The inside story of Duncan Ferguson's brutal burglar battering has been revealed.

Around 21-years-ago, the ex-Rangers and Scotland forward fought off two intruders at his home while he was an Everton player.

Widely known for being a hardman on the pitch, at the time, Big Dunc was the first professional player to be jailed for an on-the-field assault.

However, on January 7, 2001, he tackled burglars at his house near Ormskirk, Lancashire at about 1am.

One of the intruders was taken by ambulance to hospital while the other managed to flee the wrath of Ferguson.

The striker was praised by police for acting "bravely and responsibly".

Ex-Toffees player Steve Watson lifted the lid on the famous tale on the Undr The Cosh podcast this week. 

He said: "Amazing. It's an amazing story. Gary Naysmith was sitting next to him in the dressing room the day after and he was just fascinated by it. 

"Gary asked 'when did you stop hitting them?'. Then he just says 'well, just when they stopped moving'.

"His knuckles were red raw. Dunc, he's such a character."

Expanding on Big Dunc's fiery temper on the park, he admitted that it must've been a nightmare for David Moyes to try and handle him. 

He added: "He caused Moyes a few hairy moments on the pitch, but it was funny for us. But Moyes must've been fuming with him.

"We played Bolton at Goodison. His excuses were brilliant, which is why you've got to love Dunc. 

"Somebody came in behind him from a throw in, he's made contact. You're taking your life into your hands then, aren't you?

"Anyway, Dunc has thrown a massive elbow and smashed him in the ribs. It was Emerson Thome, centre-half. 

"Straight red. We were winning 1-0 and ended up drawing the game. 

"We came in the dressing room and Moyes said 'big man, what are you thinking? You've let us down massively there'.

"Dunc's gone, 'I know gaffer, I know. I thought it was f*****g Nolan'. That was his reasoning."

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