Alan Shearer has recalled the moment former Newcastle United strike partner Duncan Ferguson caught a burglar inside his own home and 'kept hold of him until the police came'.
Ferguson was targeted by raiders at two separate addresses during his second spell at Everton and the 6ft 4in Scot confronted the burglars on both occasions.
Two intruders, Michael Pratt and Barry Dawson, broke into Ferguson's home in Rufford, West Lancashire in January, 2001.
Although Pratt fled, Ferguson managed to catch Dawson in the garden and restrained the trespasser until the police arrived. Pratt later turned himself in and the pair were jailed for 15 months.
Just two years later, Ferguson came across another intruder, Carl Bishop, at his Formby home in Merseyside and again took the raider down until the police came.
Shearer looks back fondly on his time with Ferguson at Newcastle and it is not a surprise that the Magpies' record goalscorer ranks his former team-mate as the 'hardest' player he ever encountered.
"He actually dragged the burglar back into his house or his garden and kept hold of him until the police came," Shearer told the Match of the Day: Top 10 podcast.
"The burglar could not have known he was burgling big Duncan's house, could he? How stupid.
"Can you imagine a burglar and big Dunc's chasing you and gets hold of you? You must think, 'What the f*** have I done?'"
