This January, Prostate Cancer UK launched the Sledgehammer Fund. The thinking behind the name? A man’s prostate is only the size of a walnut, but prostate cancer kills 10,000 men a year in the UK. So we need a sledgehammer to crack it.

And until 4 February 2013, we're doing exactly that as The Sledgehammer Fund presents the Nutcracker Suite - have a look and have your own walnut cracked for a fiver.

In recognition of this, and to celebrate the fact that Prostate Cancer UK is the Official Charity Partner of The Football League in 2012-13, we asked Guardian football writer Jacob Steinberg to give us the lowdown on footballers who have shown themselves to be more than a little eccentric. Or, to put it in less diplomatic terms, are a bit nuts.

To make a £5 donation to the Sledgehammer Fund, text CRACK to 70004*.

Read on for Jacob's nuttiest footballers…

Cheeky scamp: The lovable and slightly bonkers Jimmy Bullard. Photo courtesy of Action Images

 

Adrian Patulea
Most people try to keep their private and professional lives separate. Not Patulea. After begging Lincoln manager Peter Jackson for a trial in 2008, he went to extraordinary lengths to get what he wanted: turning up to the club’s training ground with his naked girlfriend. “He was spotted by the groundsman running around the training ground with his girlfriend on his back,” said Jackson. “The trouble is his girlfriend was naked, which got the attention of the players.” The things people will do to get a dream move to Lincoln. Patulea spent a season there, scoring 11 goals, and is now back in Romania.

Phil Brown
Relatively unheralded as a player, this genius made his mark as the manager of Hull. It’s not known whether his comedy antics were intentional, but few can match him for style and panache. From criticising Cesc Fàbregas’ fashion sense – leather jacket and jeans – to talking down a woman who was threatening to jump off the Humber Bridge, Brown was a true innovator. He gave a team-talk on the pitch. He wore a salmon pink jumper on television. He accused Andrea Pirlo of homophobia. He signed Geovanni. That he is currently without a job in management is nothing short of a national disgrace.

Len Shackleton
Known as the Clown Prince of Soccer, the outrageously talented Shackleton was one of the game’s great entertainers during the 1940s and 50s, which didn’t always endear him to the authorities – or those picking the England squad. He would tease full-backs by kicking the ball against the corner flag, and once dribbled into the opposition’s area before stopping to mime combing his hair and checking his watch. Just imagine the righteous rage if someone tried that now.

Jimmy Bullard
There was something of Shackleton’s spirit in Bullard. Best described as a cheeky scamp, he had a gift for defusing the tensest of situations – such as the time a full-on bundle was going on in Wigan’s area and, out of nowhere, Bullard came flying into the fray, bouncing over the mass of bodies as if he was on an imaginary trampoline.

Mario Balotelli
Throwing darts at youth players from a first-floor window. Losing a battle of wits with a training bib. Setting fire to his own bathroom with fireworks. Yes, Balotelli is quite eccentric. He’s also maddening, inconsistent and a nightmare to manage – but marvellously entertaining for the rest of us. The only difficulty is separating the facts from the fiction.

Jens Lehmann
It’s said that before you criticise a man, you should walk a mile in his shoes. Criticise Lehmann, however, and he’ll nick your glasses. After conceding a penalty and being sent off for Stuttgart during a match against Mainz in 2009, the former Arsenal goalkeeper was berated by a fan outside the ground. His response? To take the man’s specs. They were returned, but only after sufficient grovelling. And all this not long after Lehmann had used the pitch as his own personal toilet during a game.

Emmanuel Eboué
The former Arsenal full-back gets in simply by virtue of listening in to a conversation between the North Korea manager and one of his players during the World Cup in 2010, while nodding along as if he had the first clue what they were saying. Arsène Wenger would probably confirm that the Ivorian wasn’t the best at listening to instructions.

Stig Tofting
The former Bolton and Denmark midfielder was a member of the Hell’s Angels. Next!

Moritz Volz
According to the song on his website, Volzy – one of the quirkier players to turn out for Fulham in recent years – dreams of Knight Rider and the Fatherland. Never afraid of playing up to German stereotypes, he once had 'The Hoff' stitched into his boots and claims he ruined a pair of lederhosen when a Kinder Egg melted in the pocket. And while his team-mates drove to the training ground in the type of flash sports cars you'd expect from Premier League footballers, Moritz didn't need a parking space – his primary method of transport was the altogether more whimsical fold-up bike.

Can you think of any other footballers who were a bit nutty? Let us know in the comments section below.

To make a £5 donation to the Sledgehammer Fund, text CRACK to 70004*.

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