Ball and Bolton make fans' cut for Sunderland hard men

We asked for your views on former Sunderland player Martin Smith's top-five list of Black Cats hard men after Kevin Ball was handed top spot.

Here are some of your comments:

Lee: Bally was solid! Great leader and gent. Played against him in training for an under-16's Sunday League club match (his son was part of it). Five of us couldn't get the ball off him when we were messing around after bothering him to join in.

Sean: Kevin Ball was always going to be number one. He tackled someone on the halfway line during the derby with such force the ball hit our own bar! John Kay breaking his leg and paddling off his stretcher, and Gary Bennett's handling of David Speedie are real moments of Sunderland folklore too.

Mel: Raw meat Joe Bolton used to leave his bite on many good wingers, and pretty much anyone else that came near him.

Ian: Joe Bolton should be in the top five hardest players - a local lad who was left- back from 1972 to 1981. Absolutely as hard as nails.

Tom: Joe Bolton, left-back who played 300+ times for Sunderland over 10 years from 1972-3 was solid in the tackle and tough player for sure.

Chris: They were before Martin's time, but Billy Whitehurst and Mick Harford would be in my top five. I can verify what Martin says of Vinnie Jones. I was staying in a hotel in Guildford, at the bar having a pint before dinner when in walks Vinnie Jones. We got chatting and I asked him who was the hardest he had ever faced. Vinnie didn't know that I was a Mackem. He said a guy at Sunderland, Kevin Ball, I just burst out laughing.

Roger: Dave Watson must be on the list. Further back Len Ashurst used to put wingers on the gravel!