Elimination in zero seconds! What are the fastest red cards in football?

Red cards are an integral part of football. Nobody wants to weaken their team, a few “outliers” did it in a really short time. Last time we brought you the list of players with the most red cards, now let’s see which players were sent off the fastest.

10. Steven Gerrard – 38 seconds

Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is a highly respected figure in England and beyond. Thirty-nine-year-old Gerrard has led the Reds to many trophies and has only missed out on the Premier League title in his career.

The Champions League winner is known for often keeping a calm head. As captain, that was sort of in his job description. However, in 2015, Gerrard was guilty of an ill-advised tackle that led to his sending off in record time.

During a match between Manchester United and Liverpool, the former England international came on after half-time but lasted just 38 seconds before walking off to the showers. Gerrard deliberately stomped on Ander Herrera’s foot, the referee noticed the incident and showed him a straight red card. Liverpool then lost the game to their arch rivals.

9. Jason Crowe – 33 seconds

Jason Crowe was a professional footballer for almost two decades, playing his entire life in England. But you probably won’t remember him much because he never played much in the Premier League. Although Crowe started his career at Arsenal, he didn’t play many games for the Gunners and was rather constantly sent out on loan before he eventually moved to Portsmouth in 1999.

However, the former player came to the attention of many football fans in 1997 after his rather infamous red card in a match against Birmingham City. Crowe, then an Arsenal player, came on in extra time of the Gunners’ League Cup match against Birmingham City.

The right-back was sent off after a high foot tackle on Martin O’Connor and instead of coming into the game as a ‘super sub’ he was sent off after 33 seconds.

8. Julio Migliaccio – 32 seconds

Sometimes in football you see such crazy moments that you think about and just can’t comprehend what you’ve witnessed. Former Italy international Giulio Migliaccio was involved in one of these crazy moments in 2015.

Migliaccio came on for Atalanta in a Serie A match against his former team Palermo. The midfielder came on in the second half and visibly struggled to assert himself against his former team. However, everything went wrong just seconds after he came on.

32 seconds after coming on, Migliaccio received a red card for a very unfortunate tackle. He went for a high ball and hit the opponent’s back with his foot. He should have seen nothing but a red card.

7. Mark Smith – 19 seconds

English goalkeeper Mark Smith has had a very prolific football career, during which he has changed eight clubs, most of which were in the lower leagues of English football. In 1994, the goalkeeper set an unwanted record when he was sent off in a third division match.

He was playing for Crewe Alexandra at the time and Smith went into the showers prematurely, after 19 seconds of the match against Darlington. Fans and players had barely settled in the stadium when the goalkeeper committed a tactical foul and prevented an opposition goal.

Smith’s sending off became the quickest red card in the history of the then Football League before that record was broken at the turn of the decade.

6. Kevin Pressman – 13 seconds

Former England goalkeeper Kevin Pressman played more than 500 games at club level before hanging up his cleats. Although this goalkeeper never made a name for himself at international level, the number of club games he played shows a man who was good at his job.

Pressman played in over 400 games for Sheffield Wednesday and it was at this club that he achieved the unenviable record of being sent off after just 13 seconds. He remains the fastest player to be sent off in Football League history.

5. Giuseppe Lorenzo – 10 seconds

Giuseppe Lorenzo is one of the many footballers who played their entire careers in Italy. The fifty-four year old player was born in Catanzaro, but his football career lasted only ten years and he never got the opportunity to play for the Italian national team.

Yet Lorenzo’s name is in the history books when it comes to the fastest red cards received in football history. In 1990, during a match between Bologna and Parma, the striker was ordered off by the referee after just ten minutes.

Lorenzo ignored all the rules of the game and punched an opposing player in the face. Violence is not allowed in football, so the referee duly showed him a red card. The scoreboard was lit for only 10 seconds when the striker got himself sent off.

4. David Pratt – 3 seconds

Three seconds was all it took for David Pratt to be red-carded during a Southern Premier League match between Chippenham Town and Bashley in 2009. The defender let his teammates down when he made a double tackle early in the game.

Pratt brought down midfielder Chris Knowles with a dangerous slide, sparking a brawl between players from both teams. With such a tackle, it was no surprise that the referee wasted no time in sending him off.

What is a surprise, however, is that the three seconds it took Pratt to receive a red card is not the fastest sending off in the history of football. In fact, there are three more incidents to come in this article.

3. Lee Todd – 2 seconds

How is it possible for a player to be sent off after just two seconds? Lee Todd has the perfect answer to that question. The English retired player is the player who actually owns this unwanted record. He may not have had an exceptional football career, but this early red card puts him in the top three fastest red-carded players of all time.

Surprisingly, Todd was not sent off for a dangerous tackle or for simulation. The former defender was given the punishment after making a remark to the referee during Sunday’s league game between Cross Park Farm and Taunton East Reach.

After the referee blew the whistle to start the game, he allegedly shouted. As Todd was close to the referee, he heard it and decided to send off the defender. Todd was red-carded after just two seconds.

2. Walter Boyd – 0 seconds

Former Jamaican international Walter Boyd was “miraculously” shown a red card after zero seconds. The striker was sent off when he came on as a substitute in a Third Division match between Swansea City and Darlington in 2000.

Swansea won a free kick and were about to send a centre into the box. However, there was still time for drama as a scuffle led to a bit of shoving and tug-of-war between the two players. In doing so, emotions flared and Boyd eventually elbowed an opposing player.

Referee Clive Wilkes saw the incident and showed the striker a straight red card for his violent act. In the end, the free-kick was barely taken when Boyd was sent off. It was virtually zero minutes after he came on.

1. Keith Gillespie – 0 seconds

Former Northern Ireland striker Keith Gillespie is first on the list of players to receive the fastest red card in football history. The 45-year-old has played for a number of English clubs, including Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United.

However, during his time at Sheffield United, Gillespie got himself sent off for a truly inexcusable tackle. The Blades faced Reading in the Premier League and Gillespie was sent on as a second-half substitute.

Instead of helping his team to victory, Gillespie swung his elbow at Reading midfielder Stephen Hunt just as he was about to take the throw-in. The game hadn’t even started when Gillespie was sent off for this reckless act.

Source: Sportszion