his car when he found out he was 'only being offered £55,000 a week' to stay at Arsenal. That was always going to rankle Gunners fans, and when he returned as a Chelsea player, spectators waved specially printed fake bank notes at him.

3) John Terry
Terry is no stranger to the odd indiscretion during his career but none have stirred public vitriol as much as his playing away with Wayne Bridge's former girlfriend Vanessa Perroncel. Capello revoked his England captaincy and Stoke fans spent 90 minutes reminding him of it on his return. Terry arguably got the last laugh though after he celebrated a goal by flaunting his Chelsea captain's armband.

2) David Beckham
Before his reinvention as media darling 'Goldenballs', Beckham's petulant sending off at the 1998 World Cup was made the scapegoat for England's early exit. Such was the vilification back home that an effigy of Becks was hung from a lamp-post near Upton Park and some England fans sang vile songs about his wife and wished cancer on his children. Fortunately, that last-minute free-kick for England against Greece helped elevate Brand Beckham to its current popularity.

1) Sol Campbell
The former Tottenham defender committed the cardinal sin of crossing the North London divide - on a free transfer no less - despite insisting he would never play for the Arsenal. His first return to White Hart Lane was met by snarling-faced fans waving posters and balloons bearing the oft used slogan 'Judas - and time time is unlikely to ever mend this broken relationship.

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