The Best Soccer Players From England

Ranker Soccer
Updated April 15, 2024 78.4K views 163 items
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Vote up the best English footballers of all time.

Who are the best football players from England? The greatest soccer players from Great Britain are some of the best soccer players of all time. While the England Men's National Team has a long and storied history of producing top international talent, fans of The Three Lions have been singing "It's Coming Home" and waiting for an international tournament win for quite some time. So, who are the best footballers from England? Who is the best English soccer player of all time?

Some of the best British soccer players include national legends like Wayne Rooney, David Beckham, and Bobby Moore. There are also current English football stars such as Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, and Declan Rice, who are making an impact in English Soccer. 

Vote up the best soccer players from the England, and help decide who is the greatest English footballer of all time!

Most divisive: Jack Wilshere
Over 3.8K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of British Footballers
  • David Beckham
    1

    David Beckham

    Age: 49
    1,658 votes
    David Beckham, born on May 2, 1975 in London, England, is a globally recognized figure in the realm of professional football. The son of a kitchen fitter and a hairdresser, Beckham's passion for football was ignited at an early age, leading him to play for several youth teams before he was noticed by Manchester United scouts. His professional journey began when he signed a contract with Manchester United at the age of 16, marking the start of an illustrious career that would span over two decades. Beckham's tenure at Manchester United was characterized by a string of successes. With his exceptional talent and precision, he helped the team secure numerous victories including six Premier League titles and the prestigious UEFA Champions League. In 2003, Beckham made a notable move to Real Madrid, where he continued to establish his prowess on the pitch. After four years with the Spanish team, he made a surprising shift to the American Major League Soccer, joining Los Angeles Galaxy. The move not only catapulted Beckham's fame in the United States but also contributed significantly to the growth of the sport in the country. Beyond his exploits on the field, Beckham has been equally influential off it. He retired from professional football in 2013 but continues to contribute to the sport through various engagements, including owning Inter Miami CF, a Major League Soccer team. Additionally, his marriage to Victoria Adams, a former member of the pop group Spice Girls, and their subsequent family life has attracted substantial media attention, further cementing Beckham's status as a global icon. Additionally, his philanthropic efforts, particularly as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, have earned him widespread admiration and respect.
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  • Steven Gerrard
    2

    Steven Gerrard

    Age: 43
    1,628 votes
    Steven George Gerrard (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player who manages Scottish Premiership club Rangers. He spent the majority of his playing career as a central midfielder for Liverpool, with most of that time spent as club captain, as well as captaining the England national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Gerrard was awarded the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year award in 2005, and the Ballon d'Or Bronze Award. In 2009, Zinedine Zidane and Pelé said that they considered Gerrard to be the best footballer in the world. A versatile and well-rounded player, highly regarded for his leadership, Gerrard is the only footballer to score in an FA Cup Final, a League Cup Final, a UEFA Cup Final and a UEFA Champions League Final, winning on each occasion.Born and raised in Whiston, Merseyside, Gerrard joined the Liverpool Academy at age 9. At age 17, he signed his first professional contract with Liverpool and made his senior debut a year later in 1998. In the 2000–01 season, Gerrard helped Liverpool secure a treble of the League Cup, the UEFA Cup and the FA Cup. A UEFA Super Cup and another League Cup followed, and Gerrard was made captain in 2003. In 2005, Gerrard led Liverpool to a historic fifth European title, scoring a crucial late goal in the group stages, and being named Man of the Match as he scored Liverpool's first goal and won a penalty kick as Liverpool came from 3–0 down to defeat Milan in what became known as the Miracle of Istanbul, regarded as one of the greatest finals in the history of the tournament. The following year, Gerrard scored two goals and assisted another in the 2006 FA Cup Final, which has been called The Gerrard Final and is widely regarded as one of the greatest cup finals in the history of the competition.Considered by many to be Liverpool's greatest ever player, Gerrard won a total of two FA Cups, three League Cups, one UEFA Champions League, one UEFA Cup, one FA Community Shield and one UEFA Super Cup in his 17 seasons at Anfield. He was named in the PFA Team of the Year a record eight times, the UEFA Team of the Year and the FIFA World XI three times, was named PFA Players' Player of the Year in 2006 and the FWA Footballer of the Year in 2009. Despite collective and individual success, Gerrard never won the Premier League, finishing runner-up with Liverpool on three occasions. He joined Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy in 2015, spending one-and-a-half seasons there before his retirement in 2016. After retiring from playing football, Gerrard became a coach in the Liverpool youth academy and managed their under-18 team during the 2017–18 season, before becoming manager of Scottish Premiership club Rangers ahead of the 2018–19 season. At international level, Gerrard is the fourth-most capped player in the history of the England national team with 114 caps, scoring 21 goals. Gerrard made his international debut in 2000, and represented his country at the 2000, 2004 and 2012 UEFA European Football Championships, as well as the 2006, 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups, captaining the team for the latter two tournaments. He was named as the permanent England captain shortly before UEFA Euro 2012, where he was named in the UEFA Team of the Tournament. Gerrard won his 100th cap in 2012, becoming the sixth player to reach that milestone for England. Gerrard announced his retirement from international football in 2014.
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  • Sir Bobby Charlton
    3

    Sir Bobby Charlton

    Age: 86
    1,175 votes
    Sir Robert Charlton (born 11 October 1937) is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, and was a member of the England team that won the 1966 FIFA World Cup, the year he also won the Ballon d'Or. He played almost all of his club football at Manchester United, where he became renowned for his attacking instincts, his passing abilities from midfield and his ferocious long-range shot, as well as his fitness and stamina. He was cautioned only twice in his career; once against Argentina in the 1966 World Cup, and once in a league match against Chelsea. His elder brother Jack, who was also in the World Cup-winning team, is a former defender for Leeds United and international manager. Born in Ashington, Northumberland, Charlton made his debut for the Manchester United first-team in 1956, and over the next two seasons gained a regular place in the team, during which time he survived the Munich air disaster of 1958 after being rescued by Harry Gregg. After helping United to win the Football League First Division in 1965, he won another First Division title with United in 1967. In 1968, he captained the Manchester United team that won the European Cup, scoring two goals in the final to help them become the first English club to win the competition. He is United's second all-time leading goal scorer (249), being surpassed by Wayne Rooney, and held the distinction of being England's all-time top goal scorer (49) from May 1968 to September 2015, when again Rooney surpassed his record. Charlton held the record for most appearances for Manchester United (758), before being surpassed by Ryan Giggs in the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final.He was named in the England squad for four World Cups (1958, 1962, 1966 and 1970), though did not play in the first. At the time of his retirement from the England team in 1970, he was the nation's most capped player, having turned out 106 times at the highest level. This record has since been surpassed by Bobby Moore, Peter Shilton and David Beckham He left Manchester United to become manager of Preston North End for the 1973–74 season. He changed to player-manager the following season. He next accepted a post as a director with Wigan Athletic, then became a member of Manchester United's board of directors in 1984 and remains one as of the 2018–19 season.
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  • Bobby Moore
    4

    Bobby Moore

    Dec. at 51 (1941-1993)
    1,099 votes
    Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore OBE (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He most notably played for West Ham United, captaining the club for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England national team that won the 1966 FIFA World Cup. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time, and was cited by Pelé as the greatest defender that he had ever played against.Widely regarded as West Ham's greatest ever player, Moore played over 600 games for the club during a 16 year tenure, winning the FA Cup in 1963–64 and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1964–65. During his time at the club he won the FWA Footballer of the Year in 1964 and the West Ham Player Of The Year in 1961, 1963, 1968 and 1970. In August 2008, West Ham United officially retired his number 6 shirt, 15 years after his death.Moore was made captain of England in 1964, at age 23, going on to lift the World Cup trophy in 1966. He won a total of 108 caps for his country, which at the time of his international retirement in 1973 was a national record. This record was later broken by Peter Shilton. Moore's total of 108 caps continued as a record for an outfield player until 28 March 2009, when David Beckham gained his 109th cap. Moore is a member of the World Team of the 20th Century. A national team icon, a bronze statue of Moore is positioned at the entrance to Wembley Stadium. A composed central defender, Moore was best known for his reading of the game and ability to anticipate opposition movements, thereby distancing himself from the image of the hard-tackling, high-jumping defender. Receiving the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1966, he was the first footballer to win the award and he remained the only one for a further 24 years. Moore was given an OBE in the New Year Honours List. He was made an inaugural inductee of the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 in recognition of his impact on the English game as a player and in the same year he was named in the BBC's list of the 100 Greatest Britons.
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  • Wayne Rooney
    5

    Wayne Rooney

    Age: 38
    1,390 votes
    Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional footballer who plays for American MLS club D.C. United. He has played much of his career as a forward, and he has also been used in various midfield roles. He is the record goalscorer for the England national team and for Manchester United. At club level, he has won every honour available in English, European, and Continental football, with the exception of the UEFA Super Cup. Rooney and Michael Carrick are the only English players to win the Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, League Cup, UEFA Europa League, and FIFA Club World Cup.Rooney joined the Everton youth team at the age of 9 and made his professional debut for the club in 2002 at the age of 16. He spent two seasons at the Merseyside club, before moving to Manchester United for £25.6 million in the 2004 summer transfer window. He won 16 trophies with the club, including five Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the Champions League in 2008. He scored 253 goals for United in all competitions to make him their top goalscorer of all time, with 183 Premier League goals being the most scored by a player for any single club. Rooney's 208 Premier League goals make him the Premier League's second top scorer of all time behind only Alan Shearer. He also has the third-highest number of assists in the Premier League, with 103.Rooney made his senior international debut for England in February 2003 aged 17, becoming the youngest player to represent England (a record since broken by Theo Walcott), and he is England's youngest ever goalscorer. He played at UEFA Euro 2004 and scored four goals, briefly becoming the youngest goalscorer in the history of the European Championship. Rooney has since featured at the 2006, 2010, and 2014 World Cups and was widely regarded as his country's best player. He has won the England Player of the Year award four times, in 2008, 2009, 2014, and 2015. With 53 goals in 120 international caps, Rooney is England's all-time record goalscorer and second most-capped player, behind Peter Shilton. Along with David Beckham, Rooney is the most red-carded player for England, having been sent off twice. In 2009–10, Rooney was awarded the PFA Players' Player of the Year and the FWA Footballer of the Year. He won the Premier League Player of the Month award five times, a record only bettered by Steven Gerrard and Harry Kane. His displays at the start of the decade saw him come fifth in the vote for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or and he was named in the FIFA World XI for 2011. Rooney has won the Goal of the Season award by the BBC's Match of the Day poll on three occasions, with his bicycle kick against city rivals Manchester City winning the Premier League Goal of the 20 Seasons award.
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  • Harry Kane
    6

    Harry Kane

    Age: 30
    1,073 votes
    Harry Edward Kane (born 28 July 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and captains the England national team. Born and raised in the London district of Walthamstow, Kane began his professional career at Tottenham Hotspur, where, after fast progression through the team's youth academy, he was promoted to the senior team in 2009, at age 16. He did not initially feature for the side, and was loaned out several times to clubs across the English football pyramid, including Leyton Orient, Millwall, Leicester City, and Norwich City. Kane's involvement at Tottenham began to increase following the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino as head coach in 2014. In his first full season at the club, Kane scored 31 goals across all competitions, and finished as the league's second highest goalscorer, winning the PFA Young Player of the Year award. After the following campaign, at age 23, Kane finished as league's top goalscorer, and guided the club to UEFA Champions League qualification. In the 2016–17 season, Kane also completed the season as the league's top goalscorer, and helped the club finish as the competition's runners-up, while he won the PFA Fans' Player of the Year award. In the 2017–18 season, Kane registered his best campaign statistically to date, with 41 goals scored in 48 games in all competitions, and in the following season, he finished as a runner-up in the UEFA Champions League. Kane holds the record for most Premier League Player of the Month awards (six; shared with Steven Gerrard and Sergio Agüero) and has been selected for the PFA Team of the Year four times. He established himself as Tottenham's fourth all-time scorer in official competitions in January 2019. Kane has scored 22 goals in 39 games for England. He appeared and scored at every youth level, and made his senior debut in March 2015 at age 21, where he scored on his debut. Kane featured and scored at UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying, before he was selected as the squad's captain from May 2018, prior to the 2018 FIFA World Cup. In the tournament, Kane led England to fourth-place, their highest finish since 1990. He also finished as the top goalscorer, winning the Golden Boot.
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  • Frank Lampard
    7

    Frank Lampard

    Age: 45
    1,163 votes
    Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Premier League club Chelsea. As a player, he is widely considered to have been one of the greatest midfielders of his generation.Lampard was a creative and technically gifted box-to-box midfielder who began his career in 1995 at West Ham United, the club where his father, Frank Lampard Sr., also played. He is best known for his time at London rivals Chelsea, after he signed for the club in 2001 for £11 million. In his thirteen years with the team, Lampard established himself as a prolific scorer from midfield, becoming Chelsea's all-time leading goalscorer, with 211 goals scored in all competitions. He also won a number of trophies, including three Premier League titles, a UEFA Champions League title, four FA Cups, a UEFA Europa League title, and two Football League Cups. In 2005, he was named FWA Footballer of the Year, and finished runner-up for both the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards. Lampard was released by Chelsea in 2014, after which he played for league rivals Manchester City and Major League Soccer (MLS) club New York City before retiring in 2017.Lampard is one of seven players, and the only midfielder, to have scored 150 or more goals in the Premier League. He is fourth in the Premier League's all-time assists table, with 102 assists. Lampard also holds a number of Chelsea and additional Premier League records, and has won the FWA Tribute Award and a PFA Fans' Player of the Year award. During his career, he was named in the PFA Team of the Year three times, finished as the Premier League's top assist provider three times, and was named in the FIFPro World XI and voted as a MLS All-Star. At international level, Lampard played 106 matches for the England national team, after making his debut in 1999. He represented his country at three FIFA World Cups – in 2006, 2010 and 2014 – and in UEFA Euro 2004, where he was named in the team of the tournament. He scored 29 goals for England, and was voted England Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005. He is also his nation's most prolific penalty taker, with nine goals scored from the spot. After retiring from international football, Lampard was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2015 for his services to football.After retiring, Lampard served as a team captain on the ITV sport panel show Play to the Whistle from 2015 until 2017. He has also written a number of children's books. He began his coaching career with Championship club Derby County in 2018, to whom he led to the final of that season's play-offs. He was appointed as Chelsea's head coach a year later.
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  • Alan Shearer
    8

    Alan Shearer

    Age: 53
    1,087 votes
    Alan Shearer, CBE, DL (born 13 August 1970) is an English retired footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and the England national team. He is Newcastle's and the Premier League's record goalscorer. He was named Football Writers' Association Player of the Year in 1994 and won the PFA Player of the Year award in 1995. In 1996, he was third in the FIFA World Player of the Year awards. In 2004 Shearer was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.Shearer scored 283 league goals in his career (all in the first tier of English football), including a record 260 in the Premier League (of which 58 were penalties) with a joint record 11 Premier League hat-tricks, and a total of 422 in all competitions including international at all levels. Until his retirement from international football in 2000, he appeared 63 times for his country and scored 30 goals. Shearer had a goals-to-game ratio of 0.667 throughout his career. Since retiring as a player in 2006, Shearer has worked as a television pundit for the BBC. In 2009, he briefly left his BBC role to become Newcastle United's manager in the last eight games of their 2008–09 season, in an unsuccessful attempt to save them from relegation. Shearer is a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), a Deputy Lieutenant of Northumberland, a Freeman of Newcastle upon Tyne and an honorary Doctor of Civil Law of Northumbria and Newcastle Universities.
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  • Paul Scholes
    9

    Paul Scholes

    Age: 49
    946 votes
    Paul Scholes ( SKOHLZ; born 16 November 1974) is a co-owner of Salford City, an English football coach and former player. He spent his entire professional playing career with Manchester United, for whom he scored over 150 goals in more than 700 appearances between 1993 and 2013. His first managerial position was at Oldham Athletic, for 31 days in February and March 2019. Scholes came through the Manchester United youth academy as one of Fergie's Fledglings (a group of players recruited by Manchester United under the management of Sir Alex Ferguson). Scholes made his full debut for Manchester United in the 1994–95 season. He went on to make 718 appearances for United, the third-highest number of appearances by any player for the club. Scholes announced his retirement from playing in May 2011 and was appointed as a coach at Manchester United. However, he returned to playing in January 2012, and went on to play one more season for the club before retiring again in May 2013. With United, Scholes won 25 trophies including 11 Premier League titles (more than any other English player) and two Champions League titles.Scholes represented the England national team from 1997 to 2004, gaining 66 caps and participating in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, as well as the UEFA Euro 2000 and Euro 2004 tournaments. Scholes announced his retirement from international football in August 2004, citing his family life and his club career with Manchester United as being more important.Regarded as one of the best midfielders of his generation, over his career Scholes has received praise from other managers and players, including Xavi, who said in 2014 that Scholes was "the best central midfielder" he had seen in the previous 15 to 20 years, describing him as "a spectacular player who has everything. He can play the final pass, he can score, he is strong, he never gets knocked off the ball and he doesn’t give possession away." Pelé said: "If he was playing with me, I would have scored so many more." Thierry Henry cited Scholes as the greatest player in Premier League history.
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  • Gary Lineker
    10

    Gary Lineker

    Age: 63
    773 votes
    Gary Winston Lineker (; born 30 November 1960) is an English former professional footballer and current sports broadcaster. He holds England's record for goals in the FIFA World Cup finals, with 10 scored. Lineker's media career began with the BBC, where he has presented the flagship football programme Match of the Day since the late 1990s. He has also worked for Al Jazeera Sports, Eredivisie Live, NBC Sports Network and currently hosts BT Sport's coverage of the UEFA Champions League. Lineker began his football career at Leicester City in 1978, and finished as the First Division's joint top goalscorer in 1984–85. He then moved to League Champions Everton where he developed as a clinical finisher, scoring 30 goals in 41 games. His first team honours came at Barcelona, where he won the Copa del Rey in 1988 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1989. He returned to England in 1989, joining Tottenham Hotspur, and over three seasons he scored 67 goals in 105 games and won the FA Cup. Lineker's final club was Nagoya Grampus Eight and he retired in 1994 after two seasons at the Japanese side. Lineker made his England debut in 1984, earning 80 caps and scoring 48 goals over an eight-year international career, and is England's third highest scorer, behind Bobby Charlton and Wayne Rooney. His international goals-to-games ratio remains one of the best for the country and he is regarded as one of the all-time best English strikers. He was top scorer in the 1986 World Cup and received the Golden Boot, the only time an Englishman had done so until Harry Kane in the 2018 World Cup. He is also the only player to have been the top scorer in England with three clubs (Leicester City, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur). Even though he enjoyed a long career, Lineker never received a yellow or red card. As a result, he was honoured in 1990 with the FIFA Fair Play Award. In a senior career which spanned 16 years and 567 competitive games, Lineker scored a total of 330 goals, including 282 goals at club level. After his retirement from football he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame. A keen supporter of Leicester City, he led a consortium that invested in his old club, saving it from bankruptcy, and was appointed honorary vice-president.
  • Gordon Banks
    11

    Gordon Banks

    Age: 86
    723 votes
    Gordon Banks (30 December 1937 – 12 February 2019) was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He made 679 appearances during a 20-year professional career, and won 73 caps for England, highlighted by starting every game of the nation's 1966 World Cup victory. Banks joined Chesterfield in March 1953, and played for their youth team in the 1956 FA Youth Cup final. He made his first team debut in November 1958, and was sold to Leicester City for £7,000 in July 1959. He played in four cup finals for the club, as they were beaten in the 1961 and 1963 FA Cup finals, before winning the League Cup in 1964 and finishing as finalists in 1965. Despite this success, and his World Cup win in 1966, he was dropped by Leicester and sold on to Stoke City for £50,000 in April 1967. In the 1970 World Cup, he made one of the game's great saves to prevent a Pelé goal, but was absent due to illness as England were beaten by West Germany at the quarter-final stage. Banks was Stoke City's goalkeeper in the 1972 League Cup win—the club's only major honour. He was still Stoke and England's number one when a car crash in October 1972 cost him both the sight in his right eye, and eventually, his professional career. He played two last seasons in the United States for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in 1977 and 1978, and despite only having vision in one eye, was NASL Goalkeeper of the Year in 1977 after posting the best defensive record in the league. He briefly entered management with Telford United, but left the game in December 1980. Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, Banks was named FWA Footballer of the Year in 1972, and was named FIFA Goalkeeper of the Year on six occasions. The IFFHS named Banks the second-best goalkeeper of the 20th century, after Lev Yashin (1st) and ahead of Dino Zoff (3rd).
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  • Sir Stanley Matthews
    12

    Sir Stanley Matthews

    Dec. at 85 (1915-2000)
    629 votes
    Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while still playing football, as well as being the first winner of both the European Footballer of the Year and the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year awards. Matthews' nicknames included "The Wizard of the Dribble" and "The Magician".Matthews kept fit enough to play at the top level until he was 50 years old. Matthews was also the oldest player ever to play in England's top football division (50 years and 5 days) and the oldest player ever to represent the country (42 years and 104 days). He was also an inaugural inductee to the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 to honour his contribution to the English game.He spent 19 years with Stoke City, playing for the Potters from 1932 to 1947, and again from 1961 to 1965. He helped Stoke to the Second Division title in 1932–33 and 1962–63. Between his two spells at Stoke he spent 14 years with Blackpool, where, after being on the losing side in the 1948 and 1951 FA Cup finals, he helped Blackpool to win the cup with a formidable personal performance in the "Matthews Final" of 1953. Between 1934 and 1957 he won 54 caps for England, playing in the FIFA World Cup in 1950 and 1954, and winning nine British Home Championship titles. Following an unsuccessful stint as Port Vale's general manager between 1965 and 1968, he travelled around the world, coaching enthusiastic amateurs. The most notable of his coaching experiences came in 1975 in South Africa, where in spite of the harsh apartheid laws of the time he established an all-black team in Soweto known as "Stan's Men".
  • Jude Bellingham
    13
    Jude Victor William Bellingham (born 29 June 2003) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the England national team. Bellingham joined Birmingham City as an under-8, became the club's youngest ever first-team player when he made his senior debut in August 2019, at the age of 16 years, 38 days, and played regularly during the 2019–20 season. He joined Borussia Dortmund in July 2020, and in his first competitive match became their youngest ever goalscorer. He represented England at under-15, under-16, under-17 and under-21 levels. He made his first appearance for the senior team in November 2020, and represented the country at UEFA Euro 2020.
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  • Ian Wright
    14

    Ian Wright

    Age: 60
    179 votes
    Ian Edward Wright, (born 3 November 1963) is an English former professional footballer and television and radio personality. He is currently a studio pundit for BBC Sport and ITV Sport. Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal as a forward, spending six years with the former and seven years with the latter. With Arsenal he lifted the Premier League title, both the major domestic cup competitions, and the European Cup Winners Cup. He played 581 league games, scoring 387 goals for seven clubs in Scotland and England, earning 33 caps for the English national team.Wright also played in the Premier League for West Ham United, the Scottish Premier League for Celtic and the Football League for Burnley and Nottingham Forest. As of 2016–17, he is Arsenal's second-highest scorer of all time and Crystal Palace's third-highest.After retiring from the game he has been active in the media, usually in football-related TV and radio shows. His sons, Bradley and Shaun Wright-Phillips, are both professional footballers.
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  • Kevin Keegan
    15

    Kevin Keegan

    Age: 73
    659 votes
    Joseph Kevin Keegan, OBE (born 14 February 1951) is an English former football player and manager. A forward, he played for several clubs, including Newcastle United, Southampton, Liverpool and Hamburger SV. He went on to manage Newcastle United, Fulham and Manchester City, winning promotion as champions in his first full season at all three clubs, and also the England national team. As a player in the 1970s and 1980s, he has been described as "arguably the first superstar English player to attract the modern media spotlight". He began his playing career at Scunthorpe United in 1968, before moving to Liverpool in 1971. At Liverpool, Keegan won three First Division titles, the UEFA Cup twice, the FA Cup and the European Cup. He also gained his first England cap in 1972, and moved to West German club Hamburger SV in the summer of 1977. At Hamburg, he was named European Footballer of the Year in 1978 and 1979, won the Bundesliga title in 1978–79, and reached the European Cup final in 1980. Keegan moved to Southampton that summer, and spent two seasons at the club before a transfer to Newcastle United in the English second division in 1982. He helped Newcastle to promotion in his second season, and retired from football in 1984, having been capped 63 times for England, scoring 21 goals. He moved into management at Newcastle in 1992, winning promotion as First Division champions. Newcastle then finished second in the Premier League in 1995–96, after leading for most of the season. After a spell at Fulham, he took charge of the England team in February 1999, but resigned in October 2000, following a 1–0 loss against Germany in qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He then became manager of Manchester City in 2001 and spent four years at the club before resigning in 2005. He had been out of football for almost three years when he returned to Newcastle United for a second spell as manager in January 2008. This spell lasted only eight months, however, as Keegan resigned on 4 September 2008 following speculation regarding a dispute with the club's directors.
  • Ashley Cole
    16

    Ashley Cole

    Age: 43
    599 votes
    Ashley Cole (born 20 December 1980) is an English retired footballer who played as a left back, most recently for Championship club Derby County. Cole is considered by many critics and fellow professional players as one of the best defenders of his generation, and by some, for the better part of his career, as the best left back in the world. Born in Stepney, London, Cole began his youth career at Arsenal and made his full debut for the club in November 1999, going on to make 228 appearances and scoring nine goals for the North London club. With Arsenal he won two Premier League titles, three FA Cups, and was an integral member of "The Invincibles" team of the 2003–04 season, who went the entire league season undefeated. Cole also made an appearance in Arsenal's first UEFA Champions League final in 2006; the club lost 2–1 to Barcelona. In August 2006, after a protracted transfer saga, Cole completed a move to rival club Chelsea, with whom he won further honours, including the Premier League in the 2009–10 season, four FA Cups, one Football League Cup and one UEFA Champions League. He was released by Chelsea at the end of the 2013–14 season. With seven winners' medals, Cole has won the FA Cup more times than any other player in history, and is one of two players to have won the Double with two clubs, along with Nicolas Anelka.Cole was an England international from 2001 to 2014, playing at the 2002, 2006 and 2010 World Cups, as well as Euro 2004 and Euro 2012. He was voted England Player of the Year in 2010. When he retired from international football in 2014, he had won 107 caps, making him England's most capped full back.
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  • Paul Gascoigne
    17

    Paul Gascoigne

    Age: 56
    553 votes
    Paul John Gascoigne (, born 27 May 1967) is an English former professional football player and manager. He is also known by his nickname, Gazza. He earned 57 caps during his England career. The National Football Museum stated that he is "widely recognised as the most naturally talented English footballer of his generation".Born and raised in Gateshead, Gascoigne signed schoolboy terms with Newcastle United, before turning professional with the top tier (pre-Premier League creation) club in 1985. Three years later he was sold on to Tottenham Hotspur for a £2.2 million fee. He won the FA Cup with Spurs in 1991, before being sold to Italian club Lazio for £5.5 million the following year. In July 1995, he was transferred to Rangers for £4.3 million, and helped the club to two league titles and two trophies. He returned to England in a £3.4 million move to Middlesbrough in March 1998. He made his debut in the Premier League in the 1998–99 season, having already featured in the 1998 Football League Cup Final. He switched to Everton in July 2000, and later had spells with Burnley, Gansu Tianma (China), and Boston United. Gascoigne was part of the England team that reached fourth place in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, where he famously cried after receiving a yellow card in the semi-final with West Germany which meant he would have been suspended for the final itself had England won the game. He also helped the team to the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 1996, which included scoring a goal against Scotland described by The Guardian in 2013 as "one of the most iconic goals in the game's recent history". He has been involved in a number of high profile goal celebrations at both club and international level, including the "dentist's chair" celebration from Euro ‘96, and mimicking playing a flute with Rangers in 1998.In the later parts of his career and especially following retirement, Gascoigne's life became dominated by severe mental and emotional problems, particularly alcoholism. He has been jailed or sectioned on numerous occasions and his personal struggles receive regular coverage in the British press. He has frequently attempted to live without alcohol, though rehabilitation programmes have provided only temporary relief. His personal issues ended his coaching career, and he has not worked in football since being dismissed as the manager of Kettering Town in 2005.
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  • Trent Alexander-Arnold
    18
    Trent John Alexander-Arnold (born 7 October 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Premier League club Liverpool and the England national team. Alexander-Arnold joined Liverpool's academy in 2004 and captained the club at across its youth levels. He made his senior debut in 2016, at age 18, and played in back-to-back UEFA Champions League finals in 2018 and 2019, winning the latter and being named in the Champions League Squad of the Season. These appearances made Alexander-Arnold the youngest player to start in consecutive finals in the competition. In the same year, he won the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. In domestic football, Alexander-Arnold won the 2019–20 PFA Young Player of the Year and the inaugural Premier League Young Player of the Season awards, has twice been named in the PFA Team of the Year, and helped end Liverpool's 30-year league title drought by winning the 2019–20 Premier League.
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  • Jimmy Greaves
    19

    Jimmy Greaves

    Age: 84
    558 votes
    James Peter Greaves (born 20 February 1940) is a former England international footballer who played as a forward. He is England's fourth highest international goalscorer (44 goals), Tottenham Hotspur's highest ever goalscorer (266 goals), the highest goalscorer in the history of English top-flight football (357 goals), and has also scored more hat-tricks (six) for England than anyone else. He finished as the First Division's top scorer in six seasons. He is a member of the English Football Hall of Fame. Greaves began his professional career at Chelsea in 1957, and played in the following year's FA Youth Cup final. He scored 124 First Division goals in just four seasons before being sold on to Italian club A.C. Milan for £80,000 in April 1961. His stay in Italy was not a happy one and he returned to England with Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £99,999 in December 1961. Whilst with Spurs he won the FA Cup in 1961–62 and 1966–67, the Charity Shield in 1962 and 1967, and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1962–63; he never won a league title but did help Spurs to a second-place finish in 1962–63. He moved to West Ham United in a player-exchange in March 1970 and retired the following year. After a four-year absence he returned to football at the non-league level, despite suffering from alcoholism. In a five-year spell he played for Brentwood, Chelmsford City, Barnet, and Woodford Town before retiring for good in 1980. Greaves scored 13 goals in 12 England under-23 internationals and scored 44 goals in 57 full England internationals between 1959 and 1967. He played in the 1962 and 1966 FIFA World Cup, but was injured in the group stage of the 1966 World Cup and lost his first team place to Geoff Hurst, who kept Greaves out of the first team in the final. England won the World Cup, but Greaves was not given his medal until a change of FIFA rules in 2009. After retiring as a player Greaves went on to enjoy a successful career in broadcasting, most notably working alongside Ian St John on Saint and Greavsie from 1985 to 1992. During this period, he also made regular appearances on TV-am. He worked on a number of other sport programmes on ITV during this period, including Sporting Triangles (1987-1990).
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  • John Terry
    20

    John Terry

    Age: 43
    593 votes
    John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He was previously captain of Chelsea, the England national team and Aston Villa; he is the assistant head coach at the latter. A strong, tenacious, commanding and physical defender, Terry excelled in the air and was known for his aggressive tackling, positioning, leadership and his ability to read the game; he is considered to be one of the greatest central defenders of his generation. Terry was named UEFA Club Defender of the Year in 2005, 2008 and 2009, PFA Players' Player of the Year in 2005, and was included in the FIFPro World XI for five consecutive seasons, from 2005 to 2009. He was also named in the all-star squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the only English player to make the team. Terry is Chelsea's most successful captain, having led them to five Premier League titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups, one UEFA Europa League and one UEFA Champions League title. He is one of five players to have made over 500 appearances for Chelsea and is also the club's all-time highest scoring defender. In 2007, he became the first captain to lift the FA Cup at the new Wembley Stadium in Chelsea's 1–0 win over Manchester United, and also the first player to score an international goal there, scoring a header in England's 1–1 draw with Brazil. In his final season at Chelsea in 2017, he became the first ever player to captain a team to the Premier League title on five occasions. Following his departure from Chelsea, Terry spent one season with Aston Villa in the EFL Championship before retiring, ultimately losing the 2018 Championship play-off final. He returned to Aston Villa a few months later as part of new manager Dean Smith's management team, the side went on to win the 2019 Championship play-off final to be promoted back to the Premier League.
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  • John Barnes
    21

    John Barnes

    Age: 60
    342 votes
    John Charles Bryan Barnes MBE (born 7 November 1963) is an English former professional footballer and manager, who currently works as a commentator and pundit for ESPN and SuperSport. A fast, skillful left winger, Barnes had successful periods at Watford and Liverpool in the 1980s and 1990s, and won 79 caps for England. Born and initially raised in Jamaica, the son of a military officer from Trinidad and Tobago and a Jamaican mother, Barnes moved to London with his family when he was 12 years old. He joined Port Vale, and then Watford at the age of 17 in 1981, and over the next six years made 296 appearances for the club, scoring 85 goals. He made his debut for England in 1983 and four years later joined Liverpool for £900,000. Between 1987 and 1997 Barnes won the then top-flight First Division twice and the FA Cup twice with Liverpool, scoring 106 goals in 403 matches. By the time of his last appearance for England in 1995, he had played more times than any other black player. After two years with Newcastle United, he ended his playing career at Charlton Athletic in 1999. Barnes moved to Scotland to become head coach of Celtic in 1999 with his former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish as director of football. This was not successful and Barnes was sacked in 2000. Since then Barnes has managed the Jamaica national team in 2008–09 and the English club Tranmere Rovers for four months in 2009. During his playing career Barnes was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year once (in 1987–88) and the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year twice (in 1987–88 and 1989–90). In the run-up to England's 1990 FIFA World Cup campaign he recorded a rap for the official team song, New Order's "World in Motion". In 2005, he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame. In 2006, in a poll of Liverpool fans' favourite players, Barnes came fifth; a year later, FourFourTwo magazine named him Liverpool's best player of all time. In 2016, he was voted England's greatest ever left-footed player by readers of The Times.
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  • Michael Owen
    22

    Michael Owen

    Age: 44
    571 votes
    Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is an English former footballer who played as a striker for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City, as well as for the England national team. Since retiring from football in 2013, he has become a racehorse breeder and owner and regularly features as a sports pundit and commentator.The son of former footballer Terry Owen, Owen was born in Chester and began his senior career at Liverpool in 1996. He progressed through the Liverpool youth team and scored on his debut in May 1997. In his first full season in the Premier League, he finished as joint top scorer with 18 goals. He repeated this the following year and was Liverpool's top goal-scorer from 1997–2004, gaining his name as a proven goal-scorer despite suffering from a recurring hamstring injury. In 2001, Liverpool won a cup treble of the UEFA Cup, FA Cup and Football League Cup, and Owen was the recipient of the Ballon d'Or. He went on to score 118 goals in 216 appearances in the Premier League for Liverpool, and 158 goals in 297 total appearances. Regarded as one of the greatest Liverpool players, Owen came 14th in the "100 Players Who Shook The Kop", an official Liverpool fan poll. In 2004, Owen was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.Owen moved to Real Madrid for £8 million in mid-2004; he was frequently used as a substitute. He scored 13 goals in La Liga before returning to England the following season where he joined Newcastle United for £16.8 million. After a promising start to the 2005–06 season, injuries largely ruled him out over the next 18 months. After his return, he became team captain and was the team's top scorer for the 2007–08 season. Newcastle were relegated in the 2008–09 season and Owen moved to Manchester United as a free agent. He spent three years at Old Trafford before joining Stoke City in September 2012. Owen is one of nine players to have scored 150 or more goals in the Premier League. He is also the youngest player to have reached 100 goals in the Premier League. On 19 March 2013, Owen announced his retirement from playing at the end of the 2012–13 season. Internationally, Owen first played for the senior England team in 1998, becoming England's youngest player and youngest goalscorer at the time. His performance at the 1998 FIFA World Cup brought him to national and international prominence and he went on to score in UEFA Euro 2000, the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004. He is the only player to have scored in four consecutive major tournaments for England. He played at the 2006 World Cup, but suffered an injury which took him a year to recover from. Occasionally playing as captain, he is England's 11th-most-capped player and has scored a former national record (since overtaken by Wayne Rooney) of 26 competitive goals, with 40 in total from 89 appearances, most recently in 2008.
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  • Rio Ferdinand
    23

    Rio Ferdinand

    Age: 45
    472 votes
    Rio Gavin Ferdinand (born 7 November 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre back, and current television pundit for BT Sport. He played 81 times for the England national team between 1997 and 2011, and was a member of three FIFA World Cup squads. He is regarded by many to be one of England's greatest ever players and he is one of the most decorated English footballers of all time.Ferdinand began his football career playing for various youth teams, finally settling at West Ham United where he progressed through the youth ranks and made his professional Premier League debut in 1996. He became a fan favourite, winning the Hammer of the Year award the following season. He earned his first senior international cap in a match against Cameroon in 1997, setting a record as the youngest defender to play for England at the time. His achievements and footballing potential attracted Leeds United and he transferred to the club for a record-breaking fee of £18 million. He spent two seasons at the club, becoming the team captain in 2001. He joined Manchester United in July 2002 for around £30 million, breaking the transfer fee record once more. He won the Premier League, his first major club honour, in a successful first season at the club. In September 2003, he missed a drugs test and was banned from competition for eight months from January until September 2004, causing him to miss half a Premier League season, Manchester United's FA Cup triumph, and the Euro 2004 international competition. Upon his return, he established himself in the Manchester United first team and received plaudits for his performances, featuring in the PFA Team of the Year four times in five years. More club success followed with another Premier League win in the 2006–07 season and a Premier League and UEFA Champions League double the following year. His career at United, in which he won six Premier League titles and 14 trophies, ended when his contract expired in 2014, and he subsequently joined Queens Park Rangers where he played for just one season before being released from the club as a result of their relegation from the Premier League. He announced his retirement from professional football on 30 May 2015. In September 2017, Ferdinand announced his intention to become a professional boxer, partly to help him cope with the death of his wife.His brother, Anton, also a centre back, plays for St Mirren. Former England international striker Les Ferdinand and former Dagenham & Redbridge midfielder Kane Ferdinand are his cousins.
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  • Jack Charlton
    24

    Jack Charlton

    Age: 89
    208 votes
    John Charlton, (born 8 May 1935) is an English former footballer and manager who played as a defender. He was part of the England team that won the 1966 World Cup. He is the elder brother of former Manchester United forward Bobby Charlton, who was also a teammate in England's World Cup final victory. He spent his entire club career with Leeds United from 1950 to 1973, helping the club to the Second Division title (1963–64), First Division title (1968–69), FA Cup (1972), League Cup (1968), Charity Shield (1969), Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (1968 and 1971), as well as one other promotion from the Second Division (1955–56) and five second-place finishes in the First Division, two FA Cup final defeats and one Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final defeat. His 629 league and 762 total competitive appearances are club records. In 2006, Leeds United supporters voted Charlton into the club's greatest ever XI.Called up to the England team days before his 30th birthday, Charlton went on to score six goals in 35 international games and to appear in two World Cups and one European Championship. He played in the World Cup final victory over West Germany in 1966, and also helped England to finish third in Euro 1968 and to win four British Home Championship tournaments. He was named FWA Footballer of the Year in 1967. After retiring as a player he worked as a manager, and led Middlesbrough to the Second Division title in 1973–74, winning the Manager of the Year award in his first season as a manager. He kept Boro as a stable top-flight club before he resigned in April 1977. He took charge of Sheffield Wednesday in October 1977, and led the club to promotion out of the Third Division in 1979–80. He left the Owls in May 1983, and went on to serve Middlesbrough as caretaker-manager at the end of the 1983–84 season. He worked as Newcastle United manager for the 1984–85 season. He took charge of the Republic of Ireland national team in February 1986, and led them to their first ever World Cup in 1990, where they reached the quarter-finals. He also led the nation to successful qualification to Euro 1988 and the 1994 World Cup. He resigned in January 1996 and went into retirement. He is married with three children.
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  • Phil Foden
    25

    Phil Foden

    311 votes
    Philip Walter Foden (born 28 May 2000) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Manchester City and the England national team. Foden's breakthrough into professional football came in 2017 when he won the FIFA U-17 World Cup Golden Ball award following England's successful Under-17 World Cup campaign. He made his debut for City during the same year and in December was named BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year. Foden has since made over 100 appearances for the club, winning eight honours including becoming the youngest recipient of a Premier League winners' medal. In 2019, he won a second Premier League and became the club's youngest-ever goalscorer in the UEFA Champions League, and is the youngest English player to both start a match and score in the knockout stages of the competition. In 2021, he was named as the Premier League Young Player of the Season and the PFA Young Player of the Year.
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  • Bukayo Saka
    26

    Bukayo Saka

    244 votes
    Bukayo Ayoyinka T. M. Saka (born 5 September 2001) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger, left-back or central midfielder for Premier League club Arsenal and the England national team.
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  • Peter Shilton
    27

    Peter Shilton

    Age: 74
    437 votes
    Peter Leslie Shilton (born 18 September 1949) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He currently holds the record for playing more games for the England men’s national football team than anyone else, earning 125 caps, and holds the all-time record for the most competitive appearances in world football – 1,390. The IFFHS ranked Shilton among the top ten goalkeepers of the 20th century in 2000.His 30-year career included spells at 11 clubs and he had the distinction of playing over 100 league games for five clubs. During his time at Nottingham Forest, Shilton won many honours, including the First Division championship, two European Cups, a UEFA Super Cup, and the Football League Cup. He also represented England at UEFA Euro 1980, the 1982 FIFA World Cup, the 1986 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 1988 and the 1990 FIFA World Cup. Shilton did not make his World Cup finals debut until the age of 32, but he played in 17 finals matches and shares the record of 10 clean sheets in World Cup finals matches with French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez.
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  • Tony Adams
    28

    Tony Adams

    Age: 57
    237 votes
    Tony Alexander Adams (born 10 October 1966) is an English football manager. As a player, Adams played for Arsenal and England, captaining both teams. Adams spent his entire playing career of 22 years as a centre back at Arsenal. He is considered one of the greatest Arsenal players of all time by the club's own fans and was included in the Football League 100 Legends. With Arsenal, he won four top flight division titles, uniquely captaining a title-winning team in three different decades, three FA Cups, two Football League Cups, a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and two FA Community Shields. A statue honouring Adams was unveiled at Emirates stadium on 9 December 2011, along with statues of Thierry Henry and Herbert Chapman. He won 66 caps for England between 1987 and 2000 and played at four major tournaments. When his playing career finished Adams went into football management, spending periods in charge of Wycombe Wanderers, Portsmouth, Azerbaijani side Gabala and Spanish side Granada. Adams will be appointed as the 29th President of the Rugby Football League over the summer of 2019. He will succeed Andy Burnham.
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  • Alan Ball, Jr.
    29

    Alan Ball, Jr.

    Dec. at 61 (1945-2007)
    177 votes
    Alan James Ball (12 May 1945 – 25 April 2007) was a professional English footballer and football club manager. He was the youngest member of England's 1966 World Cup winning team and played as a midfielder for various clubs, scoring more than 180 league goals in a career spanning 22 years. His playing career also included a then national record £220,000 transfer from Everton to Arsenal at the end of 1971. After retiring as a player, he had a 15-year career as a manager which included spells in the top flight of English football with Portsmouth, Southampton and Manchester City.
  • Kyle Walker
    30

    Kyle Walker

    Age: 33
    351 votes
    Kyle Andrew Walker (born 28 May 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right back for Premier League club Manchester City and the English national team.
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