This was the first page in the book - as you can read he only considers post-1945 Florian Albert (b. 1941) Sandro Altobelli (b. 1955) Giancarlo Antognoni (b. 1954) Gordon Banks (b. 1937) Franz Beckenbauer (b. 1945) Igor Belanov (b. 1960) Joseph-Antoine Bell (b. 1954) George Best (b. 1946) Roberto Bettega (b. 1950) Oleh Blokhin (b. 1952) Zbigniew Boniek (b. 1956) Paul Breitner (b. 1951) Josef Bozsik (b. 1925) Jorge Burruchaga (b. 1962) Emilio Butragueno (b. 1963) Antonio Cabrini (b. 1957) Carlos Alberto (b. 1944) Jan Ceulemans (b. 1957) Bobby Charlton (b. 1937) Johan Cruyff (b. 1947) Zoltan Czibor (b. 1929) Didi (b. 1928) Preben Elkjaer-Larsen (b. 1957) Giacinto Facchetti (b. 1942) Eusebio (b. 1942) Paulo Roberto Falcao (b. 1953) Karl-Heinz Forster (b. 1958) Garrincha (b. 1933) Francisco Gento (b. 1933) Gerson (b. 1941) Ruud Gullit (b. 1962) Kurt Hamrin (b. 1934) Ernst Happel (b. 1925) Jairzinho (b. 1944) Junior (b. 1954) Sandor Kocsis (b. 1929) Kevin Keegan (b. 1951) Ruud Krol (b. 1949) Michael Laudrup (b. 1964) Soren Lerby (b. 1958) Nils Liedholm (b. 1922) Gary Lineker (b. 1960) Sepp Maier (b. 1944) Diego Maradona (b. 1960) Lothar Matthaus (b. 1961) Stanley Matthews (b. 1915) Sandro Mazzola (b. 1942) Rachid Mekhloufi (b. 1936) Gerd Muller (b. 1945) Bobby Moore (b. 1941) Johan Neeskens (b. 1951) Wolfgang Overath (b. 1943) Gunnar Nordahl (b. 1921) Pelé (b. 1940) Jean-Marie Pfaff (b. 1953) Oswaldo Piazza (b. 1947) Ferenc Puskas (b. 1927) Rob Rensenbrink (b. 1947) Johnny Rep (b. 1951) Luigi Riva (b. 1944) Gianni Rivera (b. 1943) Bryan Robson (b. 1957) Paolo Rossi (b. 1956) Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (b. 1955) Ian Rush (b. 1961) Hugo Sanchez (b. 1958) Nilton Santos (b. 1925) Juan Alberto Schiaffino (b. 1925) Harald Schumacher (b. 1954) Bernd Schuster (b. 1959) Gaetano Scirea (b. 1953) Omar Sivori (b. 1935) Allan Simonsen (b. 1952) Josip Skoblar (b. 1941) Socrates (b. 1954) Alfredo di Stefano (b. 1926) Luis Suarez (b. 1935) Safet Susic (b. 1955) Marco Tardelli (b. 1954) Tostao (b. 1947) Paul van Himst (b. 1943) Frankie Vercauteren (b. 1956) Lev Yashin (b. 1929) Fritz Walter (b. 1920) Pavel Yakovenko (b. 1964) Alexandre Zavarov (b. 1961) Zico (b. 1953) The youngest is Laudrup, who is from 15 June 1964. The oldest from post-1945 is, of course, Matthews. The very last page in the book - before the index and the usual blanket page - was typically this one (he's mentioned by Drucker in the Gullit write-up - he's from 31 October 1964): In it also "great club teams" and great "national teams" are listed and covered in two pages each (for ex. Brazil 1958, England 1966, Netherlands 1973 - 1978; Liverpool 1977 - 1981, Inter 1964 - 1965, Ajax 1969 - 1973). With in there some more (observations) about key protagonists as Pelé, Charlton ansoforth.
I received a request to post Maradona's profile from when he was at (or: near in 1987) the peak of his fame and media appeal. So that the others can see it as well, here it is.
Another interesting addition; 'Les grands noms du football mondial des origines a nos jours' (November 1979) by Jean Eskenazi and Frederic Gassmann. The single most interesting aspect is here imho that Eskenazi was born 1913 and died a few years later in 1986. https://www.google.com/search?q=jea...ome&ie=UTF-8#q=jean+eskenazi+football&tbm=bks The non-French names: Goalkeepers: Enrico Albertosi (Italy - b. 1939) Gordon Banks (England - b. 1937) Vladimir Beara (Yugoslavia - b. 1928) Ivan Curkovic (Yugoslavia - b. 1944) Gilmar (Brazil - b. 1930) Gyula Grosics (Hungary - b. 1926) Ronnie Hellstrom (Sweden - b. 1949) Rudi Hiden (Austria - b. 1909) Sepp Maier (West Germany - b. 1944) Christian Piot (Belgium - b. 1947) Frantisek Planicka (Czechoslovakia - b. 1904) Frank Swift (England - b. 1913) Ivo Viktor (Czechoslovakia - b. 1942) Lev Yashin (Soviet Union - b. 1929) Ricardo Zamora (Spain - b. 1901) Dino Zoff (Italy - b. 1942) Defenders: Carlos Alberto (Brazil - b. 1944) Franz Beckenbauer (West Germany - b. 1945) Jacky Charlton (England - b. 1935) Terry Cooper (England - b. 1944) Giacinto Facchetti (Italy - b. 1942) Eddie Hapgood (England - b. 1908) Ernst Happel (Austria - b. 1925) Helenio Herrera (Argentina - b. 1910) * Ruud Krol (Netherlands - b. 1949) Jose Santamaria (Uruguay - b. 1929) Nilton Santos (Brazil - b. 1925) Karl-Heinz Schnellinger (West Germany - b. 1939) Berti Vogts (West Germany b. 1946) * In as a manager. I.e. "he proved you don't have to be a great player to become talked up as a great manager." He is among the defenders for understandable reasons. Midfielders: Andre Abegglen (Switzerland - b. 1909) Jose Andrade (Uruguay - b. 1901) Danny Blanchflower (Northern Ireland - b. 1926) Rainer Bonhof (West Germany - b. 1952) Jozsef Bozsik (Hungary - b. 1925) Paul Breitner (West Germany - b. 1951) Billy Bremner (Scotland - b. 1942) Bobby Charlton (England - b. 1937) Didi (Brazil - b. 1928) Gerson (Brazil - b. 1941) Albert Gudmonsson (Iceland - b. 1923) Helmut Haller (West Germany - b. 1939) Nandor Hidegkuti (Hungary - b. 1922) Uli Hoeness (West Germany - b. 1952) Alex James (Scotland - b. 1901) Lazlo Kubala (Hungary - b. 1927) Nils Liedholm (Sweden - b. 1922) Josef Masopust (Czechoslovakia - b. 1931) Bobby Moore (England - b. 1941) Oldrich Nejedly (Czechoslovakia - b. 1909) Gunter Netzer (West Germany - b. 1944) Wolfgang Overath (West Germany - b. 1943) Jose Pirri (Spain - b. 1945) Ferenc Puskas (Hungary - b. 1927) Kees Rijvers (Netherlands - b. 1926) Roberto Rivelino (Brazil - b. 1946) Juan Schiaffino (Uruguay - b. 1925) Fritz Walter (West Germany - b. 1920) Faas Wilkes (Netherlands - b. 1923) Billy Wright (England - b. 1924) This will be continued with the attackers (the largest section). If there are questions, let me know, I can upload a scan of a profile. Eskenazi seems to have Di Stefano (b. 1926), Puskas (b. 1927), Pelé (b. 1940) and Cruijff (b. 1947) in the highest regard up until that point. I.e. "Un maître footballeur, qui a attient des sommets, et comme on en voit un tous les vingt ans. Ce n'est pas une chose facile que de dégager sa personnalité lorsqu'ont existé avant vous Di Stefano, Puskas et Pelé." (notice how they're actually arranged on year of birth)
Attackers: Ademir (Brazil - b. 1922) Florian Albert (Hungary - b. 1941) Jose Altafini (Brazil - b. 1938) Amancio (Spain - b. 1939) Gunnar Andersson (Sweden - b. 1928) Bram Appel (Netherlands - b. 1921) Alan Ball (England - b. 1945) George Best (Northern Ireland - b. 1946) Roberto Bettega (Italy - b. 1950) Carlos Bianchi (Argentina - b. 1949) Oleg Blokhin (Soviet Union - b. 1952) Roberto Boninsegna (Italy - b. 1943) Giampiero Boniperti (Italy - b. 1928) Raymond Braine (Belgium - 1907) John Charles (Wales - b. 1931) Nestor Combin (Argentina - b. 1939) Johan Cruyff (Netherlands - b. 1947) Teofilo Cubillas (Peru - b. 1949) Ted Drake (England - b. 1912) Dragan Dzajic (Yugoslavia - b. 1946) Eusebio (Portugal - b. 1942) Tom Finney (England - b. 1922) Garrincha (Brazil - b. 1933) Francisco Gento (Spain - b. 1933) Alcides Ghiggia (Uruguay - b. 1926) Henri Hiltl (Austria - b. 1910) Jairzinho (Brazil - b. 1944) Kargu (Poland - b. 1925) Kevin Keegan (England - b. 1951) Salif Keita (Mali - b. 1946) Mario Kempes (Argentina - b. 1954) Desire Koranyi (Hungary - b. 1914) Hans Krankl (Austria - b. 1953) Grzegorz Lato (Poland - b. 1950) Denis Law (Scotland - b. 1940) Tommy Lawton (England - b. 1919) Leonidas (Brazil - b. 1913) Roger Magnusson (Sweden - b. 1945) Stanley Matthews (England - b. 1915) Sandro Mazzola (Italy - b. 1942) Rachid Mekhloufi (Algeria - b. 1936) Gerd Muller (West Germany - b. 1945) Delio Onnis (Argentina - b. 1948) Raimundo Orsi (Argentina - b. 1901) Pelé (Brazil - b. 1940) Martin Peters (England - b. 1943) Silvio Piola (Italy - b. 1913) Helmut Rahn (West Germany - b. 1929) Rob Rensenbrink (Netherlands - b. 1947) Johnny Rep (Netherlands - b. 1951) Luigi Riva (Italy - b. 1944) Gianni Rivera (Italy - b. 1943) Paolo Rossi (Italy - b. 1956) Gyorgy Sarosi (Hungary - b. 1912) Uwe Seeler (West Germany - b. 1936) Antonio Simoes (Portugal - b. 1943) Matthias Sindelar (Austria - b. 1903) Omar Sivori (Argentina - b. 1935) Josip Skoblar (Yugoslavia - b. 1941) Guillermo Stabile (Argentina - b. 1905) Alfredo di Stefano (Argentina - b. 1926) Ernst Stojaspal (Austria - b. 1925) Tostao (Brazil - b. 1947) Joseph Ujlaki (Hungary - b. 1929) Hector Yazalde (Argentina - b. 1946) As said above, much longer than the other two lists.
Nice list. Kargu and Gudmonsson are completely new names for me. Also another ones, at least to this level.
I'd assess this (so in brief, and so the tone) : "Kargu", like many footballers of Polish origins (he's born in Poland) was a very good footballer, and complete. Not the best of the best technically (not a Kopa or a Ujlaki) but very good technician though and with a strong physique. He had moreover this quality that he could fill any of the 5 positions in attack (so winger like with France but not much in club, cf, inside forward, spearhead inside or more worker inside). Statistically he has been very prolific for the French team from 1951 to 1954, year of his last selection (was not of the the World Cup squad). For all his qualities that have been mentioned above, he was all in all a quality alternative solution for the french team during a little while. With Bordeaux he was vice-champion of D2 in 1949, Champion of D1 in 1950, vice-champion and runner-up of the French Cup in 1952 then runner-up of the French Cup again in 1955 (3rd in the League in '53 and '54). He has scored 105 goals in 208 D1 matches and 40 in 140 D2 matches (1947-49 and 1956-58). He ended his career in '58 at 33 years old. A Girondin's great, a French League great. Top scorer '54. With his mix of technique and physique he was very Girondins de Bordeaux style. As I've made it, I permit myself to post his French NT stats card : Edouard KARGULEWICZ "KARGU" - Matchs, Buts et Passes décisives en Equipe de France. Edouard KARGULEWICZ "KARGU" - Matches, Goals and Assists in National Team. #Match.__Année__Compétition/Amical__D/E/N__Adversaire__Score_____B--P (Cf indirect, direct, pen., dist.) #Match.__Year__Competition/Friendly__H/A/N__Opponent__Score_____G--A (indirect fk, direct, pen., dist.) 1.__1950____Friendly__A__Belgium___________1-4_____1--0 (on a cross) 2.__1950____Friendly__H__Belgium___________3-3_____1--1 (on a cross) 3.__1950____Friendly__H__Netherlands_______5-2_____0--1 4.__1951____Friendly__H__Yugoslavia________2-1_____0--0 5.__1951____Friendly__A__Northern Ireland__2-2_____0--1 6.__1951____Friendly__A__Scotland__________0-1_____0--0 7.__1951____Friendly__A__Italy_____________1-4_____0--1 8.__1953____Friendly__H__Wales_____________6-1_____0--2 9.__1953____Friendly__A__Sweden____________0-1_____0--0 10.__1953____WC Qual.__A__Luxembourg________6-1_____1--1 (on a cross) 11.__1953____Friendly__H__Switzerland_______2-4_____0--0 11 sélections/ 3 buts/ 7 passes décisives. 11 international games/ 3 goals/ 7 assists. Liste détaillée des passes décisives de Kargu avec noms des buteurs. Detailed list of the Kargu's assists with scorers' names. Belgium 1950 H (Doye) - Netherlands 1950 (cross to Baratte) - Northern Ireland 1951 (cross for a Bonifaci's header) - Italy 1951 (cross for a Grumellon's header) - Wales 1951 (passes for Bonifaci then Ujlaki) - Luxembourg 1953 (pass to Piantoni) Fiche/ card © Football Yesterday & Today (blogspot) © means that if one wants to copy this (Kargu or another), do it, but just could you please cite source) We can see that he has played three times against British teams in '51, so after his national title with Bordeaux and there are films of it. All of that to say that it was, roughly, his style of football imo. A football with commitment, but without neglecting the technical part of the game for all that however. A balanced player between skills and physical commitment but I only repeat myself regarding the first part of the post...I mean he was admired for these specific qualities, something that we can't really see afterwards in the World Cup squads of '54 and '58 btw (with excellent technicians but not much combatants at a physical level among the forwards... Vincent had to be the one who sacrificed himself for the others, especially in '58). But Kargu had numerous fans during the biggest part of his career for sure. ''54 is the beginning of his downhill, and it would be approximatively the same for this Bordeaux team (1955-61). It goes with the end of the De Harder's career as well, as the latter left Bordeaux to Holland Sport in 1954-55 at 34 years old (he's born in 1920, Kargu in '25 but once again Kargu was more commited physically, De Harder it was before all an outstanding technique and the 'fancies'). De Harder came back just after one season in his country and it was for the relegation in D2. Parallely, since '55, in opposition to the style of Bordeaux (into which De Harder was the only great technician, well + Kargu who was interesting) French football would roughly be like focusing very exclusively on technique as showcased by Batteux-Kopa's or Kopa-Batteux' Reims and France (roughly because Reims could be defensive on the national scene at times, for some matches in particular, not the NT though). To the detriment of other ingredients surely, but that were not really part of the French football DNA anyway (never integrated in spite of efforts made in this direction with English coaches like Kimpton for example). The difficult balance to reach between tactical discipline and the ''improvisation/ creativity'' in attack would only be reached in 2000 (after a period 96-98 which was more about working on the tactical disipline in defense before all, to start with...something very new, in France, at this level of competition). But let's strictly stick to the topic. As for Gudmonsson, I had once posted this short profile on him here : https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/inside-forwards-of-yesterday-today.2031794/ Gudmonsson, Gudmunsson...he's the same player. Albert. Albert Sigurdur.
Finding good (and 'old') Italian sources is a bit harder for me than French sources and especially magazines (since for French magazines some useful tools to search exist). But I managed to find two with a good rep (this one below is recommended in a bibliography). I'll start with the oldest and least thorough one. Giorgio Gandolfi - I Re de Football - 30 grandi campioni (1973) Jose Altafini (Brazil - b. 1938) Franz Beckenbauer (West Germany - b. 1945) Giampiero Boniperti (Italy - b. 1928) Bobby Charlton (England - b. 1937) Johan Cruyff (Netherlands - b. 1947) Alfredo di Stefano (Argentina - b. 1926) Eusebio (Portugal - b. 1942) Giacinto Facchetti (Italy - b. 1942) Garrincha (Brazil - b. 1933) Jairzinho (Brazil - b. 1944) Raymond Kopa (France - b. 1931) Stanley Matthews (England - b. 1915) Sandro Mazzola (Italy - b. 1942) Valentino Mazzola (Italy - b. 1919) Giuseppe Meazza (Italy - b. 1910) Bobby Moore (England - b. 1941) Gerd Muller (West Germany - b. 1945) Gunter Netzer (West Germany - b. 1944) Gunnar Nordahl (Sweden - b. 1921) Carlo Parola (Italy - b. 1921) Pelé (Brazil - b. 1940) Silvio Piola (Italy - b. 1913) Ferenc Puskas (Hungary - b. 1927) Luigi Riva (Italy - b. 1944) Gianni Rivera (Italy - b. 1943) Nilton Santos (Brazil - b. 1925) Juan Schiaffino (Uruguay - b. 1925) Omar Sivori (Argentina - b. 1935) Lev Yashin (Soviet Union - b. 1929) Ricardo Zamora (Spain - b. 1901) In comparison with the previous list (by Eskenazi and Gassmann) a few differences are noticeable. One is that this one doesn't have George Best. Another is that this one has, of course, Meazza in and not Sindelar while Eskenazi had it the other way round. Also that Nordahl is in while Eskenazi had overlooked him (although he knew his name and goal record). Zamora is here the oldest, followed by Matthews. Cruyff is the youngest by two years. In the Eskenazi book Zamora, Jose Andrade, Alex James and Orsi were all born in 1901. Paolo Rossi was from 1956 and therefore by two years the youngest inclusion as well.
Lamberto Artioli - I Piu Grandi (1980) This interesting work had 192 people contributing (including the famous Gianni Brera, in Italian proficient Glanville indeed) which selected 73 "champions" across all sports. The twenty-five (25) football players making it were (ranked on year of birth): Ricardo Zamora (Spain - b. 1901) Raimundo Orsi (Argentina - b. 1901) Giuseppe Meazza (Italy - b. 1910) Aldo Olivieri (Italy - b. 1910) Silvio Piola (Italy - b. 1913) Stanley Matthews (England - b. 1915) Valentino Mazzola (Italy - b. 1919) Gunnar Nordahl (Sweden - b. 1921) Billy Wright (England - b. 1924) Juan Schiaffino (Uruguay - b. 1925) Alfredo di Stefano (Argentina - b. 1926) Ferenc Puskas (Hungary - b. 1927) Giampiero Boniperti (Italy - b. 1928) Julinho (Brazil - b. 1929) Lev Yashin (Soviet Union - b. 1929) John Charles (Wales - b. 1931) Garrincha (Brazil - b. 1933) Omar Sivori (Argentina - b. 1935) Pelé (Brazil - b. 1940) Giacinto Facchetti (Italy - b. 1942) Sandro Mazzola (Italy - b. 1942) Gianni Rivera (Italy - b. 1943) Luigi Riva (Italy - b. 1944) Franz Beckenbauer (West Germany - b. 1945) Johan Cruyff (Netherlands - b. 1947)
I sent an email to the library of the FICG (Italian FA) and received this as foremost recommendation back After some searching it indeed looks good (it's also in the bibliography of that famous Eduardo Galeano book) so I've ordered that too. It was not too expensive. I'll wait.
This are the 50 names: Ubaldo Fillol (Argentina - b. 1950) Ronnie Hellstrom (Sweden - b. 1949) Sepp Maier (West Germany - b. 1944) Thomas N'Kono (Cameroon - b. 1956) Peter Shilton (England - b. 1949) Viv Anderson (England - b. 1956) Franz Beckenbauer (West Germany - b. 1945) Ivan Buljan (Yugoslavia - b. 1949) Antonio Cabrini (Italy - b. 1957) Gordon McQueen (Scotland - b. 1952) Migueli (Spain - b. 1951) Yasuhiko Okudera (Japan - b. 1952) Bruno Pezzey (Austria - b. 1955) Oswaldo Piazza (Argentina - b. 1947) Marius Tresor (France - b. 1950) Joao Alves (Portugal - b. 1952) Osvaldo Ardiles (Argentina - b. 1952) Rainer Bonhof (West Germany - b. 1952) Zbigniew Boniek (Poland - b. 1956) Dirceu (Brazil - b. 1952) Kenny Dalglish (Scotland - b. 1951) Arie Haan (Netherlands - b. 1948) Trevor Francis (England - b. 1954) Kevin Keegan (England - b. 1951) Mario Kempes (Argentina - b. 1954) Diego Maradona (Argentina - b. 1960) Hansi Muller (West Germany - b. 1957) Johan Neeskens (Netherlands - b. 1951) Michel Platini (France - b. 1955) Ulrich Stielike (West Germany - b. 1954) Dhiab Tarak (Tunisia - b. 1954) Zenon (Brazil - b. 1954) Zico (Brazil - b. 1953) Vladimir Bessonov (Soviet Union - b. 1958) Roberto Bettega (Italy - b. 1950) Nenad Bjekovic (Yugoslavia - b. 1947) Oleg Blokhin (Soviet Union - b. 1952) Juanito (Spain - b. 1954) Hans Krankl (Austria - b. 1953) Bernard Lacombe (France - b. 1952) Leopoldo Luque (Argentina - b. 1949) Zdenek Nehoda (Czechoslovakia - b. 1952) Rob Rensenbrink (Netherlands - b. 1947) Johnny Rep (Netherlands - b. 1951) Paolo Rossi (Italy - b. 1956) Allan Simonsen (Denmark - b. 1952) Didier Six (France - b. 1954) Claudio Sulser (Switzerland - b. 1955) Lahzami Temime (Tunisia - b. 1949) Francois van der Elst (Belgium - b. 1954) I'll post a couple of scans next. Francis and Beckenbauer were pictured while playing in the USA. Temime for a World XI that played against the Cosmos (strengthened by a retired JC14).
Here are a few scans (can only show 10 in one post): As bonus: at the end of the 1978 calendar year they had also something on "new cracks" in their "Livre d'Or" The "New cracks" listed: Krankl, Juanito, Brandts, Hansi Muller, Paolo Rossi, Didier Six, Swat van der Elst, Tarak Diab.
This took a few days; This is Brian Glanville his extensive list in the 'Puffin book of footballers' (1978) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Glanville#Bibliography Julio Cesar Abbadie (Uruguay - b. 1930) Marques Menezes Ademir (Brazil - b. 1922) Florian Albert (Hungary - b. 1941) Ivor Allchurch (Wales - b. 1929) Jose Altafini (Brazil and Italy - b. 1938) Amaro Amancio (Spain - b. 1939) Rodriguez Andrade (Uruguay - b. 1927) Giancarlo Antognoni (Italy - b. 1954) Luis Artime (Argentina - b. 1938) Gundi Asparoukhov (Bulgaria - b. 1943) Ruben Ayala (Argentina - b. 1950) Carlos Babington (Argentina - b. 1949) Alan Ball (England - b. 1945) Gordon Banks (England - b. 1937) Frank Barson (England - b. 1891) Billy Bassett (England - b. 1869) Cliff Bastin (England - b. 1912) Carlos Bauer (Brazil - b. 1925) Jim Baxter (Scotland - b. 1939) Franz Beckenbauer (West Germany - b. 1945) Ferenc Bene (Hungary - b. 1944) Konstantin Beskov (Soviet Union - b. 1920) George Best (Northern Ireland - b. 1946) Danny Blanchflower (Northern Ireland - b. 1926) Ernie Blenkinsop (England - b. 1902) Oleg Blokhin (Soviet Union - b. 1952) Steve Bloomer (England - b. 1874) Vsevolod Bobrov (Soviet Union - b. 1922) Hristo Bonev (Bulgaria - b. 1947) Rainer Bonhof (West Germany - b. 1952) Giampiero Boniperti (Italy - b. 1928) Josef Bozsik (Hungary - b. 1925) Paul Breitner (West Germany - b. 1951) Billy Bremner (Scotland - b. 1942) Charlie Buchan (England - b. 1891) Ronnie Burgess (Wales - b. 1917) Johnny Carey (Ireland - b. 1919) Raich Carter (England - b. 1913) Mike Channon (England - b. 1948) John Charles (Wales - b. 1931) Bobby Charlton (England - b. 1937) Zlatko Cajkowski (Yugoslavia - b. 1923) Ray Clemence (England - b. 1948) Mario Coluna (Portugal - b. 1935) Rik Coppens (Belgium - b. 1930) Warney Cresswell (England - b. 1897) Bob Crompton (England - b. 1879) Sammy Crooks (England - b. 1908) Johan Cruyff (Netherlands - b. 1947) Teofilo Cubillas (Peru - b. 1949) Stanley Cullis (England - b. 1916) Zoltan Czibor (Hungary - b. 1929) Julien Darui (France - b. 1916) Dixie Dean (England - b. 1907) Kazimierz Deyna (Poland - b. 1947) Alfredo di Stefano (Argentina - b. 1926) Didi (Brazil - b. 1928) Jimmy Dimmock (England - b. 1900) Peter Doherty (Northern Ireland - b. 1913) Dally Duncan (Scotland - b. 1909) Dragan Dzajic (Yugoslavia - b. 1946) Ralf Edstrom (Sweden - b. 1952) Duncan Edwards (England - b. 1936) Willis Edwards (England - b. 1903) Eusebio (Portugal - b. 1942) Giacinto Facchetti (Italy - b. 1942) Elias Figueroa (Chile - b. 1946) Tom Finney (England - b. 1922) Brian Flynn (Wales - b. 1955) Just Fontaine (France - b. 1933) Trevor Ford (Wales - b. 1923) Neil Franklin (England - b. 1922) On George Best: "There are fears George Best will go down in the history of football as the great lost talent. Not altogether lost. After all, his decade in the British game, with Manchester United and Northern Ireland, was studded with magical goals, astonishing performances. As a forward, there seemed nothing that he could not do." On Johan Cruijff/Franz Beckenbauer: "With the waning of Pelé, Cruyff became by general consent the outstanding footballer of the 1970s, challenged perhaps only by Franz Beckenbauer. [...] [E]mbroiled in controversy both on and off the field [with directors and sponsors]; not for the first time. Of his immense talent, however, there can be no doubt. [...] [Harshly] banned from the team for a year, the start of a tempestuous but brilliant international career. [...] [T]aking them at a rate of knots from the depths to the top of the table. Among his other accomplishments is that of being an excellent natural linguist, conversant with Spanish, English, French, German and Italian." On Alfredo di Stefano: "His immense versatility and phenomenal stamina, built up by road running in Buenos Aires, enabled him to become that rarity even in the Total Football of today; a forward who could actually defend. [...] He dominated the European game, and Real with him, scoring forty-nine in European Cup ties. He was less successful when he played thirty-one times for Spain." N.B. Bobrov (b. 1922) is a truly remarkable athlete. Worth to look up. ------------------- This will take three parts. Franklin is at page 55 of 151 in total.
Was halfway through this: Robert Gadocha (Poland - b. 1946) Hughie Gallacher (Scotland - b. 1903) Garrincha (Brazil - b. 1933) Francisco Gento (Spain - b. 1933) Germano de Figueiredo (Portugal - b. 1932) Gerson (Brazil - b. 1941) Alcides Ghiggia (Uruguay - b. 1926) Johnny Giles (Ireland - b. 1940) Gilmar (Brazil - b. 1930) Roy Goodall (England - b. 1902) Jimmy Greaves (England - b. 1940) Gunnar Gren (Sweden - b. 1920) Arthur Grimsdell (England - b. 1894) Gyula Grosics (Hungary - b. 1926) Arie Haan (Netherlands - b. 1948) Kurt Hamrin (Sweden - b. 1934) Gerhard Hanappi (Austria - b. 1929) John Hansen (Denmark - b. 1924) Eddie Hapgood (England - b. 1908) Sam Hardy (England - b. 1882) Johnny Haynes (England - b. 1934) Willie Henderson (Scotland - b. 1944) Harry Hibbs (England - b. 1906) Nandor Hidegkuti (Hungary - b. 1922) Rudi Hiden (Austria - b. 1909) Uli Hoeness (West Germany - b. 1952) Rene Houseman (Argentina - b. 1953) Geoff Hurst (England - b. 1941) Rinus Israel (Netherlands - b. 1942) David Jack (England - b. 1898) Alec Jackson (Scotland - b. 1905) Jairzinho (Brazil - b. 1944) Alex James (Scotland - b. 1901) Leighton James (Wales - b. 1953) Pat Jennings (Northern Ireland - b. 1945) Hans Jeppson (Sweden - b. 1925) Bob John (Wales - b. 1899) Jimmy Johnstone (Scotland - b. 1944) Julinho (Brazil - b. 1929) Josip Katalinski (Yugoslavia - b. 1948) Kevin Keegan (England - b. 1951) Fred Keenor (Wales - b. 1894) Bob Kelly (England - b. 1893) Jack Kelsey (Wales - b. 1929) Alexei Khomich (Soviet Union - b. 1920) Ove Kindvall (Sweden - b. 1943) Lord Kinnaird (Scotland - b. 1847) Sandor Kocsis (Hungary - b. 1929) Ivan Kolev (Bulgaria - b. 1930) Raymond Kopa (France - b. 1931) Ruud Krol (Netherlands - b. 1949) Ladislao Kubala (Hungary - b. 1927) Angel Labruna (Argentina - b. 1918) Grzegorz Lato (Poland - b. 1950) Denis Law (Scotland - b. 1940) Tommy Lawton (England - b. 1919) Leonidas da Silva (Brazil - b. 1913) Nils Liedholm (Sweden - b. 1922) Benito Lorenzi (Italy - b. 1925) Wlodek Lubanski (Poland - b. 1947) R.S. McColl (Scotland - b. 1876) Bill McCracken (Ireland - b. 1883) Danny McGrain (Scotland - b. 1950) Jimmy McGrory (Scotland - b. 1904) Jimmy Mcilroy (Northern Ireland - b. 1931) Jimmy McMullan (Scotland - b. 1895) Archie Macaulay (Scotland - b. 1915) John Mahoney (Wales - b. 1946) Sepp Maier (West Germany - b. 1944) Wilf Mannion (England - b. 1918) Francisco Marinho (Brazil - b. 1952) Marian Masny (Czechoslovakia - b. 1950) Josef Masopust (Czechoslovakia - b. 1931) Alex Massie (Scotland - b. 1906) Stanley Matthews (England - b. 1915) Ladislao Mazurkiewicz (Uruguay - b. 1945) Sandro Mazzola (Italy - b. 1942) Valentino Mazzola (Italy - b. 1919) Giuseppe Meazza (Italy - b. 1910) Joe Mercer (England - b. 1914) Billy Meredith (Wales - b. 1874) Jef Mermans (Belgium - b. 1922) Rajko Mitic (Yugoslavia - b. 1922) Luis Monti (Argentina - b. 1901) Bobby Moore (England - b. 1941) Stanley Mortensen (England - b. 1921) Alan Morton (Scotland - b. 1893) Gerd Muller (West Germany - b. 1945) Johan Neeskens (Netherlands - b. 1951) Igor Netto (Soviet Union - b. 1930) Gunter Netzer (West Germany - b. 1944) Gunnar Nordahl (Sweden - b. 1921) Some comments on leading 1945-1953 players: His asssesment on Stanley Matthews: "Matthews was living testimony to the English mistrust of brilliance. [...] For Matthews was nothing if not a great occassion player; indeed, the greater the occassion the more formidable he became. [...] In Europe he was known as 'The Sorcerer'." Valentino Mazzola: "An inside-left of strength, skill and stamina, famous for the inside-forward partnership with Loik for Venezia, and consolidated in the Torino and Italian national teams, both of which he captained. Torino, indeed, were about to win their fifth successive championsip when [...]." Nordahl: "Despite his bulk - he weighed towards the end of his career over 200 pounds - Nordahl was a deft, skilled player, not averse to dropping deep to create fresh problems for the opposing centre-half." Labruna: "A busy, gifted inside-left [...]. At his best he was a quick, penetrative player with effective control." Page 107/151
Third part of 'The puffin book of footballers' (1978) by Brian Glanville. Branko Oblak (Yugoslavia - b. 1947) Ernst Ocwirk (Austria - b. 1926) Anton Ondrus (Czechoslovakia - b. 1950) Vladimir Onishenko (Soviet Union - b. 1949) Raimundo Orsi (Argentina - b. 1901) Wolfgang Overath (West Germany - b. 1943) Carlo Parola (Italy - b. 1921) Pelé (Brazil - b. 1940) Costa Pereira (Portugal - b. 1929) Luis Pereira (Brazil - b. 1949) Martin Peters (England - b. 1943) Oswaldo Piazza (Argentina - b. 1947) Silvio Piola (Italy - b. 1913) Pirri (Spain - b. 1945) Jan Pivarnik (Czechoslovakia - b. 1947) Frantisek Planicka (Czechoslovakia - b. 1904) Carl Praest (Denmark - b. 1922) Ferenc Puskas (Hungary - b. 1927) Jimmy Quinn (Scotland - b. 1878) Helmut Rahn (West Germany - b. 1929) Alf Ramsey (England - b. 1920) Rob Rensenbrink (Netherlands - b. 1947) Luigi Riva (Italy - b. 1944) Roberto Rivellino (Brazil - b. 1946) Gianni Rivera (Italy - b. 1943) Charlie Roberts (England - b. 1883) Pedro Rocha (Uruguay - b. 1942) Dominique Rocheteau (France - b. 1955) Leigh Richmond Roose (Wales - b. 1877) Djalma Santos (Brazil - b. 1929) Nilton Santos (Brazil - b. 1925) Gyorgy Sarosi (Hungary - b. 1912) Juan Schiaffino (Uruguay - b. 1925) Elisha Scott (Ireland - b. 1893) Uwe Seeler (West Germany - b. 1936) Dragoslav Sekularac (Yugoslavia - b. 1937) Len Shackleton (England - b. 1922) Matthias Sindelar (Austria - b. 1903) Omar Sivori (Argentina - b. 1935) 'Nacka' Skoglund (Sweden - b. 1929) G.O. Smith (England - b. 1872) Billy Steel (Scotland - b. 1923) Clem Stephenson (England - b. 1890) Luis Suarez (Spain - b. 1935) Wim Suurbier (Netherlands - b. 1945) Frank Swift (England - b. 1913) Bobby Templeton (Scotland - b. 1880) Colin Todd (England - b. 1948) Tostao (Brazil - b. 1947) Bert Trautmann (West Germany - b. 1923) Francois van der Elst (Belgium - b. 1954) Wim van Hanegem (Netherlands - b. 1944) Paul van Himst (Belgium - b. 1943) Obdulio Varela (Uruguay - b. 1917) Vava (Brazil - b. 1934) Berti Vogts (West Germany - b. 1946) Bernard Vukas (Yugoslavia - b. 1927) Willy Waddell (Scotland - b. 1921) Billy Walker (England - b. 1897) Bobby Walker (Scotland - b. 1879) Tommy Walker (Scotland - b. 1915) Fritz Walter (West Germany - b. 1920) Billy Wedlock (England - b. 1880) John White (Scotland - b. 1937) Faas Wilkes (Netherlands - b. 1923) Bert Williams (England - b. 1920) Ray Wilson (England - b. 1934) Vivian Woodward (England - b. 1879) Billy Wright (England - b. 1924) Lev Yashin (Soviet Union - b. 1929) Mario Zagallo (Brazil - b. 1931) Ricardo Zamora (Spain - b. 1901) Branko Zebec (Yugoslavia - b. 1929) Zico (Brazil - b. 1953) Zito (Brazil - b. 1932) Zizinho (Brazil - b. 1921) Dino Zoff (Italy - b. 1942) Some of the comments: Eusebio (forgot this one): "His beautifully loose, flowing movement, his tremendous acceleration, his fine control, his explosive right foot, made him second only to Pelé among the world's forwards of his time. Knee injuries [incurred in the European game] subverted his form." On Pelé: "The finest player of his generation and perhaps the greatest of all time." Luis Pereira: "Pereira adapted immediately, and was acknowledged one of the best defenders in the Spanish league when a knee injury towards the end of the season forced him to go back for an operation to Brazil." Carlo Parola: "A tall, strong, polished centre-half famous for his overhead bicycle kick, Parola had some curiously unfortunate experiences on great occassions." - Glanville rates him well. Silvio Piola: "One of the finest [center forwards] to emerge between the wars." Pirri: "Pirri gave Spain and Real Madrid consistently excellent service for a decade." Puskas (no real qualifications about him and where he stands, how high rated): "[M]ay almost be said to have had two careers. [...] He managed to form a devastating partnership with the temperamental Alfredo di Stefano who had previously brooked no rivals." Rensenbrink: "[A]nd who knows what might have happened in the 1974 World Cup final had he been fit?" Rocheteau: "One of the most exciting players [to watch]." Schiaffino: "Apparently frail, but a glorious ball player." Sindelar: "Known for his spindly physique as 'Der Papierene' ('The Man of Paper'), Sindelar was the elegant centre-forward of the Austrian Wunderteam of the early 1930s, a footballer of consummate accomplishment, able to weave his way through a defence as if by sorcery. [...] He was outstanding when Austria frightened England at Stamford Bridge in 1932." Van Himst: "Van Himst has been that rare phenomenon, the boy wonder who achieved a long career." Wilkes: "Inside-left for the Rest of Europe in Glasgow against Britain in May 1947, the tall, lean Wilkes, a complete master of close control, was the inspiration of Johan Cruyff and perhaps the most accomplished of all Dutch players before him." Zoff: "Zoff at his best was probably the leading European goalkeeper of the mid 1970s." --------------- There is one very strange omission in Carlos Alberto Torres (given that he's included in pretty much every other list). I've searched under the C, the A and the T but he is just not there. He's also not in the 1982 revision which is odd. I'll post the changes and additions of that 1982 revision later. A bit to like how he forgot Zico in his 1999 end-of-century list (who Glanville actually never rated that highly, e.g. WS article of 1976 but of course Zico has to be somewhere within 200 names over four/five decades of world football). Zico is in this 1978 attempt while his eternal 'alter-ego' Platini isn't, but this would change considerably by 1982, before the World Cup took place (Platini two years and three months younger ofc). He sees Uwe Seeler, with his longevity and teams he played for, as one of the most unfortunate players to kick a ball (as opposed to cases as Lubanski who was violently struck down prematurely and failed to find any type of softening referee protection).
The 1982 version of the 'book of footballers' by Glanville had these additions: Osvaldo Ardiles (Argentina - b. 1952) Roberto Bettega (Italy - b. 1950) Liam Brady (Ireland - b. 1956) Aleksandr Chivadze (Soviet Union - b. 1955) Kenny Dalglish (Scotland - b. 1951) Trevor Francis (England - b. 1954) Mario Kempes (Argentina - b. 1954) Diego Maradona (Argentina - b. 1960) David O'Leary (Ireland - b. 1958) Michel Platini (France - b. 1955) Reinaldo (Brazil - b. 1957) Paolo Rossi (Italy - b. 1956) Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany - b. 1955) Bernd Schuster (West Germany - b. 1959) Allan Simonsen (Denmark - b. 1952) Socrates (Brazil - b. 1954) Frans Thijssen (Netherlands - b. 1952) Andras Torocsik (Hungary - b. 1955) Wilfried van Moer (Belgium - b. 1945) Out: Luis Artime (Argentina - b. 1938) Ruben Ayala (Argentina - b. 1950) Carlos Babington (Argentina - b. 1949) Mike Channon (England - b. 1948) Rinus Israel (Netherlands - b. 1942) John Mahoney (Wales - b. 1946) Francisco Marinho (Brazil - b. 1952) Vladimir Onishenko (Soviet Union - b. 1949) Oswaldo Piazza (Argentina - b. 1947) Jan Pivarnik (Czechoslovakia - b. 1947) Wim Suurbier (Netherlands - b. 1945) Colin Todd (England - b. 1948) Francois van der Elst (Belgium - b. 1954) edit: N.B. as a reminder - this pocket book was published before the 1982 World Cup. It was indeed 16 pages longer as the 1978 version.
Update! This was indeed a fine book. Hardcover, pages of a high quality, even a watermark on the first page (see scans). Mostly well done. Of course from an Italian perspective but that was exactly what I wanted. Attackers Pelé (Brazil - b. 1940) Roberto Bettega (Italy - b. 1950) Roberto Boninsegna (Italy - b. 1943) Franco Causio (Italy - b. 1949) Bruno Conti (Italy - b. 1955) Eusebio (Portugal - b. 1942) Garrincha (Brazil - b. 1933) Bruno Giordano (Italy - b. 1956) Kurt Hamrin (Sweden - b. 1934) Julinho (Brazil - b. 1929) Diego Maradona (Argentina - b. 1960) Gerd Müller (West Germany - b. 1945) Michel Platini (France - b. 1955) Luigi Riva (Italy - b. 1944) Paolo Rossi (Italy - b. 1956) Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany - b. 1955) Omar Sivori (Argentina - b. 1935) Zico (Brazil - b. 1953) Midfielders Giancarlo Antognoni (Italy - b. 1954) Liam Brady (Ireland - b. 1956) Bobby Charlton (England - b. 1937) Mario Corso (Italy - b. 1941) Johan Cruijff (Netherlands - b. 1947) Didi (Brazil - b. 1928) Alfredo di Stefano (Argentina - b. 1926) Paolo Roberto Falcao (Brazil - b. 1953) Helmut Haller (West Germany - b. 1939) Nils Liedholm (Sweden - b. 1922) Sandro Mazzola (Italy - b. 1942) Wolfgang Overath (Italy - b. 1943) Ferenc Puskas (Hungary - b. 1927) Gianni Rivera (Italy - b. 1943) Juan Schiaffino (Uruguay - b. 1925) Socrates (Brazil - b. 1954) Luis Suarez Miramontes (Spain - b. 1935) Marco Tardelli (Italy - b. 1954) Defenders Gordon Banks (England - b. 1937) Franco Baresi (Italy - b. 1960) Franz Beckenbauer (West Germany - b. 1945) Antonio Cabrini (Italy - b. 1957) Giacinto Facchetti (Italy - b. 1942) Ubaldo Fillol (Argentina - b. 1950) Lev Yashin (Soviet Union - b. 1929) Ruud Krol (Netherlands - b. 1949) Bobby Moore (England - b. 1941) Daniel Passarella (Argentina - b. 1953) Djalma Santos (Brazil - b. 1929) Nilton Santos (Brazil - b. 1925) Gaetano Scirea (Italy - b. 1953) Dino Zoff (Italy - b. 1942) ---------------------------------------------- On Pelé: "Potentially the best to have practiced the sport. His three world titles, on paper, are a tall order to overcome and his play did not mismatch the resume." On Cruijff: "The only [included] footballer to have played all three categories at an elite level, superior to the norm [fuoriclasse], with a quality that wouldn't be out of place between any of these names. [...] One of the most endearing sights is however not when he was with a ball at his feet, but when he spoke and encouraged the youngest offspring of the human race." Another one? Indeed a fine work with an overview and assessment from 1958 to 1985 (arguments are given on 'why to start in 1958'). ---------------------------------------- This will be the last update for a while.
Oh, thinking now that I didn't post VIs (Voetbal International) 1986 list somewhere. Will post that later this week. In there some less common names (Barbas, Grabowski, among others).
This work was called "Football ABC" and the second page says expressely it was up to date until 1 March 1986. It got published May 1986. It was indeed made by a couple of VI journalists back then. I leave out the NET (Netherlands) players as well as almost all players who were back then active in the Eredivisie. Another criteria I apply is that there should be more than three sentences written about the player. This still means there's a slight emphasis on Belgian players, and "if it sounds exotic it sounds good", but that's inevitable. It was a book of 360 written pages. Florian Albert (Hungary - b. 1941) Arthur Albiston (Scotland - b. 1957) Karl Allgöwer (West Germany - b. 1957) Klaus Allofs (West Germany - b. 1956) Thomas Allofs (West Germany - b. 1959) José Altafini (Brazil - b. 1938) Alessandro Altobelli (Italy - b. 1955) Amancio (Spain - b. 1939) Amarildo (Brazil - b. 1939) Henrik Andersen (Denmark - b. 1965) Viv Anderson (England - b. 1956) José Leandro Andrade (Uruguay - b. 1901) Antonio dos Santos Ferreira 'Andre' (Portugal - b. 1957) Jozsef Andrusch (Hungary - b. 1956) Giancarlo Antognoni (Italy - b. 1954) Nikolay Arabov (Bulgaria - b. 1953) Steve Archibald (Scotland - b. 1956) Luis Arconada (Spain - b. 1954) Osvaldo Ardiles (Argentina - b. 1952) Gerry Armstrong (Northern Ireland - b. 1954) Frank Arnesen (Denmark - b. 1956) Georgi Asparuhov (Bulgaria - b. 1943) Salah Assad (Algeria - b. 1958) Klaus Augenthaler (West Germany - b. 1957) Jose Augusto (Portugal - b. 1937) William Ayache (France - b. 1961) Gary Baily (England - b. 1958) Alan Ball (England - b. 1945) Sergeu Baltatscha (Soviet Union - b. 1958) Gordon Banks (England - b. 1937) Juan Barbas (Argentina - b. 1959) John Barnes (England - b. 1963) Sergio Batista (Uruguay - b. 1962) Joel Bats (France - b. 1957) Albert Batteux (France - b. 1919) Patrick Battiston (France - b. 1957) Vladimir Beara (Yugoslavia - b. 1928) Franz Beckenbauer (West Germany - b. 1945) Lakhtar Belloumi (Algeria - b. 1958) Tedj Bensaoula (Algeria - b. 1954) Manuel Bento (Portugal - b. 1948) Klaus Berggreen (Denmark - b. 1958) Jens Jörn Bertelsen (Denmark - b. 1952) Thomas Berthold (West Germany - b. 1964) Daniel Bertoni (Argentina - b. 1955) Konstantin Beskov (Soviet Union - b. 1920) Vladimir Bessonov (Soviet Union - b. 1958) George Best (Northern Ireland - b. 1946) Jim Bett (Scotland - b. 1959) Roberto Bettega (Italy - b. 1950) Carlos Bianchi (Argentina - b. 1949) Michel Bibard (France - b. 1958) Danny Blanchflower (Northern Ireland - b. 1928) Stjepan Bobek (Yugoslavia - b. 1923) Ricardo Bochini (Argentina - b. 1954) Bela Bodonyi (Hungary - b. 1960) Rainer Bonhof (West Germany - b. 1952) Zbigniew Boniek (Poland - b. 1956) Giampiero Boniperti (Italy - b. 1928) Claudio Borghi (Argentina - b. 1964) Maxime Bossis (France - b. 1955) Macer Bouiche (Algeria - b. 1960) Raymond Braine (Belgium - b. 1907) Branco (Brazil - b. 1964) Andreas Brehme (West Germany - b. 1960) Paul Breitner (West Germany - b. 1951) Hans-Peter Briegel (West Germany - b. 1955) José Brown (Argentina - b. 1956) Kenneth Brylle (Denmark - b. 1959) Aleksander Bubnov (Soviet Union - b. 1955) Andrzej Buncol (Poland - b. 1959) Jorge Burruchaga (Argentina - b. 1962) Soren Busk (Denmark - b. 1953) Terry Butcher (England - b. 1958) Emilio Butragueno (Spain - b. 1963) Wilmar Cabrera (Uruguay - b. 1959) Antonio Cabrini (Italy - b. 1957) Jose Antonio Camacho (Spain - b. 1955) Antonio Carbajal (Mexico - b. 1929) Careca (Brazil - b. 1960) Carlos Alberto (Brazil - b. 1944) Carlos Manuel (Portugal - b. 1958) Carlos Roberto (Brazil - b. 1956) Francisco Carrasco (Spain - b. 1959) Franco Causio (Italy - b. 1949) Jan Ceulemans (Belgium - b. 1957) Bum Kun Cha (South Korea - b. 1953) Fernando Chalana (Portugal - b. 1959) John Charles (Wales - b. 1931) Nico Claesen (Belgium - b. 1962) Roger Claesen (Belgium - b. 1941) Ray Clemence (England - b. 1948) Leo Clijsters (Belgium - b. 1956) Fulvio Collovati (Italy - b. 1957) Mario Coluna (Portugal - b. 1935) Nestor Combin (Argentina - b. 1940) Bruno Conti (Italy - b. 1955) Julien Cools (Belgium - b. 1947) Davie Cooper (Scotland - b. 1956) Rik Coppens (Belgium - b. 1930) Costa Pereira (Portugal - b. 1929) Ferenc Csongradi (Hungary - b. 1956) Jossef Csuhaj (Hungary - b. 1958) Teofilo Cubillas (Peru - b. 1949) Alex Czerniatynski (Belgium - b. 1960) Zoltan Czibor (Hungary - b. 1929) To be continued of course...
Hey, people. A couple of you might remember me as Harokin from Xtratime. Lately I've been getting back into studying soccer history, and this seems like the best place nowadays to discuss the subject. There are a couple of really juicy threads around, including this one. My contribution isn't necessarily just a list of old great players, but I don't feel like starting a new thread, so it's close enough. I own a Finnish football book called "Kuningas Jalkapallo" (King Football) from the vintage year of 1947. I love this book, as it's been my primary source of information regarding pre-war football outside the Internet. I thought I'd share some of the choice tidbits with you, since I doubt any of you are going to read it anytime soon. The book was written by MONI, a pen name for Eino Soinio, an early Finnish football legend. The book isn't just great for it's information value, but it's also incredibly well-written. Man, I wish I could translate the language to you properly! It's really quaint and old-fashioned stuff, but with a ton of dry wit. For example, he describes himself as "a keen football activist in my younger years" (you could say that). A football he describes as something kinda like this: "Out of all instruments for play, it offers the most perfect form of recreation". I'll do my best here. The book starts with the usual prehistory stuff, before moving on to the development of the modern game in England. You know all this stuff. The first brilliant material comes when he describes the "fairytale era of English football": "This is the very era old British football veterans refer to, when the exchange of opinion on when the finest footballing of all-time was played comes into question. Many 'oldtimers' ponder how today's football is good for nothing, and how it's standard has lowered significantly. No longer can be seen such brilliant football as when England beat Scotland 5-0 in 1888!" He mentions the famous frontline of G.H. Woodhall (West Brom) - John Goodall (Preston) -Finsley Lindley (Notts Forest) -Fred Dewhurst (Preston) -Dennis Hodgetts (Aston Villa) as: "According to them [oldtimers] the finest five England has ever sent into an international. Whatever the case may be, it is clear the football of that time was more enjoyable to watch than the current one. Playing speed hadn't yet mangled the game itself. A capable and imaginative 'dribbler' could move around the pitch at a relatively leisurely pace, and 'handle' the ball while the audience offered him great acclaim. The people practically howled in rapture, when one of its great favorites 'took the mickey' on five, six opposing players". Things haven't changed a bit! The language maybe a little. Soinio mentions the Preston Invincibles and the "historic star player team" of Aston Villa, which included players like J.W. Crabtree "the perfect ball virtuoso, who astounded both audience and opponents alike with the most peculiar 'tricks'." Crabtree formed an impenetrable halfback-line with Reynolds and Cowan. Fred Wheldon and John Campbell also wrote their names in large letters in football history. Other pre WW-I players mentioned include Everton's Jack Sharp and Wednesday's Fred Spikesley. The master tactician Bill McCracken gets a mention for his McCracken-trick. "But the most famous WWI 'poindexter' was the Welsh 'Bill' Meredith." I'll cap off part 1 with a listing of Herbert Champman's best 11 of pre-1924 (names sic): Sam Hardy (Villa); Bob Crompton (Blackburn) - Jesse Pennington West Brom); Ben Warren (Chelsea) - C. Roberts (Man United) - E. Needham (Sheffield U); J. Simpsson (Blackburn) - Steeve Bloomer (Derby) - Albert Shepherd (Newcastle) - Alec James (Arsenal) - Fred Spikesley (Wednesday). More parts incoming if you guys are interested.
Do you have maybe more of those older lists? Things like this were very informative and interesting: http://www.xtratime.org/forum/15937674-post279.html Esp. the 1960s and 1950s are scarce. 1970s and 1980s are also fine but far better covered now.
So I tried my best and this is the result. Jos Daerden (Belgium - b. 1954) Rinat Dasayev (Soviet Union - b. 1957) Dixie Dean (England - b. 1907) Anatoli Demyanenko (Soviet Union - b. 1959) Lajos Detari (Hungary - b. 1963) Johan Devrindt (Belgium - b. 1945) Diamantino (Portugal - b. 1959) Ramon Diaz (Argentina - b. 1959) Didi (Brazil - b. 1928) Georgi Dimitrov (Bulgaria - b. 1959) Dirceu (Brazil - b. 1952) Kerry Dixon (England - b. 1961) Jean Dockx (Belgium - b. 1941) Ted Drake (England - b. 1912) Mike Duxbury (England - b. 1959) Dragan Dzajic (Yugoslavia - b. 1946) Eder (Brazil - b. 1957) Edinho (Brazil - b. 1955) Preben Elkjaer-Larsen (Denmark - b. 1957) Frankie van der Elst (Belgium - b. 1961) Eurico (Portugal - b. 1955) Giacinto Facchetti (Italy - b. 1942) Falcao (Brazil - b. 1953) Laszlo Fazekas (Hungary - b. 1947) Terry Fenwick (England - b. 1959) Alex Ferguson (Scotland - b. 1942) Tom Finney (England - b. 1922) Klaus Fischer (West Germany - b. 1949) Alfredo Foni (Italy - b. 1911) Just Fontaine (France - b. 1933) Karl-Heinz Förster (West Germany - b. 1958) Enzo Francescoli (Uruguay - b. 1961) Trevor Francis (England - b. 1954) José Lopez Francisco (Spain - b. 1962) Frasco (Portugal - b. 1955) Per Frimann-Hansen (Denmark - b. 1962) Michael Frontzeck (West Germany - b. 1964) Paolo Futre (Portugal - b. 1966) Robert Gadocha (Poland - b. 1946) Ricardo Gallego (Spain - b. 1959) Giovanni Galli (Italy - b. 1958) Garrincha (Brazil - b. 1933) Juri Gavrilov (Soviet Union - b. 1953) Tommy Gemmell (Scotland - b. 1943) Bernard Genghini (France - b. 1958) Francisco Gento (Spain - b. 1933) Eric Gerets (Belgium - b. 1954) Germano (Portugal - b. 1932) Gerson (Brazil - b. 1941) Alain Giresse (France - b. 1952) Ricardo Giusti (Argentina - b. 1956) Andoni Goicoecha (Spain - b. 1956) Fernando Gomes (Portugal - b. 1956) Roger van Gool (Belgium - b. 1950) Rafael Gordillo (Spain - b. 1957) Rusi Gotchev (Bulgaria - b. 1958) Richard Gough (Scotland - b. 1962) Jurgen Grabowski (West Germany - b. 1944) Francesco Graziani (Italy - b. 1952) Gunnar Gren (Sweden - b. 1920) Georges Grun (Belgium - b. 1962) Heinz Gründel (West Germany - b. 1957) Vahid Halilhodzic (Yugoslavia - b. 1952) Alan Hansen (Scotland - b. 1955) Mark Hateley (England - b. 1961) Jan Heintze (Denmark - b. 1963) Matthias Herget (West Germany - b. 1955) Patricio Hernandez (Argentina - b. 1956) Georges Heylens (Belgium - b. 1941) Jupp Heynckes (West Germany - b. 1945) Glenn Hoddle (England - b. 1957) Bernd Holzenbein (West Germany - b. 1946) Horst Hrubesch (West Germany - b. 1951) Geoff Hurst (England - b. 1941) Glenn Hysen (Sweden - b. 1959) Dietmar Jakobs (West Germany - b. 1953) Sandy Jardine (Scotland - b. 1948) Pat Jennings (England - b. 1945) Maurice Johnston (Scotland - b. 1963) Jordao (Portugal - b. 1952) Juanito (Spain - b. 1954) Julio Alberto (Spain - b. 1958) Junior (Brazil - b. 1954) Next letter is K of course.
Haha, I had forgotten all about that post. Old WS issues might have a few more lists like that, because I remember seeing Finnish footie-legend Aulis Rytkönen mentioned in a french list somewhere. Might take a while to dig it out.