Steven Gerrard, Glenn Hoddle, Bobby Moore: Top 50 Players Who Never Won The League (25-1) | Football news

Liverpool were due to receive the Premier League trophy at Anfield on Saturday. They will have another chance, but these players will not. They are the top 50 players who never won the title.

25: Steve McManaman

Steve McManaman is unlikely to have missed a night’s sleep worrying about the fact that he never won a title in England.

Twelve months after moving to Real Madrid from Liverpool, he was lifting the Champions League trophy in Paris. That was after a man-of-the-match performance and an impressive goal in a 3-0 win over Valencia in the 2000 final at the Stade de France.

In four seasons at the Bernabéu he won two Champions Leagues and two La Liga titles. Of course, he also played for Liverpool and Manchester City, but in those days the most successful clubs in the league were Manchester United, Arsenal, Leeds, Blackburn and Chelsea.

24: Pat Jennings

Tottenham had passed its heyday as a title-winning force when Pat Jennings arrived at White Hart Lane from Watford in 1964, three years after the Spurs doubled with Bill Nicholson. At the Spurs he won the FA Cup, the UEFA Cup and the League Cup twice and also won the FA Cup with Arsenal in 1979.

In addition to a remarkable club career, he set international records for Northern Ireland by playing in the 1982 and 1986 World Cups. When he made his last appearance in the group stage defeat of the Northern Ireland World Cup against Brazil in 1986, he became the oldest player to have played in the competition at the age of 41.

Jennings’ 119 chapter count is a record for his country. He made over 1,000 senior appearances as a player, the first player in English football to do so, the vast majority of which went to Tottenham and Arsenal. He is revered on both sides of the North London football division.

23: Chris Waddle

Chris Waddle won three league titles and they were all in Marseille over a three-season span from 1989 to 1992. He made such an impression in southern France that in 1998 he came second in a vote for Marseille’s player of the century. .

To win an English title, you should have been playing for Liverpool or Everton at your best.

When he returned from France in 1992, he signed with Sheffield Wednesday. He was part of Wednesday’s team that reached the two National Cup finals in 1993 and was also voted the Soccer Writer’s Player of the Year for that season.

22: Gordon Banks

Gordon Banks was in goal when England won the World Cup in 1966 and will also always be remembered for his “save of the century” against Pelé four years later.

At the club level, he began his career at Chesterfield before moving to Leicester in 1959, jumping two levels to the First Division. He started in the reserves with five goalkeepers ahead of him on the team and gradually moved up to first choice when Leicester reached two FA Cup Finals in 1961 and 1963.

He won the League Cup with Leicester in 1964, but despite his World Cup victory in 1966, Banks was eliminated as first choice on Filbert Street the following season in favor of a young Peter Shilton. That sparked his departure for Stoke, where he won another League Cup in 1972, but a car accident later that year ended a glorious career as a player.

He was named FIFA Goalkeeper of the Year six times.

21: Xabi Alonso

It doesn’t seem fair that in a time when Spain had such good midfielders as Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, David Silva, Sergio Busquets and Cesc Fábregas, they also had Xabi Alonso. He could read and control the game and his long-range pass as a deep midfielder was out of this world.

He spent five years at Anfield and was an integral part of the Liverpool team that won the Champions League in 2005. However, he only started to win league titles after leaving Liverpool: one at Real Madrid and three at Bayern Munich.

20. Sir Tom Finney

Sir Tom Finney was one of the all-time greats of English football. Bill Shankly said he was the best player he had ever seen. It was so good that Preston was called a one-man team and his loyalty to the club kept him from earning important honors elsewhere.

The closest he came to winning the title was when Preston finished second behind Arsenal in 1953, missing the goal difference, and when they finished second behind Wolves in 1958.

He retired in 1960 after scoring 247 times in 566 games. Preston was relegated that year, finishing the bottom of the table. Unbelievably, they have never returned to the top since.

His 30 goals for England were a record at the time. He played for England in three World Cups.

19: Paul McGrath

Sir Alex Ferguson did not make too many mistakes. However, one of those he did was decide in 1989 that Paul McGrath’s knee injuries and off-field problems meant he was overqualified at Old Trafford.

McGrath continued to prove that he was still one of the best defenders in the world during the eighth season at Aston Villa. He was also outstanding for Ireland in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups.

Along with people like Roy Keane and Liam Brady, he is one of Ireland’s greatest players of all time. His talent and skill deserved much more than an FA Cup, two League Cups and the 1992/93 PFA Player of the Year award.

18: Ossie Ardiles

Ossie Ardiles arrived in Tottenham with Ricky Villa a few weeks after they both won the World Cup with Argentina in 1978.

It was almost unheard of for English clubs to hire foreign players in those days, and Ardiles was surprised to find that most of the teams he faced preferred to avoid midfield and play long-ball soccer. However, that was not the way for Tottenham, especially with Glenn Hoddle emerging as the most talented midfielder of his generation.

Tottenham had recently returned from a spell in Division Two, with manager Keith Burkinshaw rebuilding the team that would become one of the most successful cup teams in English football in the following decade.

Ardiles twice won the FA Cup and helped the Spurs win the UEFA Cup in a memorable two-leg final against Anderlecht. The closest he came to a league title was in 1985, when Spurs put pressure on Everton for most of the season before falling late and finishing third.

Ardiles went to QPR on a free transfer in 1988 before embarking on a managerial career that brought him back to Tottenham in 1993.

17: David Ginola

David Ginola was ridiculously handsome and ridiculously good at soccer. Anyone who doubts how good it was just has to see what happened in 1999. Manchester United won an incredible treble, but it was Ginola who won both England Player of the Year awards that season.

It was so good that United tried to sign him later that year. If they had, they probably would have won at least two titles at Old Trafford.

That being the case, he retired in 2002 after winning only one title: the French with Paris Saint-Germain in 1994.

16: Robbie Fowler

Robbie Fowler scored on his Liverpool debut and never looked back, establishing himself as the best natural finisher of his generation. He was so good that Liverpool fans called him God.

At Anfield he was part of Roy Evans’ exciting young team that pushed Manchester United and Newcastle into the title race in 1996, but that turned out to be just as good when it comes to league titles.

He won four major honors at Anfield, including a tripled cup in 2001. During two terms at Liverpool between 1993 and 2007 he scored 183 goals in 11 seasons.

15: Liam Brady

Arguably, Liam Brady was the featured actor on an Arsenal team that probably should have won more than the 1979 FA Cup. He had arrived at Arsenal when he was 15 and took his place among a strong Irish contingent with Frank Stapleton and David O ‘Leary of the Republic and Pat Rice and manager Terry Neill of Northern Ireland.

Under Neill and Don Howe’s coaching experience, Brady began dictating the game from midfield. His ability to pass, dribble and shoot at long range possibly made him a player ahead of his time, yet he is still considered to be one of Arsenal’s best players.

Brady’s performance in the 1980 European Cup Winners Cup semi-final against Juventus so impressed the Italian club that they signed him for £ 500,000. He won two Serie A titles in Turin in 1981 and 1982.

14: Paolo Di Canio

It could have been very different for Paolo Di Canio when it comes to titles.

Manchester United tried to sign him in 2002. According to Sir Alex Ferguson, the deal collapsed when Di Canio asked for too much money. “The deal was already done,” said Ferguson. “We made an offer that he accepted, but then he came back saying he wanted more. We couldn’t accept the new demand.”

Di Canio says it didn’t happen because he couldn’t leave West Ham. Whoever you believe, it doesn’t change the fact that Di Canio deserved to have more to show for his time in England than a season goal award.

13: Sir Stanley Matthews

Sir Stanley Matthews was still playing when at 50 he was knighted at Buckingham Palace. His career was remarkable. He started playing for £ 1 a week in 1929 and when he retired in 1965, players like Eusebio, Ferenc Puskas, Alfredo di Stefano, Bobby Moore and Bobby Charlton were lining up to play on his testimony.

One of his opponents said he was defending against The Dodge Wizard It was “like trying to mark a ghost”.

In 29 seasons at Stoke and Blackpool, interrupted by World War II, he won only one major trophy. That was the FA Cup in 1953. Blackpool was losing 3-1 to Bolton in the second half when Matthews set up three goals to seal a famous 4-3 victory. It will always be known as “The Matthews Final” despite teammate Stan Mortensen scoring a hat-trick.

Matthews also played 54 times for England, scoring 11 times.

12: Stuart Pearce

The best full-backs in the world cost at least £ 50 million these days, which makes you wonder how much Stuart Pearce would be worth if he was still playing.

In addition to Liverpool, all Premier League teams could have a player like Pearce today. Modern defenders tend to be better at attacking than defending. Pearce could do both. He was teak resistant, uncompromising, and his fierce free throws were delivered with such rhythm and power that he feared for the safety of the goalkeepers he was taking.

He started his career at Coventry and spent 12 seasons in Nottingham Forest before moving to West Ham and Manchester City.

When he retired in 2002, he had 78 games with England and two major honors: the 1989 and 1990 League Cups with Forest.

11: Sir Trevor Brooking

A club’s Brooking career could have taken a very different turn, with Chelsea and Tottenham interested in him at the youth level. However, he chose a change to the West Ham youth team at age 15, where he became a mainstay in the midfield for almost 20 years.

While perhaps lacking the physical presence or speed of a modern midfielder, Brooking dictated the game from the center area with his controlled pass. His goals were also crucial for West Ham, 102 in 643 games, the fourth-highest figure in club history, behind only Bobby Moore, Frank Lampard Sr and Billy Bonds.

He will always be remembered for scoring the winner in the 1980 FA Cup final against Arsenal. On a hot Wembley afternoon, Brooking’s header, a rarity in itself, earned his team his last major trophy.

10: Matthew Le Tissier

Matthew Le Tissier was given the freedom to showcase his talents in Southampton by manager Chris Nichol, who created a team capable of beating anyone in his day. When Nichol left in 1991, he gave way to the most pragmatic Ian Branfoot when Southampton became a perennial fighter, whose prospects for survival rested at Le Tissier.

He still managed to shine, and made it even brighter when Alan Ball took over Branfoot during the 1993/94 season. Ball put his hand on Le Tissier’s shoulders in the locker room before their first game, and reminded the rest of the team that their hopes of survival rested on their shoulders, and that they should give him the ball as often as they could.

His strength and close control allowed him to beat the players in the gaps between midfield and attack. His deadly shooting accuracy from range often stunned opposition defenses and goalkeepers. Free throws and penalties were also a specialty for a player who scored 209 goals in 540 appearances for a team that struggled most of the seasons.

He always remained faithful to Southampton despite offers of lucrative moves to Tottenham and Chelsea.

9: Gianfranco Zola

Gianfranco Zola was one of the first foreign players to reach the Premier League at the peak of his career. He had learned from the best in Napoli, training with Diego Maradona and lighting up Stamford Bridge when he moved to Chelsea in 1996.

He won four major trophies in seven seasons at Stamford Bridge but not league titles. The 1998/99 season is remembered for the title race between Manchester United and Arsenal. United won the triples, but Chelsea was also in the title race and lost just three league games that season.

Chelsea was never in contention for the title in the remaining four years of Zola’s time in West London, although he played a key role in getting the club into the Champions League in 2003. That same year, Zola was chosen the Chelsea’s greatest player of all time.

8: Jamie Carragher

There is no doubt that Jamie Carragher was good enough to play on a title-winning team. He had just played for Liverpool at a time when players like Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea dominated the Premier League.

The closest he came to winning the title was in 2009 when Liverpool finished second, four points behind Manchester United, and in 2002 when he finished second behind Arsenal.

Carragher was a legendary club man who would be considered by many to be the best defender he ever played for Liverpool. While he may be challenged by Virgil van Dijk for that honor for years to come, Carragher can always look back on an incredible career that led to him winning seven major trophies, including the Champions League in 2005.

7: Glenn Hoddle

If I was making a list of the most talented footballers England had ever produced, I could make a good case for making Glenn Hoddle No. 1. In the 1970s and ’80s, he was the player that all the kids on the playground wanted to be. . He had extraordinary vision and ability and looked good, stylish, elegant and supremely gifted.

He won two FA Cups at the Spurs, but it wasn’t until he moved to Monaco that he got a league title in 1988.

It is notable that he played only 53 times for England. Some considered him a luxury player. If he had been of another nationality, he probably would have played twice as many games for his country.

In September 1983 he scored one of the best goals he has ever seen in a 3-2 win for the Spurs at Watford. One touch, twist and a scandalous chip. Everything in less than three seconds. Somehow it was not the goal of the season, but those who have seen it will never forget it.

6: Jimmy Grebas

Jimmy Greaves was known in the football world even before he debuted at Chelsea because he was breaking records for youth goals that are still held today. He brought his impressive form to his senior career, scoring 100 league goals before turning 20.

In 1961, he moved to AC Milan, but was unable to settle and signed with Tottenham after just six months. The fee was £ 99,999, so you wouldn’t have the pressure to become the world’s first £ 100,000 footballer.

Greaves was instantly successful lifting the FA Cup in his first season at White Hart Lane, then the European Cup Winners Cup the following year, scoring in both finals. He had joined the Spurs just a few months after their historic double success in 1961, but missed a league title in his nine years there, despite finishing second to Everton in 1963.

His scoring records remain to this day: 266 for the Spurs and 357 in world-class soccer. He made his England debut in 1959 and missed a spot in Alf Ramsey’s starting lineup for the 1966 World Cup Final.

That personal disappointment means that his career in England is not celebrated as broadly as his club-level achievements, though his 44 goals in 57 games show how good he was.

5: Gary Lineker

Only Sir Bobby Charlton and Wayne Rooney have scored more goals for England than Gary Lineker. Charlton and Rooney won eight titles between them, Linkeker did not win one, not even in Barcelona.

The closest he came was in his only season at Everton in 1985-86. Lineker scored 30 league goals, but Everton finished second, two points behind Liverpool. Everton had won the title the season before Lineker’s arrival and they won it the season after he left.

Do you lose sleep over not winning a league title? Unlikely. He had a brilliant career, starred in the World Cups, and became an accomplished broadcaster and the face of BBC football coverage.

4: Sir Geoff Hurst

Who needs a title when you’ve scored a hat-trick for England in the World Cup final at Wembley? Sir Geoff Hurst will always be an England legend, but at the club level, he made a name for himself in West Ham, where he won the FA Cup in 1964 and the European Cup Winners Cup a year later.

After 13 years at Upton Park, he signed with Stoke in 1972, helping them maintain their First Division status before becoming a key player when they mounted title challenges in their past two seasons at the Victoria Ground.

For England he scored 24 goals in 49 appearances and was knighted in 1998.

3: Paul Gascoigne

If he had moved to the right club, Paul Gascoigne would have been a multiple title winner. To be fair, he won two titles in Scotland with the Rangers, but the only medal he won in England was the FA Cup in 1991 and it was bittersweet because he was badly hurt in the opening stages of the final against Nottingham Forest.

Of course, everyone knows that Gascoigne rejected a move to Manchester United in 1988 and instead signed with Tottenham. Gascoigne says it is one of the biggest regrets of his career. To be fair to him, United had not won the title in 21 years when he moved to White Hart Lane instead of Old Trafford.

No one knows exactly what would have happened if he had chosen United, but it’s fair to assume that he would have involved at least one league title.

2: Steven Gerrard

Liverpool had already spent almost a decade without winning the title when Steven Gerrard made his debut in 1998. He was a key figure at Anfield, as Gerard Houllier left the club with the broken promise of the Spice Boys era and turned them into a consummate glass. side.

Gerrard grew in stature under Rafa Benítez and his remarkable captain display in Istanbul helped Liverpool win the Champions League final in 2005 despite being 3-0 down at halftime against AC Milan. He could have won the title elsewhere if he hadn’t turned down two chances to sign for Chelsea.

The closest he came to winning the title in Liverpool was in 2009 and 2014 when his infamous slip allowed Demba Ba to score for Chelsea in a 2-0 victory at Anfield. Twelve months later, Gerrard moved to the LA Galaxy after 17 seasons in Liverpool. He earned seven major honors at Anfield, but no league titles.

Arguably he is Liverpool’s best player, but Sir Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness might have something to say about it.

1: Bobby Moore

Bobby Moore could read the game as easily as you have read this article. In an era when center-backs had to be tough as teak, he was a pure footballer who was known for the timing of his tackles and leadership qualities. He is a national icon who captained England for World Cup glory in 1966 and his statue stands proudly in front of Wembley Stadium.

He played for England 108 incredible times at a time when it was difficult to get the caps. He is undoubtedly the best player in West Ham history and ended his career at Upton Park by winning an FA Cup and a European Cup Winners Cup.

Pelé described him as the best defender the world has ever seen.

It is a pity that he did not receive the knighthood he deserved. And it’s a shame the FA has never found a role for him in the game after retiring.

Further investigation by James Magee