The Greatest Players in English Football History

Discussion in 'Premier League' started by comme, Nov 9, 2007.

  1. comme

    comme Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 21, 2003
    Inspired by a thread on the German boards listing the greatest players in the history of the Bundesliga, I thought it would be good to come up with an equivalent list for the football league.

    This list will include the top players in each position since the foundation of the football league in 1888 as selected by myself.

    The ranking is based on performances in English domestic performances, so the League, the FA Cup and the League Cup. Performances in Europe, international football and other leagues has not been counted.

    The criteria has been sustained excellence in the league so players with one incredible season are unlikely to rank as highly as those who were excellent for a number of years.

    Basically this is just a bit of fun and I've tried to include players across all eras. I'm not pretending it is in any way definitive, but its there for some debate and hopefully a few people (including myself) can learn a bit more about some forgotten greats.

    Also I wanted to thank Tom Clare, Dark Savante and lanman who all gave me a hand in coming up with some of the lists.
     
    Gregoriak repped this.
  2. comme

    comme Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 21, 2003
    Goalkeepers

    30- George Farm
    13/7/1924
    Scotland
    10 caps
    Clubs: Hibernian, Blackpool, Queen of the South
    [​IMG]

    29- Edwin van der Sar
    29/10/1970
    Holland
    121 caps
    Clubs: Ajax, Juventus, Fulham, Manchester United
    [​IMG]

    28- Bruce Grobbelaar
    6/10/1957
    Zimbabwe
    ? caps
    Clubs: Vancouver Whitecaps, Crewe, Liverpool, Stoke, Southampton, Plymouth, Oxford, Sheffield Wednesday, Oldham, Bury, Lincoln
    [​IMG]
     
  3. comme

    comme Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 21, 2003
    27- Nigel Martyn
    11/8/1966
    England
    23 caps
    Clubs: Bristol Rovers, Crystal Palace, Leeds, Everton
    [​IMG]

    26- Gordon West
    24/4/1943
    England
    3 caps
    Clubs: Blackpool, Everton, Tranmere
    [​IMG]

    25- Joe Corrigan
    18/11/1948
    England
    9 caps
    Clubs: Manchester City, Brighton, Norwich, Stoke, Seattle Sounders
    [​IMG]
     
  4. comme

    comme Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 21, 2003
    24- Tim Williamson
    6/6/1884
    England
    7 caps
    Clubs: Middlesbrough
    [​IMG]


    23- Jimmy Lawrence
    16/2/1885
    Scotland
    1 cap
    Clubs: Hibernian, Newcastle
    [​IMG]

    22- Gil Merrick
    26/1/1922
    England
    23 caps
    Clubs: Birmingham
    [​IMG]
     
  5. comme

    comme Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 21, 2003
    21- Harry Hibbs
    27/5/1906
    England
    25 caps
    Clubs: Birmingham
    [​IMG]

    20- Petr Cech
    20/5/1982
    Czech Republic
    ? caps
    Clubs: Blsany, Sparta Prague, Rennes, Chelsea
    [​IMG]

    19- Colin McDonald
    15/10/1930
    England
    8 caps
    Clubs: Burnley
    [​IMG]
     
  6. comme

    comme Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 21, 2003
    18- Ted Sagar
    7/2/1910
    England
    4 caps
    Clubs: Everton
    [​IMG]

    17- Elisha Scott
    24/8/1894
    Ireland
    31 caps
    Clubs: Linfield, Liverpool, Belfast Celtic
    [​IMG]
     
  7. comme

    comme Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 21, 2003
    16- Jack Kelsey
    19/11/1929
    Wales
    41 caps
    Clubs: Arsenal
    [​IMG]

    15- Bill Brown
    8/10/1931
    Scotland
    28 caps
    Clubs: Dundee, Tottenham Hotspur, Northampton Town, Toronto Falcons
    [​IMG]
     
  8. comme

    comme Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 21, 2003
    14- Ron Springett
    22/7/1935
    England
    33 caps
    Clubs: QPR, Sheffield Wednesday
    [​IMG]

    13- Ted Ditchburn
    24/10/1921
    England
    6 caps
    Clubs: Tottenham Hotspur
    [​IMG]
     
  9. comme

    comme Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 21, 2003
    12- Bert Williams
    31/1/1920
    England
    24 caps
    Clubs: Walsall, Wolves
    [​IMG]

    11- Harry Gregg
    25/10/1932
    Northern Ireland
    25 caps
    Clubs: Coleraine, Doncaster, Manchester United, Stoke
    [​IMG]
     
  10. Bluto11

    Bluto11 The sky is falling!

    May 16, 2003
    Chicago, IL
    great thread :)
     
  11. comme

    comme Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 21, 2003
    10- David Seaman
    19/9/1963
    England
    75 caps
    Clubs: Peterborough, Birmingham, QPR, Arsenal, Manchester City
    [​IMG]

    9- Sam Hardy
    26/8/1883
    England
    21 caps
    Clubs: Chesterfield, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest
    [​IMG]
     
  12. comme

    comme Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 21, 2003
    8- Ray Clemence
    5/8/1948
    England
    61 caps
    Clubs: Scunthorpe, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur
    [​IMG]

    7- Frank Swift
    26/12/1913
    England
    19 caps
    Clubs: Manchester City
    [​IMG]
     
  13. comme

    comme Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 21, 2003
    6- Bert Trautmann
    22/10/1923
    Germany
    0 caps
    Clubs: Manchester City
    [​IMG]

    5- Peter Schmeichel
    18/11/1963
    Denmark
    129 caps/1 goal
    Clubs: Hvidovre, Brondby, Manchester United, Sporting Lisbon, Aston Villa, Manchester City
    [​IMG]
     
  14. comme

    comme Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 21, 2003
    4- Gordon Banks
    30/12/1937
    England
    73 caps/0 goals
    Clubs: Chesterfield, Leicester, Stoke
    [​IMG]

    3- Neville Southall
    16/9/1958
    Wales
    92 caps
    Clubs: Bury, Everton, Port Vale, Southend, Stoke, Torquay, Bradford
    [​IMG]
     
  15. comme

    comme Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 21, 2003
    2- Pat Jennings
    12/6/1945
    N Ireland
    119 caps
    Clubs: Watford, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal
    [​IMG]

    1-Peter Shilton
    18/9/1949
    England
    125 caps
    Clubs: Leicester, Stoke, Nottingham Forest, Derby, Plymouth, Bolton, Leyton Orient
    [​IMG]
     
    Gregoriak repped this.
  16. comme

    comme Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 21, 2003
    Feel free to criticise, suggest alternatives and players that should have been ommitted.

    The next position to be featured will be right backs.
     
  17. Toon³

    Toon³ Member

    Dec 27, 2002
    Club:
    Newcastle United FC
    Great list, can't see anyone who you've left out. My own personal bias thinks that Given has been better than Cech but I'm sure I won't be the first in this thread to allow club loyalty cloud my judgement.

    Can't wait for the rest of the positions, arguements a plenty.

    Maybe a disscusion thread is in order?
     
  18. soccerpunterexpert

    soccerpunterexpert New Member

    Nov 4, 2007
    Wow that's an awesome list!

    thanks for sharing!
     
  19. lanman

    lanman BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 30, 2002
    I'm not sold on Cech being in such a list - he's only just played 100 league games for Chelsea.

    Difficult to argue with much else, although Grobbelaar should be higher and Trautmann lower in my book and I would have Southall ahead of Jennings.
     
  20. Marko

    Marko New Member

    Aug 31, 2004
    Cardiff
    I think Peter Schmeichel should be slightly higher, and Ray Clemence too.

    As much as I admire Neville Southall, there is no way he was as good as Clemence or Schmeichel.

    It's all about opinions though, and apart from a few minor criticisms (i.e. I don't really think football came into its own until after WW2, so some of those goalkeepers from the 19th century don't belong there IMO), you've done a great job compiling this.

    My top 5 would be:

    1) Gordon Banks
    2) Peter Shilton
    3) Ray Clemence
    4) Peter Schmeichel
    5) Pat Jennings
     
    RoyOfTheRovers repped this.
  21. comme

    comme Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 21, 2003
    I guess it's the question of brief brilliance versus longevity.

    Cech has undoubtedly been the best keeper in the Premiership in his brief time here, if I was to do this again in 5 years time then I would imagine he would be considerably higher up.

    I was considering making it a top 40 to include some other players like Given.

    Just a point on the Trautmann picture for anyone that didn't know, it is from the 1956 FA Cup final in which he broke his neck yet still managed to play the full game.
     
  22. Dark Savante

    Dark Savante Member

    Apr 24, 2002
    Become the Tea Pot!!
    Looks like you got 'em all in there. The order debate is negligible.

    Looking forward to the other positions.
     
  23. Gregoriak

    Gregoriak BigSoccer Supporter

    Feb 27, 2002
    Munich
    Now look at that top 5. Schmeichel, Banks, Southall, Jennings, Shilton. What a gallery. I am particularly pleased to see my All-Time Draft goalkeeper Peter Shilton at number one!
     
  24. comme

    comme Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 21, 2003
    Goalkeeper is a particularly "stacked" position in English football.

    I'm not sure how many other positions have quite so many real greats to choose from.
     
  25. JaredSS07

    JaredSS07 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Dec 6, 2005
    Club:
    Newcastle United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I wonder if some keepers are considered great even though it's their back four that deserve the credit. I think you can have a good keeper with an amazing back four to protect him (Cech) and a great keeper with an absolute shit back four that screws him over everytime (Given).
     

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