5 weird phobias of footballers

Footballers are role models for every fan who loves the beautiful game. They attain greatness through tremendous dedication and hard work.

However monumental they might be following their deeds, footballers are still flesh, blood and bone just like us commoners. Just like normal humans, they too have fears about some or the other thing.

Surely every one of us would like to sneak a peek into their personal lives and know what they fear the most, won’t we? That being said, let’s have a look at five footballers and their weird phobias.

#5 Matt Holland – Fear of Cats and Dogs

Matt Holland is a retired Republic of Ireland international who spent his entire career playing in the English top-tier and second-tier.

He is mainly known for his time at Ipswich Town where he made 223 appearances. Apparently, he is also well-known for his fear of cats and dogs. Although he did mention his immense love for horses. Imagine fearing dogs in contrast to large animals like dogs!

He said,

“I am scared of most animals and won’t have cats or dogs in the house but I really enjoy horses.”#4 Dennis Bergkamp

During his time at Arsenal, Dennis Bergkamp earned a massive reputation for his slick first-touch, ball control and creativity. What he wasn’t famous for was his phobia about aeroplanes.

Footballers have to travel frequently for games outside their countries and pretty sure the Dutchman had a tough time during those sojourns. Talk about facing fears to conquer them!

Bergkamp’s fear for flying surfaced when he travelled to America with the Netherlands squad for the 1994 World Cup. In the aftermath, the legend was also unavailable for Arsenal’s Champions League games away from home.

Sadly we can never actually call Bergkamp ‘the flying Dutchman’.#3 David Beckham – Fear of Frogs

David Beckham was famous for more than just his trademark bending freekicks. The Englishman was the most handsome footballer of his generation and also the most popular during his time.

Becks revealed that he wasn’t much comfortable around frogs when he set out for his Amazon adventure for the BBC a few years ago.

“The frog I was scared of. I’m not a big frog fan. I can’t lie,” he said.

“It was orange. We were told it was dangerous. I was a little bit nervous about that.”

We quite understand Becks! After all, frogs aren’t pretty cute, are they?#2 Phil Jones – Fear of elevators and lists

Manchester United defender Phil Jones is known for making scary faces while defending. It is common to find football fans exchanging the Englishman’s edited memes to have a hearty laugh.

Jones might make scary faces on the pitch, but off it, he is mighty scared of lifts and elevators – if they aren’t on home soil. Apparently, he also remembers when and why he started having a phobia with foreign lifts and elevators.

“When I go abroad, I can’t go in lifts, I don’t mind it in England, but I can’t do it when I go away.

“When I was young we went away on holiday to Greece and we got stuck in a lift for a few hours.

“It was horrible. I felt so claustrophobic.”#1 Peter Crouch – Phobia of being tall

#1 Peter Crouch – Fear of being tall

It is pretty understandable when one doesn’t have a good height. It affects self-confidence. However, a 6ft 7in tall Peter Crouch has a phobia for exactly the opposite thing. Seemingly, being taller than the defenders he faces is actually a problem for him.

In 2002, Aton Villa signed Crouch for £5m and the Englishman struggled in front of goal. When asked about the reasons, his manager Graham Taylor said,

“One of the main problems for Peter is that he still has a bit of a phobia about being so tall.”