everyone who has been watching british TV recently or has ever seen VH1 in the UK will have heard of the insane amount of 100 greatest programs on. Well heres a web version for the beutiful game I want your top 10 players of all time, This can be based on impact (ie a player who makes a club great single handedly), skill (pele nuff said), achievements (Kahn for getting germany to WC 2002 final). There are many ways to define the worlds greatest player, this post will be going up accross the boards. I want your top 10 on a private message, when the votes are in i will post every player who has been voted for and there tally's after the 100 list has gone up. Heres mine 1. Diego Maradona 2. Pele 3. Franz Beckenbauer 4. Bobby Moore 5. Marco Van Basten 6. Johan Cruyff 7. Alan Shearer 8. Brad Friedel 9. Joe Harvey (Newcastle captain in the 50's) 10.Eric Cantona
Well since this is the ULS board, I'll give you my top ten players that have playd in the USL. These are in no praticular order. 1. Chris Armas 2. Tony Meola 3. Brian McBride 4. Tony Sannneh 5. Carl Valentine - ok so he was past his prime and mostly a coach, but my list. 6. Paul Conway 7. Mark Watson 8. Manny Lagos 9. Pat Onstead 10. Nick DeSantis And as a Geordie fan I'm surprised you left off Kevin Keegan or Malcolm MacDonald.
USL Top PLayers A few other USL/APSL names come to mind - Carlos Llamosa (D) Marcus Hahnemann (G) Wolde Harris (F) Jason Devos (D) - Canadian Nat'l Team ...oh yeah, and the former New Orleans striker in the EPL now (can't remember his name!)
Re: USL Top PLayers Stern John! Don't forget Jason Kreis Ezra Hendrickson all played for New Orleans.
Do you want the best players who ever happened to play in the USL, or the guys who played the best when they were in the USL? Because Gabe Jones, former striker for the Austin Lone Stars, would be on the latter list, but maybe not the former, as he never panned out in MLS. But he was a helluva D3 scorer. Doug Stebbins, as well.
If we're counting USL, do we count the leagues they absorbed in the merger like the APSL and WSL. If so, that opens a bunch of very good players. From the 1988-1993 era before the USISL really got going and started getting really good US talent: Here's a Top Ten list of players from the early part of the APSL and I think all but Fahsanu played in the NASL. But Fashanau was one of the first top black players in England - and the only openly gay one - so I thought he was worth including. Osvaldo (Ossie) Ardiles, Ft. Lauderdale Strikers Sonny Askew, Washington Stars) Hubert Birkenmeier, New Jersey Eagles Chico Borja, Albany Capitals Elvis Comrie, Maryland Bays, Albany Capitals Teofilo Cubillas, Ft. Lauderdale Strikers Winston DuBose, Tampa Bay Rowdies Justin Fashanu, Los Angeles Heat Ray Hudson, Ft. Lauderdale Strikers Arnie Mausser, Ft. Lauderdale Strikers Thomas Rongen, Ft. Lauderdale Strikers Perry Van der Beck, Tampa Bay Rowdies Steve Wegerle, Tampa Bay Rowdies Then you've got APSL alums who were on a US World Cup roster. Jeff Agoos, Maryland Bays Desmond Armstrong, Maryland Bays Marcelo Balboa, San Diego Nomads, SFB Blackhawks Brian Bliss, Boston Bolts John Doyle, San Francisco Blackhawks Eric Eichmann, Ft. Lauderdale Strikers John Harkes, Albany Capitals Chris Henderson, Seattle Storm Kasey Keller, F.C. Portland Cle Kooiman, California Kickers, San Diego Nomads Mike Lapper, Los Angeles Heat Tony Meola, Ft. Lauderdale Strikers Bruce Murray, Washington Stars, Maryland Bays Tab Ramos, Miami Stars, Miami Sharks Steve Trittschuh, Tampa Bay Rowdies Peter Vermes, Tampa Bay Rowdies Eric Wynalda, San Francisco Bay Blackhawks Other players from that era who got time with the US National Team Jorge Acosta, New Jersey Eagles Troy Dayak , San Francisco Bay Blackhawks Mark Dodd, Colorado Foxes Ted Eck, Colorado Foxes Robin Fraser, Colorado Foxes Brent Goulet, Seattle Storm Phillip Gyau, Maryland Bays Jean Harbor, Maryland Bays John Kerr, Jr., Washington Stars Dominic Kinnear, San Francisco Bay Blackhawks, Steve Pittman, Ft. Lauderdale Strikers Ken Snow, Miami Freedom Some other notables: Taifour Diane, Colorado Foxes Mark Watson, Vancouver 86ers Chad Ashton, Colorado Foxes Danny Pena, Los Angeles Salsa Hector Marinaro, Toronto Blizzard Diane is a great story. He was found by Colorado coach Lorne Donaldson playing in an amateur league in New York City and he went on tbe become APSL MVP for the Foxes. He was one of the few APSL players to go from the league to Europe and he went on to play for a couple of clubs in Europe (I know Homburg, I can't remember the others) and for Guniea in the African Nations Cup and WC qualifying. Watson also went from the APSL to England, then to MLS, back to England, MLS and now is with Charleston. Marniaro went on to play for Rochester on some of their early dominating teams and he's also one of the three-four best indoor players ever. He also played some for the Canadian national team. Ashton and Pena went on to play in MLS. Then, you've got the 1994-1996 era of the APSL and USISL. These guys all played in the APSL or USISL between 94-96 and have also been capped by the US national team. Some are redundant from previous lists. Many went on the play in MLS, some in Europe and a few had made, or went on to make, World Cup rosters Jeff Agoos, Los Angeles Salsa Yari Allnut, Carolina Dynamo Chris Armas, Long Island RoughRiders Jeff Baicher, CCV Hydra Michael Brady, Richmond Kickers Dan Calichman, New York Centaurs Paul Caligiuri, Los Angeles Salsa Ramiro Corrales, California Jaguara John Doyle, Atlanta Ruckus Robin Fraser, Colorado Foxes Marcus Hahnemann, Seattle Sounders Brian McBride, Milwaukee Tony Meola, Long Island RoughRiders Manuel Lagos, Minnesota Thunder Carlos Llamosa, New York Fever Tony Sanneh, Milwaukee Billy Thompson, Hawaii Steve Trittschuh, Montreal Impact Richie Williams, Richmond Kickers Though they haven't been capped Mike Clark and Brian Kamler are in their eighth seasons of MLS (and both have been called into national team camps). Both played for the Richmond Kickers in 1995. Canadian fans can speak to the quality of these players: Geoff Aunger, Vancouver 86ers Giuliano Oliviero, Vancouver 86ers Lloyd Barker, Montreal Impact Other notables: Walter Boyd of the Colorado Foxes played for Jamaica in the 98 World Cup. Paul Young, Charleston Battery, played for Jamaica several times Giovanni Savarese, Long Island RoughRiders - Played for Venezuela, in MLS and in Europe. Khalil Azmi, New York Fever - Played for Morocco in the 1994 World Cup This obviously has a US bias. If I'm fortetting anyone, foreign or American, from any of the APSL/USL circuits between 1988-1996, who you feel merit inclusion, please feel free to add them.