20 best uk's footballers ever.

spot on sparrow ive been watching football since the 60.s and he has to be one of the classiest defenders ive seen along with Bechanbaur and Hansen

spot on sparrow, as said I'm Chelsea and have him right up there as one of the best I have seen. Remember dad taking me to watch England match in early 60s,he said just watch bobby moore.

pele-i can only say that bobby moore never gave me a h a r d on

should have taken a little blue one then rom

haha,drag,ive yet to take one,what they like?

u gotta pop 'em quick or u end up with a stiff neck!

indeed you did sparrow, but you take a central defender like Ferdinand, Adams or Terry, they all properly marshalled their defence, they didn't rely on the manager, they were very vocal constantly talking to other defenders pulling them into place and whatnot, players have to take personal responsibility as well, a manager can't do it for them on the pitch.

I'm not saying he was a very good defender because I've never seen him play, but the stats are not good.

magic stuff rom magic

Jim Baxter was one of the finest Scottish players ever.
He'd be in my top 5.

Jan 2, 2019 -- 5:19PM, lfc1971 wrote:

Thousands of better players than coppell

Well maybe but given a choice of Steve Coppell in my side or John Barnes that really is an absolute no brainer. Give me Steve Coppell any day of the week.

scandanavian, trust the oldies,Moore was way above the three you mention. Don't judge Moore by stats of his team, judge him as a player

people are always biased towards they're childhood or their own generation, it happens alot with fans when talking about players of the past compared to today, those 3 I mentioned, I find it hard to believe he was better let alone much better, what about Maldini?

As I said earlier Greenwood was clueless in his recruitment of defenders and the goalkeeper which led to a big fall out between the two. Nobody was better than Moore for organisation but he couldn't perform miracles with those players. Greenwood as a manager was a massive underachiever and I think you need to realise that the game was very different in the 60s as to now and West Ham really should have been a major competitor for the title all things considered. I know Ferdinand well of course and much admired him but Moore was different class.

Jan 2, 2019 -- 7:17PM, SlippyBlue wrote:

Jan  2, 2019 --  5:19PM, lfc1971 wrote:Thousands of better players than coppellWell maybe but given a choice of Steve Coppell in my side or John Barnes that really is an absolute no brainer. Give me Steve Coppell any day of the week.

funny how some players just drop off the radar,coppell was a great player

agree with Best being no 1

Beckham was for example a better player than Coppell , more naturally gifted ( although again not at the very top )
Copell made himself into a good player , nothing more
Recall him describing how when he first signed as a professional he had to spend a long time alone on the training ground to learn how to run with the ball and lift his head and not have to constantly keep his head down looking at the ball as he ran

not knocking beckham and i may remember a bit skewed with the passing years but id have sc any day over db

I'd have Ian Rush in my top 20 with Shilton in goal.

Kincesm clearly has an agenda. To suggest Souness shouldn't be in the list is clearly ridiculous. The epitomy of the complete footballer who captained his club to unprecedented success.

haven please dont put john terry in the same class as bobby moore.you said you never seen moore play and you are embarrassing yourself

uk top 20 players...ever imvho
best, lofthouse, matthews, finney, dalglish, moore, bremner, adams, hoddle, thompson, hughes, rush, barnes, giggs, scholes, shearer, johnstone, gascoigne, hansen,
goalies jennings, banks

I never judged Moore either way as like I said, I'm not old enough to have seen him play. But what I am saying is that the likes of Ferdinand and Terry were top top defenders, and it's hard to see anyone being much better, if that's embarassing myself than OK.

scandanavian_haven    03 Jan 19 04:28 
I never judged Moore either way as like I said, I'm not old enough to have seen him play. But what I am saying is that the likes of Ferdinand and Terry were top top defenders, and it's hard to see anyone being much better, if that's embarassing myself than OK




This is why these threads should never use the word "ever" as it can only be the best 20 players of our own particular lifetime of watching the game.

pat jennings made keeping look so easy..and a luvly man... how much would he fetch in todays market.

scandalous the way spurs treat him...just like another keeper ronnie simpson was treat at newcastle.

souness is an odd one.

he played in an era of fierce midfield battles, which he never shirked, but still
managed to be a creative player and score his share of goals. surely he would
be even better in todays game.


george best also would get so much more protection today that he probably would
be right up with the greats, not just of britain but the world.

as for john terry ?

not as good as jack charlton, imo

donny. best without doubt the greatest british player ever. and definitely up there with the worlds best.a genius.

back in the 60s 70s there were players you had to see, and teams you had to see also

best was top of most lists at my school, in a school without any man utd supporters!



sometimes in sport you see a genius at work, and best was very much one.




went to newcastle v man utd last night, no best in sight, but pogba is a class act.

I would agree on Best as one of the all time greats if not the No 1.

Possibly would add in a Chris Waddle and Peter Beardsley mention - at their best were pretty unstoppable players.

Le Tiss?

Spellchecker doesn't agree, auto changed it to Le Toss!

beardsley was a great player, always alert to what was going on too

every team should have a beardsley

As always with these things the criteria you use has such a bearing. Best and Gascoigne were among the 20 greatest for talent but not for application and consistency. Perfect for highlights programmes and you tube clips. Both undoubtedly brilliant at their best and capable of changing games on their own but also more likely to disappear for a few games than other outstanding players.  Its those more reliable players I'd want in my team every time. A Bobby Charlton rather than a George Best. A Steven Gerrard or a Wayne Rooney rather than a Paul Gascoigne. Those players are more likely to help you win trophies which is what it's about. Of course you can't judge players by trophies alone because it's a team game but you have to consider what players offer game in game out rather than just when they have a good game. I'm not particularly knocking Best or Gascoigne as they did have reasonably long careers at the top level and were obviously amongst the most talented we've ever produced. They also to some extent wasted their talent.
I did see mentioned Stan Bowles and Alan Hudson however, and these players despite plenty of flare and some brilliant games wouldn't be in the top 1000. Graeme Souness, John Terry and Bryan Robson on the other hand, whilst not in the top 20 most talented players would be examples of players who brought more to the team than their pure ability. All 3 need considering for an all time top 20 because of the way they galvanised their teams.

Notice Roy Keane hasn't got a mention, a very similar player to Souness, surprised no Forest or Man U fans haven't mentioned him.
What about Brian Clough a great goalscorer, but he reckoned John O'Hare had more skill in his little finger than he himslf had in his whole body! Slight exageration imo!

Roy Keane was not a particularly talented footballer,  Souness was
Plus Souness also had those other qualities that Keane  had , so Souness had everything really great skill and aggression etc , a very rare combination

John Robertson and Ian Rush should be in the list.

Eddie Grey much better than Robertson

roy kean is irish that's why not mentioned. its about uk players

keane

Keane is from Ireland not the UK.

Duncan McKenzie and le tiss carried whole teams when they wanted to.

DM COULDNT CARRY TISS'S FCKN BOOTS,lightweight who now and again showed flashes

not many better full backs than ashley cole

No dispute that Best was No 1 .

Best English player I have ever seen was Duncan Edwards , big and supremely skilful .  Charlton and Moore next best .

Best Welsh player was John Charles , once picked as the best centre forward in the world , and ALSO as the best centre half in the world .

Best Scottish was Dalglish .

Goalkeepers have to be ranked seperately .

just found out john o hare had more skill than brian  clough and hes been my brother-in- law 40 years

so basically Kelly, everyone from your own generation. Which is what most people fall into when picking any kind of best of: catagory.

Not that you would, scandanavian.

John White ,spurs ,was a good player,mick channon southampton another ,but top twenty best ever im not sure.?
bob latchford,fred pickering ,two more that could get into a top team.
and of course perer reed

No point in offering opinions about people from past generations who you did not see play. I can only go from mid 60's.

Jimmy Greaves was the best i saw. But its hard to compare players from different era's. Can't think of a player in recent years [British] that i could say was pure class.

Brassy you must be having a laugh i assume with Peter Reid.

Scandanavian , Dalglish not exactly my generation .  Re English players , cant remember anyone recent except Gascoigne who would have got near their 1966 team , thats the benchmark for England .  None of recent Northern Ireland team players would have got on the 1958 squad , wouldn't even have been allowed to carry the kit bags .

No surprise that the Premier league teams now are mainly driven by foreign nationals , sign of reality re standard of home grown players .

The current england team would thrash the 66 team. It's delusional to think otherwise.

yeah right I can see the likes of ball, charlton peters worrying about matching up against dier, dele and hendo.
Sterling would give Wilson a torrid time, I know greaves didn't play in most of world cup butnot sure whether walker stones and maguire would know which way he went.
But all about opinions and fair play to you

yeah

training moves on , roger bannister would barely get a run for a decent club meeting these days

lads of 66 had a bit of bottle and didnt freeze, nor bottle a sami final....

Best
Bale
Gascoigne
Dalglish

Dalglish was a magnificent player, best Liverpool player by a country mile, but he would tell you himself he was behind his former team mates at Celtic regards ability Murdoch and Johnstone.
Jinky was superior to Henrik and that is saying something.

Bobby Murdoch (Murdy) was Souness mentor at Boro, what a teacher,what a pupil, 2 brilliant players.

When Souness came to Ibrox in the 80's he went looking for Bobby Murdoch in Glasgow to show his respect, a lot of people from both sides of divide in Glasgow don't want to know that story, but it's fcucking true.

There appears to be a Liverpool bias. I wouldn't put Barnes or Keegan in the top 20, instead I'd have Gazza and Bryan Robson.

Gazza most overrated UK player ever.

Gazza 2 biggest games, he starts crying in both once because he foolishly got booked and other because he foolishly got injured and you want him in top 20 best players, are you a lunatic ?

It's official... MALAY IS MENTAL!!

when did gazza ever play in big matches and win ? European cup finals ? he won the league in Scotland when celtic were skint

Please enlighten us with gazza's magnificent achievements as a great player emitdeb ?

phil neville won 6 legue titles so trophies are a red herring.

Gascoigne's pure raw talent is as good as it gets with English players, just a shame about injuries.

Le Tissier also never won anything, but he was a top top drawer player.

Phil Neville is the red herring, the top, top players win their countries and clubs the top trophies.

Loved watching le tiss btw

Rodney Marsh and Peter Osgood were both top players too.

There is no one (British) like that in Britain today, more's the pity.

MALAY, I'm guessing youre Scottish (which would explain it) .. There are none so blind as those who will not see.

I would not have Gazza in my top 1000 let alone top 20.

Number 1 for me...

In the two years before he left for Lazio, Gazza was the best footballer in the UK by a country mile.

emitdeb not all i recognize gazza had a lot of natural ability, but i think I could name a lot better english players than him.

I watched a video one night and one of his ex managers talking about him, and he rated his talent so very highly, but the more you listened, he more or less said he was **** as he was a non team player, and wouldn't listen or get involved in how the team was going to play and fitba is definitely a team game.
All gazza was interested is did he have a jersey nothing else was the kind of lesson i learned listening to it.

Best and jimmy johnstone were just as creative but serious team players.

People are confusing the Man with the Player... I dislike the man, always have but the Player was the most Brilliant Genius England has ever produced... imo.

is it just me who has never heard of jimmie johnston or Murdoch, I've heard many names from the past/before my time but not these two

asparagus    04 Jan 19 14:04 
The current england team would thrash the 66 team. It's delusional to think otherwise.







An early contender for the daftest thread of the year.

The great Celtic team beat the great Leeds ( possibly the greatest of all British teams ) in the 1970/1 European cup semi final
Jimmy Johnstone was one of the players in that team

Celtic should have won the European cup for the second time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Iu5YSqN0Ok

What ever the price of De Bruyne today, Double it and the add some....

gazza the most overrated player ever and the england team today would thrash the 66 team what planet are these idiots on.ball and charton up against henderson and dier behave ffs.

I'm a retro man, but anybody who thinks the great players (and i wont mention Celtic players), like Moore, Charlton, Best,Baxter and Greaves wouldst be top players today are lunatics.

malay what are you smoking mate? you need to have a lie down

read my post again superjudge before you take another draw of your drugs mate

malay name me a better midfielder playing today better than gazza?

In what league or nationality mate ?

in the prem

There isn't a Premier League footballer playing at the moment fit to lace Gazza's drinks when he was playing in his pomp from 1988-1991 and that's coming from an Arsenal fan.

there only one that could get near him and that is hazard. the rest no chance.

the Belgian players are probably as talented and that is a high level to get to for them, but they also take part in the team shape which Gazza had no interest in. (that come from his ex manager)

The current English national players I'd be lying if I said knew much about them, you would probably have been better asking me about players who had played just before him ,at the same time and just after, because that's when I enjoyed English football.

He certainly wasn't for me in the class of Scholes.

Undoubted talent but he wasn't a player who a manager could depend on and it's not his temperament I'm questioning there, Best and Johnstone were as mad, but always done it in big games, European cup finals, semi finals, gazza didn't do it for one reason or another and that's a fact not opinion.

the free kick against arsenal in the 91 fa cup semi finale must have been a fluke lol

but that's not a big game mate compared to what johnstone and best played in, an fa cup semi final ? cmon let's get  a grip,

if youre a tottenham fan, there have been bigger moments than that surely with others like greaves, gilzean, is that the highlight of gazzas career ? scoring in  game that led to him making an absoulte c ant of himself in next round ?

You could 100% rely on him at his peak, that's what made him so good. PFA Young Player of the year 1987-1988, PFA First Division Team of the year 1987-1988, 1990-1991, TV Sports Personality of the year 1990 amongst other awards.

malay  i am a arsenal fan but i know a great player when i see one

nice one super, enjoying the chat, i've never questioned gazza ability but he wasn't reliable. Although he won tv personality of year(wee smiley face)

Rocastle was a great player in the same England under 21 team, played Scotland at Aberdeen one night, Rocastle stood out rather than Gazza, god rest the boy, great talent.

I don't think George Graham would have played gazza in his great years at Highbury if available, but he would have appreciated his ability, like we all do.

Good luck, i'm out now

If we do the list again in 10/15 years time I wonder how many of today's crop (apart from Bale as he is already there) will get in.  The only possible one I can see is Kane if he keeps on scoring 20 plus a season but hard to justify if Shearer can't get in!

If i was picking a defender I would have Brian Labone.

Ryan giggs but no david beckham?

Brian Labone was a good shout.

Such a steady defender.

Here he is with Bobby Collins at Goodison.

https://c8.alamy.com/comp/ET02KN/english-division-1-match-everton-0-1-leeds-at-goodison-park-with-the-ET02KN.jpg

Charlton2005 • January 1, 2019 8:59 PM GMT
Indeed, Moore's ability to head the ball or keep up with the pace was average at best, but the way he read the game, marshalled his team and timed his tackles marked him out as world class

in a team with hurst and peters over 16 seasons he won the fa cup, once. + European Cup Winners Cup and a World Cup

Shearer?

Michael Owen (young fit and fast)
Martin Chivers
Alan Shearer
Wayne Rooney
Derek Hales
Mick Flanagan
John Terry
Ashley Cole
Lee Dixon
Bobby Moore
Peter Shilton

Has there every been a better crosser of a football than david beckham any better at free kicks?