10 ex-EFL players who have been sent to prison | OneFootball

Football League World looks at ten former EFL players to have served time behind bars...

Whereas the vast majority of footballers are able to use their abilities to engineer comfortable lives away from the world of criminality, that's not always the case for every single player.

Despite the wealth and status that the profession comes with, some players simply have not been able to help themselves and have wound up behind bars instead of being on the pitch.

There have been some extremely high-profile cases over the years, and Football League World has taken a look at TEN former EFL players to have served stints in prison.

Lucas Akins

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Lucas Akins is the most recent inclusion to feature, with the Mansfield Town stalwart only returning from prison last October after being jailed for causing the death of a cyclist by careless or inconsiderate driving.

The tragic incident happened near Huddersfield back in March 2022, yet the 36-year-old forward opted against pleading guilty at the first time of asking and was eventually handed a 14-month sentence in April of last year, having controversially continued to be fielded for matches by Mansfield despite the club's knowledge of proceedings.

Akins, who notably made close to 350 appearances at Burton Albion and has been an ever-present with the Stags aside from his time in prison after joining just months before his charge, served half his original sentence before completing the remainder on probation, and would score 10 goals across all competitions from October onwards in the remainder of the 2025/26 term for Nigel Clough's side.

Joey Barton

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Few former players have endured a more chequered criminal history than Joey Barton, who, throughout his playing career and after retiring, has simply failed to ever keep himself out of trouble for long.

Barton was a staple at Premier League level by playing for the likes of Manchester City, Newcastle United and QPR, but the controversial ex-midfielder received frequent assault charges for altercations both on and off-the-pitch and would spend six months in prison while contracted to the Magpies.

He would be sanctioned with a four-month suspended sentence alongside 200 hours of community service after leaving then-City teammate Ousmane Dabo unconscious and hospitalised during a violent attack in training, though the worst was yet to come and, later that year, the one-cap former England international was arrested on suspicion of assault in Liverpool city centre, in which he threw up to 20 punches at an unidentified man before leaving a 16-year-old boy with broken teeth.

Barton was already on bail for two previous arrests, and, having been denied bail for this charge, would go on to spend six months in jail prior to being released and returning to play for Newcastle.

Unable to banish his demons and keep his temper under control following retirement despite managing both Fleetwood Town and Bristol Rovers, Barton was handed a 12-week suspended sentence in May of last year for being found guilty of assaulting his wife by kicking her in the head and is now currently in custody until March 2027 as he prepares to stand trial after accusations of causing grievous bodily harm with intent in an incident outside a Merseyside golf club.

Troy Deeney

A stereotypical 'hard-man' figure throughout a successful career at both Championship and Premier League level, Troy Deeney took it a few steps too far in February 2012 when the then-Watford striker, alongside two friends and younger brother Ellis, would attack a group of students outside a Birmingham nightclub.

The incident left one man with a broken jaw and another requiring 20 stitches, and Deeney received a 10-month prison sentence later that year in June after pleading guilty to a charge of affray.

He was released following just three months of his sentence, though, and having already established himself as a star at Vicarage Road, scored that goal in Watford's famous play-off semi-final victory over Leicester City before eventually sending the Hornets back to the big time in 2015 and going on to prove his worth in the Premier League while staying out of trouble ever since.

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas

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Jay Emmanuel-Thomas' career is perhaps best characterised by an inability to consistently deliver upon the rich potential displayed in Arsenal's youth ranks that even left the legendary Arsene Wenger waxing lyrical, yet nobody could've anticipated the turn that would be taken in 2024.

The talented ex-England youth international forward endured mixed fortunes throughout a litany of EFL stints with the likes of Bristol City, Cardiff, Gillingham, Ipswich Town, MK Dons and QPR, and following spells in India and Thailand, he found himself back in the United Kingdom on the books of Scottish second-tier outfit Greenock Morton when he was arrested under the charge of orchestrating the import of £600,000 worth of cannabis from Bankok to Stansted Airport.

Immediately sacked by Greenock Morton following the charges, Emmanuel-Thomas was sentenced to four years in jail but served just ten months prior to being released on parole and swiftly joining AFC Totton of the National League South.

Lee Hughes

One of the most prolific marksmen in the EFL throughout some glorious goalscoring years with boyhood club West Bromwich Albion, Lee Hughes' career came crashing down in an instant on 23 November 2003 when his car collided with another vehicle, tragically killing one passenger and leaving two others seriously injured.

Aged 27 at the time, Hughes received strong backlash for having initially fled the scene before taking 36 hours to turn himself into the police, who arrested the striker for causing death by dangerous driving alongside presenting charges for failing to stop and failing to report an accident.

West Brom, where Hughes had scored 98 goals from 233 outings across two spells, immediately terminated his contract prior to the ex-Coventry City forward's eventual sentencing to six years in prison, three of which were served.

Oldham Athletic then offered Hughes a contract upon his release and the striker would score with regularity at lower-league level with the Latics, Notts County and Port Vale before drifting down the pyramid.

Marlon King

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Marlon King has a particularly troubling criminal record, and is the only individual on this list to have been sentenced to three separate jail terms.

A sharpshooter infront of goal for the likes of Birmingham City, Coventry, Gillingham, Nottingham Forest and Watford, the 24-cap ex-Jamaican international's career was marred by legal issues from start to finish.

King was brought into court for a variety of charges during his formative years before receiving an initial 18-month sentence - reduced to nine on appeal - for driving a stolen £30,000 BMW while he was still at Gillingham aged 22, but the trouble didn't end there.

Years later on loan at Hull City from then-Premier League rivals Wigan Athletic, King was accused and later convicted of groping a 20-year-old woman and then punching her in the face in a Soho nightclub, which left the victim with a broken nose and the striker - who has always protested his innocence for this particular charge - with another 18-month sentence.

King would find form upon release by scoring regularly for Coventry and Birmingham, but a third year-and-a-half stint behind bars would follow when he was found guilty of dangerous driving after causing a pile-up on the A46 in Nottinghamshire in 2014 - with his three prison sentences not even scratching the surface of the full extent of his criminal history and wide range of court appearances.

Gary Madine

It's often questioned whether footballers deserve the opportunity to rebuild their careers following jail sentences, but that second-chance is all-but-invariably provided and it was no different for Gary Madine, whose fight-at-all-costs reputation would extend beyond the pitch.

Madine was charged with causing actual bodily harm following an attack on a man in a pub back in 2010, which came while the striker was beginning his career with Carlisle United and resulted in 250 hours of community service.

The imposing ex-striker failed to learn his lesson, though, and it proved costly three years later when two separate attacks on nights out saw the then-Sheffield Wednesday man convicted of causing actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm and sent to prison for 18 months.

Madine would serve only five months of that sentence, and spent the rest of his career keeping out of trouble with the likes of Bolton Wanderers, Blackpool and Cardiff.

Luke McCormick

An especially tragic case in point dating back to June 2008, Luke McCormick's career will always be defined by his two counts of death by dangerous driving, which, having transpired when the ex-Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper was also behind the wheel with excess alcohol in his blood, caused the death of Arron and Ben Peak, aged just ten and eight respectively, in a crash on the southbound M7 motorway through Stafforshire.

McCormick's contract with the Pilgrims was terminated and he would then plead guilty to the charges, which saw him sentenced to seven years imprisonment alongside a four-year driving ban.

However, McCormick would serve just under four years of his sentence, leaving many to question the leniency afforded to the shot-stopper - who was then able to rebuild his career with Truro City and Oxford United before returning to Home Park and eventually going on to captain Argyle.