Controversial ex-Premier League star looks unrecognisable with the once versatile midfielder – who was once banned for 10 MATCHES – now a regular voice on Sky Sports

• The versatile midfielder made over 400 appearances across English football 
• They are now a regular fixture on Sky Sports’ EFL Championship coverage  
• Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast ‘It’s All Kicking Off’ 

A former Premier League star – who now regularly appears on Sky Sports – looks unrecognisable compared to a picture from their playing days. 

The central midfield player made over 440 appearances in English football before hanging up their boots in 2014 while at Coventry, at the end of a 15-year career in the Premier and Football League. 

Although capped at both Under 18 and 21 level, the midfielder would never go on to play for the senior England team.

Since calling time on a long career across three divisions in the EFL, they ex-Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds and Southampton star has gone on to a have a prominent career in the media. 

Despite their exploits with the ball at their feet, an overzealous approach to tackling landed them in a spot of bother, notably coming into a confrontation with the referee when in a clash with Arsenal back in 2005.

A controversial former Premier League star looks unrecognisable from their playing days

The midfielder also spent time in the Championship with the likes of Leeds, as well as being called up to the England youth set up

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The player of course is David Prutton, who has since gone on to present Sky Sports’ EFL Championship coverage. 

Prutton was part of the Southampton side that suffered the heartbreak of relegation from the top-flight at the end of the 2004-05 season – a campaign that saw the versatile midfielder miss a huge chunk of the action. 

Coming up against the Gunners, the hard-tackling Prutton sent French star Robert Pires tumbling with a hefty challenge, for which he was shown a red card. 

However, things quickly went from bad to worse for the Southampton man, who would refuse to leave the field when shown the card, before shoving referee Alan Wiley. 

As a result, he was handed a 10-game ban and fined £6,000 after admitting to improper conduct.  

‘I haven’t got a leg to stand on,’ he told Sky Sports News after the event. ‘I’ve looked at, I’ve thought about it and I’ve read about it.

‘It’s an horrendous situation which I’ve never found myself in before and, hopefully, never will again.

David Prutton is perhaps best remembered for the fallout from his challenge on Robert Pires

Prutton was handed a 10-game ban for shoving referee Alan Wiley after a tackle on Pires

‘I need to apologise. Firstly to the ref, who was only doing his job and to the linesman, who was only doing his job.

‘[Robert] Pires, I thought had made a meal of it, but, with hindsight, I’ve seen the pictures and heard about what happened to his leg so I’m incredibly sorry about that.

‘I would never go onto the pitch to try and hurt anyone else because I wouldn’t expect anyone to do it to me.

‘I apologise to the people that saw it. Football nowadays, you get a lot of kids and families going. They don’t pay their money to see that kind of thing.’

IT’S ALL KICKING OFF! 

It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.

It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.

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