Ginger people will be quick to tell you that they are persecuted on a regular basis. For some reason, the wider world has decided that being ginger is something to be laughed at and mocked, in spite of how fair or otherwise that actually is. Red-headed women are amongst the most beautiful, which is why the filmmakers decided to give Jessica Rabbit ginger hair. It is only right, therefore, to give the redheads their due, especially in a sporting context. As a result, this is our look at the best eleven footballers and manager to have boasted a gloriously ginger look.
It isn’t intended to be a conclusive list, so if you think we’ve missed someone out, then there’s a good chance that we probably have…
Goalkeeper: Oliver Kahn
Some might imagine that the German goalkeeper was more of a strawberry blonde, but that is what people say when they don’t want to say that they’re ginger. Oliver Kahn was born in the city of Karlsruhe in Germany and played for Karlsruher SC as both a junior and senior player.
@goalkeepersanonymous Is the goalkeeping goat? #fyp #goalkeeper #football #bundesliga #football #foryou ♬ Sicko Drop – KVSH & Schillist
It is when he moved to Bayern Munich that his career really took off, though, winning eight Bundesliga titles as well as the Champions League, UEFA Cup and numerous domestic cups. With Germany, he won the Euros in 1996, missing out on the World Cup six years later.
Left-Back: John Arne Riise
There will be some Liverpool supporters who question whether John Arne Riise is even the best red-head they’ve ever seen, let alone the best left-back. In truth, though, there isn’t exactly a wealth of red-headed players that we can turn to and declare to be must-start players in our XI.
As a result, the Norwegian makes it into our team almost by default. He did win Ligue 1 with Monaco as well as both the League Cup and the FA Cup with Liverpool, plus the UEFA Super Cup where he scored in a 3-2 win. Add in the Champions League win with the Reds and you can see why we had to choose him.
Centre-Back: Alexi Lalas
Born in Michigan in the United States of America, Alexi Lalas was one of those rare things: an American footballer who didn’t wear pads and a helmet when he played. His senior career began with the Italian side Padova before he returned home to play with the New England Revolution.
From there, he went to the MetroStars, which would later become the New York Red Bulls, before lining up with the Kansas City Wizards and then ending his career playing for the Los Angeles Galaxy. He was regularly selected by the United States, winning the US Cup with them in 1995.
Centre-Back: Wes Brown
Wesley Michael Brown was born in Manchester on the 13th of October 1979 and joined the Manchester United Academy before becoming a first-team player for the Red Devils in the 1996-1997 season. Although often considered by many to be more of a squad player, he was somewhat invaluable to them.
In fact, he played more than 200 times in the Premier League for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, picking up five Premier League winners’ medals as well as two FA Cups, two League Cups and two Champions Leagues. He was also a League Cup runner-up later in his career with Sunderland.
Right-Back: Tony Hibbert
Born in Liverpool, Tony Hibbert was originally a midfielder before being converted to play at right-back. Having grown up as an Evertonian, Hibbert will have been delighted to join the Blues’ academy before eventually making it into the first team in the 1999-2000 season.
He went on to play more than 250 league games for the Toffees, although he never won a meaningful trophy with them. If you question the validity of his place in the Ginger XI, bear in mind that he was substituted at half-time when Everton lost the FA Cup to Chelsea in 2009 because of sunstroke.
Defensive Midfield: Ronald Koeman
Also in with a shot of being the Ginger XI’s manager, Ronald Koeman could also have been included in the defence if you really wanted him to be. In spite of his more defence-minded approach to the game, he scored more than 250 goals during his playing career.
Having played for Groningen, Ajax and PSV Eindhoven in his native Holland, he signed for Barcelona in 1989 and added four La Liga titles to the same number of Eredivisie titles that he picked up. He also won the Champions League with the Spanish giants, as well as the Euros with Holland.
Central Midfield: Paul Scholes
It is back to Manchester United for our next ginger footballer, this time for arguably one of the most famous of them all. Considered to be one of the best English midfielders ever to grace the game, Paul Scholes spent his entire professional career with the Red Devils until he retired in 2013.
Whilst he was never one you wanted to see going in for a tackle, given his propensity to give away a foul, he played nearly 500 times for the club in the Premier League and won the title 11 times, as well as three FA Cups, two League Cups and the same number of Champions Leagues.
Left-Midfield: Kevin De Bruyne
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Whether Kevin De Bruyne started to dye his hair as he became more famous is something that we couldn’t possibly comment on, but it’s fair to say that he very much earned his place in our Ginger XI. The Belgian player struggled in the Premier League with Chelsea, but lit it up when he returned.
He left Stamford Bridge having failed to make an impact, but did enough with VfL Wolfsburg to persuade newly-rich Manchester City to sign him. There, he became one of the all-time great players in the top-flight, winning six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, five League Cups and the Champions League.
Right-Midfield: Steve McManaman
His flowing locks might’ve looked more strawberry blonde as he ran down the wing, but the freckles gave away the fact that he was a ginger at heart. Having grown up an Evertonian, Steve McManaman joined the ranks of other players who realised his best chance of success was in playing for their Merseyside neighbours.
He played more than 200 times for Liverpool, winning an FA Cup and a League Cup, before moving to Real Madrid on a Bosman. There he won two La Liga titles as well as the same number of Champions Leagues, later briefly playing for Manchester City before the oil money.
Striker: John Hartson
Hartson went bald in later life, but the ginger beard told the truth about the veracity of his ability to be included in our Ginger XI. Born in Swansea, he played for the likes of Luton Town, Arsenal and West Ham United before eventually making his way north of the border and lining up for Celtic.
He had failed to win any silverware in England, his closest being the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup runners-up medal that he got with the Gunners in 1995. The same was not true in Scotland, though, where he won the Scottish Premier League, Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup.
Striker: Lee Hughes
If you think you’ve heard the name of Lee Hughes before, that might well be because he is the definition of a ‘journeyman’ footballer, playing for no fewer than 16 clubs during his career. It might also be because in the August of 2004 he was given a six-year prison sentence for death by dangerous driving.
That latter fact might well see him excluded from the starting XI of many people, which is entirely fair. The problem is that you are left with slim pickings when you’re limiting yourself to players with ginger hair, so we’re looking at the fact that he did his time as a sign that he earned his place here.
Manager: David Moyes
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In the latter stage of his career, David Moyes was a silver fox, winning West Ham United the club’s first European trophy before heading back to Goodison Park for his second spell with Everton. During his playing career, however, he was very much a ginger lad who looked to help Celtic keep a clean sheet as a strong centre-back.
@alfie.harrison1878 Davey Moyes toffeemen are back. 🔵⛴️ | #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #everton #goodisonpark #davidmoyes #westham #Scotland #football #PremierLeague #trending ♬ original sound – Alfie Harrison
Although he went on to play for the likes of Cambridge United and Bristol City, it is probably with Preston North End that he became best known thanks to the fact that he played nearly 150 league games for the team. He also became their manager after retiring, setting him on a path he would trod for several decades.