Britain has always been home to some of the most physical and aggressive matches in football and reckless challenges have therefore been a part of the Premier League's 27-year history.
From Roy Keane's horrible knee-capper on Alf-Inge Haaland to Martin Taylor's ruthless challenge on Eduardo, the division has seen more than its fair share of shocking tackles.
These are 10 of the worst challenges in the history of the top flight, in reverse order.
10. Callum McManaman on Massadio Haidara
Wigan vs Newcastle, March 2013
Massadio Haidara had just come on as a substitute for Newcastle when Callum McManaman steamed into an awful challenge above the Frenchman's knee.
He completely missed the ball and went full force into Haidara's thigh, leaving him to be taken off on a stretcher.
Referee Mark Halsey did not even award a free-kick for the tackle, leaving Newcastle's coaching staff furious as John Carver, along with Wigan first-team coach Graham Barrow, saw red at half-time, scuffling as the teams headed for the tunnel.
As McManaman received no card, and because one of Halsey's assistants did see it, albeit not clearly, the FA were unable to act.
But the tackle was so bad that at the end of the season the rules were changed to permit retrospective action 'when match officials are not in a position to fully assess a 'coming together' of players'.
9. Jamie Carragher on Nani
Liverpool vs Manchester United, March 2011
There is a ferocity about games between Liverpool and Manchester United that is pretty unique and Carragher's challenge on Nani is an eye-watering example.
A rash, studs-up kick from the Liverpool defender split open Nani's left leg, leaving a wound that needed five stitches and left him in tears on the Anfield pitch.
Carragher, who was lucky to escape with a yellow card, once said: 'I wanted to let him know I was ready for him, that he wasn't going to pass. I wanted to rattle his bones. But my first challenge was horribly mistimed and I clattered into his shin.
'I was lucky not to be sent off and luckier still that Nani was able to walk out of Anfield with just a gash in his leg.
'We beat United 3-1 that day but I wasn't able to enjoy the victory. It didn't feel right after what I had done and I was embarrassed when I saw the replays of the challenge. I tried to go into the United dressing room after the game to apologise, but they weren't interested in hearing what I had to say.'
8. Michael Brown on Sean Davis
Fulham vs Portsmouth, April 2006
Michael Brown was undoubtedly one of the toughest tacklers in the English game during his time at Sheffield United, Tottenham, Fulham and other clubs, but at times went way overboard with his aggression.
During this clash at Craven Cottage, Brown dived in two-footed on Portsmouth's Sean Davis as the ball bounced around between the midfield duo.
Brown was rightly sent off for the challenge and the incident left Davis accusing his former Spurs team-mate of trying to break his leg. That was an accusation Brown immediately denied.
He said: 'To be accused of deliberately going into a challenge to cause damage is absolutely sickening. I'm not that type of player, it was a committed challenge, mistimed I admit, but nothing more sinister than that.'
Davis had initially said: 'He tried to break my leg. I know as I saw him look at me and I know he tried to do me.'
7. Lucas Neill on Jamie Carragher
Blackburn vs Liverpool, September 2003
During a game at Ewood Park, Blackburn defender Lucas Neill saw red for an awful over-the-top challenge that left Jamie Carragher facing a six-month lay-off with a broken leg.
As Liverpool tried to clear their lines, Carragher received a short pass and Neill charged in before tackling his opponent dangerously high with plenty of aggression. He was immediately given a red card.
The challenge also sparked a war of words between both managers, Liverpool's Gerard Houllier and Graeme Souness of Blackburn. Souness said: 'You would have to have played the game to realise that these kind of things happen. There was one bad tackle from 28 players in the whole of the 90 minutes, even if two players ended up with bad injuries.'
Houllier believed Neill deserved more than a three-game ban, responding: 'I like to think of myself as a nice guy but in this case I am extremely unhappy with their behaviour during the incident, during the game and after the game. I am gutted. To break a leg when a player is wearing shinpads takes something.'
6. Michael Brown on Ryan Giggs
Manchester United vs Fulham, August 2006
As we said, Brown had a reputation for being one of the Premier League's dirtiest players - and thanks to this shocker at Old Trafford he's the only offender to appear twice on this list.
Brown jumped onto Ryan Giggs’ knees two-footed as the pair tussled for possession by the touchline during United's comfortable 5-1 win.
Referee Andre Marriner only booked Brown for the tackle, meaning the midfielder served no punishment.
Sir Alex Ferguson accused Brown of threatening Giggs' career. He said: 'It is not fair. If you go back a couple of years, Wayne Rooney got a three-match ban for tickling Tal Ben Haim, yet Brown gets away with a career-threatening tackle like that on Ryan Giggs.
'In fairness, it was FIFA who changed the rule to ensure nothing can be done once a referee shows a yellow card and that is something we have to live with.
'But it has to be said, the workings of the FA disciplinary committee is something that will always bemuse us.'
5. Ryan Shawcross on Aaron Ramsey
Stoke vs Arsenal, February 2010
Another infamous tackle that left Arsenal's Welsh midfielder sidelined for the best part of two years with a broken leg as a result.
The ugly incident came back in February 2010 when the Stoke defender clattered into Ramsey, who sustained fractures to the tibia and fibula in his right leg.
It was a full-blooded but utterly reckless challenge from Shawcross, who received a red card, and former Stoke team-mate Dave Kitson, now retired, recently shed light on just why the side were so fired up for the clash.
'I heard the crack of Ramsey's leg from the bench,' Kitson recalled in his Sun column. 'I heard the screaming.
'The build-up to the game contributed to this moment. Stoke manager Tony Pulis absolutely despised Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, hated the way he played. All week I had never seen a manager so desperate to win a game of football, it was bordering on out of control.
'I remember Pulis pacing up and down shouting random things - this bundle of nervous energy blurting random swear words, trying to burn off his own nervous energy. And, of course, the upshot of all of that energy was that we went over the top and it cost Ramsey a year of his career.'
4. Kevin Nolan on Victor Anichebe
Newcastle vs Everton, February 2009
During a Premier League clash at St James' Park, Kevin Nolan produced a disgusting two-footed tackle while jumping in the air on the former Everton striker.
The long-lasting damage was so severe that the Magpies had to pay Anichebe a six-figure sum of money. He was forced to undergo two operations because the lunge damaged cartilage in his right knee.
Nolan apologised for the tackle but Anichebe suffered a succession of minor injuries as he battled to regain his fitness following the collision.
Anichebe instructed his lawyers to sue Newcastle for potential loss of earnings as he argued he had lost out on a substantial sum of appearance bonuses on top of his regular wage with Everton. The case was eventually settled out of court for a substantial sum.
3. Ben Thatcher on Pedro Mendes
Manchester City vs Portsmouth, August 2006
This is arguably more of an assault than a tackle.
As Mendes attempted to hook the ball to safety down the line at the Etihad Stadium, Thatcher charged into the Portuguese midfielder while smacking him with his elbow.
The blow saw Mendes slide into the advertising hoardings and left him unconscious. He then required oxygen at pitchside and suffered a seizure while being transferred to hospital. Mendes was discharged the next day, but remained under medical supervision.
Thatcher was somehow not sent off but given just a yellow card. He was banned for six matches, two of which would be suspended, and fined six weeks' wages for the challenge.
Mendes said after the incident: 'I do not remember anything after that until I was in hospital. It is the worst thing that has ever happened to me in my career. At first I had real fear about possible after-effects of the incident but the doctors are optimistic I will be ok. The tackle was totally unnecessary but I am not the referee and the decision from now on does not depend on me.'
2. Martin Taylor on Eduardo
Birmingham vs Arsenal, February 2008
In just the third minute of the game at St Andrew's, Martin Taylor looked to stamp his authority on the game when he flew into a fierce tackle on Arsenal striker Eduardo.
It was a shocking collision that left the diminutive Croatian forward with a compound fracture to his left fibula and an open dislocation of his left ankle.
So severe was the damage, Eduardo received treatment on the pitch for seven minutes before undergoing surgery at a local hospital. The injury was so grimacing that Sky Sports even refused to show replays.
Taylor was sent off for the offence but Arsene Wenger called for the robust defender to be banned from the game for life in his post-match press conference. Even FIFA waded in with disgraced former president Sepp Blatter requesting their disciplinary chairman review the matter.
FIFA called on the FA to increase Taylor's punishment from the standard three-match ban but the domestic body refused to do so as there was no suggestion of intent.
1. Roy Keane on Alf-Inge Haaland
Manchester United vs Manchester City, April 2001
There is no better - or worse - place to finish this list than Roy Keane's shocking tackle on Alf-Inge Haland in the Manchester derby.
Four years previously Haaland, who was playing for Leeds, had accused Keane of 'faking' pain after the Irishman went down in the penalty area following their collision at Elland Road. He clearly wasn't as he subsequently missed nearly a year of action with a cruciate ligament injury.
Then, in 2001, Keane got his own back by producing a horrible challenge that all but ended Haaland's career. During the derby at Old Trafford, Keane flew into a tackle on the City player with his studs up into the knee.
In his autobiography, Keane said it was an act of vengeance over Haaland. 'I’d waited long enough. I f****** hit him hard. The ball was there (I think). Take that you c***,' were his infamous quotes. 'And don’t ever stand over me again sneering about fake injuries.'
Keane was sent off for the foul, fined £5,000 and given a three-match ban. But after his book emerged, Keane found himself subject to an FA inquiry and received an additional five-game ban, and £150,000 fine, despite claiming his ghostwriter had embellished his real words.
Haaland has said: 'I'm only glad my leg was off the ground, otherwise he would have done me a lot of damage'.
