Rothmans on 1999 2000 -------------------Martyn -Ferrer --- Hyypia --- Stam --- Harte Beckham --- Keane --- Wise --- Kewell --------------Shearer --- Phillips Subs: Desailly, Giggs, Henry Others coming close: Irwin, Sylvinho, Scholes, Vieira.
Rothmans on 2000 2001 -------------------Barthez Babbel -- Ferdinand --- Hyypia -- A Cole Beckham --- Vieira --- Gerrard --- Giggs -----------Sheringham --- Owen Subs: Keane, Scholes, Stewart
Rothmans on 2001 2002 -------------------Dudek G Neville --- Ferdinand --- Hyypia --- Cole ----Pires ---- Vieira --- Keane ---- Giggs --------Van Nistelrooy --- Henry Subs: Silvestre, Beckham, Owen
I picked up my copy of Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2009/10 (putting in this format as my post relates to the previous season) - formerly Rothmans..... FWA (Sky Sports Yearbook, but basically picked by the Football Writers like with the teams posted by comme too) Team of the Season 2009 2010: Mark Schwarzer; Glen Johnson, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole; Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Ashley Young; Cristiano Ronaldo, Fernando Torres, Wayne Rooney Subs: Jamie Carragher, Cesc Fabregas, Xabi Alonso Explicitly noted that it's the first time they picked a 4-3-3 formation (although for that season more than the previous one I'd have thought they could use 4-4-2 or perhaps 4-2-4 even with CR7 wide on the opposite side to Young; and the CB's are shown as I write above although I thought would have played on the other sides mostly unless I got that wrong!? - anyway they are CBs not FBs so it doesn't really matter). Also, on a similar note re: 4-2-4 (this time it was noted explicitly that the team was chosen in a 4-2-4 as opposed to 4-4-2), it might have been posted elsewhere by comme/Gregoriak/Puck or even someone else but I'll show a selection flashed back to within that book (from the first Rothmans book) which is labelled as Rothmans Golden Boots Award for 1970 and was in effect a best British XI selection voted for by a panel of 22 experts (maybe after the 1970 World Cup - it's said they'd give Brazil a great match anyway): Gordon Banks (22 votes); David Hay (10), Mike England (11), Bobby Moore (22), Terry Cooper (21); Billy Bremner (19), Alan Ball (19); Jimmy Johnstone (12), Geoff Hurst (14), Ron Davies (13), George Best (22) Also receiving votes: Martin Peters (9), Billy McNeill (7), Francis Lee (6), Terry Hennessey, Paul Reeney (5), Bobby Charlton, Peter Osgood (3), Johnny Giles, Alan Mullery, Brian Labone, Keith Newton, Tommy Gemmell (2), Rod Thomas, Tommy Wright, Colin Stein, Bob McNab, Bobby Moncur, Peter Houseman, Allan Clarke, Ralph Coates, John Greig (1).
I found an edition of Match with a summary of the seasons ratings for the First Division.....but it is the second tier (96/97 First Division as opposed to Premier League - if I find the issue with the Premier League ratings I can post though - maybe I bought it although I didn't subscribe at that point and might not have bought every issue - I see I had managed to complete the crossword in that issue anyway!). I do have some copies of Shoot/Match that have match ratings in for the weeks concerned that I have found too (I probably will have some more but I don't know how much value there will be in posting these as opposed to seasonal summaries so I might just make this a one-off to show who got best player in team awards and what rating they received (3-10 scale): May 1991 (Shoot) CWC Final - Manchester United (Bryan Robson - 9), Barcelona (Eusebio - 8) FA Cup Final - Nottingham Forest (Stuart Pearce - 8), Tottenham Hotspur (Paul Stewart - 9) 1st Division: Chelsea (Gordon Durie - 9) 4 Liverpool (Ray Houghton - 9) 2 Coventry City (Trevor Peake - 8) 0 Sheffield United (Bob Booker - 8) 0 Derby County (Paul Williams - 9) 6 Southampton (Rodney Wallace - 7) 2 Everton (Tony Cottee - 9) 1 Luton Town (Kingsley Black - 9) 0 Leeds United (David Whyte - 9) 5 Aston Villa (Derek Mountfield - 8) 2 Manchester United (Brian McClair - 8) 1 Manchester City (Neil Pointon - 8) 0 Norwich City (Dale Gordon - 8) 1 QPR (David Bardsley - 8) 0 Sunderland (Kevin Ball - 9) 0 Arsenal (Tony Adams - 9) 0 Tottenham Hotspur (Vinny Samways - 8) 1 Nottingham Forest (Des Walker - 9) 1 Wimbeldon (John Scales - 8) 0 Crystal Palace (Ian Wright - 9) 3 Arsenal (Alan Smith - 9) 3 Manchester United (Mark Robins - 8) 1 Nottingham Forest (Gary Crosby - 9) 2 Liverpool (Steve Nicol - 8) 1 Aston Villa (David Platt - 9) 2 Norwich City (Jeremy Goss - 8) 1 Derby County (Mick Forsyth - 8) 2 Everton (Tony Cottee - 9) 3 Leeds United (David Batty - 8) Sheffied United (Brian Deane - 8) 1 Arsenal (Anders Limpar - 9) 6 Coventry City (Kevin Gallacher - 9) 1 Aston Villa (Tony Cascarino - 8) 2 Chelsea (Ken Monkou - 9) 2 Crystal Palace (John Salako - 9) 3 Manchester United (Andrei Kanchelskis - 8) 0 Liverpool (David Speedie - 9) 2 Tottenham Hotspur (Paul Stewart - 8) 0 Luton Town (Lars Elstrup - 9) 2 Derby County (Mark Wright - 9) 0 Manchester City (Niall Quinn - 9) 3 Sunderland (Marco Gabbiadini - 8) 2 Nottingham Forest (Nigel Clough - 9) 4 Leeds United (Gary McAllister - 8) 3 QPR (Ray Wilkins - 8) 1 Everton (Neville Southall - 8) 1 Sheffield United (Tony Agana - 8) 2 Norwich City (David Phillips - 8) 1 Southampton (Alan Shearer - 8) 1 Wimbledon (Keith Curle - 8) 1 ....as you can see, a 9 out of 10 was not rare, but I should add it was usually only awarded to one player in a team. ....the others I have ready to post are from Match in August 1997.
Sorry, I meant Shoot again....(just 7 games rated) August 1997 (Shoot) Tottenham Hotspur (Sol Campbell - 9) 0 Manchester United (Ryan Giggs - 9) 2 Arsenal (Dennis Bergkamp - 9) 2 Coventry City (Gary McAllister - 7) 0 Aston Villa (Julian Joachim - 7) 0 Blackburn Rovers (Chris Sutton - 9) 4 Liverpool (Paul Ince - 7) 1 Leicester City (Matt Elliott - 9) 2 Manchester United (Jordi Cruyff - 8) 1 Southampton (Jim Magilton - 8) 0 Sheffield Wednesday (Benito Carbone - 8) 1 Leeds United (Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink - 9) 3 West Ham United (Rio Ferdinand - 9) 2 Tottenham Hotspur (John Scales - 8) 1
Actually in the August 1997 Shoot magazine (it's weekly not monthly but I am being non-specific as the date isn't important) there is a little bit of detail about 1996 1997 ratings on a double page piece on Bergkamp called The Bergkamp Files: The top 5 Arsenal ratings are provided as follows: Dennis Bergkamp - 7.21 Paul Merson - 7.09 Martin Keown - 6.94 Patrick Vieira - 6.90 Lee Dixon - 6.72 It's also stated that Bergkamp got 3 Man of the Match awards (presumably Shoot ones, as best of his team as per the ones above - they were always bolded in the line-up when match results were shown; I don't think it means official Premier League Man of the Match awards anyway) and another 3 in FA Cup games although his average score for those is given as 7.00 exactly and no team-mates ratings are shown. Not massively helpful as it's only one club and I don't have a reference for top rated players of other clubs, but still worth posting maybe....
The only other related thing is probably a list of top 10 foreign imports a reader had sent in and that was published on the 'Bulletin Board' -: 1) Zola, 2) Bergkamp, 3) B.Laudrup, 4) Kinkladze, 5) Vieira, 6) Leonhardsen, 7) Di Matteo, 8) Schmeichel, 9) Overmars, 10) Johnsen (More of a valuation/prediction though than a rating purely on past performances I suppose)
EPL teams covering the first ten seasons 1992-93 to 2001-02, selected by a combination of experts and public. 4-4-2 formations. British: Seaman - G Neville, Adams, Bruce, Pearce - Beckham, Ince, Scholes, Giggs - Shearer, Owen Non-British: Schmeichel - Petrescu, Stam, Desailly, Irwin - Ljunberg, Vieira, Keane, Pires - Henry, Cantona Combined: Schmeichel - G Neville, Adams, Desailly, Irwin - Beckham, Vieira, Scholes, Giggs - Shearer, Cantona Manager: Alex Ferguson Commentator: Martin Tyler
I think that is a Sky-based poll selection is it mate? Probably the changes I'd make in the British XI personally would be Sol Campbell (for Bruce), maybe already Gerrard with McAllister in CM, and just to suit an actual team better as witnessed with England Sheringham could be in for Owen. For non-British, I'd say McGrath (for Stam), any two of Kanchelskis (not as CAM), Gullit, Juninho and Bohinen (not as RM/RW) for Ljungberg and Keane, and I'd go I think with Bergkamp and Klinsmann in attack at that point personally too. For my combined XI, mainly on peak form, the only British making it could be Beckham (or perhaps Giggs instead, but I think Pires suits LW best - obviously with length of peak-ish form a factor Giggs makes it in instead of him anyway though but perhaps the actual voters who chose Giggs also had him ahead on peak or some of them might have) and maybe Campbell to be honest. If not Campbell then still McGrath would be British/Irish (home based) anyway.
Ah no, sorry, it was voted for via the Premier League website, and experts provided a shortlist of options: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premi...ade.2C_Outstanding_Contribution_to_the_League
There is a list in Shoot of the 1990 1991 Fans Players of the Year too (not the result of Shoot ratings, but fan votes - I'm not sure how many are on Wikipedia anyway, but the Forest one is as well as on the club website and that was one of the unannounced ones in the copy of Shoot I'm looking at so I'll add it in anyway): Arsenal - Tony Adams Aston Villa - Paul McGrath Chelsea - Andy Townsend Coventry - Kevin Gallacher Crystal Palace - Geoff Thomas Derby - Dean Saunders Everton - to be announced (can't see on Wikipedia for earlier than 2006) Leeds - David Batty Liverpool - none awarded Luton - Alec Chamberlain Manchester City - Niall Quinn Manchester United - Mark Hughes Norwich - Ian Culverhouse Nottingham Forest - Stuart Pearce QPR - Roy Wegerle Sheffield United - Brian Deane Southampton - Alan Shearer Sunderland - Kevin Ball Tottenham - Gary Mabbutt Wimbledon - Warren Barton
Sorry, I should have labelled this one as being for 2008 2009 of course! I thought about buying Rothmans books for 93/94 and 94/95 (I'll label in requested format if I post anything) to go back beyond what comme has, but for now I found a run-down in the Independent of the candidates for FWA Player of the Year for 1993 1994, with the reasoning behind a vote for Eric Cantona (the PFA Player of the Year; the only doubts expressed are about certain fouls/sendings off tainting his season) but others are mentioned as prime candidates too - Ryan Giggs (it's said he'd have had a better chance mid season, but obviously the season wasn't over and games like Leeds (a), highlights posted below, might have helped his case again although too late for the award I guess for at least some voters), eventual winner Alan Shearer, Andy Cole, Peter Beardsley, Matt Le Tissier, Paul Ince.... http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...e-football-writers-footballer-of-1370466.html
Thanks comme - yes that is helpful info as the main reason I was thinking of buying them would have been to see the teams. I'm assuming an agreement with the FWA to publish their elected teams began for the 96/97 edition (with the 95/96 teams of the season) then.
Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2006/07 (my copy was missing it's cover sleeve which I found first and then remembered I could search for that book too!) has the FWA XI for 2005 2006, with substitutes, and in the write-up effectively confirms the XI for 2004 2005 too. 2005 2006 Peter Cech; Gary Neville, John Terry, Kolo Toure, William Gallas; Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Claude Makelele, Joe Cole, Wayne Rooney, Thierry Henry Subs: Pascal Chimbonda, Jamie Carragher, Aaron Lennon FWA Player of the Year: Henry; 2nd: Terry, 3rd: Rooney, 4th: Gerrard 2004 2005 Petr Cech; Steve Finnan, John Terry, Jamie Carragher, Gabriel Heinze; Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Claude Makelele, Arjen Robben; Wayne Rooney, Thierry Henry
I'll be away next week but comment in other thread made me realize I hadn't posted it yet (recently re-discovered it in an old box), and then made a photo of it so could complete it later. 1999 PFA player of the year nominees David Ginola (winner), Dwight Yorke, David Beckham, Roy Keane, Dennis Bergkamp and Emmanuel Petit. Four Four Two had this as their "50 best players in the premiership", as shown in the July 1999 issue. The awards were "decided by you the fans, players and managers" but it looks as if the top 50 is entirely their own choice. Next to the list it also 'shouted' Yorke, Owen and Hasselbaink were the joint topscorers, in the season Manchester won the iconic treble and Beckham was second in the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player awards. 1. Dwight Yorke 2. David Ginola 3. David Beckham 4. Jaap Stam 5. Emmanuel Petit 6. Sol Campbell 7. Patrick Vieira 8. Roy Keane 9. Nicolas Anelka 10. Nigel Martyn 11. Tony Adams 12. Michael Owen 13. Denis Irwin 14. Dennis Bergkamp 15. Harry Kewell 16. Andy Cole 17. Martin Keown 18. Gary Neville 19. Marcel Desailly 20. Lee Dixon 21. Marc Overmars 22. Nigel Winterburn 23. Vegard Heggem 24. Ian Harte 25. Ray Parlour 26. Albert Ferrer 27. Neil Sullivan 28. Ed de Goey 29. Graeme le Saux 30. David Seaman 31. Jamie Redknapp 32. Ryan Giggs 33. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink 34. Gustavo Poyet 35. Lucas Radebe 36. Benito Carbone 37. Frank Lebouef 38. Dan Petrescu 39. John Filan 40. Lee Bowyer 41. Steve Carr 42. Shay Given 43. Dion Dublin 44. Kenny Cunningham 45. Dean Gordon 46. Darren Huckerby 47. Alan Wright 48. Lee Hendrie 49. Michael Ball 50. Didier Domi Despite the influx of foreigners, 29 players came from the British Isles. Plus one more from South Africa and one from Trinidad and Tobago (Dwight Yorke; who had also 8 goals and 8 OPTA assists in the Champions League). Eleven are from Arsenal, eight Manchester United, seven Chelsea, six Leeds United, with the remainder on three (Villa, Tottenham, Liverpool) or lower. How the Ideal XI would appear depends on formation, but something like this: Martyn; Neville, Stam, Campbell, Irwin; Beckham, Petit, Vieira, Ginola; Yorke, Anelka Alternatively Roy Keane gets in when going for 4-2-3-1 (popular formation at the time) or 4-3-3 (less popular around that time), or Bergkamp as - by far - best placed number 10. Certainly Dwight Yorke comes out very well in all of these lists, and also by OPTA above. He was 10th and 11th in the Ballon d'Or and FIFA vote (behind team mates Beckham and Keane; Beckham and Cole). They also had a top 50 for the Scottish league. With Henrik Larson at #1, followed by Moravcik and Van Bronckhorst. edit: no Paul Scholes here!
@PDG1978 @peterhrt I found an interesting FourFourTwo appendix from 2005 where the fans of all 92 league clubs and fans of the Scottish clubs were asked to name their best and worst player. I liked many of the write-ups very much and all are also equally long. It are 35 pages on A4 format so it's hard to copy it all but might post a few summaries. Naturally some definitely 'good' players (like Ian Rush) ended up in the worst players category. Obviously some eras are over-represented (I think?), leading to Tom Finney and Nat Lofthouse receiving a nod but not Stanley Matthews or so. There is a reference to it in Mickey Walsh his profile (and there are more of that ilk): "It's not easy for any Blackpool player to step out from the shadow of... no, not the Tower, but the towering skill of Sir Stanley Matthews, who spent much of his prime at Bloomfield Road. Former England captain Jimmy Armfield was also in the running." Aberdeen: Willie Miller, Brian O'Neil Arsenal: Dennis Bergkamp, Gus Caesar Aston Villa: Paul McGrath, Bosko Balaban Barnsley: Ronnie Glavin, Deon Burton Birmingham: Trevor Francis, Richie Moran Blackburn Rovers: Colin Hendry, Kevin Davies Blackpool: Mickey Walsh, Stephen McMahon Bolton Wanderers: Nat Lofthouse, John Gregory Boston United: Chris Cook, Ken Charlery Bradford City: Benito Carbone, Darren Morgan Brentford: Dean Holdsworth, Murray Jones Brighton: Bobby Zamora, Glen Thomas Bristol City: Jacki Dziekanowski, Ian Baird Bristol Rovers: Mickey Barrett, Andy Spring Burnley: Jimmy McIlroy, Steve Harper Bury: Andy Hill, Mark Sertori Cambridge United: John Taylor, Scott Eustace Cardiff City: Nathan Blake, Andy Campbell Celtic: Henrik Larsson, Rafael Scheidt Charlton: Scott Parker, Neil Redfearn Chelsea: Gianfranco Zola, Winston Bogarde Cheltenham: Neil Grayson, Jason White Chester City: Stuart Rimmer, Michael Price Chesterfield: Dave Waller, Jason Lee Colchester United: Lomano LuaLua, Roy McDonough Coventry City: Tommy Hutchison, Craig Bellamy Crewe: David Platt, Jamie Moralee Crystal Palace: Attilio Lombardo, Itzhak Zohar Darlington: Kevan Smith, Martin McGrowther Derby County: Steve Bloomer, Fabrizio Ravanelli Doncaster: Alick Jeffrey, Mike Newell Dundee: Claudio Caniggia, Craig Burley Dundee United: Maurice Malpas, Magnus Skoldmark Dunfermline: Istvan Kozma, Sergio Duarte Everton: Dixie Dean, Alex Nyarko Fulham: Johnny Haynes, Steve Marlet Gillingham: Robert Taylor, Brian Statham Grimsby Town: Paul Futcher, Adam Buckley Hartlepool: Joe Allon, John McGovern Hearts: Stephane Adam, Gordan Petric Hibernian: Pat Stanton, Fabrice Henry Huddersfield Town: Marcus Stewart, Simon Baldry Hull City: Ken Wagstaff, John Moore Inverness Caledonian Thistle: Charlie Christie, Wayne Addicoat Ipswich Town: Terry Butcher, Andy Marshall Kidderminster Harriers: Mike Marsh, Wayne Secker Kilmarnock: Ray Montgomerie, Kenny Brannigan Leeds United: Gordon Strachan, Tomas Brolin Leicester City: Steve Walsh, Junior Lewis Leyton Orient: Peter Kitchen, Gary Taylor-Fletcher Lincoln City: Gareth Ainsworth, Adam Buckley Liverpool: John Barnes, Phil Babb Livingston: David Bingham, Eugene Dadi Luton Town: Mick Harford, Tony Thorpe Macclesfield Town: Chris Byrne, Andrejus Tereskinas Manchester City: Colin Bell, Nigel Clough Manchester United: Eric Cantona, Massimo Taibi Mansfield: Dave Caldwell, Shayne Bradley Middlesbrough: Juninho, Branco Millwall: Harry Cripps, Paul Wilkinson MK Dons: Izale McLeod, Lee Worgan Motherwell: Steve Kirk, John Hendry Newcastle United: Alan Shearer, Marcelino Northampton: Neil Grayson, Andy Turner Norwich City: Robert Fleck, Darren Beckford Nottingham Forest: John Robertson, Justin Fashanu Notts County: Don Masson, Darren Caskey Oldham: Andy Ritchie, Ndiwa Lord Kangana Oxford United: John Aldridge, Mike Salmon Peterborough: Ken Charlery, Scott Cooksey Plymouth Argyle: Graham Coughlan, Dougie Anderson Port Vale: Robbie Earle, Ville Viljanen Portsmouth: Paul Walsh, Lee Chapman Preston: Tom Finney, Mark Leonard Queens Park Rangers: Stan Bowles, Matthew Brazier Rangers: Mo Johnston, Tore Andre Flo Reading: Robin Friday, Mass Sarr Rochdale: Grant Holt, Matt Dickens Rotherham United: John McGlashan, Nick Daws Rushden & Diamonds: Duane Darby, Warren Patmore Scunthorpe United: Alex Calvo-Garcia, Ian Ormondroyd Sheffield United: Tony Currie, Paul Williams Sheffield Wednesday: John Sheridan, Chris Woods Shrewsbury Town: Michael Brown, Victor Kasule Southampton: Matt Le Tissier, Ali Dia Southend United: Chris Powell, Gordon Connelly Stockport: Brett Angell, Ian Moore Stoke City: Jimmy Greenhoff, Keith Scott Sunderland: Gary Rowell, David Corner Swansea: Ivor Allchurch, Aidan Newhouse Swindon Town: Glenn Hoddle, Shaun Close Torquay United: David Graham, Dean Mooney Tottenham: Glenn Hoddle, Ramon Vega Tranmere Rovers: Ian Muir, Kevin Gray Walsall: Jimmy Walker, Andy Petterson Watford: Luther Blissett, Ramon Vega West Brom: Bob Taylor, Paul Williams West Ham United: Bobby Moore, Marco Boogers Wigan Athletic: Nathan Ellington, Lee Ashcroft Wolverhampton Wanderers: Steve Bull, Tony Daley Wrexham: Mickey Thomas, Ian Rush Wycombe Wanderers: Martin Taylor, Carlos Lopez Yeovil Town: Warren Patmore, Andy Turner Commentary or requests/questions are welcome.
Strange/harsh to vote for 'worst' players maybe lol, but I guess a lot of them will be players who did better elsewhere. I had an inkling Tony Thorpe had done well at Luton, so checked Wikipedia and indeed it seems to be a Barcelona/Figo-esque kind of situation. At first glance, I'm a bit surprised Caskey is there for Notts County I think. Perhaps surprising Dalglish isn't Liverpool's chosen one (even though Barnes obviously did great there) or Brian Laudrup for Rangers. Notable that Hoddle gets Swindon's nomination too (only considering playing qualities?), and Caniggia at Dundee (Bristol City's foreign choice made quite an impact too of course). I'm not surprised about Robertson at Forest of course.
Quite a few more recent players among the favourites: Cantona, Bergkamp, Zola, Strachan, John Barnes, Henrik Larsson, etc. Doubt whether many Derby fans in 2005 would have seen Steve Bloomer, but nice to see him nominated.
I will post all of those players/clubs you mention tomorrow. There are references to other players in there (including Dalglish and Laudrup).
OK, have it here. So here a few relevant parts then: Tony Thorpe/Luton: "Perhaps not the worst, but certainly the most notorious." Darren Caskey/Notts County: "Not your classic villain, Caskey, more a case of what could have been had he ever been bothered. Having led the England's under-20s - Scholes, Sol and Fowler in tow - to 1993 European Championship glory, Caskey arrived at Meadow Lane via Spurs and Reading with a notable pedigree, lovely hair and a lucrative contract. But County saw the very worst of him. With little regard for hard work, he was nothing but a lazy poser, strutting around midfield like he had a divine right not to be tackled and doing a Lord Lucan the very moment some hairy-arsed clogger so much as breathed on him. All in all, a dreadful waste of abundant talent." John Barnes/Liverpool: "Many Kop fans argue for Dalglish, but Barnes wins this vote as the most exciting, graceful, silky genius ever to grace Anfield. It's hard to understand for those who only saw him struggle for England, but at his peak he was a deadly cocktail of Giggs, Henry and Beckham. He'd glide past players, deliver devilish crosses and plunder goals aplenty, aided by free-kicks of unerring accuracy. Few outside Anfield can appreciate the raw excitement generated whenever he got the ball and ran at a helpless right-back." Mo Johnston/Celtic: "OK, there's Slim Jim Baxter; John Greig and his 857 appearances; the sublime Brian Laudrup; the inspirational Richard Gough; and 355-goal Super Ally. But the greatest is Mo Jo. In 1989 Souness 'stole' Celtic's prodigal son." The rest of the story is also told here. Hoddle/Swindon: "Without doubt Swindon's most talented player ever (albeit run close by Don Rogers, the two-goal hero against Arsenal in the 1969 League Cup). While Hoddle soured his memory by jumping ship immediately after guiding Town to the Premiership, he virtually carried the club there single-handedly. Most notably, he masterminded victory at St Andrews when the Robins trailed 4-1 at the break. Moving himself into midfield for the second half, Hoddle was instrumental in an amazing 6-4 comeback. In two years at the club, he gave Swindon fans enough memories to last a lifetime. It's just a shame he couldn't have stayed longer." Hoddle/Tottenham: "Forget crackpot ideas about reincarnation and a sniffy disdain for the disabled. And let's turn a blind eye to Diamond Lights and that Scorpions-esque mullet phase while we're at it. Because despite some serious character traits and some serious competition from the likes of Gazza, Ossie, Blanchflower et al, Hoddle remains the finest player in Tottenham's history and undoubtedly the most gifted player of his generation. He lit up the Lane for 12 years with his better-than-Becks passing, his eye for the goal and the God-given ability to turn a game with a moment. Sullied his reputation since, of course, but remains a legend in N17." Caniggia/Dundee: "Seldom could a player who played so few games be named a club's best ever player [...]. He was also a man of the people who famously turned up at a local pub after scoring in a derby win against Dundee United to pull pints for the fans." Dziekanowski/Bristol City: "The Ashton Gate massive haven't often sung "We've got a Polish international" except for 18 glorious months in the early '90s. Jacki provided the inspired skills and infuriating laziness in equal measure. He could turn a game with his blistering skill - long-range volleys were a specialty, and he loved to take defenders on - but player-manager Russell Osman disliked his questionable work ethic and forced him out. On the day Jacki left Bristol for Poland, Osman was booed after scoring." Robertson/Forest: "At his peak, Robertson was a genius. Possessed of no pace, he bewitched defenders with his shuffling gait before crossing with staggering accuracy. Every team-mate is fulsome in his praise; every fan says it was he who propelled the club to two European Cups. He got an assist in the first final (with his left foot) and scored in the second (with his right) - not bad for a chip-eating, ******-smoker Clough affectionately called a "little fat lad" and "the Picasso of our game." Cantona/Manchester United: "The list of Old Trafford greats is longer than a Gary Neville throw-in. Charlton, Best and Keane are revered by fans, and Denis Law has long been called The King, but there's a Frenchman on the throne [...] one of the best buys in history." Bergkamp/Arsenal: "Johan Cruyff rates few in the same league as himself, but Bergkamp is one of them. Few players can match his ability, eye for the killer pass, reading of the game, timing or skill [...]. During a decade at Arsenal the former Footballer of the Year has displayed incredible ability and poise. Why don't Arsenal play as well in Europe? If only Arsene watched the A-Team and dragged a drugged Dennis onto the plane..." (no references to other Arsenal players) Zola/Chelsea: "To be a consummate professional is one matter, but to be acknowledged as the perfect gentleman off the field is a sublime trait. When he called time on his Chelsea career, at his departing press conference, Zola was roundly applauded by the very hacks that seek to knock such players off their lofty pedestals." (I'm aware of Osgood, Bentley etc. but think by 2005 there weren't so many 'Chelsea generations' to pick from?) Strachan/Leeds "Leeds fans, you may have noticed, don't take kindly to those who leave Elland Road for Old Trafford, yet the reverse move can have more agreeable results. Gordon Strachan, growing stale at Old Trafford, made the trans-Pennine trip in 1989. Ron Atkinson wanted him at Sheffield Wednesday, but Strachan plumped for Leeds, struggling in the second tier and in desperate need of inspiration. In his first full season, the wee man led the club and the city to the Second Division title; the next year, he was voted Footballer of the Year; then he pipped his old club down the M62 to the final First Division title. The only pity is that he didn't succeed Howard Wilkinson as Leeds manager." (no reference to other Leeds players, and yes, there have been generations/eras of that club before him) Henrik Larsson/Celtic: "Older fans brought up on years of plenty state the case for other legends. [...] always played for the benefit of the team and always seemed to score no matter what the level of the opposition." Steve Bloomer/Derby County: "It's a sign of how legendary Steve Bloomer is that he's still voted the best Ram of all, even 67 years after his death. Football's first superstar, he was Michael Owen, Bobby Charlton and Gary Lineker rolled into one. Slight and pale but fast, athletic and deadly, Bloomer scored in each of his first 10 internationals and ended up with 28 goals from 23 caps (Owen took almost three times as long to match his tally). In 524 domestic games he scored 332 goals, including 18 hat-tricks, on the way to becoming Derby's top scorer for 14 seasons. He eclipses even the great Kevin Hector, along with just about every other striker in history. It's only sad he ruled the Baseball Ground before the video age."
Voetbal International had also a Premier League special this month and it included a so called "Fabulous Fifty". The idea was not so much to pinpoint the fifty best but the "most memorable", "most defining" and "special". The readers could vote for their own five "defining players", and Henry, Bergkamp, Cantona, Gerrard and Giggs were selected most often by readers. A few of the profiles are placed here and some are still added (I see the DB10 link goes to an older article while in the magazine only a picture is placed). With google translate most are readable I guess. https://www.vi.nl/dossier/premierleague Matt Le Tissier Cristiano Ronaldo Dimitar Berbatov Joey Barton Harry Kane Robby Fowler Sergio Aguero Jay-Jay Okocha Juninho Alan Shearer Roy Keane Les Ferdinand David Seaman Kevin Phillips David Ginola Didier Drogba Kevin de Bruyne Jimmy Hasselbaink Faustino Asprilla Paul Gascoigne Dennis Bergkamp Ruud Gullit Fabrizio Ravanelli Wayne Rooney Duncan Ferguson Teddy Sheringham Steven Gerrard Robin van Persie Georgi Kinkladze Jamie Vardy Nwankwo Kanu Chris Waddle Thierry Henry Vinnie Jones Dwight Yorke Gareth Bale Emile Heskey Eric Cantona Mark Viduka Jermain Defoe Mustapha Hadji Peter Crouch Robbie Savage John Terry Mohamed Salah Eden Hazard Frank Lampard Ruud van Nistelrooij Ryan Giggs Ian Wright For example here is Kevin Phillips his profile ("the topscorer who did not shoot"): https://www.vi.nl/nieuws/kevin-phillips-de-topscorer-die-nooit-schoot Haven't forgotten your question @PDG1978