3 Greatest Players Ever Of Each Of The 20 Premier League Clubs
Some footballers leave an everlasting impression on the minds of their fans, with their skills, passion and love for the club. In this article, let us have a look at the 3 greatest players ever of each of the 20 Premier League Clubs.
These 3 greatest players of each club are not just picked from the Premier League era but from all time. Sorting is done in alphabetical order, i.e. we start with Arsenal and end with Wolves. Here are our 3 greatest players ever of each of the 20 Premier League Clubs.
1. Arsenal
3. Dennis Bergkamp
Bergkamp redefined football in England’s top division. His textbook technique, physical prowess and second nature for picking out the killer pass made him the ultimate symbol of fantasy football. Bergkamp plundered 120 goals in his time with Arsenal, making him the 10th highest goalscorer in the club’s history. With Arsenal, he won three Premier League titles, four FA Cup trophies, and reached the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final, which marked his last appearance as a player.
2. Tony Adams
Adams was the ultimate one-club man – a rarity in modern football – and a rock at the heart of Arsenal’s defence. Fourteen years as captain, 669 appearances and 10 major trophies, including league titles in three different decades. He is the only player in English football history to have captained a title-winning team in three different decades.
1. Thierry Henry
Arsenal’s club-record scorer with 228 goals scored in just about every way possible. The Frenchman had exquisite technique, searing pace and surprising strength. The Frenchman was unplayable at times, capable of scoring from anywhere and terrorising defences all over the continent, especially when he drifted out left to pick up possession and run at retreating opponents. He won two league titles, three FA Cups, four golden boots and five ‘player of the year awards – he would be considered a great in any era.
Checkout: Greatest Arsenal Players Ever
2. Aston Villa
3. Charlie Aitken
It’s doubtful Charlie Aitken’s Aston Villa appearance record will ever be beaten. Aitken turned out 660 times, including 657 starts, during a remarkable claret and blue career between 1959 and 1976. The Scottish defender established himself as Villa’s regular left-back with his impeccably timed tackling a feature of his game. His greatest achievements were the 1975 League Cup final win over Norwich at Wembley, the Third Division championship triumph in 1972 and promotion back to the top flight in 1975.
2. Paul McGrath
Regarded by many as the greatest player in Aston Villa’s history, Paul McGrath’s name is still the most chanted by the Villa Park faithful.
He won the 1993 PFA Footballer of the Year while he was playing for Aston Villa. During his seven years at Aston Villa, he also won two League Cups. Villa fans affectionately refer to him as ‘God’. He made 253 league appearances for his club and scored 9 goals to his name.
1. Gordon Cowans
Cowans is regarded as a huge Legend at the club. He made more than 400 appearances for the club in three successful spells. He was known for his superb passing and is one of the most decorated players in the history of the club winning the League, League Cup, European Cup and the European Super Cup.
Checkout: 10 Greatest Aston Villa Players Ever
3. Brentford
3. Peter Gelson
Peter is one of only four men to play more than 500 games for The Bees and is in the Club’s Hall of Fame. He was a typical one-club man, coming through the youth ranks at Brentford and making it to the First Team. Peter was working in the Post Office at the time and played football part-time for the first four years of his career. He still established himself in the First Team and did eventually play football full-time.
2. Jim Towers
Jim Towers scored an incredible 163 goals in 282 games for The Bees, while playing as a winger or striker. He was at the club for 7 years and is most remembered for his glorious career at Brentford than anywhere else. Jim Towers had a thunderbolt of a shot, and he didn’t do tap-ins.
1. Ken Coote
Ken Coote holds the record of most appearances for Brentford. He was signed from Wembley in 1949, and the defender spent 15 years at Griffin Park. He captained the club to the Fourth Division title in 1963, the year after he was named the Club’s Player of the Year. Coote was awarded two testimonials while at Brentford and is a member of the Club’s Hall of Fame.
4. Brighton & Hove Albion
3. Mark Lawrenson
Lawrenson joined Brighton & Hove Albion from Preston in 1977 for £100,000. He settled in at the Goldstone Ground and made 40 league appearances by the end of his first season of the club. Lawrenson went on to make 152 league appearances by the end of the 1980–81 season.
2. Peter Ward
Ward joined Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. in 1975 for a fee of £4000. He spent 5 years with the club scoring 79 goals in 178 league apps. During the 1976–77 season, he scored 36 goals, beating the club record and winning him the golden boot. He is still revered by Brighton fans who sing a song dreaming of a team in which every player is Peter Ward: ‘We all live in a Wardy Wonderland.’
1. Bobby Zamora
If one place in this side was guaranteed, it was Bobby Zamora leading the line. One of, if not the greatest player of any era to play for Brighton and Hove Albion, Zamora was the main reason for the success of the early part of the last decade, breaking the thirty goals a season mark two years running and then still managing to hit 15 in a season in which he missed half in Division One. It’s a well-deserved place for arguably the best player to play at Withdean.
5. Burnley
3. George Beel
Beel was a professional footballer who played as a centre forward. He is regarded as the best centre forward in Burnley’s history and holds their records for the highest number of goals in a season and the highest number of league goals ever. He spent nine years at Turf Moor, where he scored 187 goals in 337 games in all competitions for the Clarets, being their top goal-scorer in six of those seasons and runner-up in another two.
2. Jimmy Adamson
Adamson, a right-half, joined Burnley in January 1947 after playing non-league football in his native Ashington and working as a miner. His early career was interrupted by national service, which he completed with the Royal Air Force, meaning his debut had to wait until February 1951, when Burnley played away to Bolton Wanderers. He played once for the England B team but never made the full England side.
1. Jimmy Mcllroy
Mcllroy is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of Burnley, having played 497 matches for the “Clarets” and scoring 131 goals. He was dubbed as the ‘Brain’ of Burnley and was a very composed passer of the ball only releasing it when he was sure of finding a team-mate.
His neat footwork made him a crowd favourite at Turf Moor and indeed for the Northern Ireland national team where he made 55 caps. He helped Burnley win the First Division in 1959–60 and reach the FA Cup Final in 1962, losing 3–1 to Tottenham Hotspur. After 497 matches for the “Clarets” scoring 131 goals, McIlory was allowed to leave for Stoke City for a cut-price £25,000
Burnley…You forgot Willie Irvine 78 goals in 126 apps.