I haven't heard of the guys in bold. The others were great, especially Sir Stanley. Watching him week in, week out would have been something and if Hapgood managed to control him, he must have been an excellent left back. Was the 70s mostly famous because of the record of English clubs? Were teams that strong on the team work ethic? English clubs were strong at time but it didn't reflect on England's results at NT level.
If you would actually read the opening post you would know that comme et al are listing the best 20 players in each position.
Some wiki links on most http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Hulme http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilf_Copping http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammy_Crooks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Brook And another for Raich Carter (one of the few to play for England either side of WWII along with Lawton and Matthews) http://www.wearsideonline.com/horatio_stratton_carter.html
Before I moved onto the central defenders I wanted to add in a couple of glaring omissions at full-back. Right-backs Roy Goodall Left-backs Jesse Pennington Samuel Wadsworth Ernest Blenkinsop Not quite sure how I missed them out. I'm sure there will be quite a few more big omissions before the end of it all.
I've split the central defenders into what I'm calling centre-halves and centre-backs. Centre-halves are generally speaking the more cultured ball-players, while the centre-backs are more "stoppers". In some cases it has been very difficult to split the two out. Centre-halves 30. Frank Leboeuf 22/1/1968 France 50 caps Clubs: Laval, Strasbourg, Chelsea, Marseille 29. Steve Bould 16/11/1962 England 2 caps Clubs: Stoke, Torquay, Arsenal, Sunderland 28. Gary Mabbutt 23/8/1961 England 6 caps Clubs: Bristol Rovers, Tottenham Hotspur
27. Brian Greenhoff 28/4/1953 England 18 caps Clubs: Manchester United, Leeds, Rochdale 26. Jonathan Woodgate 22/1/1980 England 6 caps Clubs: Leeds, Newcastle, Real Madrid, Middlesbrough 25. Ledley King 12/10/1980 England 18 caps Clubs: Tottenham Hotspur
24. George Wilson England 12 caps Clubs: Sheffield Wedneday 23. Alvin Martin 29/7/1958 England 17 caps Clubs: West Ham, Leyton Orient 22. Joe McCall England 5 caps Clubs: Preston North End
21. Alex Raisbeck 26/12/1878 Scotland 8 caps Clubs: Hibs, Stoke, Liverpool, Partick Thistle, Hamilton Academicals 20. Gareth Southgate 3/9/1970 England 57 caps Clubs: Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, Middlesbrough 19. Charlie Roberts 6/4/1983 England 3 caps Clubs: Bishop Auckland, Grimsby, Manchester United
18. Steve Perryman 21/12/1951 England 1 cap Clubs: Tottenham Hotspur 17. Billy Wedlock 28/10/1880 England 26 caps Clubs: Bristol City 16. John Hill 1897 England 11 caps Clubs: Burnley, Newcastle
15. Jack Barker 27/2/1907 England 11 caps Clubs: Derby 14. Syd Owen 28/2/1922 England 3 caps Clubs: Luton Town 13. Mark Lawrenson 2/6/1957 Republic of Ireland 39 caps Clubs: Preston North End, Brighton, Liverpool
12. Kevin Beattie 18/12/1953 England 9 caps Clubs: Ipswich, Colchester, Middlesbrough 11. Colin Todd 12/12/1948 England 27 caps Clubs: Sunderland, Derby, Everton, Birmingham, Notts Forest, Oxford, Vancouver Whitecaps, Luton 10. Rio Ferdinand 7/11/1978 England 64 caps Clubs: West Ham, Bournemouth, Leeds, Manchester United
9. Phil Thompson 21/1/1954 England 42 caps Clubs: Liverpool, Sheffield United 8. Stan Cullis 25/10/1916 England 12 caps Clubs: Wolves 7. David O’Leary 2/5/1958 Republic of Ireland 68 caps Clubs: Arsenal, Leeds
6. Mel Charles 14/5/1935 Wales 31 caps Clubs: Swansea, Arsenal, Cardiff, Porthmadog, Port Vale 5. Paul McGrath 4/12/1959 Republic of Ireland 83 caps Clubs: St Patricks, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Derby County, Sheffield United 4. Neil Franklin 24/1/1922 England 27 caps Clubs: Stoke, Independiente Santa Fe, Hull, Crewe, Stockport, Mansfield
3. Alan Hansen 13/6/1955 Scotland 27 caps Clubs: Partick Thistle, Liverpool 2. Bobby Moore 12/4/1941 England 108 caps Clubs: West Ham, Fulham, San Antonio, Seattle Sounders 1. Billy Wright 6/2/1924 England 105 caps Clubs: Wolves
Great picture of Leboeuf. I've got a few comments on the centre half selection, but I'll wait until you've done the next grouping first as there might be some cross-over.
Thanks for the links! I agree with the Leboeuf pic. It's funny! Good to see Pozzo's inspiration at number 19.
Centre-backs 30. Martin Keown 24/7/1966 England 43 caps Clubs: Arsenal, Brighton, Aston Villa, Everton, Arsenal, Leicester, Reading 29. Gordon McQueen 26/6/1952 Scotland 30 caps Clubs: St Mirren, Leeds, Manchester United, Seiko 28. Eddie Clamp 14/9/1934 England 4 caps Clubs: Wolves, Arsenal, Stoke, Peterborough
27. Tommy Smith 5/4/1945 England 1 cap Clubs: Liverpool, Swansea 26. William Gallas 17/8/1977 France 59 caps Clubs: Caen, Marseille, Chelsea, Arsenal 25. Steve Foster 24/9/1957 England 3 caps Clubs: Portsmouth, Brighton, Aston Villa, Luton, Oxford, Brighton
24. Terry Neill 8/5/1942 Northern Ireland 59 caps Clubs: Arsenal, Hull 23. Frank Barson 10/4/1891 England 1 cap Clubs: Barnsley, Aston Villa, Manchester United, Watford, Hartlepool, Wigan Borough, Rhyl 22. Jamie Carragher 28/1/1978 England 34 caps Clubs: Liverpool
21. Dave Watson 5/10/1946 England 65 caps Clubs: Notts County, Rotherham, Sunderland, Manchester City, Werder Bremen, Southampton, Derby 20. Steve Bruce 31/12/1960 England 0 caps Clubs: Gillingham, Norwich, Manchester United, Birmingham, Sheffield United 19. Brian Labone 23/1/1940 England 26 caps Clubs: Everton
18. Jaap Stam 17/7/1972 Holland 67 caps Clubs: FC Zwolle, Cambuur Leeuwarden, Willem II, PSV, Manchester United, Lazio, Milan, Ajax 17. Des Walker 26/11/1965 England 59 caps Clubs: Notts Forest, Sampdoria, Sheffield Wednesday, Burton Albion, Notts Forest 16. Mike Doyle 25/11/1946 England 5 caps Clubs: Manchester City, Stoke, Bolton
15. Kevin Ratcliffe 12/11/1960 Wales 59 caps Clubs: Everton, Cardiff, Dundee, Notts Forest, Derby 14. Gary Pallister 30/6/1965 England 22 caps Clubs: Middlesbrough, Darlington, Manchester United, Middlesbrough 13. Peter Swan 8/10/1936 England 19 caps Clubs: Sheffield Wednesday, Bury
12. Marcel Desailly 7/9/1968 France 116 caps Clubs: Nantes, Marseille, AC Milan, Chelsea, Al-Gharafa, SC Qatar 11.Ray Daniel 2/11/1928 Wales 21 caps Clubs: Swansea, Arsenal, Sunderland, Cardiff, Hereford 10. John Terry 7/12/1980 England 42 caps Clubs: Chelsea, Notts Forest
9. Maurice Norman 8/5/1934 England 23 caps Clubs: Norwich, Tottenham Hotspur 8. Norman Hunter 29/10/1943 England 28 caps Clubs: Leeds, Bristol City, Barnsley 7. Jack Charlton 8/5/1935 England 35 caps Clubs: Leeds