A list of 10 of the greatest English football players of all time.
Bobby Moore was known as a real gentleman of the game appreciated by fellow players and opponents alike. He led England to the World Cup final in 1966. In 1970, he also led England until they were beaten by West Germany in the QF.
Clubs: Leicester City, Barcelona, Tottenham
Awards: Golden boot during 1986 World Cup, where Linekar scored six goals. In 1990, Linekar was a key figure as England got to the semi-finals before losing on penalties.
Awards: World Cup (1966) League Cup
Clubs: Manchester United Awards: World Cup (1966), Football League, European Cup. Midfield player with renowned attacking skills and ferocious shot. Only cautioned twice in his career.
Awards: FA Cup (1953). European player of the year (1956) Oldest player to represent England at 42 years. Stanley Matthews had a unique ability to dribble past players and had an amazing right foot.
Clubs: West Brom, Manchester United
Trophies: 3* FA Cups, 2* Premierships, European cup winners cup.
Won league title in 4 different countries (Manchester United, Real Madrid, L.A. Galaxy, Paris St Germain. Beckham was captain of England for six years and was one of England’s most capped players, appearing in 1998,2002 and 2006 World Cups.
Clubs: Everton and Manchester United 5* Premier division titles + UEFA Champions League. Rooney is England’s all-time record goalscorer with 53 goals in 120 caps. He was four times voted England player of the year.
Awards (3* 1st division titles, 2 UEFA cups and 1 European cup.) He was captained by England 63 times.
Top 10 England Goalscorers
- Wayne Rooney (2003-18)– 53 (120) 0.44 average goals per game.
- Bobby Charlton (1958–1970) – 49 – (106) 0.46
- Gary Lineker (1984–1992) – 48 – (80) 0.6
- Jimmy Greaves (1959–1967) 44 – (57) 0.77
- Michael Owen (1998-2008)– 40 (89) 0.44
- Harry Kane (2015 – ) – 32 (45) 0.71
- Tom Finney (1946–1958) 30 (76) 0.39
- Nat Lofthouse (1950–1958) 30 (33) 0.91
- Alan Shearer (1992–2000) 30 (63) 0.48
- Frank Lampard (1999-2014) 29 (106)0.28
- Vivian Woodward (1903–1911) 29 (23) 1.2609
- Steve Bloomer (1895–1907) 28 (23) 1.22
- David Platt 27 (62)
- Bryan Robson 26 (90)
- Geoff Hurst 24 (49)
Goals in bold. (Appearance in brackets)
Top 10 Capped Players
# | Name | Career | Caps | Goals |
1 | Peter Shilton | 1970–1990 | 125 | 0 |
2 | Wayne Rooney | 2003–2018 | 120 | 53 |
3 | David Beckham | 1996–2009 | 115 | 17 |
4 | Steven Gerrard | 2000–2014 | 114 | 21 |
5 | Bobby Moore | 1962–1973 | 108 | 2 |
6 | Ashley Cole | 2001–2014 | 107 | 0 |
7 | Bobby Charlton | 1958–1970 | 106 | 49 |
Frank Lampard | 1999–2014 | 106 | 29 | |
9 | Billy Wright | 1946–1959 | 105 | 3 |
10 | Bryan Robson | 1980–1991 | 90 | 26 |
11 | Michael Owen | 1998–2008 | 89 | 40 |
12 | Kenny Sansom | 1979–1988 | 86 | 1 |
13 | Gary Neville | 1995–2007 | 85 | 0 |
14 | Ray Wilkins | 1976–1986 | 84 | 3 |
15 | Rio Ferdinand | 1997–2011 | 81 | 3 |
16 | Gary Lineker | 1984–1992 | 80 | 48 |
17 | John Barnes | 1983–1995 | 79 | 11 |
18 | Stuart Pearce | 1987–1999 | 78 | 5 |
John Terry | 2003–2012 | 78 | 6 | |
20 | Terry Butcher | 1980–1990 | 77 | 3 |
Top 10 England captains
# | Player | England career | Caps as captain | Total caps | First captaincy |
1 | Billy Wright | 1946–1959 | 90 | 105 | 09-Oct-48 |
1 | Bobby Moore | 1962–1973 | 90 | 108 | 29-May-63 |
3 | Bryan Robson | 1980–1991 | 65 | 90 | 17-Nov-82 |
4 | David Beckham | 1996–2009 | 59 | 115 | 15-Nov-00 |
5 | Steven Gerrard | 2000–2014 | 38 | 114 | 31-Mar-04 |
6 | Alan Shearer | 1992–2000 | 34 | 63 | 01-Sep-96 |
6 | John Terry | 2003–2012 | 34 | 78 | 16-Aug-06 |
8 | Kevin Keegan | 1972–1982 | 31 | 63 | 24-Mar-76 |
9 | Harry Kane | 2015–present | 25 | 45 | 10-Jun-17 |
10 | Wayne Rooney | 2003–2018 | 23 | 120 | 14-Nov-09 |
10 | Emlyn Hughes | 1969–1980 | 23 | 62 | 11-Mar-74 |
12 | Bob Crompton | 1902–1914 | 22 | 41 | 02-Mar-03 |
12 | Johnny Haynes | 1954–1962 | 22 | 56 | 15-May-60 |
14 | Eddie Hapgood | 1933–1939 | 20 | 30 | 14-Nov-34 |
15 | David Platt | 1989–1996 | 19 | 62 | 17-Feb-93 |
16 | Gary Lineker | 1984–1992 | 18 | 80 | 12-Sep-90 |
17 | Norman Bailey | 1878–1887 | 15 | 19 | 12 Mar 1881 |
17 | Jimmy Armfield | 1959–1966 | 15 | 43 | 28-Sep-61 |
17 | Peter Shilton | 1970–1990 | 15 | 125 | 25-May-82 |
17 | Tony Adams | 1987–2000 | 15 | 66 | 12-Oct-94 |
Best goalkeepers – most clean sheets
# | Name | Career | Clean sheets | Caps | Average |
1 | Peter Shilton | 1970–1990 | 66 | 125 | 0.53 |
2 | Joe Hart | 2008– | 43 | 75 | 0.57 |
3 | David Seaman | 1988–2002 | 40 | 75 | 0.53 |
4 | Gordon Banks | 1963–1972 | 35 | 73 | 0.48 |
5 | Ray Clemence | 1972–1983 | 27 | 61 | 0.44 |
6 | Chris Woods | 1985–1993 | 26 | 43 | 0.6 |
7 | Paul Robinson | 2003–2007 | 24 | 41 | 0.59 |
8 | David James | 1997–2010 | 21 | 53 | 0.4 |
9 | Nigel Martyn | 1992–2002 | 13 | 23 | 0.57 |
10 | Jordan Pickford | 2017 – | 10 | 24 | 0.42 |
11 | Harry Hibbs | 1929–1936 | 10 | 25 | 0.4 |
Other Great Players
- Paul Gascoigne
- Tom Finney
- Glen Hoddle
- Geoff Hurst
- Nat Lofthouse
- Alan Shearer
- Peter Shilton
- Dixie Dean
- Ian Wright
Last updated March 2020.
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