Professional footballers, superstar and still be fat? That may have gone back then. You could think. Maybe in the 50s. When Helmut Rahn and Ferenc Puskás were still kicking the ball.
But wrong. Also in the last 30 years, there were them. The successful fatteners. They had already from the beginning of their career a few kilos too much on it. And they didn’t care at all about that and their performance, too. But there are also other examples.
The JoJo fatteners sometimes thick, sometimes thin and the “Pork Out” fatteners who gained weight every year until it was no longer possible. Sometimes it was the sweet life, alcohol or other drugs, sometimes it was protracted injuries. The reasons for the fattening are manifold.
We’ve compiled the list of the 23 fattest professional footballers of all time, who were either successful despite being fat, cult or somehow stood out from the monotony. And numbers 4, 12, 18 and 22 are real legends. In their own way.
Is he the best soccer player of all time? Or Pele after all? Or Messi? Anyway, in 2005, he had to have his stomach reduced. Too fat. He belonged to the Jojo category during his career.
Sometimes he was thin, sometimes fat, sometimes in between. That had a lot to do with lifestyle, drugs, and predisposition. Whether he is the best soccer player of all time or Pele, or Messi or CR7, has not been decided.
Maradona is the best sometimes fat footballer of all time in any case. And an example of the Jojo Pork out syndrome. Pork out syndrome stands for the American husbands who increase by an average of 1 kilogram every year after marriage.
We use the term “footballer” to describe a person who, at some point, reduced his or her urge to move, but not his or her calorie intake. However, they tried to lose weight when they noticed that their stature changed from Gothic to Baroque. That worked at first but was not permanent. Then it went one step back in weight and two steps forward – JoJo.
At the 1994 World Cup, he didn’t pass the drug test and put it on a drink he had taken to lose weight. Well.
Fat Rating: 4/10 Performance (when fat) Rating: 7/10
Fat Flop or Chubby Champion? FAT FLOP
When you saw Steve McNulty on a soccer field, you thought of something like the Kreisliga in Middle Franconia on Sundays at 11.00 a.m. or the equivalent in Northern England.
Professional football – that just looked wrong. That’s why Steve McNulty did his apprenticeship in Liverpool but then worked for clubs like Tranmere Rovers or Luton Town for 13 years. But there he was always a cult player. After all, he was captain of Liverpool FC U19 and was trained at Anfield Academy. He was Luton’s Player of the Year in the 2013-14 promotion season and was sold to Brentford for GBP 600,000. He was also named to the PFA League Two Team of the Year.
So long Sumo. You could have become a real big guy. Instead, his career now comes to an end with the Tranmere Rovers in the 5th division in England.
It was not bad for someone who was born in 1983 and whose diet consisted of pints and pies.
Fat Rating: 9/10 Performance (when fat) Rating: 9/10
Fat Flop or Chubby Champion? CHUBBY CHAMPION
The Dane played 33 times for the national team and was the brain of the Liverpool midfield in the late 80s and early 90s. He took part in the European Championship in 1984 and the World Championship in 1986.
Jan Mölby is a cousin of Johnny Mølby, who became European Champion in 1992. Mølby started his professional career in his hometown at Kolding IF. There he was appointed team captain at the age of 19. He quickly recommended himself outside Denmark and moved to Ajax Amsterdam in 1982, where he was to play for two years.
In 1984 he moved to the Premier League at FC Liverpool. Cult on Anfield Road because of his stature and attitude to life, his career went down the drain when he seriously injured himself after 1992 foul in the game against ManU. Every time he was injured, he increased a lot. But this time he didn’t come back properly.
In Liverpool, he was a feared penalty shooter. Of the 62 goals he scored for the club, 42 were goals scored by penalty kicks. In a cup match against Coventry City, he even managed a penalty-hat trick. In 1995 he was awarded several times. First, he played for FC Barnsley, then for Norwich City. He then went to Swansea City, where he played until 1998.
Fat Rating: 8/10 Performance (when fat) : 7/10
Fat Flop/Chubby Champion? CHUBBY CHAMPION
Page1of5
Ligalive Daily – the day-to-day newsletter by Ligalivenet. Delivered by 6.00 a.m. to your inbox. Getting smarter in five minutes.
I’d like to invite you to become Ligaliveplus member. Getting smarter, being entertained, spotting deals. Coming soon.