Top 10 English Football Players

A list of 10 of the greatest English football players of all time.

1. Bobby Moore (1941-1993) 108 Caps for England (2 goals) Clubs: West Ham, Fulham Awards: World Cup (1966)

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.

2. Gary Lineker – (1960 – ) 80 caps (48 goals)
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.

3. Gordon Banks (1937 – ) 73 Caps (0 goals) One of the best goalkeepers of all time. Clubs: Leicester City, Stoke
Awards: World Cup (1966) League Cup

4. Bobby Charlton (1937) 106 caps (49 goals)
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.

5. Stanley Matthews (1915-2000) 54 caps (11 goals) + wartime team and GB. Clubs: Stoke City, Blackpool
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.

6. Bryan Robson (1957 – ) 90 caps (26 goals)
Clubs: West Brom, Manchester United
Trophies: 3* FA Cups, 2* Premierships, European cup winners cup.

7. David Beckham – 115 Caps (17 goals)
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.

8. Wayne Rooney 103 Caps for England (47 goals)
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.

9. Jimmy Greaves (1940 -) 57 Caps for England (44 goals) Clubs include: Chelsea, Milan and Tottenham. Greaves was the highest goalscorer in English top-flight football with 357 goals. He scored 44 goals in just 57 international appearances for England.

10. Kevin Keegan (1951)61 Caps for England (21 goals) Clubs include: Liverpool F.C. and Hamburg, Southampton and Newcastle.
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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Greatest Football Players of all time