10 Footballers Who Were HATED By Their Fanbases

10 Footballers Who Were HATED By Their Fanbases

In normal circumstances, fans fall in love with the players that pull on their club's shirt week after week. This is usually because the players feel a sense of pride and show that in their performances on and off the field.

However, in some circumstances, fans fall out with their own players due to many reasons and sometimes that relationship gets completely broken and the player ends up being booed by their own fans which can’t be a nice situation for either party involved to be in.

In this article, we are going to be taking a look at 10 footballers who became hated by their own fanbases.

10 Footballers Who Were HATED By Their Fanbases

Neymar Jr (Paris Saint-Germain)

Neymar Jr is without a doubt one of the greatest players of his generation and the ability he had with the ball at his feet made him a joy to watch for many. However, this wasn’t the case for PSG fans. Neymar became the most expensive transfer ever when he made his move to France; however, the PSG fans felt as if his constant injury issues were affecting the team’s success, especially in the Champions League and therefore they turned against him.

Harry Arter (Nottingham Forest)

Harry Arter’s career at Nottingham Forest following his move from AFC Bournemouth never really took off. The reason behind Nottingham Forest fans growing a hatred for their former player was due to the fact that he was on such high wages and refusing to leave the club even though he wasn’t in favour within the squad.

Ben White (England)

Back in 2022, Ben White left England’s World Cup camp during the tournament due to a reported falling out with assistant manager Steve Holland. Since this moment, Ben White hadn’t been included in any England squads until the most recent international break. During the matches in March it became quite clear that England fans hadn’t forgiven White and quite a few boos were directed towards him at Wembley.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🗣️ Jordan Henderson: "England fans booing Ben White? Some of the fans probably don't even know why they are booing. They listen to what is being said in the media, and a lot of the time what the media says isn't true."

"Not many people know the ins and outs of what happened in… pic.twitter.com/Lc2bQb5gmc

— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) March 30, 2026

Granit Xhaka (Arsenal)

Granit Xhaka was Arsenal captain when he fell out with the fans over him taking too long to leave the field when being substituted. His response to the jeers was out of order and he took his armband off and threw his shirt to the ground quite angrily. Due to this, he was stripped of captaincy by Mikel Arteta but did manage to turn a fair few fans around before he left the club.

Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)

When it comes to loyalty in football, Liverpool fans usually show a lot of it to their managers and players. However, when Trent Alexander-Arnold announced he was leaving the club at the end of last season, this was not the case. For the remainder of the season he was being booed by his own fans regularly even though he had spent his whole career at his boyhood club.

Trent. Booed at Anfield. I wish the story had a better ending. pic.twitter.com/ooepYp7X0K

— Tandy (@LFC_Tandy) May 11, 2025

Gareth Bale (Real Madrid)

Although Gareth Bale had a very successful career at Real Madrid, winning many trophies along the way, the fans never seemed to completely get behind him. His injury issues and pressure from the media turned the fans against Bale and potentially contributed to his early retirement in January 2023.

Emmanuel Eboue (Arsenal)

Although in this case the fans didn’t hate Emmanuel Eboue for quite as long as many players on this list, they still were very against him for a short period of time. This occurred during Arsenal’s 1-0 win against Wigan Athletic in 2008. Eboué was subbed on and off in the same game due to a poor performance which led to the fans booing him off the pitch, which briefly affected the relationship; however, it was rectified not long after.

Raheem Sterling (Chelsea)

Raheem Sterling’s time at Chelsea hasn’t gone exactly as many would have expected. The England international has struggled to make his mark on Stamford Bridge and in one game in particular in the FA Cup against Leicester City the fans let him know. After missing a penalty and a shocking free-kick, Sterling was booed off the pitch and hasn’t really featured much for the Blues since.

Michael Owen (Newcastle United)

The relationship between Michael Owen and Newcastle United fans isn’t a great one. This is largely due to Newcastle fans putting some blame on Owen for their 2009 relegation from the Premier League. Owen reportedly refused to play towards the end of the season to help the club to survive due to him having his eye on a move to Old Trafford in the summer.

Harry Winks (Leicester City)

Harry Winks has had a few situations during his time at Leicester that have made fans question his commitment and attitude. The most recent one occurred just last weekend when following a 1-0 defeat away at relegation rivals Portsmouth, Winks lashed out at fans on his way to the coach. Obviously the fans didn’t take this very well and made their thoughts clear on Tuesday night at the King Power Stadium as they booed Winks’ entrance onto the pitch.

“Winksy” getting into it with fans after the game.

This squad had more fight off the pitch than they do on it.

Pathetic.

Credit: @craiglcfc #lcfc pic.twitter.com/17GbjUA8bq

— Blue Tinted Glasses (@BlueTintedLCFC) April 18, 2026