- published: 16 Mar 2008
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- author: martinsisgod
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- 1998 FA Cup Final
- 1998 FIFA World Cup
- 1998 World Cup
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- Abedi Pele
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- Angel of the North
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Angel of the North
The Angel of the North is a contemporary sculpture, designed by Antony Gormley, which is located in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England.
It is a steel sculpture of an angel, 20 metres (66 ft) tall, with wings measuring 54 metres (177 ft) across. The wings do not stand straight sideways, but are angled 3.5 degrees forward; Gormley did this to create "a sense of embrace".
It stands on a hill on the southern edge of Low Fell, overlooking the A1 and A167 roads into Tyneside, and the East Coast Main Line rail route, south of the site of Team Colliery.
Work began on the project in 1994 and cost £1 million. Most of the project funding was provided by the National Lottery. The Angel was finished on 16 February 1998.
Due to its exposed location, the sculpture was built to withstand winds of over 100 mph (160 km/h). Thus, 600 tonnes of concrete were used to create foundations which anchor the sculpture to rock 70 feet (21 m) below. The sculpture was built at Hartlepool Steel Fabrications Ltd using Corten weather resistant steel. It was made in three parts—with the body weighing 100 tonnes and two wings weighing 50 tonnes each—then brought to its site by road. It took five hours for the body to be transported from its construction site in Hartlepool, up the A19 road to the site.
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Banbury
Coordinates: 52°03′40″N 1°20′10″W / 52.061°N 1.336°W / 52.061; -1.336
Banbury (
/ˈbænbəri/) is a market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire. It is 64 miles (103 km) northwest of London, 38 miles (61 km) southeast of Birmingham, 27 miles (43 km) south of Coventry and 21 miles (34 km) north northwest of the county town of Oxford. The urban area, including surrounding parishes, had a population of 43,867 at the 2001 census, though this figure has increased in recent years to approximately 45,000.
The Member of Parliament for Banbury is Tony Baldry.
Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area, which is predominantly rural. Banbury's main industries are car components, electrical goods, plastics, food processing, and printing. Banbury is home to the world's largest coffee-processing facility (Kraft Foods), built in 1964. The town is famed for Banbury cakes – similar to Eccles cakes but oval in shape. Since July 2000 Banbury has hosted a unique gathering of traditional mock animals, from around the UK, at the annual Banbury Hobby Horse Festival.
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Brazil
Brazil
i/brəˈzɪl/ (Portuguese: Brasil, IPA: [bɾaˈziw]), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil, listen (help·info)), is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people. It is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas and the largest lusophone country in the world.
Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 km (4,655 mi). It is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and the French overseas region of French Guiana; on the northwest by Colombia; on the west by Bolivia and Peru; on the southwest by Argentina and Paraguay and on the south by Uruguay. Numerous archipelagos form part of Brazilian territory, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz. It borders all other South American countries except Ecuador and Chile.
Brazil was a colony of Portugal from the landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500 until 1815, when it was elevated to the rank of kingdom and the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was formed. The colonial bond was in fact broken in 1808, when the capital of the Portuguese colonial empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, after Napoleon invaded Portugal.Independence was achieved in 1822 with the formation of the Empire of Brazil, a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system. The country became a presidential republic in 1889, when a military coup d'état proclaimed the Republic, although the bicameral legislature, now called Congress, dates back to the ratification of the first constitution in 1824. Its current Constitution, formulated in 1988, defines Brazil as a Federal Republic. The Federation is formed by the union of the Federal District, the 26 States, and the 5,564 Municipalities.
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Budapest
Budapest ( /ˈbuːdəpɛst/, /ˈbuːdəpɛʃt/ or /ˈbʊdəpɛst/; Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈbudɒpɛʃt] (
listen); names in other languages) is the capital and the largest city of Hungary, the largest in East-Central Europe and the seventh largest in the European Union. It is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre, sometimes described as the primate city of Hungary. According to 2011 Census, Budapest had 1.74 million inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2.1 million due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter Area is home to 3.3 million people. The city covers an area of 525 square kilometres (202.7 sq mi) within the city limits. Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the river Danube with a unification on 17 November 1873 of west-bank Buda and Óbuda with east-bank Pest.
The history of Budapest began with Aquincum, originally a Celtic settlement that became the Roman capital of Lower Pannonia.Hungarians arrived in the territory in the 9th century. Their first settlement was pillaged by the Mongols in 1241-42. The re-established town became one of the centres of Renaissance humanist culture in the 15th century. Following the Battle of Mohács and nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule, development of the region entered a new age of prosperity in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Budapest became a global city after the 1873 unification. It also became the second capital of Austria-Hungary, a great power that dissolved in 1918. After the Treaty of Trianon in 1920, when Hungary lost 72% of its former territory, culturally and economically the country became wholly Budapest-dominated. The capital dominates the country both by the size of its population—which dwarfs those of Hungary's other cities Budapest was the focal point of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the Hungarian Soviet Republic of 1919, Operation Panzerfaust in 1944, the Battle of Budapest of 1945, and the Revolution of 1956.
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Chorzów
Chorzów [ˈxɔʐuf] ( listen) (German: Königshütte [ˈkøːnɪçshʏtə]) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central districts of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - a metropolis with a population of 2 million. It is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Rawa River (a tributary of the Vistula).
Administratively, Chorzów is in the Silesian Voivodeship since 1999, previously Katowice Voivodeship, and before then, the Silesian Voivodeship. Chorzów is one of the cities of the 2.7 million conurbation - the Katowice urban area and within a greater Silesian metropolitan area with the population of about 5,294,000 people The population within the city limits is 113,162 (June 2009).
Chorzów is in the middle of the largest urban center in Poland. The recently (2007) formed Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union is the largest legally recognized urban entity in Poland with a population of 2 million.
Nine million people live within 100 km of Silesian Stadium in Chorzów. Six European capitals are located within 600 kilometres: Berlin, Vienna, Prague, Bratislava, Budapest and Warsaw.
wn.com/Chorzów -
England
Englandi/ˈɪŋɡlənd/ is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, while the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separate it from continental Europe. Most of England comprises the central and southern part of the island of Great Britain in the North Atlantic. The country also includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.
The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Palaeolithic period, but it takes its name from the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in AD 927, and since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century, has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world. The English language, the Anglican Church, and English law—the basis for the common law legal systems of many other countries around the world—developed in England, and the country's parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation. England's Royal Society laid the foundations of modern experimental science.
wn.com/England -
Gateshead
Coordinates: 54°57′N 1°36′W / 54.95°N 1.60°W / 54.95; -1.60
Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England, and is the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Historically a part of County Durham, it lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne and together they form the urban core of Tyneside. Gateshead town centre and Newcastle City Centre are joined by seven different bridges across the Tyne, including the landmark Gateshead Millennium Bridge. The town is becoming increasingly well known for several examples of iconic architecture such as the Sage Gateshead, the Angel of the North, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art.
There has been a settlement on the Gateshead side of the River Tyne, around the old river crossing where the Swing Bridge now stands, since Roman times.
Theories of the derivation of the name 'Gateshead' include 'head of the (Roman) road' or 'goat’s headland', as the River Tyne at this point was once roamed by goats.
The first recorded mention of Gateshead is in the writings of the Venerable Bede who referred to an Abbot of Gateshead called Utta in 623. In 1068 William the Conqueror defeated the forces of Edgar the Ætheling and Malcolm king of Scotland (Shakespeare's Malcolm) on Gateshead Fell (now Low Fell and Sheriff Hill).
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Gosforth
Coordinates: 55°00′25″N 1°37′23″W / 55.007°N 1.623°W / 55.007; -1.623
Gosforth is an affluent area of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, situated to the north of the city centre. Gosforth constituted an urban district from 1895 to 1974, when it became part of the City of Newcastle upon Tyne. It has a population of 23,620. There are two electoral wards that bear the Gosforth name, East Gosforth and West Gosforth, and modern day Gosforth includes other wards such as Parklands.
The origin of the area's name is thought to have come from the title Gese Ford meaning “the ford over the Ouse”, referring to a crossing over the local River Ouse or Ouseburn, however others think that it comes from the Old English Gosaford meaning a ford where the geese dwell, and it is first recorded as Goseford in 1166. Richard Welford notes that the names of North and South Gosforth come from the north and south of the River Ouse. Gosforth is first mentioned in 1166, and thus some think the settlement developed at this time and South Gosforth dates back past 1319, when it has been noted that the English Army retreated there from a siege on Berwick. According to the 19th-century publication, A Topographical Dictionary of England, the township of Gosforth was held of the crown by the Surtees family from 1100 to 1509, when it passed by marriage to Robert Brandling.
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Italy
Italyi/ˈɪtəli/ (Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic or the Republic of Italy (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a unitary parliamentary republic in south-central Europe. To the north, it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia–the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea–and many other smaller islands. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers some 301,338 km2 (116,347 sq mi) and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60.6 million inhabitants, it is the fifth most populous country in Europe, and the 23rd most populous in the world.
Rome, the capital of Italy, was for centuries a political and religious centre of Western civilisation as the capital of the Roman Empire and site of the Holy See. After the decline of the Roman Empire, Italy endured numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Byzantines and later, the Normans, among others. Centuries later, Italy became the birthplace of Maritime republics and the Renaissance, an immensely fruitful intellectual movement that would prove to be integral in shaping the subsequent course of European thought.
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Luxembourg City
The city of Luxembourg (Luxembourgish: Lëtzebuerg, German: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City (Luxembourgish: Stad Lëtzebuerg, French: Ville de Luxembourg, German: Stadt Luxemburg), is a commune with city status, and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is located at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse Rivers in southern Luxembourg. The city contains the historic Luxembourg Castle, established by the Franks in the Early Middle Ages, around which a settlement developed.
Luxembourg City lies at the heart of Western Europe, situated 213 km (132 mi) by road from Brussels, 372 km (231 mi) from Paris, 209 km (130 mi) from Cologne, and 65 km (40 mi) from Metz in northeast France.
As of 2011, the commune of Luxembourg City had a population of 94,034, which was almost three times the population of the country's second most populous commune. The city's metropolitan population, including that of surrounding communes of Hesperange, Sandweiler, Strassen, and Walferdange, is 103,973.
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Marseille
Coordinates: 43°17′47″N 5°22′12″E / 43.2964°N 5.37°E / 43.2964; 5.37
Marseille ( /mɑrˈseɪ/; also Marseilles in English; French: [maʁsɛj], locally: [mɑχˈsɛjə]; Occitan: Marselha [maʀˈsejɔ, maʀˈsijɔ]), known in antiquity as Massilia or Massalia (from Greek: Μασσαλία), is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of 240.62 km2 (93 sq mi). The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of 1,204 km2 (465 sq mi). 1,530,000 or 1,601,095 people live in the Marseille metropolitan area, ranking it third among French metropolitan areas after Paris and Lyon. Located on the southeast coast of France, Marseille is France's largest city on the Mediterranean coast and largest commercial port. Marseille is the capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, as well as the capital of the Bouches-du-Rhône department. Its inhabitants are called Marseillais.
Marseille is the second largest city in France after Paris and the centre of the third largest metropolitan area in France after Paris and Lyon. To the east, starting in the small fishing village of Callelongue on the outskirts of Marseille and stretching as far as Cassis, are the Calanques, a rugged coastal area interspersed with small fjords. Further east still are the Sainte-Baume, a 1,147 m (3,763 ft) mountain ridge rising from a forest of deciduous trees, the town of Toulon and the French Riviera. To the north of Marseille, beyond the low Garlaban and Etoile mountain ranges, is the 1,011 m (3,317 ft) Mont Sainte Victoire. To the west of Marseille is the former artists' colony of l'Estaque; further west are the Côte Bleue, the Gulf of Lion and the Camargue region in the Rhône delta. The airport lies to the north west of the city at Marignane on the Étang de Berre.
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Montpellier
Coordinates: 43°36′43″N 3°52′38″E / 43.6119°N 3.8772°E / 43.6119; 3.8772
Montpellier (French pronunciation: [mɔ̃.pe.lje]; Occitan: Montpelhièr; Catalan: Montpeller) is a city in southern France. It is the capital of the Languedoc-Roussillon region, as well as the Hérault department. Montpellier is the 8th largest city of the country, and is also the fastest growing city in France over the past 25 years.
Montpellier is one of the few large cities in France without any (Gallo-)Roman heritage and also one of the few cities in southern France without a Greek foundation.
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Newcastle City Hall
Newcastle City Hall is a concert hall, located in Newcastle upon Tyne which has hosted many popular music and classical artists throughout the years, as well as standup and comedy acts. Opened in 1927, the City Hall was built as a part of a development which also included the adjacent City Pool. It has since become a venue for orchestras, rock and pop bands, and comedy acts, as well as for celebrity recitals, talks and civic functions.
In 1928, to create the city's first dedicated concert venue, a Harrison and Harrison organ was built. A concert instrument, as opposed to a cathedral specification, it has been used for choral and orchestral concerts as well as organ recitals. It has 4,274 pipes, with a number of unique stops and has been described as "A Rolls-Royce" of organs.
The organ is currently in a poor state of repair, although as a result of its neglect, the instrument is probably the last and largest example of a Harrison tubular-pneumatic action (most other large organs were converted to electro-pneumatic action after World War II). The organ is also unusual in that it is unaltered, as most comparable organs have been modified, added-to or revoiced.
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Newcastle upon Tyne
Coordinates: 54°58.440′N 1°36.792′W / 54.974°N 1.6132°W / 54.974; -1.6132
Newcastle upon Tyne (locallyi/njuːˈkæsəl/; often shortened to Newcastle) is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne. The city developed in the area that was the location of the Roman settlement called Pons Aelius, though it owes its name to the castle built in 1080, by Robert II, Duke of Normandy, the eldest son of William the Conqueror. The city grew as an important centre for the wool trade and it later became a major coal mining area. The port developed in the 16th century and, along with the shipyards lower down the river, was amongst the world's largest shipbuilding and ship-repairing centres. These industries have since experienced severe decline and closure, and the city today is largely a business and cultural centre, with a particular reputation for nightlife.
Like most cities, Newcastle has a diverse cross section, from areas of poverty to areas of affluence. Among its main icons are Newcastle Brown Ale, a leading brand of beer, Newcastle United F.C., a Premier League team, and the Tyne Bridge. It has hosted the world's most popular half marathon, the Great North Run, since it began in 1981.
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Northumberland
Northumberland ( /nɔrˈθʌmbərlənd/; abbreviated Northumb. or Northd, the latter being preferred by the Royal Mail) is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. It borders Cumbria to the west, County Durham to the south and Tyne and Wear to the south east and the Scottish Borders council area to the north. Its North Sea coastline is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with a 64 mile (103 km) long distance path. Since 1981, the county council has been located in Morpeth, situated in the east of the county.
The historical boundaries of the county of Northumberland included Newcastle upon Tyne, the traditional county town, as well as Tynemouth and other settlements in North Tyneside, all areas transferred to Tyne and Wear in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. The historical county boundaries are sometimes taken to exclude Islandshire, Bedlingtonshire and Norhamshire (collectively North Durham), exclaves of County Durham which were incorporated into Northumberland in 1844. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region (code UKC21) and is one of three local authority areas that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region.
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Sofia
Sofia (Bulgarian: София, pronounced [ˈsɔfijɐ] ( listen)) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 15th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.2 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.
Prehistoric settlements were excavated in the centre of the present city, near the royal palace, as well as in outer districts Slatina and Obelya. The well-preserved town walls (especially their substructures) date back before the 7th century BC, when Thracians established their city around a mineral spring, which exists to the present day. Sofia has had several names in the different periods of its existence. Its ancient name, Serdika or Serdica, derives from the local Celtic tribe of the serdi who inhabited the region since the 1st century BC. Serdica was a Roman capital during the tetrarchic system of government. During the Middle Ages, it was one of the major commercial centres of the Bulgarian Empire, along with Tarnovo. Sofia's population remained small until 1879, when it was declared a capital of the Principality of Bulgaria after the Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule.
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Stade Josy Barthel
Stade Josy Barthel is the national stadium of Luxembourg, home to the Luxembourg national football team and also used for rugby union and athletics. It is located on route d'Arlon, in Luxembourg City.
It was first constructed in 1928 and it was entirely rebuilt in 1990. Since July 1993, it has borne the name of Josy Barthel, the 1500m gold medallist at the 1952 Olympics: Luxembourg's only Olympic gold medal winner. The stadium is also home to the biggest athletics club in the country, CAL Spora Luxembourg. The spectator capacity is 8,000, some under cover, some in the open air.
Coordinates: 49°36′56.27″N 6°6′34.78″E / 49.6156306°N 6.1096611°E / 49.6156306; 6.1096611
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Stadionul Republican
Stadionul Republican was a multi-purpose stadium in Chişinău, Moldova. It was used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 8,084 people, was built in 1952 and demolished in 2007.
Coordinates: 47°00′45″N 28°50′22″E / 47.012391°N 28.839455°E / 47.012391; 28.839455
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Toulon
Coordinates: 43°08′N 5°55′E / 43.13°N 5.92°E / 43.13; 5.92
Toulon (French pronunciation: [tu.lɔ̃]; Provençal Occitan: Tolon in classical norm or Touloun in Mistralian norm), italian language: Tolone, is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence.
Toulon is an important centre for naval construction, fishing, wine making, and the manufacture of aeronautical equipment, armaments, maps, paper, tobacco, printing, shoes, and electronic equipment.
The military port of Toulon is the major naval centre on France's Mediterranean coast, home of the French Navy aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle and her battle group. The French Mediterranean Fleet is based in Toulon.
Archaeological excavations, such as those at the Cosquer Cave near Marseilles, show that the coast of Provence was inhabited since at least the Paleolithic era. Greek colonists came from Asia Minor in about the 7th century BC and established trading depots along the coast, including one, called Olbia, at Saint-Pierre de l'Almanarre south of Hyères, to the east of Toulon. The Ligurians settled in the area beginning in the 4th century BC.
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Wales
Walesi/ˈweɪlz/ (Welsh: Cymru;Welsh pronunciation: [ˈkəm.rɨ] ( listen)) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain,bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km2 (8,023 sq mi). Wales has over 1,200 km (750 mi) of coastline, including its offshore islands; the largest, Anglesey (Ynys Môn), is also the largest island in the Irish Sea. Wales is largely mountainous, with its highest peaks in the north and central areas, especially in Snowdonia (Eryri), which contains Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), its highest summit.
During the Iron Age and early medieval period, Wales was inhabited by the Celtic Britons. A distinct Welsh national identity emerged in the centuries after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, and Wales is regarded as one of the modern Celtic nations today. Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was recognised as King of Wales in 1057. Llywelyn ap Gruffydd's death in 1282 marked the completion of Edward I of England's conquest of Wales. The castles and town walls erected to ensure its permanence are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Owain Glyndŵr briefly restored independence to what was to become modern Wales, in the early 15th century. Wales was subsequently annexed by England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 since when, excluding those matters now devolved to Wales, English law has been the legal system of Wales and England. Distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the early 20th century by Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism and the Labour Party. Welsh national feeling grew over the century; Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and The Welsh Language Society in 1962. The National Assembly for Wales, created in 1999 following a referendum, holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters.
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Wallsend Boys Club
Wallsend Boys Club is an English youth football club based in Wallsend, North Tyneside. The club is well known for producing professional footballers, with more than 65 players from the club having gone on to play professionally.
The club was founded in 1904 by the employees and directors of Swan Hunters Shipyard in order to provide recreational activities for the apprentices and young people in the area and initially specialised in boxing. The original club premises were a series of wooden huts on Station Road, erected by workers from the shipyard. A fire destroyed the original premises and work commenced on the current club building in 1964, which was opened on 16 December 1966.
Club activities in the early days were mainly snooker, trampolining, judo, table tennis, cross country running and football. Various fund raising activities were held, including a "pram push" across England and a 24-hour relay race from Wallsend to Edinburgh Castle and back.
In 1975, the club opened seven days a week and formed a separate sub-committee for 11-a-side football. Over the years, the 11-a-side representative teams have won hundreds of trophies in local and national competitions. The club has gained a formidable reputation for the early development of many professional footballers.
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West Denton
Coordinates: 54°59′31″N 1°42′22″W / 54.992°N 1.706°W / 54.992; -1.706
West Denton, Newcastle upon Tyne is an area in the west part of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It includes West Denton shopping centre and West Denton fire station (built 1981).
Some of the schools in the area include:
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Abedi Pele
Abedi Ayew ( /æˈbeɪdɪ/ /æˈjjuː/ a-BAYDI a-YEW), known professionally as Abedi Pele (born 5 November 1964) is a former Ghana International football player and captain. Having been given the nickname "Pelé" in recognition of his superior ability that evoked comparisons to Brazilian great Pelé, he found fame in France's Ligue 1 with Lille OSC and Olympique Marseille.
Three of his sons, Ibrahim, André and Jordan also became Internationals for Ghana, in which Ibrahim and André were selected for the FIFA World Cup 2010.
Abedi Ayew was born into a family in a small village called Kyebi near Dome at the northern outskirts of Accra.
Abedi Pele was one of the pioneers of African football in Europe. One of the first great African players to make an impact on European club football, he played for teams in Switzerland, Germany, Italy and most famously France where he was very instrumental in Marseille's prominence in the European Champions League during the early 1990s. Amongst his international accolades, he was often included in FIFA "All-star" selections and captained the African all-stars in their victory over their European counterparts in the Meridian Cup of 1997.
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Adrian Chiles
Adrian Chiles (born 21 March 1967) is a British television and radio presenter, currently working for ITV Sport presenting football coverage.
His journalistic training and love of football resulted in the development of a career in two streams of broadcasting when he was at the BBC: fronting general and notably business programmes such as The One Show, Working Lunch and The Money Programme; and sports programmes like Match of the Day 2. His radio programme Chiles on Saturday for Radio 5 Live was awarded the sports category Gold Medal at the Sony Radio Academy Awards in 2002.
Chiles was born in Quinton, Birmingham, to an English father and Croatian mother, and moved a few miles away to Hagley, Worcestershire at age four. A feature of his presentations is his Birmingham accent. He also speaks Croatian, despite having a self-confessed imperfect understanding of the language's verbs, declensions, and cases. Chiles started his education at Haybridge High School, and then worked in his father's scaffolding business, before graduating with a degree in English literature from the University of London (studying at Westfield College, now part of Queen Mary, University of London).
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Alain Giresse
Alain Giresse (born 2 August 1952 in Langoiran, Gironde) is a retired French international footballer who played as a midfielder. He was French footballer of the year in 1982, 1983 and 1987. Nominally an attacking midfielder or central midfielder, Giresse was an intelligent playmaker who possessed fine agility and acceleration due to his short frame.
He played for the France national football team in the 1982 FIFA World Cup (fourth place) and the 1986 FIFA World Cup (third place). He was a member of the Euro 84 winning team, and alongside Michel Platini, Luis Fernández and Jean Tigana formed the legendary "Carré Magique" (Magic Square) in midfield.
He has been in charge of Toulouse and the Georgian national team, among others. Giresse worked as the Head Coach of the Gabon national football team, and was named a few months after the 2010 African Cup of Nations the Mali national football team manager.
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Alan Mullery
Alan Patrick Mullery MBE (born 23 November 1941, Notting Hill, London) is a former English football player and manager. After enjoying a successful career with Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur in the 1960s and 1970s, he became a manager working with several different clubs. He is now employed as a television pundit. He is also famous for being the first ever England player to be sent off in an international match.
Mullery was a tough but quick central midfield player who came through the ranks at Fulham as a youngster, making his debut in 1958. Within a year he was made captain after an injury to Johnny Haynes, though the special day turned into a nightmare when he scored an own goal.
After one game short of 200 for the Cottagers, Mullery joined Tottenham in March 1964 for £72,500 and settled quickly into the team. He was awarded his first England cap in Amsterdam as England drew 1-1 with Holland in December of that year.
Mullery was an experimental choice by manager Alf Ramsey and didn't feature in subsequent England squads, nor was he selected for the final 22 who competed at the 1966 World Cup. But at Tottenham, his reputation as a strong midfield general and natural leader was beginning to emerge.
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Alan Pardew
Alan Scott Pardew (born 18 July 1961 in Wimbledon, London) is an English football manager and former player who has managed Newcastle United since 2010.
His highest achievements in the sport include reaching the FA Cup Final twice, as a player with Crystal Palace in 1990 and as a manager with West Ham United in 2006, though he ended up on the losing side both times. He has also achieved promotion three times in his career, as a player with Crystal Palace and as a manager with Reading and West Ham. He managed Southampton to victory in the Football League Trophy in 2010. As Newcastle's manager, he won both the Premier League Manager of the Season and the LMA Manager of the Year awards after guiding the Magpies to European football for the first time since the club's return to the Premier League.
Pardew started his career as a part-time player in non-League football at Whyteleafe and Epsom & Ewell, whilst working as a glazier and a cab driver. He grew up as a Fulham fan and at one stage he gave up football for six months whilst working in the Middle East, but he returned to football at Corinthian Casuals before later having spells at Dulwich Hamlet and Yeovil Town. Pardew was also in the England Semi-Professional squad during this time.
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Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer OBE, DL (born 13 August 1970) is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team. He is considered by some as one of England's best strikers, being both Newcastle's and the Premier League's record goalscorer. After retiring as a player in 2006, Shearer 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.
A native of Newcastle upon Tyne, Shearer made his professional debut with English top-flight club Southampton in 1988, scoring a hat-trick in the process. During several years on the south coast, he became known for his classic style of play, strength and goalscoring ability; he soon received an international call-up along with a transfer to Blackburn Rovers in 1992. Shearer established himself as a player in northern England; he became a regular in the England squad, and his 34-goal tally helped Blackburn secure the Premier League title in 1994–95. He was named Football Writers' Association Player of the Year in 1994 and won the PFA Player of the Year award in 1995. The 1995–96 season saw Shearer make his first Champions League appearances and finish as the top scorer in the Premier League with 31 goals. He was also top scorer at Euro 1996 with England, scoring five goals, and in the 1996–97 Premier League, with 25 goals. He scored 283 league goals in his career, including a record 260 in the Premier League, and a total of 422 in all competitions including international at all levels. Shearer has amassed a goals to game ratio of 0.667 throughout his career at every level.
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Alan Wright
Alan Geoffrey Wright (born 28 September 1971 in Ashton-under-Lyne) is an English professional footballer. He was a coach in the Centre of Excellence at his first club, Blackpool, a role he assumed in June 2011, until he became player/manager at Northwich Victoria in February 2012.
He has played over 750 league and cup games for eight clubs, including an eight year spell for Aston Villa. He has also played for Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool, Middlesbrough and Sheffield United plus he has had loan spells at Derby County, Leeds United, Cardiff City, Doncaster Rovers and Nottingham Forest
His position is left back, and he is famous for being the shortest player in Premier League history standing at only 5 feet 4 inches tall - once straining his knee trying to reach the accelerator of his new Ferrari.
Wright began his career as a trainee at Blackpool, for whom he made 98 league appearances between April 1989 and October 1991. The new Blackburn Rovers manager Kenny Dalglish noticed Wright, and brought him to Ewood Park as his first signing for £500,000, making him Blackpool's most expensive sale as well as the most expensive sale by any Fourth Division club.
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Alessandro Del Piero
Alessandro Del Piero (Italian pronunciation: [alesˈsandro del ˈpjɛːro]) Ufficiale OMRI (born 9 November 1974 in Conegliano, Veneto) is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who plays for Juventus. He will be a free agent from 30 June 2012. Del Piero was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as a part of FIFA's centenary celebrations. Del Piero was also voted in the list of best European players for the past 50 years in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll. In the year 2000, Del Piero was the world's best-paid football player from salary, bonuses, and advertising revenue.
Along with three awards in Italy for gentlemanly conduct he has also won the Golden Foot award, which pertains to personality and playing ability.http://www.channel4. May com/sport/football_italia/sep3q.html Del Piero usually plays as a supporting-striker and occasionally between the midfield and the strikers, known in Italy as the "trequartista" position. Del Piero's playing style is regarded by critics as creative in attacking, assisting many goals as well as scoring himself, as opposed to just "goal poaching." His free-kick and penalty taking is also highly regarded. Del Piero has become famous over the years for scoring from a special "Del Piero Zone"("Gol alla Del Piero"), approaching from the left flank and curling a precise lob into the far top corner of the goal.
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Alessandro Nesta
Alessandro Nesta, Ufficiale OMRI (born 19 March 1976 in Rome), is an Italian World Cup-winning professional footballer who currently plays for AC Milan. Considered by many as one of the best centre backs to have ever played the game, he is a four-time member of the annual UEFA Team of the Year.
Nesta was raised in the Cinecittà area of Rome. He attended the Margherita Bosco primary school where he first started playing football. His older brother, Fernando, was advised to play a sport because of a back problem and enrolled at the local football club. Alessandro threw a tantrum until his father gave in and enrolled him as well, thus marking the beginning of his career.
Nesta's talent was first discovered by Francesco Rocca, then a scout for Roma, but Nesta's father, a Lazio fan, turned down the offer. In 1985, he joined Lazio's youth academy, where he rose through the ranks playing in various positions, including striker and midfielder, before settling in defence. His international career first showed signs of growth when he played for Italy's under-15 and under-16 sides. He was promoted to Lazio's senior squad in 1993, and first came to the attention of fans for being involved in a training ground accident that broke teammate Paul Gascoigne's leg.
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Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish football manager and former player who has managed Manchester United since 1986. His tenure has seen the club go through an era of success and dominance both in England and in Europe, giving Ferguson a reputation as one of the most admired and respected managers in the history of the game.
Ferguson previously managed East Stirlingshire and St. Mirren, before a highly successful period as manager of Aberdeen. After a brief stint as manager of the Scotland national team following the death of Jock Stein, he was appointed manager of Manchester United in November 1986.
With 25 years as manager of Manchester United, he is the longest serving manager in their history after overtaking Sir Matt Busby's record on 19 December 2010. His tenure is also the longest of all the current League managers. During this time, Ferguson has won many awards and holds many records including winning Manager of the Year most times in British football history. In 2008, he became the third British manager to win the European Cup on more than one occasion.
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Alfredo Di Stéfano
Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé(born 4 July 1926 in Barracas, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), born into a family of Italian immigrants from Capri, is a former Argentinian footballer and coach, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. He is most associated with Real Madrid and was instrumental in their domination of the European Champions' Cup during the 1950s, a period in which the club won the trophy in five consecutive seasons from 1956. Along with Francisco Gento, he was one of only two players to play a part in all five victories. Di Stéfano played international football mostly for Spain, but he also played for Argentina and Colombia.
Di Stéfano, nicknamed "Saeta rubia" ("blond arrow"), was a powerful forward with great stamina, tactical versatility, and vision, who could also play almost anywhere on the pitch. He is currently the 4th highest scorer in the history of Spain's top division, and Real Madrid's 2nd highest league goalscorer of all time, with 216 goals in 282 league matches between 1953 and 1964.
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Allan Simonsen
Allan Rodenkam Simonsen (born 15 December 1952) is a former Danish footballer and manager. He most prominently played for German team Borussia Mönchengladbach, winning the 1975 and 1979 UEFA Cups, as well as for Barcelona from Spain, winning the 1982 Cup Winners' Cup. Allan Simonsen is the only footballer to have scored in the European Cup, UEFA Cup, and Cup Winners' Cup finals, and he was named 1977 European Footballer of the Year.
For the Denmark national football team, Simonsen was capped 55 times, scoring 20 goals. He represented Denmark at the 1972 Summer Olympics, 1984 European Championship and 1986 World Cup tournaments. He was voted into the Danish Football Hall of Fame in November 2008.
Born in Vejle, Simonsen started playing football with Vejle FC, before he joined the youth team of local top-flight club Vejle BK (VB) in 1963. He made his senior debut for VB on 24 March 1971 in a 3–1 home win against Karlskoga FF. He won the 1971 and 1972 Danish championship with the club, as well as the 1972 Danish Cup to complete The Double. Following an impressive three goals in six matches at the 1972 Summer Olympics, Simonsen moved to Germany to play professionally for defending German Bundesliga champions Borussia Mönchengladbach.
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Andrew Cole
Andrew Alexander Cole (born 15 October 1971 in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire), more commonly known by the name Andy Cole (by which he was universally known in the 1990s), but in 2000, he allegedly asked to be known as Andrew Cole. is an English former professional footballer and coach at Football League One side Huddersfield Town.
As a player he was a striker from 1988 to 2008 and is mostly notably remembered for his time in the Premier League with Manchester United, where he spent six years of his career and winning numerous trophies in the process. He also played in the top division of English football for Arsenal, Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers, Fulham, Manchester City, Portsmouth and Sunderland, as well as in the Football League for Bristol City, Birmingham City, Burnley and Nottingham Forest.
A former England international, Cole is the second-highest goalscorer in Premier League history; in his career, Cole has scored a total of 187 Premier League goals, placing him behind Alan Shearer who has 260 goals. Cole has the distinction of being one of the few players in England to have swept all possible honours in the English game, including the PFA Young Player of the Year award, as well as the coveted UEFA Champions League title. Cole was also capped fifteen times for England between 1995 and 2001, scoring once, against Albania in a World Cup Qualifier.
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Andriy Shevchenko
Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko (Ukrainian: Андрі́й Микола́йович Шевче́нко; born 29 September 1976) is a Ukrainian footballer who currently plays as a striker for Dynamo Kyiv and the Ukraine national team. He is the third-highest scorer in the history of European club competition with 67 goals as of 10 March 2011, behind Ruud van Nistelrooy and Raúl. With 175 goals scored with Milan, Shevchenko is the second most prolific player in the history of the club, and is also the all-time top scorer of the Derby della Madonnina (derby between Milan and their local rivals Internazionale) with 14 goals, as well as for the Ukrainian national team with 46 goals.
Shevchenko's career has been highlighted by many awards, the most prestigious of which was the Ballon d'Or in 2004 (becoming the third Ukrainian, after Oleg Blokhin and Igor Belanov, to receive it). He won the UEFA Champions League in 2003 with Milan, and he has also won various league and cup titles in Ukraine, Italy, and England.
In his illustrious international career, the striker led Ukraine as captain to the quarter-finals in their first ever FIFA World Cup appearance in 2006. He is capable of playing centre-forward or attacking from the left wing and is effective with set-pieces and penalties.
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Andy Carroll
Andrew Thomas Carroll (born 6 January 1989) is an English footballer who plays for Liverpool and the England national team as a striker.
Carroll started his professional career with Newcastle United in 2006, before spending a brief period on loan with Preston North End, during which time he scored his first league goal. He established himself as a regular in the Newcastle first team by 2008, and following Newcastle's relegation from the Premier League to the Championship in 2009, scored 17 goals in 39 appearances to help Newcastle finish first in the league, earning immediate promotion back to the Premier League in the process. He continued to play for Newcastle in the Premier League, scoring 11 goals in 19 appearances.
Carroll signed for Liverpool on the last day of the transfer window on 31 January 2011 for a fee of £35 million, which to date represents both Liverpool's most expensive ever signing, and the highest amount ever paid by one club to another for a British footballer. Carroll was bought to replace Fernando Torres, who moved from Liverpool to Chelsea on the same day for a fee of £50 million, making Carroll the second-most expensive player currently playing for a British club, behind Torres. An injury sustained in December delayed his Liverpool debut until March 2011, and he scored his first two goals for his new club in April 2011 in a 3–0 victory over Manchester City.
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Andy Sinton
Andrew "Andy" Sinton (born 19 March 1966 in Cramlington, Northumberland) is an English former professional footballer and current manager of A.F.C. Telford United. During his playing career he notably played for Queens Park Rangers, Sheffield Wednesday and Tottenham Hotspur having also earned 12 caps playing as an international footballer for England.
Sinton was a schoolboy footballer, playing for the England Under 15 team. He signed for Cambridge United on leaving school, and made his debut aged 16 years 228 days in November 1982. He is the youngest player to play a league game for Cambridge, and is the only product of the club's youth team to become a full England international. Andy was the outstanding player in a poor Cambridge side, which suffered successive relegations in 1983-84 and 1984-85.
He was signed by Brentford F.C. in 1985 for just £25,000. He was signed for QPR by Trevor Francis in 1989 for £350,000 and went on to play 160 league games scoring 22 goals including the first goal in the notable 4-1 QPR victory at Old Trafford in 1992. Sinton played for QPR in the first year of the Premiership (1992) before moving to Sheffield Wednesday for a then club record £2.75million in August 1993.
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Andy Townsend
Andrew "Andy" David Townsend (born 23 July 1963) is a former professional footballer, who played in two World Cups for the Republic of Ireland and is now a television and radio pundit.
Starting his career at Welling United and then Weymouth, Townsend came to prominence at age 21 when he signed with Southampton. In 1988 he moved on to Norwich City, before joining Chelsea two years later. In 1993 he signed with Aston Villa and enjoyed four successful years before his transfer to Middlesbrough. His final club was West Bromwich Albion, where he retired in 2000.
Following his retirement as a player he became a football pundit, most notably with ITV Sport.
Townsend was born in Maidstone, Kent, but grew up in Bexley, where he attended Upton Primary School in Bexleyheath, followed by Bexleyheath School.
He began his playing career in August 1980 with Welling United in the Athenian League, while working as a computer operator for Greenwich Borough Council in south-east London. After making 105 appearances for Welling, he was signed by Weymouth in March 1984 for £13,500.
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Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole (born 20 December 1980) is an English footballer who plays for Chelsea and the England national team. He plays as a left back.
Cole began his career with Arsenal in 1999, going on to make 228 appearances and scoring nine goals. With Arsenal he won two Premier League titles, three FA Cups, was part of the "Invincibles" team of 2003-04 and was also a UEFA Champions League runner-up. In August 2006, after a protracted transfer saga, he completed a move to rival club Chelsea. Cole won further honours with Chelsea, including another Premier League title, four more FA Cups, a League Cup and a UEFA Champions League. He has won the FA Cup seven times, more than any other player in history.
Cole has been an England international since 2001 and played at the 2002, 2006 and 2010 World Cups, as well as Euro 2004. He was voted England Player of the Year in 2010. As of 2012 has won 93 caps, making him England's most capped full back and most capped black player.
Cole married singer Cheryl Cole (née Tweedy) in July 2006. They separated in February 2010; she divorced him in September 2010 after claims he had cheated on her with over five women.
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Bert Trautmann
Bernhard Carl "Bert" Trautmann, OBE (born 22 October 1923) is a German former professional footballer who played for Manchester City from 1949 to 1964. Brought up during times of inter-war strife in Germany, Trautmann joined the Luftwaffe early in the Second World War, serving as a paratrooper. He fought on the Eastern Front for three years, earning five medals including an Iron Cross. Later in the war he was transferred to the Western Front, where he was captured by the British as the war drew to a close. One of only 90 of his original 1,000-man regiment to survive the war, he was transferred to a prisoner-of-war camp in Ashton-in-Makerfield, Lancashire. Trautmann refused an offer of repatriation, and following his release in 1948 he settled in Lancashire, combining farm work with playing as goalkeeper for local football team St Helens Town.
Performances for St Helens gained Trautmann a reputation as an able goalkeeper, resulting in interest from Football League clubs. In October 1949 he signed for Manchester City, a club playing in the highest level of football in the country, the First Division. The club's decision to sign a former Axis paratrooper sparked protests, with 20,000 people attending a demonstration. Over time he gained acceptance through his performances in the City goal, playing all but five of the club's next 250 matches.
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Bill McGarry
William Harry "Bill" McGarry (10 June 1927 – 15 March 2005) was an English international football player and manager.
A right-half as a player, he joined Port Vale following the end of World War II, and spent the next six years with the club. He then moved on to Huddersfield Town in 1951, where he would spend the next ten years of his career. He hung up his boots in 1963, after spending two years as Bournemouth's player-manager. In all he played 587 league games in an eighteen year career in the Football League.
He also found success as a manager, moving from Bournemouth to Watford in 1963, he was appointed as Ipswich Town manager the following year. There he led the club to the Second Division championship in 1967–68, before moving on to the vacant position at Wolverhampton Wanderers later in 1968. He spent eight years with Wolves, leading them to the UEFA Cup Final in 1972 and to League Cup glory in 1974. He became an international manager with Saudi Arabia in 1976, only to return to the domestic game with Newcastle United the following year. He failed to find success at Newcastle, and left the club in 1980, find work in Zambia with Power Dynamos FC. He spent two months as Wolves manager in 1985, before leaving his management career behind him.
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Billy Bremner
William John "Billy" Bremner (9 December 1942 – 7 December 1997) was a Scottish professional footballer, most noted for his captaincy of the Leeds United team of the 1960s and 1970s. He has since been voted Leeds United's greatest player of all time and has a statue outside the South East corner of Elland Road. He has also been included in the Football League 100 Legends and is a member of the English Football Hall of Fame. Bremner was voted Footballer Of the Year in 1970, and was also voted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame as one of its first inductees in 2004,. He is on the Scotland national football team roll of honour due to having won more than 50 caps for Scotland.
Bremner, a diminutive but hard midfield player, was scouted by Leeds while playing schoolboy football in Scotland and signed for the Elland Road club in 1959, the day after his 17th birthday. He was brought up in the Raploch area of Stirling where he attended the Catholic junior school, St. Mary's. He had previously been rejected by Arsenal and Chelsea for being too small, as he was only 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) tall.
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Bobby Charlton
Sir Robert "Bobby" Charlton CBE (born 11 October 1937 in Ashington, Northumberland) is an English former professional football player, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. A member of the England team who won the World Cup and Ballon d'Or for European Footballer of the Year in 1966. He played almost all of his club football at Manchester United, where he became renowned for his attacking instincts and passing abilities from midfield and his ferocious long-range shot. He was also well known for his fitness and stamina, allowing him to dominate the pitch. His elder brother Jack, who was also in the World Cup-winning team, is an ex-defender for Leeds United and manager.
He began to play for Manchester United's 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 in 1965, he won a World Cup medal with England in 1966 and another Football League title with United the following year. In 1968, he captained the Manchester United team that won the European Cup, scoring two goals in the final to help his team be the first English side to win the competition. He has scored more goals for England and United than any other player. Charlton held the record for most appearances for Manchester United (758), but this was surpassed by Ryan Giggs on 21 May 2008 (the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final). Charlton also held the club record for most league appearances (606) until this too was overtaken by Ryan Giggs on 6 March 2011.
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Bobby Moore
Robert Frederick Chelsea "Bobby" Moore, OBE (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English footballer. He captained West Ham United for more than ten years and was captain of the England team that won the 1966 World Cup. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, and was cited by Pelé as the greatest defender that he had ever played against.
He won a total of 108 caps for the England team, which at the time of his international retirement in 1973 was a national record. This record was later broken by 125-cap goalkeeper Peter Shilton. Moore's total of 108 caps continued as a record for outfield players until 28 March 2009, when David Beckham gained his 109th cap. However, unlike Beckham, Moore played every minute of every one of his caps.
Moore attended Westbury Primary School and Tom Hood School, Leyton.
He played for both schools.
Moore joined West Ham United as a player in 1956 and, after advancing through their youth set-up, he played his first game on 8 September 1958 against Manchester United. In putting on the number six shirt, he replaced his mentor Malcolm Allison, who was suffering from tuberculosis.
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Bobby Robson
Sir Robert William "Bobby" Robson, CBE (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English footballer and manager, who managed seven European clubs and the England national team during his career.
His professional playing career as an inside-forward spanned nearly 20 years, during which he played for three clubs: Fulham, West Bromwich Albion, and, briefly, Vancouver Royals. He also made 20 appearances for England, scoring four goals.
After his playing career he found success as both a club and international manager, winning league championships in both the Netherlands and Portugal, earning trophies in England and Spain, and taking England to the semi-final of the 1990 World Cup. His last management role was as a mentor to the manager of the Irish national football team.
Robson was created a Knight Bachelor in 2002, was inducted as a member of the English Football Hall of Fame in 2003, and was the honorary president of Ipswich Town. From 1991 onwards he suffered recurrent medical problems with cancer, and in March 2008, put his name and efforts into the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, a cancer research charity. In August 2008, his lung cancer was confirmed to be terminal; he said: "My condition is described as static and has not altered since my last bout of chemotherapy...I am going to die sooner rather than later. But then everyone has to go sometime and I have enjoyed every minute". He died just under a year later.
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Brad Friedel
Bradley Howard "Brad" Friedel (born May 18, 1971) is an American soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.
He played 82 games for the United States national team between 1992 and 2005, and represented his country at three FIFA World Cup tournaments. He is the current holder of the Premier League record for most consecutive appearances with 304 (as of 10 March 2012), a feat he achieved during spells at Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa, and Tottenham Hotspur.
He is also officially Aston Villa's oldest ever player, a record he achieved on 1 February 2011 by playing in the club's Premier League fixture away at Manchester United. Friedel's age of 39 years and 259 days surpassed the previous record held by Ernie Callaghan who last played for Villa against Grimsby Town in April 1947, aged 39 years and 257 days. Friedel's last appearance for Villa was on 22 May 2011 in a 1–0 home win against Liverpool, aged 40 years and 4 days.
Born Bradman Friedel in Lakewood, Ohio, Friedel grew up in Bay Village, where he attended Westerly Elementary School, Bay Middle School and Bay High School. Growing up, Friedel played several sports, including soccer, basketball and tennis and excelled in all three. He earned Bay High's Outstanding Athlete of the Year award in 1989. As an All-State basketball player in Ohio, he was invited to try out as a walk-on for UCLA's basketball team in 1990. He began as a forward on his youth soccer team before moving into goal. Friedel graduated from Bay High in 1989. In 2007, he was inducted into the Bay High Hall of Fame.
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Brian Laudrup
Brian Laudrup (born 22 February 1969) is a Danish former football player and current football commentator, pundit and analyst on TV3+. Along with former international goalkeeper Lars Høgh, Laudrup manages a football academy for marginalized youth. He is widely regarded alongside his brother, Michael, as one of the greatest Danish football players in history.
During his playing career, Laudrup represented a number of European clubs. He started with Danish club Brøndby, winning two Danish championships in the late 1980s. He then played for German and Italian clubs, winning the 1994 Serie A as well as the 1994 UEFA Champions League title with AC Milan. He was a vital part of the Rangers team which dominated the Scottish Premier League in the 1990s, winning three championships among others. He won the 1998 UEFA Super Cup with English club Chelsea, had a brief stint with FC Copenhagen in Denmark, before ending his career with Dutch club Ajax in 2000. He played 82 games and scored 21 goals for the Danish national team, and was a vital part of the Danish teams who won the Euro 1992 and 1995 Intercontinental Cup tournaments.
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Cafu
Marcos Evangelista de Moraes (born 7 June 1970), better known as Cafu, is a former Brazilian footballer. He is the most internationally capped male Brazilian player and also made history playing for São Paulo, Roma and Milan. He is the only player ever to have appeared in three World Cup finals, having won two, 1994 and 2002.
Cafu was named by Pelé as one of the 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. He is best known for his tireless overlapping runs.
One of six children, Cafu was raised in the Jardim Irene favela of São Paulo. He was an average student as he soon discovered his love for football and preferred playing over studying. At the age of seven, he was able to attend a football academy and soon moved up to the junior sides of Nacional-SP, Portuguesa and Itaquaquecetuba. He also played futsal for two years.
In the early 1980s, he could not get his foot in the door as he was rejected from the youth squads of Corinthians, Palmeiras, Santos, Atlético Mineiro, and Portuguesa. It was not until 1988 that he made the youth squad of hometown club São Paulo, and subsequently won the Copa São Paulo youth tournament that year, but he warmed the bench the next season as São Paulo won the 1989 Campeonato Paulista.
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Carlos Tévez
Carlos Alberto Tévez (born Carlos Alberto Martínez on 5 February 1984) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for English club Manchester City. He has previously played for Boca Juniors, Corinthians, West Ham United and Manchester United. He transferred to Manchester City from United in the 2009 summer transfer window, becoming the first player to move between the two rival clubs since Terry Cooke in 1999. His energy and goal scoring rate has since made him an indispensable player for the club in the eyes of fellow players and media alike.
His was promoted to captain at the beginning of the 2010–11 season by manager Roberto Mancini. In 2011, Tévez sought a transfer away from Manchester, citing family reasons and Sergio Agüero was drafted in as a replacement. However he remains a City player after his family moved back to Manchester with manager Roberto Mancini believing Tévez will stay for the foreseeable future. His career has been dogged by a long-standing relationship with Media Sports Investments, the company which owned the rights of Tévez, and several other players and coaches. This eventually resulted in West Ham United being fined over issues regarding third-party ownership. He has made 59 appearances for the Argentina national team, scoring 13 goals.
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Carlton Palmer
Carlton Lloyd Palmer (born 5 December 1965 in Rowley Regis) is an English former professional footballer, manager and football television pundit.
As a player he was a defender and midfielder from 1984 to 2005, playing in the Premier League for Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds United, Southampton, Nottingham Forest and Coventry City. He also played for West Bromwich Albion, Watford and Dublin City. He was capped 18 times by England, and went into management in 2001 when he was appointed player/manager of Stockport County, later holding the same position at Mansfield Town from 2004 to 2005.
Palmer started his career at West Bromwich Albion, joining as an apprentice in July 1983 before turning professional in December 1984. He made his league debut in September 1985, as a substitute against Newcastle United. He earned a move to Sheffield Wednesday in February 1989 for £750,000, where he made his name in the Premiership. This led to him being bought by Leeds United manager Howard Wilkinson for £2.6 million in June 1994.
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Charlie Mitten
Charles "Charlie" Mitten (17 January 1921 – 2 January 2002) was an English football player and manager, who came through the junior ranks at Manchester United. Over his career, Mitten played for Fulham F.C., Mansfield Town and Altrincham.
He had a notable stint playing for Santa Fe in Colombia, where he and a number of other players left to escape the maximum wage that was imposed for footballers in England at the time. After his playing career finished, he was involved in football management.
Mitten signed with the Manchester United in 1936, and was in the junior side with future colleagues Stan Pearson and Johnny Carey. However, due to the suspension of league football owing to the outbreak of war, his first professional appearance did not come until 1946.
During the war, Mitten served in the Royal Air Force, guesting for whatever club was nearest his station. He had two seasons playing for Chelsea and made 22 guest appearances for Southampton, scoring 5 goals.
After the war, Mitten rejoined Manchester United and proved himself as an excellent winger during the early years of Matt Busby's time at the club. He was part of a talented forward line alongside Jimmy Delaney, Stan Pearson, Jack Rowley and Johnny Morris which became known as the 'Famous Five' of Old Trafford.
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Chris Baird
Christopher Patrick "Chris" Baird (born 25 February 1982 in Rasharkin, County Antrim) is a Northern Irish footballer who plays for Fulham and the Northern Ireland national football team.
Baird started his career at Northern Irish club, Ballymena United, before moving to Southampton in 1998.
Baird made his debut for Southampton on 22 March 2003 as a late substitute for David Prutton in a 2–2 draw at home with Aston Villa. His second appearance came in a 6–1 defeat at Arsenal, when he came on after 26 minutes, with Arsenal already 5–0 up.
Baird's first start came on the final day of the 2002–03 League season, in a 1–0 win at Manchester City. A week later, he started for Southampton in the 2003 FA Cup Final, also against Arsenal. Southampton lost the match 1–0, but Baird was voted as the Saints man of the match.
He subsequently made two successful loan spells away from Southampton – two months at Walsall, where he played regularly in the first-team, and a month at Watford.
In the 2003–04 season, Baird made only four league appearances for Southampton, and none at all in the following season. Following Southampton's relegation from the Premiership, Baird re-established himself in the Southampton squad and was singled out for praise by Southampton manager George Burley.[citation needed] He started 16 league games in the 2005–06 season.
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Chris Hughton
Christopher William Gerard "Chris" Hughton (born 11 December 1958 in Stratford, London) is a professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Birmingham City.
After making his professional début at age 18, Hughton spent most of his playing career with Tottenham Hotspur as a left back, leaving in 1990 after 13 years. After relatively brief spells with West Ham United and Brentford, Hughton retired from playing in 1993 aged 34. He also earned 53 caps for the Republic of Ireland national team, becoming their first mixed-race international. He started all three games of UEFA Euro 1988 in West Germany.
From 1993 to 2007 Hughton served as a coach and then assistant manager for Tottenham. He joined Newcastle as first team coach in 2008, and following their relegation, Hughton as caretaker manager took charge of their first season in the Championship, before being announced as permanent manager in October 2009. He was sacked as manager by Mike Ashley on 6 December 2010.
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Chris Marsden
Christopher "Chris" Marsden (born 3 January 1969) is an English former footballer who played in the Football League and Premier League for Sheffield United, Huddersfield Town, Coventry City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Notts County, Stockport County, Birmingham City, Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday, and in the Korean K-League for Busan I'Park. He led Southampton to the 2003 FA Cup Final, which they lost 1–0 to Arsenal.
Marsden was born in Sheffield and started his career with Sheffield United, going on to play for Huddersfield Town, Coventry City, Wolves, Notts County, Stockport County, Birmingham City, Southampton and Busan I'Park in South Korea.
Chris ended his career playing for Football League One club Sheffield Wednesday, of whom he is a lifelong fan.
He made 424 appearances in the Football League and scored 22 goals as a left footed midfield player and occasional defender. He first made an impression with Huddersfield Town in the early 1990s before successful spells at Stockport County and Birmingham City.
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Chris Sutton
Christopher Roy "Chris" Sutton (born 10 March 1973) is an English football manager and former player.
In his career, Sutton played for Norwich City, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Celtic, Birmingham City and Aston Villa. Sutton scored over 150 career goals in over 400 league appearances spanning 16 years in the English and Scottish Premier Leagues. He was capped once by England.
Sutton played principally in midfield or attack, although usually in the latter role as a striker. A very physical player, Sutton was a fairly prolific goalscorer throughout his career and was joint top goalscorer (with Dion Dublin and Michael Owen) in the FA Premier League 1997–98 season. He is also known as being one of the foremost exponents of the glancing header. He scored many a goal with this technique which made him particularly effective from set-pieces.
In September 2009, Sutton was appointed manager of Lincoln City, but he resigned due to personal reasons twelve months later.
Sutton was born in Nottingham, the son of Mike Sutton, formerly a footballer with Norwich City. His younger brother John also became a footballer, and played for a number of clubs in both England and Scotland. As of February 2007, Sutton was married with five children.
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Chris Waddle
Christopher Roland "Chris" Waddle (born 14 December 1960 in Felling, Tyne and Wear) is a former footballer from England. During his professional career he played for clubs including Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield Wednesday in England, and Olympique de Marseille in France. Waddle earnt 62 caps for the England national football team between 1985 and 1991, and was a member of England's squad for the 1990 FIFA World Cup, where he missed a penalty in England's shoot-out defeat to Germany in the semi-finals.
Waddle currently works as a co-commentator for ESPN's Premier League football coverage, and for BBC 5 Live.
Waddle began his footballing career with Pelaw Juniors, moving on to Whitehouse SC, Mount Pleasant SC, HMH Printing, Pelaw SC, Leam Lane SC and Clarke Chapman before joining Tow Law Town before the start of the 1978-79 season. He worked during the day at Skipton Financial Services.[citation needed]
While working in food processing, Waddle had unsuccessful trials with Sunderland and Coventry City. He joined Newcastle United in July 1980 for £1,000.
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Chris Woods
Christopher 'Chris' Charles Eric Woods (born 14 November 1959 in Swineshead, Lincolnshire) is a former England international football goalkeeper, who played in the Football League and Premier League for Downham Market, Queens Park Rangers, Norwich City, Sheffield Wednesday, Reading, Southampton and Burnley, in the Scottish Football League for Rangers, and in Major League Soccer for the Colorado Rapids. He now works as a goalkeeping coach at Everton and United States.
Woods was Peter Shilton's long-time understudy in the England team in the mid to late 1980s, finally claiming the number one shirt for himself in the early 1990s. In all, he managed to accrue 43 caps in an eight year international career.
Woods showed promise at an early age, and his association with Downham Market began at an early age when he signed for the youth team in 1972.
Woods was a confident, brave, and agile goalkeeper, and his association with Shilton began at an early age when he signed for Nottingham Forest as an apprentice in 1976. Over the next three years he never made an appearance for Forest as they won promotion from the Football League Second Division in 1977 - Shilton had yet to arrive at this time - and then won the Football League First Division title straightaway. Shilton came to the club in September 1977 and did not miss a match.
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Christian Vieri
Christian Vieri (born 12 July 1973 in Bologna) is a retired Italian footballer who played as a centre forward.
Vieri was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as a part of FIFA's centenary celebrations. For a number of years he was regarded as one of the finest strikers in Europe, leading to him becoming the world's most expensive footballer in 1999 when Internazionale paid Lazio £32 million for his services. This record has since been broken only a handful of times.
Somewhat of a footballing nomad, Vieri played for no fewer than 12 clubs throughout his career. Most notable were his spells at Juventus, Atlético Madrid, Lazio and Inter; with the latter he hit the net on more than 100 occasions. Vieri has often been described as an old fashioned centre forward, due to his physical presence and outstanding aerial ability, he is the all time top scorer of headed goals in Italian league history.
As well as picking up several winners medals during his career, Vieri also claimed many individual honours including the Pichichi and Capocannoniere (top scorer) titles in Spain and Italy and Italian Footballer of the Year twice. He is one of Italy's highest ever World Cup scorers with 9 goals from 9 matches at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups respectively.
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Clarence Seedorf
Clarence Clyde Seedorf OON (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈklɛ.rəns ˈseɪ̯.dɔrf], born 1 April 1976 in Paramaribo, Suriname) is a Dutch professional footballer who is currently a free agent. Seedorf is the first player to have won the Champions League four times and with three different clubs – Ajax in 1995, Real Madrid in 1998 and Milan in 2003 and 2007.
Seedorf started his career as a right midfielder for Ajax during the early 1990s. He made his professional debut on 29 November 1992 against Groningen at the age of 16 years and 242 days, making him the youngest debutant for Ajax ever. In his early career, he played a role in Ajax's Eredivisie winning years of 1994 and 1995. He was also a key member during Ajax's 1995 UEFA Champions League winning campaign. After making his name in the Ajax side, Seedorf had one season with Sampdoria, scoring three goals.
Seedorf moved to Real Madrid in 1996, where he was "virtually ever present in the Blancos team for the first three seasons". In his first season he helped that team regain the La Liga title; in his second season (1997–1998), he played a major role in the team's Champions League success, as Real Madrid secured a 1–0 victory over Juventus in the final. It was the second Champions League title of his career.
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Claudio Pizarro
Claudio Miguel Pizarro Bosio (born 3 October 1978 in Callao, Peru) is a Peruvian football forward. Pizarro plays for the Peru national team, for which he has 60 caps. He is known for his scoring ability and headers.
On 23 October 2010, Pizarro surpassed the 133 goals record previously reached by Giovane Elber, making him the top foreign scorer in German football history, when he scored with his team, Werder Bremen against Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Pizarro was born and raised in the Santiago de Surco district of capital city Lima. He was born to Patricia Bosio and Claudio Pizarro Dávila, a naval officer. He has a sister, Patricia, and brother, Diego. Younger brother, Diego, was a youth player for Bayern Munich, and he is currently playing for Cienciano.
Pizarro is married to his teenage sweetheart, Karla Salcedo, and they have two sons, Claudio and Gianluca, and one daughter, Antonella. Pizarro co-owns a race horse called 'Crying Lightning' with Queens Park Rangers player Joey Barton. In January 2011 the horse competed at the Nad Al Sheba Racecourse in Dubai.
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Claus Lundekvam
Claus Lundekvam (born 22 February 1973) is a former Norwegian footballer, who spent most of his career at English side Southampton. He played for Southampton in the 2003 FA Cup Final against Arsenal (which was lost 1-0).
Hailing from Austevoll, Norway, he joined Brann as a junior player with his senior debut coming in 1993. Lundekvam eventually gained a regular place as a central defender before being sold to English side Southampton in the autumn of 1996. He played over 350 Premier League matches for Southampton, which is more Premiership appearances than any other Norwegian. He was the team's first choice for captain for several years.
Lundekvam made his debut for Norway in November 1995, but did not become a regular until 2002. He was capped 40 times, scoring twice. His first international goal, against Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2002, was the 1,000th goal in the history of the Norwegian national team.
Claus scored only two goals during his Saints career. His first came against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 3 April 2004 in a 4–1 win, and his second against Cardiff in 2006 – both teams managed at the time by former Saints manager Dave Jones.
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Clive Allen
Clive Darren Allen (born 20 May 1961) is a retired English footballer, a prolific scorer for a number of clubs.
Allen is the son of ex-Tottenham Hotspur forward Les Allen, who was a member of the legendary team which won the First Division title and FA Cup "double" in 1961 (the Cup success occurred exactly two weeks before Allen Jnr's birth). He is the brother of former footballer Bradley Allen and cousin of football manager Martin Allen and ex West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Paul Allen. He holds the unique distinction of playing for more London based football clubs than any other footballer in history.
A fearfully accurate centre forward, Allen joined Queens Park Rangers as a youth player, making his debut in 1978 at the age of 17. Allen scored a hat trick on his full debut against Coventry City in a 5-1 win, but QPR were relegated at the end of that season and Allen became a first-choice striker in their quest to return to the top flight, scoring a phenomenal 28 goals in 1979-80, though QPR failed to win promotion. This prompted Arsenal to make a bid of £1,250,000 for him in the summer of 1980, which QPR accepted. At the time, it was the highest fee to be paid for a teenager by any British club.
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Colin Calderwood
Colin Calderwood (born 20 January 1965 in Stranraer) is a Scottish football player and coach. In November 2011 he was appointed as Chris Hughton's assistant manager at Birmingham City.
Calderwood made over 150 league appearances for Swindon Town and Tottenham Hotspur. He was a regular player for the Scotland national football team during the late 1990s, appearing in two major tournaments. Calderwood retired as a player in 2001.
Calderwood became manager of Northampton Town in 2003, guiding the club to promotion in 2006. He then became manager of Nottingham Forest, helping the club win promotion in 2008. Calderwood was sacked by Forest in December 2008 and then moved to Newcastle United, working as first team coach. After a year with Newcastle, Calderwood became a manager again by moving to Hibernian, but he was sacked after just over a year in that job.
Despite being born in Stranraer, Calderwood never played in the Scottish leagues. He started his career in the lower reaches of The Football League, with Mansfield Town. He played 100 league games for the club, three as substitute. His debut for Mansfield was spoiled by the club making an error in his registration which caused them to be deducted two league points.
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Colin Hendry
Edward Colin Hendry (born 7 December 1965) is a retired Scottish footballer and manager, who played as a defender. Hendry started his career with Dundee in 1983 and spent spells at Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, Rangers, Coventry City, Bolton Wanderers and Blackpool. He was part of the Blackburn squad that won the Premiership in 1995 and the Rangers squad that won the domestic treble in 1999. His most recent stint in football was as manager of Scottish First Division side Clyde, from June 2007 until January 2008, when he chose to resign for family reasons.
Hendry first played for local clubs Keith and Islavale, mainly as a striker. He began his professional career in 1983 with Dundee, and in 1987 was picked up by Blackburn Rovers, where he was converted into a defender. One of his first appearances came in the Full Members Cup final, where he scored the only goal in the 1-0 Wembley win over Charlton Athletic.
He played over 100 games for Blackburn before joining Manchester City in 1989, where he was named Player of the Year in the 1989–90 season. His days at City were numbered, however, after he fell out of manager Peter Reid's plans when Reid took over in November 1990 on the departure of Howard Kendall to Everton.
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Colin Todd
Colin Todd (born 12 December 1948) is an English football manager and former player. As a player, he made more than 600 appearances in the Football League, playing for Sunderland, Derby County, Everton, Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest, Oxford United and Luton Town, and also played in the North American Soccer League for the Vancouver Whitecaps. He won two Football League titles with Derby County during the 1970s, and won the PFA Players' Player of the Year award in 1975. He was capped by England on 27 occasions.
He has managed English league clubs Middlesbrough, Bolton Wanderers, Swindon Town, Derby County, Bradford City, Darlington and Danish Superliga side Randers FC. He took Bolton Wanderers to the Division One title with 98 points and 100 goals, although he was unable to establish them in the Premier League.
The young Todd had opportunities to sign for Newcastle United and Middlesbrough, but chose Sunderland "because of their tradition for youth". He played a major part in the Sunderland youth team's 1967 victory in the FA Youth Cup, led by coach Brian Clough. By then Todd was already a first-team regular. He made his debut as substitute for Charlie Hurley in a 1–1 draw away against Chelsea in the First Division on 10 September 1966, and by mid-season had established himself in the starting eleven. He missed only three league games in the next three seasons, at the end of which Sunderland were relegated from the top flight. After 191 appearances and three goals in all competitions for Sunderland, Todd rejoined Clough at Derby County in February 1971.
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Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro,OIH, (born 5 February 1985), commonly known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a winger or striker for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and is the captain of the Portuguese national team. Ronaldo became the most expensive footballer in history after moving from Manchester United to Real Madrid in a transfer worth £80 million (€93.9 million/$131.6 million). In addition, his contract with Real Madrid, in which he is paid €12 million per year, makes him one of the highest-paid footballers in the world, and his buyout clause is valued at €1 billion as per his contract.
Ronaldo began his career as a youth player for Andorinha, where he played for two years, before moving to C.D. Nacional. In 1997, he made a move to Portuguese giants Sporting Clube de Portugal. Ronaldo's precocious talent caught the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who signed him for £12.24 million (€15 million) in 2003. The following season, Ronaldo won his first club honour, the FA Cup. He also played at Euro 2004 with Portugal and scored his first international goal in the opening game of the tournament against Greece, in addition to helping Portugal reach the final. He was featured in the UEFA Euro All-Star Team of this competition.
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Damien Duff
Damien Anthony Duff (born 2 March 1979) is an Irish footballer who plays for Premier League team Fulham and the Republic of Ireland national football team. With Ireland he has participated in the 2002 FIFA World Cup and helped his team qualify for UEFA Euro 2012. With Fulham he has played in the 2010 UEFA Europa League Final.
Duff has previously played for Blackburn Rovers, with whom he won the Football League Cup; Chelsea, where he won two Premier League titles and another League Cup; and Newcastle United where he won the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup.
Born in Ballyboden, County Dublin, Ireland, Duff joined Blackburn Rovers as a trainee in 1996 after playing for Leicester Celtic, Lourdes Celtic and St. Kevin's Boys as a schoolboy in Dublin. He made his Blackburn debut at the age of 18 against Leicester City on the final day of the 1996–97 season for which he won the Man of the match award. In his first full season (1997–98) he scored four goals. Blackburn were relegated the following season.
Duff helped Blackburn achieve promotion back to the Premier League in 2001 and then win the League Cup in 2002, beating Tottenham Hotspur 2–1 at the Millennium Stadium. Following the 2002 World Cup, Duff signed a new four-year contract with Rovers, though press reports had suggested that he was to change clubs. Despite injury problems in the 2002–03 season, he finished as Rovers' top goalscorer with 11 league goals, which helped his team finish 6th and qualify for the UEFA Cup.
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Daniel Passarella
Daniel Alberto Passarella (born 25 May 1953 in Chacabuco, Buenos Aires province) is a former Argentine football centre back and former manager of the Argentine and Uruguayan national football teams. He was captain of the Argentina team that won the 1978 World Cup. He is the current President of River Plate after winning the elections by a very close margin in December 2009.
Passarella started his career at Sarmiento of Junin, Buenos Aires province. From there he joined River Plate, then Fiorentina of Italy and briefly, Internazionale. After his successful spell in the Serie A, he returned to River Plate, where he played until his retirement.
He was called "El Gran Capitán" (the Great Captain, nickname of Argentine Independence heroe José de San Martín) or "El Kaiser" (an allusion to Franz Beckenbauer) because of his leadership ability, his passion, and his organisational prowess on the field. He was a defender who often joined the attack, and helped generate and finish offensive plays. At some point, he became football's top scoring defender, with 134 goals in 451 matches (that record was since broken by Dutch defender Ronald Koeman).
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Danny Blanchflower
Robert Dennis "Danny" Blanchflower (10 February 1926 – 9 December 1993) was a former Northern Ireland international footballer and football manager, and journalist who captained Tottenham Hotspur F.C. during its double-winning season of 1961. He was ranked as the greatest player in Spurs history by The Times in 2009. He is remembered as one of the great tacticians in the history of the game, renowned for his passing, and as an outstanding right-half.
Blanchflower was born on 10 February 1926 in the Bloomfield district of Belfast. His mother had played as a centre-forward on a women's football team. He was educated at Ravenscroft public elementary school and was awarded a scholarship to Belfast College of Technology. His younger brother, Jackie, played for Manchester United, and was one of the survivors of the Munich air disaster.
He left early to become an apprentice electrician at Gallaher's cigarette factory in Belfast. He also joined the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) and in 1943 lied about his age in order to join the RAF. As a trainee navigator he was sent on a course to St Andrews University (where he acquired a lifelong love of golf) and in the spring of 1945 was posted to Canada for further training. By 1946, aged 20, he was back in Belfast, back at Gallaher's, and building a reputation as an outstanding footballer.
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Darko Kovačević
Darko Kovačević (Serbian Cyrillic: Дарко Ковачевић) (born 18 November 1973 in Kovin, Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a former Serbian football player. He is known for his spells at Real Sociedad where his partnership with Nihat Kahveci was one of the best in Spain. His key attributes are his strength and aerial ability. Kovačević also had positive spells with Juventus and Olympiakos.He is now the Chief Scout of Olympiacos.
Beginning his career with his birth-town club FK Radnički Kovin, but was soon spoted by Zrenjanin based Serbian top league club FK Proleter and it became clear, at the young age of 19, that Kovačević would become one of the country's greatest ever goalscorers. Spending two seasons with the club, Darko managed over a goal every other game, and was quickly snatched up by Serbian giants Red Star Belgrade. Kovačević flourished at the Belgrade club, becoming one of Europe's hottest prospects and earning a call-up to the Yugoslavia national team. Netting in an astonishing 37 goals in just 47 games, Kovačević was eventually picked up by Premier League club Sheffield Wednesday in December 1995 for £2m.
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Darren Anderton
Darren Robert Anderton (born 3 March 1972 in Southampton) is a retired English footballer who spent most of his career with Tottenham Hotspur as a midfielder. He played 30 times for the England national football team, scoring 7 goals.
Anderton started his career in the Southampton Tyro League and played for Itchen Saints during a successful period for the side. His potential was evident and he was soon scouted and playing youth football at professional clubs. Renowned as a player of huge potential, Anderton's career has been constantly frustrated by injury earning him the nickname "Sicknote" which was coined by Portsmouth goalkeeper Andy Gosney.
Anderton was signed as an apprentice by Portsmouth manager Alan Ball, coming to prominence at 18 when he scored at Anfield in an FA Youth Cup match against Liverpool which ended 2–2. His first team debut came against Cardiff City in the second round of the Rumbelows Cup in October 1990 as a substitute for youth team colleague Darryl Powell. Anderton made his full league debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a 0–0 draw, making 20 appearances in the 1990–91 season. Under new manager Jim Smith, Anderton became a regular in the attacking side of the 1991–92 season, scoring his first club goal in the season opener against Blackburn Rovers. His performances soon drew the attention of bigger clubs and after an impressive FA Cup run, during which he scored in a semi-final clash with Liverpool, he joined Tottenham Hotspur for £1.75 million in 1992.
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Dave Beasant
David John "Dave" Beasant, (born 20 March 1959 in Willesden, London) is a retired English football goalkeeper who began his career in the late 1970s. A well-travelled player, Beasant's former clubs include Wimbledon, Newcastle United, Chelsea, Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Portsmouth, Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton & Hove Albion and Wigan Athletic. He is best remembered for his part in Wimbledon's 1988 shock FA Cup victory, during which he was the first goalkeeper to save a penalty in an FA Cup final. His nickname was 'Lurch' due to his resemblance to the butler in the TV show The Addams Family. He made two appearances for the England national football team.
He entered the Football League in 1979 at the age of 20 when Wimbledon, newly promoted to the Third Division, signed him from non league Edgware Town. He made his debut for them against Blackpool on 12 January 1980 and played once again that season, in which Wimbledon were relegated. He became a regular player the following campaign when they were promoted and stayed loyal to the club even when they were relegated again in 1982, being a key player in the side that won the Fourth Division title in 1983, won promotion from the Third Division a year later, and completed a four-season rise to the First Division in 1986 when they gained promotion from the Second Division in only their ninth season as a Football League team.
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Dave Sexton
David "Dave" Sexton OBE (born 6 April 1930) is an English former football manager and player.
Son of former professional boxer Archie Sexton, he started his playing career with West Ham United in 1948. Playing mainly at inside-forward, he would finish his career with time at Luton Town, Leyton Orient, Brighton and Hove Albion, and Crystal Palace. His biggest success came at Brighton, where he won the Third Division (South) Title in 1957–58.
Sexton started off as a coach at Chelsea, before leaving to begin his managerial career at Leyton Orient in 1965. In 1966 he was appointed by Arsenal manager Bertie Mee as the Gunners' first-team coach, but a year later returned to Chelsea to become manager following the departure of Tommy Docherty. He led the club to FA Cup success in 1970 and the European Cup Winners' Cup a year later. Chelsea also reached the League Cup final in 1972, but lost to Stoke City. However, Sexton fell out with several players, including Peter Osgood and Alan Hudson, who were subsequently sold. This, combined with other problems at the club, ensured that Sexton did not come close to repeating his earlier success and early in the 1974–75 season - which ended in Chelsea's relegation - he was dismissed.
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David Bardsley
David John Bardsley (born 11 September 1964 in Manchester) is an English former professional footballer.
Bardsley started with Blackpool in 1982 and subsequently moved to Watford in 1983 for £150,000 where he was noted for his pace, and played every game in Watford's run to the 1984 FA Cup Final, where they eventually lost to Everton. He played 121 matches in all competitions for Watford, scoring nine goals. In September 1987 Bardsley transferred to Oxford United to replace David Langan for a then club record of £265,000. He played 89 games for Oxford scoring seven goals. In 1989 Bardsley completed a £500,000 move to QPR.
Bardsley played in the QPR team of the early to mid-1990s that finished fifth in the Premier League in 1992–93, eighth in 1993–94 and eighth in 1995. He was part of the Premier League Team of the Year for 1992–93, the inaugural season of the Premier League.
After QPR's relegation from the FA Premier League in 1996, Bardsley suffered a potentially career-threatening Achilles tendon injury which kept him out for the best part of two seasons. He returned at the tail end of the 1997–98 season in the midst of a relegation battle under Gerry Francis' management. He played 253 games for QPR scoring four goals, helping keep QPR in Division One and the Premier League.
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David Batty
David Batty (born 2 December 1968 in Leeds, West Yorkshire) is an English retired professional footballer, who played as a defensive midfielder.
He is most famous for playing for Leeds United, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United, also being capped for the England national football team, and representing the nation at UEFA Euro 1992 and the 1998 World Cup.
Batty made his debut for Leeds in November 1987 as an 18-year-old during a 4–2 win over Swindon Town, and quickly earned a reputation as a fiercely competitive midfielder in the mould of Leeds legend Billy Bremner. Perceived to be a bit lightweight, to build up Batty's strength Bremner would call him into his office every morning to drink sherry with a raw egg stirred into it. Batty was a key member of the Leeds team that won promotion from the second division in 1989–90, and a member of a midfield which included Gary Speed, Gary McAllister and Gordon Strachan, when Leeds won the first division championship in 1991–92. As a tireless and sometimes ruthless forager of the ball there were few equals, but there was more to his game than simply breaking up opposition attacks; having won the ball, his distribution was excellent, making him the springboard for many counter attacks. If there was one aspect missing from his game it was the lack of goals, as evidenced by the affectionate cries of "shoot" from Leeds fans whenever Batty received the ball anywhere within the opponents half.
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David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE (born 2 May 1975) is an English association footballer who plays for Los Angeles Galaxy. He has played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, Milan, and the England national team for which he holds the appearance record for an outfield player.
Beckham's career began when he signed a professional contract with Manchester United, making his first-team debut in 1992 aged 17. During his time there, United won the Premier League title six times, the FA Cup twice, and the UEFA Champions League in 1999. He left Manchester United to sign for Real Madrid in 2003, where he remained for four seasons, clinching the La Liga championship in his final season with the club. In January 2007, it was announced that Beckham would leave Real Madrid for the Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy, signing a five-year contract with them on 1 July 2007. While a Galaxy player, he spent two loan spells in Italy with Milan in 2009 and 2010. On 20 November 2011, he joined an elite group of players to have won three league titles in three different countries, when Los Angeles won their third MLS Cup.
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David Ginola
David Desire Marc Ginola (English pronunciation: /ˈdʒɪnəlɑː/) (born 25 January 1967) is a French former international football player who has also worked as an actor and model.
Ginola was born in Gassin, Var. He played football for ten seasons in his native France before moving to England in 1995, when he signed for Newcastle United. He stayed in the country until retiring seven years later, having also turned out for Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Everton. Since his retirement from the game in 2002 he has become involved in several new pursuits, including acting.
Ginola played at club level for Toulon (1985–88), Racing Levallois 92 (1988–90), Brest (1990–92), Paris Saint-Germain (1992–95), Newcastle United (1995–97), Tottenham Hotspur (1997–2000), Aston Villa (2000–2002) and Everton (2002).
Ginola made his first senior appearance for Sporting Toulon as an eighteen year-old in a 1985 2–0 victory away at Metz. He played fourteen times in his first season, and by 1986 he was a regular in the Toulon line-up.
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David Peach
David Sidney Peach (born Bedford, 21 January 1951) is a former footballer, who played at left back for Southampton in the FA Cup Final 1976.
Peach played briefly as an associate schoolboy for Chelsea, before moving to Gillingham as an apprentice in May 1966, turning pro in February 1969. He also played minor counties cricket for Huntingdonshire. He was rated the best player in the Fourth Division and came to the attention of Lawrie McMenemy who made him his first signing for Southampton in January 1974, for a reported fee of £50,000.
He made his debut in a match that is memorable to Saints fans for all the wrong reasons as Southampton lost 7-0 away to Ipswich. Peach soon settled into the team initially in midfield before becoming an imaginative, quick thinking attacking left-back and the club’s regular penalty taker. His first penalty was probably the most famous, when he belted home the second goal against Crystal Palace in the F.A. cup semi-final on 3 April 1976, which took the Saints to the final against Manchester United.
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David Seaman
David Andrew Seaman MBE (born 19 September 1963 in Rotherham, South Yorkshire) is an English former football goalkeeper who played for several clubs, most notably Arsenal. He retired from the game on 13 January 2004, following a recurring shoulder injury. He was awarded the MBE in 1997 for services to the sport.
The peak of his career was during his period as Arsenal and England goalkeeper in the 1990s and early 2000s; during his time at Arsenal he won many medals including three league championships (1991, 1998, 2002), four FA Cups (1993, 1998, 2002, 2003), the League Cup in 1993 and the European Cup Winners Cup in 1994. During this time he also played in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, and Euro 96 and Euro 2000, and is England's second-most capped goalkeeper with 75 caps, after Peter Shilton.
Seaman's career highs came in his successful performance in UEFA Euro 96 and in Arsenal's UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, Premier League and FA Cup (including a superb save from Paul Peschisolido for Sheffield United in the FA Cup 2002–03) campaigns in the mid-90s and early-2000s. Notable lows came with two costly errors, both from long-range efforts — conceding a last-minute goal in the 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final to Nayim and conceding to a Ronaldinho free-kick in the 2002 FIFA World Cup quarter-final.
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David Speedie
David Robert Speedie (born 20 February 1960 in Glenrothes, Scotland) is a retired Scottish footballer who played for several clubs in England during the 1980s and 1990s, most notably Chelsea, Coventry City, Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers. He accumulated more than 500 football league appearances and scored almost 150 goals in a 14 year professional career. He also earned ten international caps for Scotland.
Born in Scotland but raised in Yorkshire, Speedie worked as a coalminer, playing for Brodsworth Welfare, before signing professional terms with Barnsley in 1978. Without having scored a single goal for Barnsley in 21 appearances, he moved to Darlington in 1980, where his talent first became apparent. Just two years later, he was spotted by then-Chelsea manager John Neal, who signed him for £80,000 in May 1982.
Speedie is arguably most notable for his five-year stint at Chelsea where he formed a prolific strike partnership with Kerry Dixon. Speedie's strength, scoring prowess, work-rate and unlikely heading ability (he is 5 ft 7 in tall) perfectly complemented both Dixon and winger Pat Nevin as the trio notched up almost 200 goals between them in three years. Before the arrival of Nevin and Dixon, however, Speedie had played an important part in Chelsea's survival in the Second Division a year earlier, with his seven goals (including two on his debut against Oldham Athletic) that season proving crucial. In 1986, he became the first player since Geoff Hurst to score a hat-trick at Wembley, as Chelsea defeated Manchester City 5–4 in the Full Members Cup final.
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David Trezeguet
David Sergio Trezeguet (French pronunciation: [david sɛʀʒjo tʀezeˈɡɛ]) (born 15 October 1977) is a World Cup winning French-Argentinian international footballer who plays for hometown club River Plate.
He previously played for Juventus in the Italian Serie A for ten years and for the French national team. He is the highest scoring non-Italian ever to play for Juventus. He is perhaps most famous for scoring the golden goal in the Euro 2000 final against Italy, which gave France a 2–1 win in extra time.
Trezeguet was born in Rouen, Upper Normandy, France, and grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is the son of former French-Argentine footballer Jorge Trezeguet, who now works as his agent. David and his wife Béatrice have two children together: Aaron and Noraan. His wife is from Alicante, Spain.
At club level, Trezeguet played for Club Atlético Platense and Club Atlético River Plate in the Argentine Primera División, AS Monaco in Ligue 1, Juventus in Serie A and Hércules CF in La Liga.
In 1998, Trezeguet scored the fastest ever goal in terms of velocity in UEFA Champions League history in a quarter-final match against Manchester United. The shot that resulted in a goal was clocked at 97.6 mph (157.3 km/h).[citation needed] With AS Monaco, he won Ligue 1 twice and was named Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year in 1998. He scored a total of 60 goals in 113 appearances for the French club and it was here that he made his name as a potent goalscoring poacher.
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David Villa
David Villa Sánchez (Spanish pronunciation: [daˈβið ˈβiʎa]; born 3 December 1981), nicknamed El Guaje (Asturian: The Kid), is a Spanish footballer who currently plays as a striker for FC Barcelona and the Spanish national football team. He can also operate as a winger.
Despite sustaining a serious injury as a child, he started his professional career with Sporting de Gijón. He moved to Real Zaragoza after two seasons, where he made his La Liga début, winning his first senior honours—the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España. He joined Valencia CF in 2005 for a transfer fee of €12 million and was part of the Valencia team that won the Copa del Rey in the 2007–08 season. In 2010 he moved to FC Barcelona for €40 million where he won his first La Liga and UEFA Champions League titles.
Villa made his international début in 2005. He has since participated in three major tournaments, becoming an integral member of the Spain teams that won Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup. He scored three goals at the 2006 World Cup, was the top scorer at Euro 2008 and earned the Silver Boot at the 2010 World Cup. He is the first Spanish player to ever reach 50 international goals and is Spain's all-time top goalscorer, having has also scored more World Cup goals than any other player in Spain's history in the process. The goals-to-games ratio he has achieved for the national team has not been matched by any player since Alfredo Di Stéfano.
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Davor Šuker
Davor Šuker listen (help·info) IPA: [dâʋɔr ʃǔːkɛr], (born 1 January 1968 in Osijek) is a retired Croatian footballer. He played as a striker for a number of European clubs as well as the Croatian national team, where he is the all-time top goal scorer with 45 goals.
Šuker was born in Osijek. His parents came there from village of Lištani in Livno municipality. Šuker began his footballing career in his hometown, playing for the local first division team Osijek as a 16-year-old. During his final season there, he became the league's top goal scorer. He signed for a bigger club, Dinamo Zagreb in 1989. The war in Croatia halted a promising season for the 21-year-old, eventually resulting in Šuker's move to Sevilla in 1991.
In La Liga Šuker was highly regarded, showing consistent form with Seville and being amongst the top goal scorers for consecutive seasons. He signed with Real Madrid 5 years later, and was again amongst the league's top scorers, which helped Madrid claim the La Liga title, the Supercup trophy and win the Champions League during his tenure there.
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Dean Saunders
Dean Nicholas Saunders (born 21 June 1964) is a former Wales international footballer who played as a striker in a professional career which lasted from 1982 until 2001. He is the manager of Doncaster Rovers.
He is probably best known for playing for Aston Villa. However he also played for Swansea City, Cardiff City (on loan), Brighton, Oxford United, Derby County, Liverpool, Galatasaray, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United, Benfica and Bradford City. He also won 75 caps for Wales.
He is also an occasional pundit for the BBC, sometimes providing analysis on Wales' matches.
He was capped 75 times at senior level for Wales between 1986 and 2001, scoring 22 times - making him one of the nation's highest scoring and most capped players of all time.
Saunders was born in Swansea and began his career with Swansea City, where his father Roy had been a player and coach, signing as an apprentice on leaving school in 1980.
He turned professional in the summer of 1982, after Swansea had finished sixth in their first season as a First Division club. Swansea were relegated in 1982-83, and Saunders made his debut in the 1983-84 season. He scored three goals in 19 games as a second successive relegation pushed Swansea in the Third Division. He scored nine goals in 30 league games in 1984-85, as Swansea narrowly avoided a third successive relegation. A goalless four-game loan spell at local rivals Cardiff City also came in 1984-85, before he signed for Second Division club Brighton & Hove Albion on a free transfer on 7 August 1985.
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Denis Irwin
Denis Joseph Irwin (born 31 October 1965 in Cork, Ireland) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a full back from 1983 to 2004.
He is best known for his long and successful stint at Manchester United, where he established himself as one of the most important players in the United team that won a host of domestic and European trophies in his time there between 1990 and 2002. He has been regarded by Sir Alex Ferguson as pound for pound his greatest ever signing. Earlier in his career he played for Leeds United and then Oldham Athletic, and finished his career with a two year spell at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Irwin was capped by the Republic of Ireland national side 56 times, scoring four goals and featuring in the side that reached the second round (last 16) at the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
Irwin grew up in Cork and was educated at Coláiste Chríost Rí. As a schoolboy he excelled at both Gaelic football and hurling, and played at Croke Park more than once, on one occasion marking future Irish team mate, Niall Quinn.
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Dennis Bergkamp
Dennis Nicolaas Bergkamp (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈdɛnɪs ˈbɛrχkɑmp] ( listen); born 10 May 1969) is a Dutch former professional footballer who is the assistant manager to Frank de Boer at Ajax. Originally a wide midfielder and subsequently a main striker, he was deployed as a second striker, where he remained throughout his playing career. Bergkamp has been described by Jan Mulder as having "the finest technique" of any Dutch international and a "dream for a striker" by teammate Thierry Henry.
The son of an electrician, Bergkamp was born in Amsterdam and played as an amateur in the lower leagues. He was spotted by Ajax at the age of 11 and made his professional debut in 1986. Good form led to an international call-up a year later, attracting the attention of several European clubs. Bergkamp signed for Italian club Internazionale in 1993 where he had two disappointing seasons, before joining Arsenal in 1995. It was at Arsenal where Bergkamp rejuvenated his career, helping the club to win three Premier League titles, four FA Cup trophies and reach the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final, which marked his last appearance as a player. With the Netherlands national team, Bergkamp surpassed Faas Wilkes's record to become the Netherlands' top goalscorer of all time in 1998, later surpassed by Patrick Kluivert.
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Dennis Wise
Dennis Frank Wise (born 16 December 1966 in Kensington, west London) is an English former football manager and player, and former Executive Director (Football) at Newcastle United.
Wise played as a central midfielder and was noted for his aggressive and highly-competitive style of play. In a career spanning over 20 years, he played for Wimbledon, Leicester City, Millwall, Southampton, Coventry City and, most notably, Chelsea. During his time at Stamford Bridge, Wise won two FA Cups, a League Cup and a Cup Winners' Cup, becoming the club's most successful captain, although has since been overtaken by John Terry.
He also played at international level for much of his career, representing England over a period of ten years. Wise won 21 caps and scored once, on his debut against Turkey on 1 May 1991. He was in the national squad for Euro 2000 and played in all three group games, against Portugal (lost 2–3), Germany (won 1–0) and Romania (lost 2–3).
In the latter years of his playing career, Wise gradually became involved in the managerial aspects of the game, starting at Millwall, where he took on the role of player-manager. He was briefly caretaker manager at Southampton, following the departure of Harry Redknapp, before he took over the reins at Swindon Town on a permanent basis. In October 2006, he was appointed manager of the then-Championship side Leeds United, who found themselves in the relegation zone. Although they were ultimately relegated, Wise reshaped his side in the close season and Leeds made an excellent start to their first season in the third tier of English football.
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Derek Llambias
Derek Llambias is an English businessman and long-term associate and friend of both Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley and Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew. He is currently managing director of Newcastle United. His career in the entertainment, bread and leisure industry stretches back more than 31 years, most recently as managing director of the exclusive Fifty Club in London.
Llambias has not made himself popular with the Toon Army faithful in his time at the club, launching a series of scathing attacks on various aspects of the club, including past players and managers as well as fans. His latest attacks fell upon ex-Newcastle striker Andy Carroll; former No.9 hero, manager, fans favourite and club legend Alan Shearer, and former manager Kevin Keegan whom many fans still hold in high regard. This has led to further unrest despite the excellent start made by the club to the 2011-2012 Barclays Premier League.
He enjoys streaking!
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Derek Statham
Derek James Statham (born 24 March 1959 in Wolverhampton) is a former English footballer who played at defensive left-back. He played for West Bromwich Albion, Southampton, Walsall and Stoke City.
Statham won three international caps for England in 1983 under the management of Bobby Robson.
Regarded as a solid, classy defender with excellent passing ability, Statham's professional career spanned 16 years, making almost 500 professional league appearances and scoring 11 goals. He made over 330 league and cup appearances for WBA, playing for several years alongside Bryan Robson and the 'Three Degrees' of Cyrille Regis, Laurie Cunningham and Brendon Batson in an impressive side assembled by Ron Atkinson.
Statham left WBA for Southampton in 1987, playing alongside a young Alan Shearer (in his first professional season) and Matthew Le Tissier, and was an immediate success. He was the club's Player of the Season for 1987-1988. He later played for Walsall, where he played his final professional game in the 1992-93 season.
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Derlei
Vanderlei Fernandes Silva (born 14 July 1975), aka Derlei, is a Brazilian-Portuguese retired footballer who played as a striker.
He spent most of his 16-year professional career in Portugal (one full decade), having represented all three most important clubs in the country, and amassing top division totals of 187 games and 70 goals.
With Porto, Derlei won eight major titles, including two leagues, one Champions League and one UEFA Cup.
Born in São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, Derlei started playing in the lower levels of football in Brazil, but joined Portugal's União de Leiria in 1999, going on to achieve 91 top division games with the club, scoring 42 goals. In his last season, as Leiria overachieved for a final 7th place, led by manager José Mourinho, he netted 21 goals.
Derlei joined F.C. Porto in the summer of 2002, playing an important part in a successful squad that was also managed by Mourinho. He was one of the top scorers in a side that conquered the UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League in consecutive seasons. Derlei scored twice for Porto in the 2003 UEFA Cup final against Celtic FC, being nicknamed "Ninja" while playing for the northern side. The following campaign, as he was leading the domestic goalscoring chart, he suffered a severe knee injury, which rendered him unavailable for the remainder of the season.
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Des Walker
Desmond Sinclair "Des" Walker (born 26 November 1965 in Homerton, London) is a former England international footballer who is best remembered for his spells with Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday.
Walker, a pacy and hard-tackling central defender, was spotted playing locally in London and was signed by Forest in 1980 as an apprentice. Known for being unafraid of pitching youngsters into the first team if they were good enough, Forest manager Brian Clough, trying to build a second great side after his ageing European Cup winning team broke up, gave Walker his debut in March 1984 at the age of 18, just two months before the end of the 1983-84 First Division campaign in which Forest finished third and qualified for the UEFA Cup.
Forest made progress with Walker and his fellow young graduates from the youth academy gaining ground and plaudits. Further top half-finishes in the League were followed by a run to the semi-finals of the FA Cup in 1988 with Walker in outstanding form, to the extent that calls began to come from football observers for England coach Bobby Robson to select Walker to play for his country.
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Dezső Novák
Dezső Novák (born 3 February 1939) is a former Hungarian footballer.
During his club career he played for Ferencvárosi TC. For the Hungary national football team, he participated in the 1964 European Nations' Cup. In three Olympic Games, he also won two gold medals in 1964 and 1968, and a bronze medal in 1960.
Later he served as the head coach of Ferencvaros in 1973.
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Didier Deschamps
Didier Claude Deschamps (French pronunciation: [didje deˈʃɑ̃]; born 15 October 1968 in Bayonne) is a retired French footballer and current manager of Marseille. He played as a defensive midfielder. As an international, he assisted France with victories in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. Deschamps captained France to victory in the 1998 World Cup final against Brazil. After a short passage at rugby in the Biarritz Olympique Deschamps started his football career at an amateur club, Aviron Bayonnais whilst still at school. His potential was spotted by scouts from Nantes, for whom he signed in April 1983. Deschamps made his league debut on 27 September 1985. Transferred to Marseille in 1989, Deschamps spent a season with Bordeaux in 1990 before returning to Marseille. In this second spell with Marseille Deschamps gained his first honours.
Receiving his first international call-up from Michel Platini on 29 April 1989 against Yugoslavia, Deschamps started his international career in what was a dark time for the French team as they failed to qualify for the World Cup in both 1990 and 1994. When new team coach Aimé Jacquet began to rebuild the team for Euro 1996, he initially selected Eric Cantona as captain. After Cantona earned a year-long suspension in January 1995, the make-up of the team changed dramatically, with veterans Cantona, Jean-Pierre Papin, and David Ginola being dropped in favour of younger players such as Zinedine Zidane. Deschamps, as one of the few remaining veterans, was chosen to lead what would later be called the "Golden Generation". He first captained France in 1996 in a friendly match against Germany as a warmup for Euro 96. During that tournament, held in England, he led them all the way to the semi-finals, their best finish in an international tournament since the 1986 World Cup. In 1998, Deschamps captained France as they won 1998 World Cup on home soil in Paris, holding an integral role in the team.
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Didier Drogba
Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (French pronunciation: [didje dʁɔɡba]; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian footballer who plays as a centre forward for Chelsea. He is the captain and all-time top scorer of the Côte d'Ivoire national football team (Ivory Coast). He has scored more goals for Chelsea than any other foreign player and is currently Chelsea's fourth highest goal scorer of all time. His key attributes include his physical strength, ability in the air, and his ability to retain possession of the ball.
After playing in youth teams, Drogba made his professional debut aged 18 for Ligue 2 club Le Mans. A late bloomer, he signed his first professional contract aged 21; it was not until the 2002–03 season that he realized his potential, scoring 17 goals in 34 appearances in Ligue 1 for Guingamp. During the same season he made his first international appearance for Côte d'Ivoire, in September, and scored his first international goal the following February. He moved to Olympique de Marseille in 2003 for £3.3 million. His scoring success at Olympique de Marseille continued, finishing as the third highest scorer in Ligue 1 with 19 goals and helped the club to reach the 2004 UEFA Cup Final.
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Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona Franco (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈdjeɣo maɾaˈðona]; born 30 October 1960) is a retired Argentine football player, and current manager of Al Wasl FC in Dubai. Many experts, football critics, former and current players consider Maradona the greatest football player of all time. He won FIFA Player of the Century award which was to be decided by votes on their official website, their official magazine and a grand jury.
He is the only player in football history who set world-record contract fees twice. The first, when he was transferred to Barcelona for a then world record £5m and the second, when he was transferred to Napoli for another record fee £6.9m. Over the course of his professional club career Maradona played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and Newell's Old Boys. In his international career, playing for Argentina, he earned 91 caps and scored 34 goals.
He played in four FIFA World Cup tournaments, including the 1986 tournament, where he captained Argentina and led them to their victory over West Germany in the final, winning the Golden Ball award as the tournament's best player. In that same tournament's quarterfinal round, he scored both goals in a 2–1 victory over England that entered football history, though for two different reasons. The first goal was via an unpenalized handball known as the "Hand of God", while the second goal followed a 60 m (66 yd) dribble past five England players, voted "The Goal of the Century" by FIFA.com voters in 2002.
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Dieter Hoeneß
Dieter Hoeneß (born 7 January 1953) is a retired German footballer who played as a striker.
In his playing career, he was mainly associated with Bayern Munich. After retiring, he stayed connected with football, working extensively in directorial capacities for several clubs.
Hoeneß represented West Germany at the 1986 World Cup.
Born in Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany, Hoeneß played on amateur level for VfB Ulm, TSG Ulm 1846 and VfR Aalen, before he moved to the professionals in 1975 with VfB Stuttgart, with the club then in the second division. After two seasons and 19 league goals, he promoted to the Bundesliga.
After the 1978–79 season, where he netted 16 goals to help Stuttgart finish in second place, Hoeneß signed with FC Bayern Munich. There, he was highly successful both individually and collectively, winning five leagues and three cups. A powerful striker whose main strength was his heading ability, he scored five times in double digits during his stint with the Bavarians, for a total of 127 goals in 288 league matches, in the German top division alone; he retired in 1987, at 34.
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Dieter Müller
Dieter Müller (born Dieter Kaster on 1 April 1954) is a former German footballer, who is currently the chairman of Kickers Offenbach.
He appeared in twelve senior matches, scoring nine goals for Germany. He played in the 1976 European Football Championship (in the final of which he scored) and the 1978 FIFA World Cup. In his spell with 1. FC Köln he set a record for the most goals scored by a player in a single Bundesliga match. On 17 August 1977, he contributed six goals (scoring in the 12th, 23rd, 32nd, 52nd, 73rd and in the 85th minute) to Köln's 7–2 victory over Werder Bremen in front of a crowd of 19,000 at Köln's Müngersdorfer Stadion. But since the cameramen were on strike on this day, there are no TV-recordings of Müller's goals. He was crowned Bundesliga topscorer that season (24 goals in 33 games), just like the season before (34 goals in 34 appearances).
He is the son of Heinz Kaster, who played as a defender for FC St.Pauli Hamburg and Kickers Offenbach in the early 1950s. The striker had already been a schoolboy international, when his stepfather's adoption turned his surname into Müller.
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Dimitar Berbatov
Dimitar Ivanov Berbatov (Bulgarian: Димитър Иванов Бербатов, [diˈmitɐr bɛrˈbatɔf]); born 30 January 1981) is a Bulgarian footballer who plays as a striker for Manchester United. He captained the Bulgarian national team from 2006 to 2010, and is its all-time leading goalscorer and has also won the Bulgarian Footballer of the Year a record seven times, surpassing the number of wins by Hristo Stoichkov.
Born in Blagoevgrad, Berbatov started out with home-town club Pirin before joining CSKA Sofia as a 17-year-old in 1998. He was signed by Bayer Leverkusen of Germany in January 2001 and played in his first Champions League final 18 months later, coming on as a substitute in the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final, which Leverkusen lost 2–1 to Real Madrid. After five-and-a-half years with Leverkusen, he joined English club Tottenham Hotspur in July 2006, where he spent two years before moving to Manchester United. He played in his second Champions League final in 2009, during his side's 2–0 defeat against FC Barcelona. Berbatov is the first non-Englishman in Premier League history to have scored five goals in a single match, having done so in Manchester United's 7–1 win over Blackburn Rovers in November 2010.
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Dimitris Saravakos
Dimitrios "Dimitris" Saravakos (Greek: Δημήτρης Σαραβάκος) (born 29 July 1961), nicknamed O Μικρός (The Kid) is a Greek former football player, considered to be one of the best Greek football players of all time. He started his career in Panionios and later he moved on to Panathinaikos FC, where Saravakos gained fame and matured as a footballer, evolving into a formidable right winger. After a rejection of a renewal contract offer by Panathinaikos, Saravakos moved to AEK Athens in 1994. He returned and concluded his career in Panathinaikos three years later.
Being a charismatic player he attracted a number of the biggest clubs in Europe. Yet in the early 1990s – prior to the implementation of the ECJ's Bosman ruling – when Juventus had offered him a contract, Panathinaikos' chairman Giorgos Vardinogiannis rejected the transfer – Saravakos thus lost an opportunity to continue his successful career also in Serie A.
Saravakos won several Super League Championships (formerly, championships) and cups in Greece with Panathinaikos and AEK Athens. He also captained the Greek national team in the 1994 FIFA World Cup and brought Panathinaikos to the semi finals of the European Champions League in 1985.
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Dino Zoff
Dino Zoff (born February 28, 1942 in Mariano del Friuli) is an Italian former football goalkeeper and is the oldest winner ever of the World Cup, which he earned as captain of the Italian team in the 1982 tournament in Spain, at the age of 40 years, 4 months and 13 days.
Zoff was a goalkeeper of outstanding ability and has a place in the history of the sport among the very best in this role, being named the 3rd greatest goalkeeper of the 20th century by the IFFHS behind Lev Yashin and Gordon Banks. He holds the record for the longest playing time without allowing goals in international tournaments (1142 minutes) set between 1972 and 1974. With 112 caps, he is the fourth most capped player for the Azzurri. In 2004 Pelé named him as one of the 125 greatest living footballers.
After retiring as a footballer, Zoff went on to become coach for the Italian national team and several other Italian clubs.
Dino Zoff was born in Mariano del Friuli, Friuli-Venezia Giulia (Italy), and was elected in a poll by the IFFHS as the third best goalkeeper of the 20th Century - after Lev Yashin (1st) and Gordon Banks (2nd).
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Dion Dublin
Dion Dublin (born 22 April 1969 in Leicester, Leicestershire), is a retired English footballer. He was capped four times for England. Dublin started his career as a centre back with Norwich City, but made his name at Cambridge United as a goal-scoring centre forward. However, in his later years he showed his versatility by becoming an accomplished defender. He had spells with Norwich City (twice), Cambridge United, Manchester United, Coventry City, Millwall, Aston Villa, Leicester City and Celtic.
Away from football, Dublin is also an accomplished amateur percussionist. He invented a percussion instrument, which he called "The Dube", and in 2011, he accompanied Ocean Colour Scene in a gig at the University of East Anglia, in Norwich.
Whilst at school in Leicestershire, Dublin played for Wigston Fields; the local team in a small South Leicester Town. Dublin then went on to begin his professional footballing career with Norwich City after leaving school in 1985, but he never made a first team appearance and was released from the club in 1988.
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Djalma Santos
Djalma Pereira Dias dos Santos known simply as Djalma Santos (also spelled Dejalma Santos, born 27 February 1929 in São Paulo, Brazil) is a former Brazilian footballer who started for the Brazil national team in four World Cups, winning two, in 1958 and 1962. Santos is considered to be one of the greatest right-backs of all time. While primarily known for his defensive skills, he often ventured upfield and displayed some impressive attacking skills.
Along with Franz Beckenbauer, he is one of only two players to be included into three FIFA World Cup All Star teams (in 1954, 1958 and 1962). He was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.
Santos started his career in his hometown with Portuguesa. He initially played in the centre of defence, but was later moved to the right side of defence. In 1959, he moved to Palmeiras. He played almost 500 games for the club, winning several league and cup titles. He left the club in 1968, joining Atlético Paranaense for a short spell before retiring in 1970.
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Don Revie
Donald George 'Don' Revie, OBE, (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989), was an English footballer who played for Leicester City, Hull City, Sunderland, Manchester City and Leeds United as a deep-lying centre forward. After managing Leeds United (1961–1974) he managed England from 1974 until 1977. He later managed in the Middle East at international and club level.
Revie was born in Middlesbrough on 10 July 1927. He signed as a footballer for Leicester City in 1944. Leicester City originally thought him not good enough to turn professional, but he was taken under the wing of Leicester player Sep Smith who began to mentor Revie on many of his ideas about the game. He also learned the rudiments of the bricklaying trade outside football. From there he went on to play for Hull City in 1949 (transfer fee £20,000), Manchester City in 1951 (£25,000), Sunderland in 1956 (£22,000) and Leeds United in November 1958 (£12,000). The combined transfer fees paid over his career were at the time (1958) a record in English football.
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Doug Livingstone
Dugald Livingstone (25 February 1898 — 15 January 1981), commonly known as "Duggie", "Doug" or "Dug", was a Scottish football player and manager.
He played fullback for Parkhead, Ashfield, Celtic, Dumbarton Harp (loan), Everton,Plymouth Argyle, Aberdeen and Tranmere Rovers during an illustrious playing career before hanging up his boots and going into management.
During his managerial career, Livingstone took charge of the Republic of Ireland from 1951 to 1953, before managing Belgium, guiding them to the 1954 FIFA World Cup and notably was in charge for the thrilling 4–4 draw with England in the group stages.
After success with Belgium he moved on to manage Newcastle United in 1954. Some supporters and staff were at first concerned that his tactics were in total contrast to those of his predecessor George Martin, but these doubts were laid to rest when he guided the team to FA Cup victory in 1955. The Newcastle board had the final say in which players would be playing during his spell at the club and they notably played Jackie Milburn for this final, against Livingstone's wishes. Milburn coincidentally scored in the match.
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Dragan Džajić
Dragan Džajić (Serbian Cyrillic: Драган Џајић) (born 30 May 1946 in Ub, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia) is widely considered to have been one of the best Serbian football players to emerge from former Yugoslavia. Regarded as a preeminent and very proficient left winger, he is strongly reputed to have been one of the finest European players of his generation. Džajić has been known for his "great crosses and passes, unstoppable dribbling with great pace, natural technique and some of the best left footed free kicks ever seen". Through soccer fanatics, Džajić is viewed as perhaps one of the most underrated players in European football, partly because he played in Yugoslavia. In December 2011 Džajić was named in being part of "the greatest European Championship XI of all time" by Goal.com!
Džajić's professional career (1961–1978) was spent primarily with Red Star Belgrade. Džajić was a brilliant left winger who guided a Red Star Belgrade career spanning 590 games and 287 goals by winning five league titles and four Yugoslavian Cups. In 1969 Džajić received the Sport newspaper's Golden Badge, award for Yugoslavia's best athlete. He is considered one of the most important players in the history of the club and is one of only five players to have been awarded the Zvezdine zvezde status.
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Dražan Jerković
Dražan Jerković (6 August 1936 – 9 December 2008) was a Croatian and Yugoslav football forward, and manager. His first name is sometimes (incorrectly) spelled "Dražen". He was born in Šibenik, Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
He played for Dinamo Zagreb (1954–65). Severe injuries forced him to retire early, at the height of his career. With Dinamo he won the league title in 1958, and league cup in 1960 and 1965. In 315 games for Dinamo, he scored 322 goals.
He played internationally for Yugoslavia between 1960 and 1964, scoring 11 goals in 21 games. He participated in Euro 1960 and World Cup 1962. He was also part of the Yugoslav squad for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but did not play.
In Euro 1960 he scored two goals against France in the semifinal, which Yugoslavia won (5-4). In the final, Yugoslavia lost against USSR (1-2; AET), finishing second.
In World Cup 1962 Jerković scored four goals and was, with five other players, the top goalscorer, winning the World Cup Golden Boot. Yugoslavia finished in fourth place. In the quarter-final, Yugoslavia beat Germany (1-0). In the semifinal Yugoslavia lost to Czechoslovakia (1-3), and lost to Chile for third place (0-1).
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Dwight Yorke
Dwight Eversley Yorke (born 3 November 1971 in Canaan, Tobago) is a Trinidad and Tobago former football player and assistant coach of the Manchester United reserve side. He played for Aston Villa, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Birmingham City, Sydney FC and Sunderland. He was the assistant manager of the Trinidad and Tobago national team until the completion of the qualifying matches for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Along with Russell Latapy and Pat Jennings, Yorke holds the record number of participations in different World Cup competitions, including qualifying stages – six in total (1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010). Yorke was nicknamed The Smiling Assassin because of his goal scoring abilities and his constant smile.
Yorke was first discovered by Graham Taylor, at the time the Aston Villa manager, on a tour of the West Indies in 1989. Yorke appeared in a team that played a friendly match against Aston Villa, Taylor was impressed and offered Yorke a trial at Villa. Yorke was subsequently given a permanent contract and he made his First Division debut for Aston Villa against Crystal Palace on 24 March 1990: Crystal Palace won the game 1–0. During his time with Aston Villa, from 1989 to 1998, Yorke played initially as a right winger until the 1995–96 season, he then switched to centre forward and quickly established himself as one of the Premiership's top strikers.
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Edgar Davids
Edgar Steven Davids (born 13 March 1973) is a retired Dutch footballer. After beginning his career with Ajax, he subsequently played in Italy for Milan and Juventus before a loan spell with Barcelona. He went on to play for Internazionale and Tottenham Hotspur before returning to Ajax. Having struggled with injuries for two years, Davids returned to competitive football during a brief spell with Crystal Palace before retiring at the age of 37.
He was capped 74 times by the Netherlands at international level, scoring six goals, and represented his country at the FIFA World Cup (once) and the UEFA European Football Championship (three times). His dreadlocked hair and protective goggles – which he wore due to glaucoma – made Davids one of the most recognisable players of his generation. A combative and creative midfielder, Davids was nicknamed "the Pitbull" by Louis van Gaal because of his marking ability. He was one of the players chosen by Pelé to feature in the FIFA 100, a list of the world's greatest living footballers. He was born in Suriname to an African father and Jewish mother. His cousin Lorenzo is also a footballer.
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Edgar Schmitt
Edgar "Euro-Eddy" Schmitt (born on 29 April 1963 in Rittersdorf) is a retired German football player and was last football manager in charge of KFC Uerdingen 05.
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Edin Bahtić
Edin Bahtić - Fićo (born May 1, 1956. in Sarajevo) is a former Bosnian football player. He got his nickname after famous Yugoslav car (replika of Fiat 500) Zastava 750 or Fićo.
He made a start of his football career in FK Željezničar youth team. At the time he was supposed to leave the youth squad, he was considered not to be a quality for Željezničar's first team. He left the club and played in amateur side FK Vraca in Sarajevo. He also played one season for Bosna Sarajevo before he was called to re-join FK Željezničar in 1978. He played almost 250 league games for the club until 1989. He also scored more than 60 league goals, despite he was not actually a striker. He usually played as a right winger. During 1985-86 and 1986-87 seasons he played for Greek side Aris Thessaloniki.
He was also a joint topscorer of UEFA Cup 1984-85 with 7 goals alongside QPR's Gary Bannister. FK Željezničar reached the semifinals of UEFA Cup that season. Good games in FK Željezničar shirt were the reason he was called to play for Yugoslav national team. He collected two caps.
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Egil Østenstad
Egil Johan Østenstad (born 2 January 1972), nicknamed "Østen", is a Norwegian former football player. He started and ended his career at Viking, where he was director of football after his retirement. His playing career also included spells at Southampton and Blackburn among others.
Born in Haugesund, Østenstad started his career with local club Torvastad IL. He arrived at Viking in 1990, and helped the club to win the Norwegian Premier League title in 1991, when he featured in 10 out of the 22 league games. He played a total of 280 games for the club, scoring 88 goals, before moving to Southampton in the FA Premier League in October 1996.
Østenstad was signed by manager Graeme Souness for £800,000 on 3 October 1996 and made his debut at Coventry City on 13 October 1996. In only his third game for the Saints he opened his goal-scoring account in spectacular fashion with a hat-trick in the 6–3 win against Manchester United on 26 October 1996. Subsequently the "dubious goals" panel credited his third goal to an own goal by Phil Neville, who touched the ball last in a vain attempt to prevent it from crossing the goal-line, although Østenstad retained the match ball.
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El Hadji Diouf
El Hadji Ousseynou Diouf (born 15 January 1981 in Dakar, Senegal) is a Senegalese footballer who currently plays for Doncaster Rovers. He can play on both wings as well as in attack. He has also garnered a large amount of notoriety for a series of controversial incidents.
Diouf came from a Serer background of the noble Diouf family. His father, who was also a footballer, left when he was 8 years old. Raised by his grandparents, Diouf was reunited with his father after 22 years absence. Although they did not see each other for many years, Diouf is reported to have said his father is someone he loves very much and was happy to see him again in spite of not growing up with him.
Diouf started his career in France with Sochaux-Montbéliard. He made his debut appearance in a 2–1 win against Bastia on 12 November 1998, before moving to Rennes for the 1999-00 season. He moved to Lens the following season, spending two years at the Pas-de-Calais club before moving to English club Liverpool in 2002 for a fee of £10millon.
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Elías Figueroa
Elías Ricardo Figueroa Brander (born October 25, 1946 in Valparaíso) is a former football player from Chile. He is considered the best Chilean footballer of all time, as well as one of the greatest defenders ever to play the game.
He played for several clubs during his long career, notably his hometown club Santiago Wanderers, Brazilian club Internacional and Uruguayan club Peñarol. He also represented Chile 47 times, appearing in three world cups, in 1966, 1974, and 1982.
Figueroa was noted for his elegant style of play, his calmness in the centre of defence and his ability to cut out opposition attacks and immediately launch counterattacks from the back. He was also praised throughout his career for being a gentleman on and off the pitch. He was twice awarded the Bola de Ouro, the Brazilian Player of the year award whilst playing for Internacional in 1972 and 1976. He was also awarded the South American Footballer of the Year three times in a row by Venezuelan newspaper El Mundo in 1974, 1975 and 1976. He was designated Best Player in Uruguay in 1967 and 1968 and Best Player in Chile in 1977 and 1978. He has subsequently been voted into the world's 125 best living soccer players and was also voted 8th best South American and 37th best player in the world of the 20th Century by the IFFHS in 1999.
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Emile Heskey
Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey (born 11 January 1978) is an English footballer who is currently a Free Agent after most recently playing for Aston Villa as a striker.
Born in Leicester, Heskey started his career with hometown club Leicester City after progressing through their youth system, making his first team debut in 1995. After winning the League Cup in 1997 and 2000 he made an £11 million move to Liverpool in 2000, which, at the time, was the record transfer fee paid by the club. At Liverpool, he won multiple honours, including the FA Cup in 2001. He moved to Birmingham City in 2004 and after their relegation from the FA Premier League signed for Wigan Athletic for a club record £5.5 million fee in 2006. He signed for Aston Villa in 2009 and was released in 2012.
Heskey was an England international at under-16, under-18, under-21, B and senior levels. He made his England debut against Hungary in a 1–1 draw in 1999. He lost his place in the squad after UEFA Euro 2004, during which he failed to shine and was the subject of much criticism. After a long lay-off from international duty, Heskey was recalled to the England squad for UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers in September 2007. He retired from international football following the 2010 FIFA World Cup, having attained 62 caps and scored seven goals for his country.
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Emilio Butragueño
Emilio Butragueño Santos (born 22 July 1963 in Madrid) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a striker.
He was best known for his spell with Real Madrid. Nicknamed El Buitre (The Vulture), he was a member of the legendary Quinta del Buitre, along with Manolo Sanchís, Rafael Martín Vázquez, Míchel and Miguel Pardeza.
Butragueño amassed La Liga totals of 341 games and 123 goals for his main club, in 12 seasons, and represented the Spanish national team in two World Cups (being the second top scorer in the 1986 edition) and as many European Championships, scoring 26 international goals for his country, a record that stood for several years.
In 1981, skilled Butragueño joined Real Madrid's youth system, and played first for its reserve side, before being given his senior debut by Alfredo Di Stéfano on 5 February 1984 against Cádiz CF. He made an instant impact, scoring twice and assisting for the third goal in a 3–2 away turnaround, after Real trailed by 0–2. On 12 December that year, he made his European competition debut, contributing to a 6–1 home triumph against R.S.C. Anderlecht for the UEFA Cup third round (after a 0–3 loss in Brussels), as the Merengues went on to win the competition.
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Emlyn Hughes
Emlyn Walter Hughes, OBE (28 August 1947 – 9 November 2004) was an English footballer who captained both the England national team and the much-decorated Liverpool F.C. team of the 1970s.
Emlyn Hughes, was the son of Fred Hughes, a Great Britain, Wales, Barrow, and Workington Town rugby league footballer. After being refused a trial by local side Barrow, Hughes joined Blackpool, who were then a top-flight side. He made his début for Blackpool in 1964 and played alongside the likes of Jimmy Armfield and Alan Ball. Hughes was then an inside forward, but Blackpool turned him into a left-half, and as such he made his début for them in the 1965–66 season.
In February 1967, after just 28 appearances for Blackpool, he signed for Liverpool in the February for £65,000, (based on average increases in earnings, this would be approximately £1,770,000 in 2009). Manager Bill Shankly was stopped in his car by the police as he drove Hughes to Liverpool for the first time and said: "Don't you know who I've got in this car? The captain of England!" The policeman peered through the window and said that he didn't recognise the man, to which Shankly replied: "No, but you will!" In the future Hughes did indeed go on to captain his country.
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Emre Belözoğlu
Emre Belözoğlu (Turkish pronunciation: [emˈɾɛ beˈløzoːɫʊ]; born 7 September 1980 in Istanbul) is a Turkish football midfielder who plays for Atlético Madrid. Having also played for clubs Galatasaray, Internazionale, Newcastle United and Fenerbahçe, Emre has been a part of the Turkey national team at the 2002 World Cup and at Euro 2008 among other tournaments. Pelé named Emre in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers as a part of FIFA's centenary celebrations.
Emre's inspiration came from his father, who introduced him to football at the Zeytinburnuspor training ground. Emre's mother had seen the problems that her husband had faced through his football career, and thus did not want his son to become a professional football player. His father, however, urged and inspired Emre to embark on a career. The fans of Zeytinburnuspor quickly took an interest in Emre, stating his wonderful control with his left foot. Trainer Salih Bulgurlu noticed his talent and started giving him special training. Salih looked after Emre for four years, teaching him all the basic techniques, improving and harnessing his fitness and stamina dramatically. Emre was quickly discovered by former Galatasaray legend Bülent Ünder, a close friend of legendary Galatasaray manager Fatih Terim. Bülent Ünder pleaded to Salih Bulgurlu that Emre join Galatasaray: Wait and see. In two years, this teenager will be playing proudly within the battlegrounds of Europe.
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Enrico Chiesa
Enrico Chiesa (Italian pronunciation: [enˈriko ˈkjɛza]; born December 29, 1970 in Genoa) is an Italian football coach and former striker.
Chiesa performed regularly at Serie A level for over a decade, and was also part of the Italy national football team. He was considered one of the most exciting and dynamic strikers in Italy during the mid 90's.
Chiesa moved his early playing footsteps at amateur club Pontedecimo (1986–87). He then moved to Sampdoria, team for which he made his debut on April 16, 1989 in a 1-0 loss at AS Roma in the Serie A 1988-89. He then played for Teramo of Serie C2 and successively Chieti of Serie C1 before returning at Sampdoria on 1992. Failing to impress, he then joined Modena in 1993-94 and Cremonese in 1994-95, where he scored 14 goals in their Serie A campaign. In 1995 he returned again with the blucerchiati, forming a notable forward duo with Roberto Mancini and scoring 22 goals in 27 matches. In 1996 he was signed by rising club Parma, where he won a UEFA Cup and a Coppa Italia becoming one of the best forwards in Italian football, (when not injured or out of form) in a successful partnership with Hernán Crespo, the duo averaging 10-15 goals a season each. They also got a goal each in the 1999 UEFA Cup Final victory over Marseille.
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Enzo Francescoli
Enzo Francescoli Uriarte (Italian pronunciation: [ˈɛntso franˈtʃeskoli]; born November 12, 1961 in Montevideo) is a former Uruguayan football player of Italian and Spanish origin, who retired in 1997. An elegant and highly skillful dribbler, passer, and goal-scorer, Francescoli was nicknamed El Príncipe ("The Prince" in Spanish) or Le Prince (in French). He played 72 times for the Uruguay national team between 1982 and 1997, making him the most capped outfield player in Uruguayan international football.
His official debut was with the Uruguayan team Montevideo Wanderers. He played several years for River Plate of Argentina where he won five league titles and the Copa Libertadores in 1996 in his two spells with the club.
He also played for the French Racing Club de Paris (Matra Racing Paris at the time), Olympique de Marseille, and the Italian teams Cagliari and Torino.
Francescoli played 73 times for the Uruguay national team scoring 17 goals, between 1982 and 1997. He made appearances at the 1986 and 1990 FIFA World Cups. He won the Copa América three times with Uruguay in 1983, 1987 and 1995, he also played in the 1989 and 1993 editions of the tournament.
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Eric Cantona
Éric Daniel Pierre Cantona (French pronunciation: [kantɔna]) (born 24 May 1966) is a French actor and former French international footballer. He played for Auxerre, Martigues, Marseille, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nîmes and Leeds United before ending his professional footballing career at Manchester United, where he won four Premier League titles in five years and two League and FA Cup Doubles.
Cantona is often regarded as having played a key role in the revival of Manchester United as a footballing force and he enjoys iconic status at the club. He wore the number 7 shirt at United, which was previously worn by George Best and Bryan Robson, and subsequently worn by David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo. Cantona is affectionately nicknamed by Manchester United fans as "King Eric", and was voted as Manchester United's greatest ever player by Inside United magazine. Set against his footballing achievements was a poor disciplinary record throughout his career, including a conviction for assault on a fan in 1995.
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Erwin Vandenbergh
Erwin Vandenbergh (born 26 January 1959) was a Belgian footballer. Between 1981 and 1991, he finished six times topscorer of the Belgian First Division, with three different clubs (the first three with Lierse, the following two with Anderlecht, and the last one with Gent). In 1981 he was European topscorer with 39 goals out of 34 games. As a Belgian national team regular Vandenbergh scored a memorable victory goal against Argentina in the opening game of the 1982 World Cup in Spain.
Vandenbergh also played for the French club Lille with his Belgian national team partner Filip Desmet under the management of another fellow Belgian Georges Heylens. His son, Kevin Vandenbergh, has also become a football striker and he currently plays for KV Mechelen in Belgium.
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Eusébio
Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, GCIH, GCM (Portuguese pronunciation: [ewˈzɛbiu dɐ ˈsiɫvɐ fɨˈʁɐjɾɐ]; born 25 January 1942), commonly known simply as Eusébio, is a retired Mozambican-born Portuguese football forward. He is considered one of the best footballers of all-time by the IFFHS, experts and fans. He helped the Portuguese national team reach third place at the 1966 World Cup, being the top goalscorer of the tournament with nine goals (six of which were scored at Goodison Park) and receiving the Bronze Ball award. He won the Ballon d'Or award in 1965 and was runner-up in 1962 and 1966. He played for Benfica for 15 years out of his 22 as a footballer, thus being mainly associated with the Portuguese club, and is the team's all-time top scorer with 638 goals scored in 614 official games. There, he won 11 Primeira Liga titles (1960–61, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73 and 1974–75), 5 Portuguese Cup titles (1961–62, 1963–64, 1968–69, 1969–70 and 1971–72), 1 European Cup title (1961–62) and managed to help them reach three additional European Cup finals (1962–63, 1964–65 and 1967–68). He was the European Cup top scorer in 1965, 1966 and 1968. He also won the Bola de Prata (Primeira Liga top scorer award) seven times (a national record) in 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970 and 1973. He was the first ever player to win the European Golden Boot award, in 1968, a feat he later replicated in 1973.
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Falko Götz
Falko Götz (born 26 March 1962 in Rodewisch) is a German former football player and current manager.
A midfielder, Götz began his career in East Germany with Vorwärts and later BFC Dynamo. In 1983, before a European Cup match against Partizan Belgrade, he escaped and fled to the west. For this rule breach, he was banned by FIFA for one year, but was able to stay in the west, joining Bayer Leverkusen, where he stayed for five years, moving to 1. FC Köln in 1988. With Bayer Leverkusen, he won the UEFA Cup in 1988. He scored in the second leg of the final against Espanyol, one of three goals needed to equal a 3–0 deficit. Leverkusen eventually went on to win the game on penalties. He had spells with Galatasaray (1992–1994), Saarbrücken (1994–1995), and Hertha BSC (1995–1997) before retiring, to take up the role of Hertha's reserve team manager.
He was briefly Hertha's caretaker manager during 2002, and was re-appointed as full-time manager in 2004, having managed 1860 München the previous season. Götz was sacked by Hertha on 10 April 2007. On 15 December 2008, he took over as manager of Holstein Kiel and was dismissed on 17 September 2009.
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Ferenc Bene
Ferenc Bene (17 December 1944 – 27 February 2006) was a Hungarian football (soccer) player of Újpesti Dózsa, who was a member of the team that won the gold medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. He was the top scorer of the tournament (12 goals in 5 matches).
Bene was born in Balatonújlak. He played his first international match against Yugoslavia on 14 October 1962, and his last against Czechoslovakia on 12 September 1979. He obtained 76 caps and scored 36 goals. He was bronze medallist at the European Championship of 1964, and a quarter-finalist at the World Cup of 1966 (at the latter event he was the top scorer of the Hungarian national team). Bene was named Footballer of the Year in 1969. He died in Budapest, after a lengthy treatment following a fall at the end of 2005. His son Ferenc Bene jr. is also a former player, currently working as a coach
He played for the following teams:
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Ferenc Puskás
Ferenc Puskás (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈfɛrɛnt͡s ˈpuʃkaːʃ]; born Ferenc Purczeld; 1 April 1927 – 17 November 2006) was a Hungarian footballer and manager. He scored 84 goals in 85 international matches for Hungary, and 514 goals in 529 matches in the Hungarian and Spanish leagues. He became Olympic champion in 1952 and was a World Cup finalist in 1954. He won three European Cups (1959, 1960, 1966), 10 national championships (5 Hungarian & 5 Spanish Primera División) and 8 top individual scoring honors. He is regarded as the best Hungarian football player ever and one of the best football players of all time.
Puskás started his career in Hungary playing for Kispest and Budapest Honvéd. He was top scorer in the Hungarian League on four occasions, and in 1948, he was the top goal scorer in Europe. During the 1950s, he was both a prominent member and captain of the Hungarian national team, known as the Mighty Magyars. In 1958, two years after the Hungarian Revolution, he emigrated to Spain where he played for Real Madrid.
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Francesco Totti
Francesco Totti, Ufficiale OMRI, (born 27 September 1976 in Rome) is an Italian footballer who is the captain of Serie A club Roma. His primary position is that of a trequartista, though he has also been successfully utilized as a lone striker. Totti has spent his entire career at Roma, is the number-one goalscorer and the most capped player in the club's history. He is considered as one of the finest players in his generation, and also Roma's greatest player ever.
A 2006 World Cup winner and Euro 2000 finalist, Totti was selected in the All-Star team for both tournaments. He has won many individual awards, including a record five Italian Footballer of the Year awards and two Serie A Footballer of the Year awards. He was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as a part of FIFA's centenary celebrations. In 2011, Totti has been recognized by IFFHS as the most popular footballer in Europe.
Often referred to as Il Bimbo d'Oro (The Golden Boy), Er Pupone (The Big Baby), and Il Gladiatore (The Gladiator) by the Italian sports media, Totti is currently the top active Serie A goalscorer and fifth all-time in league history with 215 goals.
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Franco Baresi
Franco Baresi (born 8 May 1960 in Travagliato, Italy) is an Italian football youth team coach and former player. He played as a sweeper and spent his entire career with Serie A club AC Milan. Baresi was nicknamed "Piscinin", Milanese for "Little one". In 1999, Baresi was voted AC Milan Player of the Century and is widely regarded as one of the finest defenders of all time.
He is also the younger brother of Internazionale legend and current vice coach Giuseppe Baresi.
Baresi was brought by his older brother Giuseppe for a trial in Inter's youth team, but was rejected. Despite this setback, Baresi refused to give up his dream and tried out for the Milan youth team, where he was accepted.
Baresi led the Milan team and its defence for the best part of a decade. During that time, the back four consisting of him, Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Costacurta and Mauro Tassotti gained a reputation for being of the meanest defenses in Europe. He is also one of the few players who spent his entire career at one club, AC Milan, for whom he played 719 games, scoring 33 goals. Unconventional for an Italian defender trained in the catenaccio tradition, Baresi was an attacking defender who often assisted the team in counterattacks but without neglecting his defensive duties.
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Frank Lampard
Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Chelsea and the England national team. He also holds the position of vice-captain for his club side. He is considered to be one of the best English footballers of his time, and is widely regarded to be one of the best midfield players of his generation. Lampard is best described as a box-to-box midfielder known for "his work-rate, range of passing and goalscoring ability."
Lampard began his career at West Ham United, for whom his father Frank Lampard, Sr. had also played. He had secured a place in the first team by the 1997–98 season, and the following year helped the team finish 5th in the Premier League, their highest-ever Premier League placing. In 2001, he moved to rival London club Chelsea for £11 million.
From his debut onwards he was ever-present in the Chelsea first team, setting a record 164 consecutive Premier League appearances. He established himself as a prolific scorer at the West London club and was a key part of the sides which won back-to-back Premier League titles in 2004–05 and 2005–06 and a domestic cup double in 2007. He signed a new contract in 2008, becoming the highest paid Premier League footballer at that time, and scored in his first Champions League Final that same year. He won the FA Cup for the second time in 2009, scoring the winning goal in the final. In the 2009–10 season, Lampard won the Premier League title and FA Cup (domestic cup double) and also had his most prolific season with Chelsea, scoring 22 league goals and 17 league assists. In the 2011-12 season, Lampard captained Chelsea to their first UEFA Champions League title.
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Frank McLintock
Francis "Frank" McLintock MBE (born 28 December 1939) is a Scottish former football defender who played for Leicester City, Arsenal and QPR.
Born in Glasgow and brought up in the Gorbals, McLintock started his career in the Scottish Juniors with Shawfield, before moving to Leicester City in 1957 as a wing half, making his debut for them in 1959. He spent seven years at Filbert Street, where he forged a celebrated half-back partnership with Colin Appleton and Ian King and was part of the revered "ice kings" team which chased the double in 1962-63. With Leicester he reached, but lost, two FA Cup finals (1961 and 1963) and a winning League Cup final (1964).
During this time he also made his debut for Scotland, against Norway on 4 June 1963, and in his third appearance for Scotland, against Spain on 13 June 1963, scored one of the goals in a 6–2 win. He made a total of 168 Football League appearances for Leicester.
In October 1964, he was signed by Arsenal for a then club record £80,000 and went straight into the first team. McLintock spent the next nine seasons with the Gunners, moving from midfield to centre half. He was a first-choice player throughout, and became the club's captain in 1967, and would go on to skipper the club during their period of success under Bertie Mee. He reached another two League Cup finals (losing both, in 1968 and 1969), and became so disheartened he handed in a transfer request in 1969. Arsenal manager Bertie Mee managed to persuade him to stay, and McLintock went on to win three major trophies in the space of two years.
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Frank Rijkaard
Franklin Edmundo "Frank" Rijkaard (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈfrɑŋk ˈrɛi̯.kaːrt], born 30 September 1962, in Amsterdam) is a Dutch football manager and former player. Rijkaard has played for Ajax, Real Zaragoza and Milan, and represented his national side 73 times, scoring 10 goals. In his coaching career, he has been at the helm of the Dutch national side, Sparta Rotterdam, Barcelona and Galatasaray. He currently manages the Saudi Arabian national football team.
In 2010 Rijkaard was described by The Daily Telegraph as having been "a stylish player of faultless pedigree".
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Franky Van der Elst
Franky Van der Elst (born 30 April 1961) is a retired Belgian footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, and a current manager.
During a 21-year professional career, he played mainly with Club Brugge, being regarded as a legend there, and briefly coaching the team in the 2000s (decade). Also, he was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers, in March 2004.
Van der Elst won 86 caps for the Belgian national team, representing the country in four FIFA World Cups, and retiring from football at nearly 40 years of age.
Born in Ninove, Van der Elst started his professional career at R.W.D. Molenbeek, earning his first call-up for Belgium in 1982. Two years later, he moved to Club Brugge K.V. and stayed there until he finished his career in 1999, going on to total over 500 overall appearances with the side (462 in the league alone). During four seasons, he often partnered in midfield his namesake Leo - no relation.
Van der Elst won the Golden Shoe twice in his career, an accomplishment for an eminently defensive-minded player. He also appeared in four FIFA World Cups, from 1986 to 1998. Only having scored once for his country in nearly 90 matches, against Norway, he reacted with astonishment upon its realization.
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Frans Thijssen
Frans Thijssen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈfrɑns ˈtɛi̯.sə(n)]) (born 23 January 1952 in Malden, Gelderland) is a former international Dutch footballer. He started his professional career in 1970 with NEC Nijmegen. In 1973 he moved to FC Twente, where the midfielder played for nearly six seasons.
Thijssen won fourteen caps for Holland between 1975 and 1981.
In 1979, he moved to England to sign for Ipswich Town, and in 1981 was voted English Footballer of the Year as he helped Ipswich Town win the UEFA Cup, scoring one goal in each of the two legs of the final. He played a big part in their run to the semi finals of the FA Cup, and they also finished second in the league that season. He helped them finished second again the following year, but a year later he departed from Portman Road after four years to sign for Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest, but he was not nearly as successful at the City Ground as he had been in East Anglia, and he had left the club within months.
He also had a stint in the NASL with the Vancouver Whitecaps. In 1984 he returned to his native country, to play for Fortuna Sittard (1984–1987), FC Groningen (1987–1988) and Vitesse Arnhem (1988–1991).
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Franz Beckenbauer
Franz Anton Beckenbauer [fʁants ˈbɛkənˌbaʊ̯ɐ] (born 11 September 1945 in Munich) is a German football coach, manager, and former player, nicknamed Der Kaiser ("The Emperor") because of his elegant style, his leadership, his first name "Franz" (reminiscent of the Austrian emperors), and his dominance on the football pitch. He is generally regarded as the greatest German footballer of all time and one of the greatest and most decorated footballers in the history of the game. Beckenbauer was a versatile player who started out as a midfielder but made his name as a defender. He is often credited as having invented the role of the modern sweeper or libero.
Twice selected the European Footballer of the Year, he appeared 103 times for West Germany and played in three World Cups. He lifted the World Cup trophy as captain in 1974, and repeated the feat as a manager in 1990. With the club Bayern Munich, he won three consecutive European Cups from 1974 to 1976, and the Cup Winners' Cup in 1967. He is one of only two footballers, along with Brazil's Mário Zagallo, to have won the World Cup both as a player and as a coach. Beckenbauer is one of two players (along with Carles Puyol) to captain three European Cup winning sides. He went on to become coach and president of the institution. He is also a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
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François Heutte
François Heutte (born 21 February 1938) is a French former football striker. He played for France in the Euro 1960.
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Freddy Shepherd
Freddy Shepherd (born 1942), is an English businessman and the former chairman of Newcastle United football club.
During his time at Newcastle, both as an active assistant to and later replacement of Sir John Hall as chairman for ten years, Shepherd proved an often outspoken and controversial figure, at times alienating the club's support.
Freddy Shepherd was born into a working class home, the son of a lorry driver; and with his brother Bruce, expanded a road haulage business into a series of marine and related businesses; and property development through redevelopment of the former ship facilities along the River Tyne. The assets of the company now include Mitford Hall.
The brothers often worked with Sir John Hall, who owned the property development business Cameron Hall Developments, and had become a key share-holder in Newcastle United. After Hall's vision of building Newcastle into a sporting club along the lines of AS Roma or FC Barcelona, he looked to consolidate the operations of Newcastle United. Shepherd Offshore had started to build a holding in Newcastle United, and so Shepherd became involved in the football business, alongside Hall's son Douglas Hall.
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Fredrik Ljungberg
Karl Fredrik "Freddie" Ljungberg (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈfreːdrɪk ˈjɵŋ.ˈbærj]) (born 16 April 1977 in Vittsjö, Sweden) is a Swedish footballer. He is currently without a club after his contract with Shimizu S-Pulse was terminated by mutual consent. Ljungberg was captain of the Swedish national team until he announced his international retirement after UEFA Euro 2008.
Ljungberg was a model for Calvin Klein underwear until 2007. He previously represented brands such as Nike, Procter & Gamble, L'Oreal and currently represents Puma, ESPN and Pepsi, as well as running his own blog since October 2009.
Ljungberg was born on 16 April 1977 in Vittsjö, Sweden to parents Roy Alve Erling Ljungberg, a civil engineer and owner of a construction and consultant business, and Elisabeth Bodil Ljungberg, a Swedish Labor Department worker. On 12 September 1984, the Ljungbergs had another son, Karl Oskar Filip. In 1982, the Ljungberg family left Vittsjö and moved to Halmstad. At first, the tenacious 5 year old would not have any part of moving. Fredrik argued with his parents that he did not want to live in Halmstad. His parents relented and took him to Halmstads BK where he played on the youth team under Olle Eriksson.
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Gabriel Batistuta
Gabriel Omar Batistuta (born 1 February 1969), nicknamed Batigol, is a former professional footballer. The prolific Argentine striker played most of his club football at Fiorentina in Italy, and is the tenth top scorer of all-time in the Italian Serie A league, with 184 goals in 318 matches. On the international level, he is Argentina's all-time leading goal scorer, with 56 goals in 78 national team matches, and represented his country at three World Cups. In 2004, he was named in the FIFA 100 list of the "125 Greatest Living Footballers". With an all-round game with clinical finishing, heading and free-kick taking abilities, he is known as one of the most complete strikers of his generation.
When his club Fiorentina was relegated to Serie B in 1993, Batistuta stayed with the club and helped it return to the top-flight league a year later. A popular sporting figure in Florence, the Fiorentina fans erected a life-size bronze statue of him in 1996, in recognition of his performances for Fiorentina. He never won the Italian league with Fiorentina, but when he moved to Roma in 2000, he finally won the Serie A championship to crown his career in Italy. He played his last professional season in Qatar with Al-Arabi before he retired in 2005.
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Gareth Bale
Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh footballer who plays for English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the Wales national team as a winger.
Bale began his professional career at Southampton, playing at left back, earning acclaim as a free kick specialist. Since transferring to Spurs in 2007, managerial and tactical shifts have seen him transform into a more offensively-oriented player. Recently, Bale has played an integral role in Tottenham's success domestically and in the Champions League.
Bale was born in Cardiff to parents Frank, a school caretaker, and Debbie, an operations manager; he attended Eglwys Newydd Primary School at Whitchurch. He is the nephew of former Cardiff City footballer Chris Pike. It was while at this school he first came to the attention of Southampton at age nine, when he was playing in a six-a-side tournament with his first club, Cardiff Civil Service Football Club. Growing up his football hero was fellow Welshman and Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs.
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Gareth Barry
Gareth Barry (born 23 February 1981) is an English footballer who plays for Manchester City and the England national football team. Barry moved to Aston Villa from Brighton & Hove Albion as a youngster, and spent 12 years at the club. He captained Aston Villa and is ninth in their all-time list of appearances. In June 2009, he joined Manchester City. Barry is an England international, having won his first full cap in 2000 and captained the side in 2010 in a friendly against Egypt.
Barry was born in Hastings, East Sussex. He attended William Parker Sports College in the town at the same time as Sussex cricketer Michael Yardy.
Barry joined Aston Villa from Brighton and Hove Albion as a trainee in 1997 along with Michael Standing. The move was controversial as the Brighton board demanded £2.5 million for the two players; the Football Association's transfer tribunal panel came up with a deal which would have seen Brighton make £2.4 million in the event of Barry and Standing making international appearances for England, as well as sell-on clauses.[citation needed] He played his first match for Villa on 2 May 1998 against Sheffield Wednesday. Initially, he played as a central defender, on the left-hand side of a back three alongside Gareth Southgate and Ugo Ehiogu. Barry became a highly versatile player and captain first as a centre-back, then a left-back. He then moved to left-midfield, before establishing himself in the centre of midfield.
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Gareth Southgate
Gareth Southgate (born 3 September 1970. in Crawley, West Sussex) is a retired English footballer and ex-manager. He served as manager of Middlesbrough from June 2006, until he was dismissed in October 2009. He currently works as a pundit on ITV Sport, and is the Football Association's Head of Elite Development working alongside Trevor Brooking.
His highest achievements in the sport were winning the League Cup with both Aston Villa and Middlesbrough (as captain), and captaining Crystal Palace to win the First Division championship. He also reached an FA Cup and UEFA Cup final as a player, and made 57 appearances for the England national team, featuring in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and both the 1996 and 2000 European Championships. His playing career ended in May 2006 after more than 500 league appearances when he was appointed Middlesbrough manager.
Born in Crawley, West Sussex, Southgate began his career at Crystal Palace, playing in central Midfield. He became captain and led the club to the 1994 Division One title. After the South London club's relegation from the Premier League, he moved to Aston Villa for a fee of £2.5 million, having made 152 appearances over four seasons.
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Gary Bannister
Gary Bannister (born 22 July 1960 in Warrington, Lancashire, England) is a former English professional footballer who played for Coventry City (two spells), Sheffield Wednesday, Queens Park Rangers, West Bromwich Albion, Oxford United, Nottingham Forest, Stoke City, Lincoln City and Darlington. He had a long 17 year career lasting from 1978 to 1995 during which time he made 564 appearances in league and cup matches plus 42 as substitute. Bannister played as a striker, being just 5 foot 7 inches (170 cm) tall and weighing little over 11 stone (70 kg) he relied on his pace and skill to score 199 career goals in all competitions. He made one appearance for the England Under 21 team against Poland in April 1982. A broken leg at the age of eleven meant that he has one leg two inches shorter than the other.
Bannister was born in Warrington, then in Lancashire. He joined Coventry City as an apprentice and graduated through their youth team to make his first team debut in May 1978. He made only 22 appearances, scoring three goals in over three years for Coventry City before moving to Sheffield Wednesday in a £100,000 deal in the summer of 1981. Bannister was a crowd favourite at Wednesday, he was top scorer in each of the three seasons he was there with 22 goals in each campaign. In his first season (1981–82) he was voted Player of the Year, and represented England at under-21 level. In 1983–84 he formed a feared partnership with Imre Varadi; the pair scored 41 goals between them as Wednesday returned to the First Division for the first time in 14 years.
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Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker, OBE (born 30 November 1960), is a former English footballer, who played as a striker. He is a sports broadcaster for the BBC, Al Jazeera Sports and Eredivisie Live. He remains England's top scorer in the FIFA World Cup finals, with ten goals.
Lineker began his football career at Leicester City and became known as a prolific goalscorer; despite failing to score in his first ten games, he finished as the First Division's joint top goalscorer in 1984–85 and earned his first England cap. He then moved to League Champions Everton where he remained a clinical finisher, scoring 40 goals in 57 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.
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Gary McAllister
Gary McAllister MBE (born 25 December 1964 in Newarthill, Motherwell) is a Scottish former professional footballer.
McAllister played primarily as a midfielder, in a successful career spanning over nineteen years. He started his career at local side Motherwell before moving south of the border to Leicester City at the age of 20. He then went on to play for Leeds United, and he later had spells at Coventry City intersected by a brief, yet triumphant, stint at Liverpool.
McAllister also represented his national side for nine years, winning 57 caps and scoring five goals. His leadership qualities were noticed, and he spent four successful years as Scotland captain in addition to two seasons as Leeds United captain. He was awarded an MBE in the 2001 New Year Honours in recognition of his contribution to football.
As his playing career drew to a close he decided to enter the managerial side of the game. He did this first during his second stay at Coventry when he was appointed manager in April 2002. He resigned a month later and did not enter management again until he returned to Elland Road in January 2008 to replace Dennis Wise.
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Gary Neville
Gary Alexander Neville (born 18 February 1975) is an English former footballer. He is England's most capped right-back and was Manchester United's club captain for five years.
Neville spent his entire playing career at Old Trafford, making him a rare one-club man. At the time of his retirement in 2011, he was United's second longest serving player in the squad, behind his long-time team-mate Ryan Giggs. He made his international debut in 1995 and was first-choice right-back for club and country for more than ten years.
He is the older brother of Premier League footballer and Everton captain Phil Neville, who was also a Manchester United player (from 1993 until 2005). His sister Tracey Neville plays netball for England, his mother Jill is a receptionist for Bury.
Since retiring from football at the end of the 2010-11 season, Neville has gone into punditry and is a commentator for Sky Sports. On 14 May 2012, Neville was appointed as a coach at England by new manager Roy Hodgson.
The older of the Neville brothers joined Manchester United as an apprentice upon leaving school in 1991, and captained the youth side to FA Youth Cup glory in his first season. He made his senior debut for United in September 1992 against Torpedo Moscow in the UEFA Cup. Neville emerged as part of Alex Ferguson's youth-oriented side of the 1990s (nicknamed Fergie's Fledglings, an updated take on the 1950s equivalent Busby Babes) that included his brother Phil, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes. In the 1994–95 season, he became first-choice right-back when Paul Parker was ruled out by injury, and remained so until his retirment, although in his first season as a regular player he often found himself on the sidelines as Denis Irwin was switched to right back with Lee Sharpe (normally a winger) filling the left-back role.
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Gary Pallister
Gary Andrew Pallister (born 30 June 1965) is an English former professional footballer, sports television pundit and operations director of Conference National side Darlington.
As a player he was a defender from 1984 to 2001 and is most noted for his nine-year spell at Manchester United from 1989 until 1998. He also played for Middlesbrough and Darlington and was also capped 22 times by England between 1988 and 1996.
His footballing career started at non-league Billingham Town, but at the age of 19, he joined his boyhood heroes Middlesbrough as a defender, making 156 League appearances over nearly five seasons (helping them win promotion to the Football League Second Division in 1987 and First Division in 1988), with a seven-game loan spell at Darlington in 1985, before he moved to Manchester United on 29 August 1989 for £2.3 million, by which time Middlesbrough were back in the Second Division after relegation.
It was the national record for a defender at the time, as well as being the highest fee between British clubs and the second highest fee to be paid by a British club – second only to Ian Rush's return to Liverpool from Juventus a year earlier.
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Gary Speed
Gary Andrew Speed, MBE (8 September 1969 – 27 November 2011) was a Welsh football player and manager. He is best known for his spell between 1984 and 1996 at Leeds United where he won the English Football League First Division Championship in 1992, and also for his spell between 1998 and 2004 at Newcastle United. He was also the captain of the Wales national football team until he retired from international football in 2004. He remains the most capped outfield player for Wales and the second overall, having appeared 85 times at senior level between 1990 and 2004, playing mainly as a left-side attacking midfielder. He started off his career in 1988 and retired in 2010. Speed was appointed manager of Sheffield United in 2010, but he left the club after a few months in December 2010 to manage the Wales national team.
Speed played professionally for Leeds United, Everton, Newcastle United, Bolton Wanderers and Sheffield United. Rarely troubled by injury or suspension, he held the record for the most appearances in the Premier League at 535, until it was surpassed by David James. At the time of his death, only James and Ryan Giggs had played in more Premier League matches than Speed. Including his appearances in The Football League and cup competitions, he made 840 domestic appearances, in addition to 85 full caps at international level. He played in the Leeds United team that won the Football League First Division championship in 1991–92, the year before the FA Premier League was formed. He also played in consecutive FA Cup finals for Newcastle United, losing to Arsenal in 1998 and to Manchester United in 1999.
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George Best
George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team. In 1968 he won the European Cup with United, and was named the European Footballer of the Year and Football Writers' Association Player of the Year. He is described by the national team's governing body, the Irish Football Association, as the "greatest player to ever pull on the green shirt of Northern Ireland".
Born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Best began his club career in England with Manchester United, who had spotted his talent at the age of 15. He went on to see success with United scoring 179 goals from 470 appearances over 11 years. His playing style combined pace, acceleration, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders. Best unexpectedly quit United relatively early in 1974 at age 27, but returned to football for a number of clubs around the world in short spells, until finally retiring in 1983, age 37. In international football, he was an automatic choice when fit, being capped 37 times and scoring nine goals from 1964 to 1977, although the team's performance never allowed his talent to be displayed in the finals of a European Championship or World Cup.
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George Weah
George Tawlon Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah (born October 1, 1966) is a Liberian humanitarian and politician, and an ex-footballer. He ran unsuccessfully for president in the 2005 election, losing to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in the second round of voting. In the 2011 election he ran for vice president on Winston Tubman's ticket.
He also spent 14 years of his professional football career playing for clubs in France, Italy, and England, and won trophies in each of these three countries. In 1995, he was named FIFA World Player of the Year, European Footballer of the Year, and African Footballer of the Year.
George Tawlon Oppong Ousman Weah was born on October 1, 1966 in the Clara Town slum of Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. Little did his parents know at the time that their baby boy would one day rise to become their country’s most famous son.
Raised largely by his grandmother, Weah studied hard at school although it was apparent from a young age that he was destined for football stardom. Little George Weah was prodigiously talented with a football at his feet but this aptitude wouldn’t truly become evident until he made the move overseas.
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Gerd Müller
Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (German pronunciation: [ˈɡɛɐt ˈmʏlɐ]; born 3 November 1945 in Nördlingen) is a former German football player and one of the most prolific goalscorers of all time.
With national records of 68 goals in 62 international appearances, 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga games and the international record of 66 goals in 74 European Club games, he was one of the most successful goalscorers of his era. Müller is now 8th on the list of all time international goalscorers despite playing fewer matches than every player in the top 15. His nicknames are “Bomber der Nation” (the nation's Bomber) and “kleines dickes Müller” (short fat Müller; this name was given to him by Čik Čajkovski, his first coach at Bayern Munich. Čajkovski was Yugoslavian and got the German declension wrong).
In 1970 Müller was elected European Footballer of the Year after a successful season at Bayern Munich and scoring 10 goals at the 1970 World Cup. Müller held the all-time goal-scoring record in the tournament with a 14-goal total, a record that stood for 32 years until it was broken by Brazil's Ronaldo against Ghana in the Round of 16 of the 2006 World Cup. In 1999, he was voted ninth place in the European player of the Century election held by the IFFHS and he was voted thirteenth in the IFFHS' "World Player of the Century" election.
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Gheorghe Hagi
Gheorghe Hagi (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈɡe̯orɡe ˈhad͡ʒi] ( listen); born 5 February 1965 in Săcele) is a former Romanian footballer. He was one of the best attacking midfielders in Europe during the 1980s and 1990s and is considered the greatest Romanian footballer of all time.Galatasaray fans called him 'Commandante' (The Commander) and the Romanians called him 'Regele' (The King).
Nicknamed "The Maradona of the Carpathians", he is considered a hero in his homeland. He has won his country's "Player of the Year" award six times, and is regarded as one of the best football players of the 20th century.
He played for the Romanian national team in three World Cups in 1990, 1994 and 1998, as well as in three European Football Championships in 1984, 1996 and 2000. He won a total of 125 caps for Romania, being ranked second after Dorinel Munteanu, and scored 35 goals, being ranked first.
In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Romania by the Romanian Football Federation as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years. Hagi is one of the few footballers to have played for both the Spanish rival clubs Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.
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Giacinto Facchetti
Giacinto Facchetti (Italian pronunciation: [dʒaˈtʃinto fakˈketti]; 18 July 1942 – 4 September 2006) was an Italian football player. From January 2004 until his death, he was President of Internazionale, the club for which he played for his whole career during the 1960s and 1970s, playing 634 official games and scoring 75 goals. He played for the Internazionale team remembered as “Grande Inter”. Facchetti is remembered as one of the first truly great attacking-full backs, and one of the best ever in his position.
Born at Treviglio, in the Province of Bergamo (Lombardy), Facchetti began his career with his hometown club, Trevigliese, as a forward. He was soon noticed by Helenio Herrera, then manager of Internazionale, who launched him in Serie A in the late 1960–61 season as a full back. The change of role was a good choice, and eventually Facchetti developed into one of the most effective defenders of Italian football.
With his club, Facchetti won four scudetti in 1963, 1965, 1966 and 1971; one Italian Cup in 1978; two European Cups in 1964 and 1965; and two Intercontinental Cups in 1964 and 1965.
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Giampiero Boniperti
Giampiero Boniperti (born 4 July 1928 in Barengo, Piedmont) is an Italian former football player who played his entire career at Juventus between 1946 and 1961. He also played for the Italian national football team. After retirement from professional football, Boniperti has been a president of Juventus and a deputy to the European Parliament.
With 182 goals in all-competitions, Boniperti was the highest goalscorer in Juventus' history for more than 40 years, until his record was bested by Alessandro Del Piero (who was himself signed by Boniperti in 1993) on 10 January 2006. Del Piero also broke his appearance record on 14 February 2010 when he played his 445th Serie A game. Notably, Boniperti is the eleventh-highest goalscorer of all-time in Serie A and was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.
Boniperti signed for Juventus at age 16, he had already built himself a reputation prior to this at youth level, as he scored 11 goals in one match.
The youngster played his first match for the Old Lady in Serie A on 2 March 1947 against A.C. Milan, unfortunately for Boniperti it ended in a 2–1 defeat. His first goal for them in the league was three months later, against Sampdoria. Juventus ended the Serie A 1946-47 season as runners-up to local rivals Torino, Giampiero ended the season with 5 goals in 6 games to his name.
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Gianfranco Zola
Gianfranco Zola, OBE,Ufficiale OMRI (Italian pronunciation: [dʒanˈfranko ˈdzɔla]; born 5 July 1966 in Oliena, Italy) is a retired Italian footballer and manager, who most recently managed West Ham United from 2008 to 2010, after having been assistant manager of the Italy U-21 under Pierluigi Casiraghi. He spent the first decade of his career playing in Italy, most notably with Napoli, alongside Diego Maradona and Careca, and at Parma, before moving to English side Chelsea, where he was voted Football Writers' Player of the Year in 1997 and Chelsea's greatest ever player. He was capped 35 times for Italy.
Zola signed his first professional contract with Sardinian team Nuorese in 1984. In 1986, he moved to Torres from Sassari, the oldest club in Sardinia, where he spent three seasons. In 1989, he signed for Napoli in Serie A. The young and talented Zola scored two goals as understudy to Diego Maradona as Napoli won the Serie A title in 1990. Maradona would prove to be a big influence on Zola's career. The two would spend hours practising free kicks together after training and Zola later said that "I learned everything from Diego. I used to spy on him every time he trained and learned how to curl a free-kick just like him." He helped Napoli to win the Supercoppa Italiana in 1991 and he made his debut for the Italian national side under coach Arrigo Sacchi in the same year, winning his first cap against Norway in November. In 1993, Zola left Napoli and joined fellow Serie A side Parma. He won the UEFA Cup with Parma and the Italian Cup in 1995. It was with the blue and yellow club that he cemented his reputation as a creative player. Ironically, manager Carlo Ancelotti came to see Zola as a "square peg" unable to fit into his rigid system. Zola was played out of position and ultimately made available for transfer and moved to Chelsea.
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Gianluigi Buffon
Gianluigi "Gigi" Buffon, Ufficiale OMRI (born 28 January 1978 in Carrara, Italy), is a FIFA World Cup-winning Italian goalkeeper who currently plays for Serie A club Juventus. He is widely considered by experts to be one of the most dominant and successful goalkeepers in history. Buffon was declared by Pelé to be one of the 125 greatest living footballers in the world. He has been named the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year a record eight times. Also, he has been named the IFFHS (International Federation of Football History & Statistics) goalkeeper of the year four times and was named goalkeeper of the 21st Century by the same organisation.
Buffon began his career with the youth system of Parma in 1991 at the age of 13. He graduated from the youth squad in 1995 and at the young age of just 17, Gianluigi made his Serie A debut for Parma in a 0–0 home draw against Milan on 19 November 1995. He went on to make 8 more first team appearances that season. In 1996, his second full season with the club, Buffon was named as the starting goalkeeper and would go on to make well over 200 appearances for his club in all competitions. In his fourth season with the club, he won the UEFA Cup. He was by this time, already considered a major prospect and in the summer of 2001, he was snatched up by Italian giants Juventus for a world-record goalkeeper's transfer fee of a reported £32.6 million, with part of the transfer fees paid via the transfer of Jonathan Bachini to Parma.
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Gianluigi Lentini
Gianluigi Lentini (born March 27, 1969 in Carmagnola ) is a former Italian winger who was once the world's most expensive footballer, when he moved from Torino to AC Milan for £13 million in 1992.
Lentini started his career at Torino, and after occasional appearances he spent the 1988/89 season on loan with Ancona. He returned to a Torino team that had been relegated, but Lentini scored 6 goals as Torino were promoted straight back to Serie A for the 1990-91 season.
Whilst at Torino he gained his first cap for the Italy national football team, against Belgium on 13 February 1991. He was capped on 13 occasions, making his last appearance on 6 November 1996.
He was signed by Milan for £13M in 1992, and was a key part of their side in 1992/93, as they won the league and lost the Champions League Final.
A year after signing for Milan, at the age of 24, Lentini was involved in a serious car crash whilst driving home from a pre-season tournament in Genoa. He fractured his skull and damaged his eye socket and he spent approximately 2 days in a light coma. However, he went on to make full recovery.
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Gianni Rivera
Giovanni ("Gianni") Rivera (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒanni riˈvɛra]; born 18 August 1943 in Alessandria) is an Italian former football midfielder, mostly as an offensive playmaker, who was awarded the Ballon d'Or, one of the most prestigious individual awards in football, in 1969. He played the majority of his career with Serie A side A.C. Milan. Internationally, he represented Italy, 60 times scoring 14 goals, at four World Cups (1962, 1966, 1970, and 1974) as well as being part of the first Italian side to win the European Football Championship in 1968.
Rivera is considered as one of the greatest Italian footballers ever and as one of the greatest passers of all time. He was a creative midfielder with offensive ideas, often at odds with the proponents of the classic Italian defensive schemes. Rivera was known for his classy, elegant and aesthetic style of play, known for his impeccable dribbling and distribution.
After retiring from football, Rivera has gone into politics and currently is a Member of the European Parliament for the Uniti nell'Ulivo party. He has been appointed as the President of the educational youth sector by the FIGC for the Italy national football team, along with Roberto Baggio and Arrigo Sacchi under head coach Cesare Prandelli.
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Giuseppe Bergomi
Giuseppe "Beppe" Bergomi (born 22 December 1963) is a retired Italian footballer who spent his entire career at Internazionale, being equally at ease as a central or right defender.
He held the record of most appearances for the club for several years, while also being the side's longtime captain. He was affectionately referred to as "Lo zio" ("the uncle") because of the impressive moustache he wore even as a youngster.
Bergomi won more than 80 caps for the Italian national team, appearing in four World Cups - including the 1982 edition which ended in triumph - and Euro 1988.
Born in Milan, Bergomi begun training with F.C. Internazionale Milano's first team at the age of only 16, and made his professional debut in the 1980–81 season, the following year. The 20 Serie A seasons he went on to spend with his sole club were often in the shadow of A.C. Milan, as he only won the Scudetto once, in 1989 (he did conquer the UEFA Cup on three occasions). For a moment in his career, he held the records for both the most appearances in European competition by an Italian player and the most Milan derbies played, both broken by Paolo Maldini.
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Glenn Cockerill
Glenn Cockerill (born 25 August 1959) is a retired English footballer who played more than 700 games in The Football League in a 22-year career. He is perhaps best remembered from his eight-year spell at Southampton. He was a skilful central midfielder renowned for his passing and shooting skills.
Cockerill began his career at non-league Louth United, and made his name in the professional game at Lincoln City. He also played for Swindon Town and Sheffield United before joining Southampton in October 1985. He left the Saints in December 1993, having played 358 matches for the club in all competitions, and later spent three seasons at Leyton Orient, before finishing his career with spells at Fulham and Brentford.
In 2002, Cockerill was appointed manager of Conference side Woking. He spent five seasons as manager at Kingfield, before being relieved of his duties in March 2007. He now works as a full-time painter.
In August 2008 Brighton and Hove Albion Manager Micky Adams added Glenn to his scouting network.
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Glenn Hoddle
Glenn Hoddle (born 27 October 1957, Hayes, London) is an English former footballer and manager who played as an attacking midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, AS Monaco, Chelsea and Swindon Town and at international level for England.
In 2007 he was inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame which cited him as one of the most gifted English footballers of his generation exhibiting "sublime balance and close control, unrivalled passing and vision and extraordinary shooting ability, both from open play and set pieces".
He is currently running the Glenn Hoddle Academy in Spain, set up to help young British players return to professional football after being released by their clubs. Hoddle's younger brother Carl was also a footballer and died at the age of 40 from a brain aneurysm on 2 March 2008.
He has been manager of Swindon Town (earning promotion to the Premier League), Chelsea (taking them to the FA Cup final), Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur (reaching a League Cup final) and most recently Wolverhampton Wanderers.
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Glenn Roeder
Glenn Victor Roeder (born 13 December 1955 in Woodford, Essex) is an English football manager and former player, most recently in charge at Norwich City. As a player, Roeder represented England B on 7 occasions. Roeder is currently Chief Scout at Aston Villa
Roeder failed to earn a scholarship at Arsenal and began his professional playing career at Leyton Orient, making his name as a classy ball-playing defender before moving to Queens Park Rangers.
At QPR, Roeder captained the team in the 1982 FA Cup Final but missed the replay due to suspension. During his time at Loftus Road, he was famed for his shuffle, known as the "Roeder Shuffle", a stepover that he used to extricate himself from tight spots and also to instigate attacking moves from the heart of the defence.[citation needed]
During a successful loan spell at Notts County, (in which the team were undefeated) a transfer fee of £125,000 was agreed. The Notts Chairman Jack Dunnett agreed to match every penny the supporters donated for the fee.[citation needed] Only £40,000 was raised, the transfer was not completed and Notts County were relegated that season.
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Gordon Banks
Gordon Banks, OBE (born 30 December 1937) is a retired English football goalkeeper. The IFFHS named Banks the second best goalkeeper of the 20th century – after Lev Yashin (1st) and ahead of Dino Zoff (3rd).
Banks was a member of the England national team that won the 1966 World Cup. In March 2004 Pelé listed Banks as one of the 125 greatest living footballers. His most famous moment occurred in the 1970 World Cup against Brazil, where he pulled off a stunning save from a goalbound header from Pelé, which is often regarded as arguably the greatest save ever. Banks' consistent performances in goal led to the re-wording of a common English idiom to "Safe as the Banks of England".
Banks, born in Sheffield, was a careful student of goalkeepers during childhood. Banks played in local colliery football as a boy and was offered an apprenticeship by Chesterfield after initially going to work as a coal bagger and then as a bricklayer on leaving school. After performances in the youth and A teams gained him promotion to the reserves, Banks was posted to Germany with the Royal Signals on National service, winning the Rhine Cup with his regimental team. On his return he was offered a full-time contract by the Chesterfield manager, Teddy Davison.
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Gordon Strachan
Gordon David Strachan OBE (born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish football manager and former player. He is currently without a club, having last managed Middlesbrough. Strachan played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. Prior to Middlesbrough, Strachan managed Coventry City, Southampton and Celtic. In club football, he played 626 games scoring a total of 138 goals, playing 21 of 25 career seasons in either the English or Scottish top flight. In international football Strachan earned 50 caps, scoring 5 goals and playing in two FIFA World Cup final tournaments, Spain 82 and Mexico 86. Strachan retired from playing in 1996 at age 40, setting a Premier League record for an outfield player.
A right-sided midfielder, Strachan made his senior debut in 1974 with Dundee before moving on within Scotland, to spend seven seasons at Aberdeen. He first played for the Scotland national team in 1980. While at Aberdeen Strachan won multiple domestic league and cup honours in the early 1980s, as well as the 1982–83 European Cup Winners' Cup and 1983 European Super Cup. Moving to England, Strachan won the 1985 FA Cup Final in five seasons with Manchester United, before spending the next seven seasons as club captain at Leeds, winning the 1991–92 First Division league title. He played his last game for Scotland in 1992 while still at Leeds, and then moved to Coventry in 1995 for a final three seasons, as a player-coach.
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Graeme Le Saux
Graeme Pierre Le Saux ( /ləˈsoʊ/ lə-SOH; born 17 October 1968 in Jersey) is a retired English footballer of French ancestry who played for the Premier League clubs Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers and Southampton, and for the England national football team. Primarily a left back, he was sometimes also played in midfield or on the left wing.
After beginning playing in Jersey, he moved to England and debuted for Chelsea in 1989. He left Chelsea in 1993 to join the Blackburn side being built by wealthy benefactor, Jack Walker, and was part of their 1994–95 Premier League winning team. In 1997 he returned to Chelsea, staying there for six seasons until moving to Southampton in 2003. He announced his retirement from football upon Southampton's relegation from the Premier League in 2005.
In his club playing career, he scored 20 goals from 403 club appearances. He was twice named in the Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year, in 1995 with Blackburn and in 1998 with Chelsea. His return to Chelsea in 1997 in a £5 million transfer made him the most expensive defender in English football. As an England international, he made 36 senior appearances from 1994 until 2000, including starting all four England games at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, and scoring one international goal, against Brazil.
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Graeme Souness
Graeme James Souness ( /ˈsuːnɨs/; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager.
Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s and player-manager of Rangers in the late 1980s as well as captain of the Scottish national team. He also played for Tottenham Hotspur, Middlesbrough and Sampdoria in a long career. Following his retirement from playing he managed Rangers, Liverpool, Southampton, Benfica, Galatasaray, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United.
Souness now does media work and divides his time working as a pundit for RTÉ, ESPN, Sky Sports and Al Jazeera Sports.
Souness was brought up in the Saughton Mains area of Edinburgh, and supported local side Hearts and Rangers. As a teenager Souness played for local boys' club North Merchiston.
Souness's career began as an apprentice at Tottenham Hotspur under Bill Nicholson. He signed professional forms as a 15 year-old in 1968. Frustrated at a lack of first team opportunities, the teenage Souness reputedly informed Nicholson that he was the best player at the club. Souness made one solitary appearance for Spurs in the UEFA cup as a substitute.
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Gérald Baticle
Gérald Baticle (born 10 October 1969 in Amiens), is a former French football player and manager.
Baticle started his pro-career in his native Picardie region at Amiens SC but quickly attracted the attention of Guy Roux who recruited him at AJ Auxerre. He played his first game in Ligue 1 on September 19, 1991 against FC Metz. In 1992/93, he was the UEFA Cup's top goalscorer as Auxerre reached the semi-finals where they were edged out by Borussia Dortmund after a penalty shootout. A year later, Baticle scored one of Auxerre's goal during the final of the French cup where the AJA defeated Montpellier HSC 3:0 to win its first national title. In 1994/95, Baticle had to face the concurrence of an emerging Lilian Laslandes for the sole striker post in Guy Roux's emblematic 4-3-3. He then chose to move to an ambitious RC Strasbourg side where he joined a team composed of Frank Leboeuf, Franck Sauzée and Aleksandr Mostovoi. Baticle spent three seasons at Strasbourg and was a captain there after Leboeuf's departure in 1996. He was repositioned as an offensive midfielder by Jacky Duguépéroux and, in this position, was instrumental in Strasbourg's 1997 League cup triumph as well as the good UEFA Cup run the following season. He was then back for a season and a half at Auxerre as a transition striker between world champion Stéphane Guivarc'h and the young Djibril Cissé. In December 1999, he was transferred to FC Metz where he enjoyed decent success as a striker for three years in a struggling team. When Metz was relegated, Baticle moved to Troyes AC for a season before ending his career in 2003/4 with Ligue 2 side Le Havre AC.
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Hakan Şükür
Hakan Şükür (born 1 September 1971) is a retired Turkish footballer who played as a striker. He spent the majority of his professional career with Galatasaray, being a three-time Gol Kralı (Goal King, title and award given to the annual top goalscorer of the Süper Lig), representing the club in three different spells and winning a total of 14 major titles.
Şükür represented Turkey a total of 112 times, scoring 51 goals, making him the nation's top goalscorer and 19th in the world. One of the most prolific strikers of the modern era, he netted 383 goals throughout his club career, as well as the fastest ever in a World Cup, in 2002. He retired from football in 2008, only scoring once in single digits for his main team in 13 seasons; nicknamed the "Bull of the Bosphorus", he was renowned for his heading ability.
Born in Adapazarı, Sakarya Province, Şükür began his football career with local club Sakaryaspor, making his professional debut shortly after his 17th birthday. His first goal came in a match against Eskişehirspor on 26 February 1989: with the match tied 2–2, he entered the pitch as a substitute and scored the winning goal. He went on to score a further 18 Süper Lig goals in his three-year spell with the club.
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Harald Nickel
Harald Nickel (born 21 July 1953) is a German former footballer.
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Henrik Larsen
Henrik Larsen (born 17 May 1966 in Lyngby), nicknamed Store Larsen (English: Big Larsen), is a Danish former professional football player who was last the manager of Lyngby Boldklub.
He was the joint top scorer at the 1992 European Football Championship (Euro 92), which he won with the Danish national team. He was also part of the Danish squad at Euro 96, where he played his last national team game. In all he played 39 national team matches and scored 5 goals.
He started his career in Denmark for Taarbæk IF and then later Lyngby Boldklub. He won the 1985 Danish Cup trophy with Lyngby, and made his Danish national team debut in February 1989. In April 1990, he agreed a move abroad to play for Italian club Pisa Calcio, who were leading the promotion battle in the secondary Serie B division. Larsen was named Man of the Match, as he won the 1990 Danish Cup with Lyngby, before moving to Italy in June 1990. He joined Pisa in the Serie A championship, but in his first year at the club, Pisa were relegated to the Serie B again. As Serie B regulations only allowed two foreign players in the team, Larsen had to look for playing time elsewhere, when the club preferred Argentinians Diego Simeone and Jose Chamot.
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Henrik Larsson
Henrik Edward Larsson MBE (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈhɛnrɪk ˈlɑːʂɔn]; born 20 September 1971) is a retired Swedish footballer and current manager of Landskrona BoIS. He was a striker whose main attributes were good pace and the ability to turn and shoot in tight areas.
Larsson began his career with Högaborgs BK. He moved to Helsingborg, where he was one of the key players when they won promotion to the Allsvenskan in 1993. Larsson then moved to Feyenoord for four years before leaving for Celtic in 1997. He won four league titles in seven years with Celtic, scoring 242 goals in 315 competitive matches, before moving to FC Barcelona in 2004, where he won two league titles and the 2006 Champions League. Following the expiration of his contract at Barcelona, Larsson returned to his hometown club of Helsingborg, and joined Manchester United on a brief loan spell between January and March 2007. He announced his retirement from football on 20 October 2009.
Larsson played for Sweden in three World Cups and three European Championships and is a former captain of the national team. Larsson ended his international career with 37 goals in 106 matches.
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Hernán Crespo
Hernán Jorge Crespo (born 5 July 1975) is an Argentine footballer who is currently out of contract. Crespo has scored over 300 goals in a career spanning 18 years. His honors include an Olympic Games silver medal, a Copa Libertadores, an English Premier League title and three Scudettos. He was topscorer in the 2000–01 Serie A with 26 goals, while playing for Lazio. Crespo once held the world record in transfer fee, when he was bought by Lazio from Parma in July 2000.
Crespo made his debut with River Plate during the 1993–94 season, scoring 13 goals in 25 league appearances as River Plate won the Apertura league title. In 1996, Crespo helped River win the Copa Libertadores, scoring twice in the home leg of the final in Buenos Aires.
Crespo left River Plate for Parma on 14 August 1996 after he won the silver medal with Argentina at the 1996 Summer Olympics and finished as the top scorer with six goals. He failed to score in his first six months at the club and was routinely booed with head coach Carlo Ancelotti coming in for much criticism for keeping faith with the selection of Crespo. His faith was, however, vindicated: the young Argentine went on to score 12 times in 27 matches in his first Serie A season and Parma finished runners-up to Juventus. The turning point was the standing applause he received for his brace against Calcio in March 1997. Parma won the 1998–99 Italian Cup and he scored the opening goal in Parma's 3–0 UEFA Cup final victory over Olympique de Marseille. He had scored 80 goals in four seasons.
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Hidetoshi Nakata
Hidetoshi Nakata, Cavaliere OSSI (中田 英寿, Nakata Hidetoshi?, born January 22, 1977 in Yamanashi Prefecture), is a retired Japanese football player. He was one of the most famous Asian footballers of his generation.
Nakata began his professional career in 1995 and won the Asian Football Confederation Player of the Year award in 1997 and 1998, the Scudetto with A.S. Roma in 2001, played for Japan in three FIFA World Cup tournaments (1998, 2002 and 2006) and played in the Olympics twice (1996 and 2000). In 2005, he was made the Knight of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity, one of Italy's highest honors, for improving the country's image overseas. Nakata has also been involved in fashion, regularly attending runway shows and wearing designer clothing.
Nakata announced his retirement at age 29 on July 3, 2006 after a ten-year career that included seven seasons in the Italian Serie A and a season in the English Premier League. In March 2004, Pelé named Nakata in his FIFA 100, a list of the top living footballers at the time.
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Hristo Stoichkov
Hristo Stoichkov Stoichkov (Bulgarian: Христо Стоичков Стоичков), sometimes Stoitchkov; born 8 February 1966 in Plovdiv) is a retired Bulgarian footballer. He is regarded as one of the best footballers of his generation and the greatest Bulgarian footballer of all time. Nicknamed The Dagger (Камата), The Dog (Кучето), The Modern Left (Модерния ляв). At Barcelona he earned the Spanish nickname 'El Pistolero' which translates to 'the gunslinger'. He was a member of the Bulgaria national team that finished fourth at the 1994 World Cup. Apart from his footballing talent, he was notable for his on-pitch temper. He was honoured as European Footballer of the Year in 1994. He was named by Pelé as one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards Ceremony in 2004.
Dr.H.C.Hr.Stoichkov began his career in his hometown, moving to Hebros in 1984. The next year he went to CSKA Sofia. There, he was involved in a fight during the final of the 1985 Bulgarian Cup which resulted in an original lifelong ban, which was eventually reduced to a month suspension. After he was brought back to football, he managed to win the European Golden Boot with CSKA by scoring 38 goals in 30 games. He then moved on to FC Barcelona, where he was part of Johan Cruyff's 'Dream Team', Stoichkov helped Barcelona to one of the most successful eras of the club, winning the Primera Division four years in a row between 1991 and 1994 and the European Cup after defeating Sampdoria in 1992. During his stay in Barcelona, he had become an idol for the club's fans, and was Barça's most popular player at the time, having earned a place in the supporters' hearts much like Johan Neeskens and Diego Maradona in the past. In Barcelona Stoichkov played in tandem with Romário.
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Hugo Sánchez
Hugo Sánchez Márquez (born July 11, 1958), popularly nicknamed Pentapichichi, or Hugol, is a Mexican football coach and former striker. He played for four European clubs, including Real Madrid. He was also a member of the Mexico national team, and participated in three World Cups. He is currently manager of Pachuca of the Primera División de México.
As a coach, he won two championships as head coach of the club Pumas de la UNAM and briefly with Club Necaxa, both teams in the Mexican Primera División. He also had a sixteen-month stint with the Mexican national team, but was fired on March 31, 2008. Hugo Sanchez has signed up to start coaching again, now in Europe, for UD Almería [1] from the Spanish First Division starting December 29, in an attempt to save the team from descending to the 2nd Division by the Summer. He has succeeded in keeping UD Almeria free from relegation from La Liga for the 2009–2010 season.
In 1999, the IFFHS voted him the 26th best footballer of the 20th century, and the best footballer from the CONCACAF region.
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Iain Dowie
Iain Dowie (born 9 January 1965) is an English-born Northern Irish football manager, former professional footballer and sports television pundit.
As a player he was a striker from 1983 until 2001, notably in the Premier League for Southampton, Crystal Palace and West Ham United. He earned 59 caps for Northern Ireland, scoring 12 goals. He also played in the Football League for Luton Town, Fulham and Queens Park Rangers, and in Non-league for Cheshunt, St Albans City and Hendon. After retiring from playing he went on to manage Oldham Athletic, Crystal Palace, Charlton Athletic, Coventry City, Queens Park Rangers and Hull City.
Born in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Dowie was rejected by Southampton aged 16 and later went to the University of Hertfordshire to study for a M.Eng Degree in Engineering. On completion he became an employee of British Aerospace, whilst keeping up football at non-League level playing for Cheshunt alongside his brother Bob. He left Cheshunt to improve his fitness and signed for St Albans City, then moved on to Hendon. While playing for Hendon, Dowie was spotted by Luton Town who signed him in the 1988–89 season, when they were in the First Division. An old-fashioned centre-forward, he then moved in quick succession to Fulham (a brief loan spell), before establishing himself as a first team player in the 1989–90 season when his eight goals in 29 league games helped Luton finish seventh.
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Ian Branfoot
Ian Grant Branfoot (born Gateshead, 26 January 1947) is an English former footballer and manager.
He played as a defender, and after starting at Gateshead joined Sheffield Wednesday, making his Football League debut in 1965. After 42 senior appearances for the club he left in 1969-70 for Doncaster Rovers. He made over 150 League appearances for Rovers, and after moving to Lincoln City in 1973-74, he went on to make over 150 league appearances for the Imps as well.
Branfoot was manager of Reading from 31 January 1984 to 23 October 1989, where he successfully managed the club to a record breaking start to the season of 13 straight wins in 1985, and led them to promotion to Division 2 as champions in 1986. The club maintained a 13th position the next season, but were relegated in 1988, but not before they won the Simod Cup on 27 March 1988.
He became manager of Southampton in June 1991, remaining in this position until January 1994. He then managed Fulham between 1994 and 1996. Branfoot later had a spell at Sunderland A.F.C. as an academy director and at Leeds United as a scout.
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Ian Callaghan
Ian Robert Callaghan MBE (born 10 April 1942 in Toxteth, Liverpool) is a former Liverpool footballer who holds the record for most appearances for the club.
A Liverpool supporter as a child, Callaghan joined the club as an apprentice on 28 March 1960 and made his debut on 16 April in a 4-0 win against Bristol Rovers at Anfield.
A right-winger, Callaghan was a regular in the team from 1961 onwards. The club was promoted from the Second Division as champions in 1962 under the management of Bill Shankly, having spent spent eight years in the second tier and coming close to promotion on occasion under both Shankly and previous manager Phil Taylor. Callaghan appeared twenty three times that season and also managed to score his first goal for the club which came in the 56th minute of the game against Preston North End at Deepdale on 4 November 1961.
Callaghan became a major part of the side which finished 8th in their first season back in Division One. The following year, 1963-64, Liverpool won the League championship by four points over north-west rivals Manchester United and five over Merseyside rivals and reigning league champions Everton.
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Ian Rush
Ian James Rush, MBE, (born 20 October 1961 in Flint) is a Welsh former footballer. He is best remembered as a player for Liverpool, where he was among the top strikers in the English game in the 1980s and 1990s. He also had spells playing at Chester City, Juventus, Leeds United, Newcastle United, Sheffield United, Wrexham and Sydney Olympic. Rush made 73 appearances for the Wales national football team and he remains the record goalscorer for Wales with 28 goals between 1980 and 1996.
Since retiring as a player in 1999, Rush has had a stint as manager of Chester City (2004–05), and has worked as a television football pundit. He was also very well known for his moustache.
Rush's reputation was enhanced by scoring for Chester in a shock 2–0 FA Cup third round win at Second Division giants Newcastle United in January 1980, with Chester equalling their best run by reaching the last 16 where they narrowly lost to Ipswich Town two rounds later. His last game for Chester was a 2–1 win over Southend United at Sealand Road on 26 April 1980 in which he did not score.
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Ian Wright
Ian Edward Wright, MBE is a former English professional footballer turned television and radio personality and currently part-time first-team coach of Milton Keynes Dons
Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal, spending six years with the former and seven years with the latter. With Arsenal he has lifted the Premier League title and both major domestic trophies, and the European Cup Winners Cup. He played 581 league games, scoring 387 goals for seven clubs in Scotland and England and earned 33 caps for the English national team.
He also played in the Premier League for West Ham United and Nottingham Forest, the Scottish Premier League for Celtic and the Football League for Burnley.
After retiring from the game he has been active in the media, usually in football related TV and radio shows. His son, Bradley and stepson, Shaun are both professional footballers.
Wright came to professional football relatively late. Despite having had trials at Southend United and Brighton during his teens, he was unable to attract sufficient interest to win a professional contract offer. Reverting to playing for amateur and non-league teams, he was left disillusioned about his chances of a career as a professional footballer.
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Ivan Golac
Ivan Golac (Cyrillic: Ивaн Гoлaц) (born 15 June 1950) is a former Yugoslav football player and manager.
A Yugoslav international right back, he is best known as a player and manager of FK Partizan, of Belgrade. In the United Kingdom he is remembered as one of Southampton's first foreign imports and as a Scottish Cup-winning manager with Dundee United.
Golac was born in Koprivnica, PR Croatia, Yugoslavia, the son of a soldier in President Tito's guard. He moved to Belgrade where he joined the youth section of FK Partizan aged 12 and eventually graduated to the first team. He made over 350 appearances for the club and won League championship medals in 1976 and 1978. During this era, he also made his debut for the national team, but that match against Algeria in 1976 proved to be his only one at international level.
"The Yugoslavian League was one of the best in the world; every game was really tough. It was a kind of war because there was a lot of talent and ambition. We had a very good crowd for all the games and more or less all the clubs, especially Partizan Belgrade, Red Star Belgrade and Dinamo Zagreb. You could put them among the ten biggest derbies in the world . . . we would play in front of crowds of 90–100,000"
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Iván Zamorano
Iván Luis Zamorano Zamora (born January 18, 1967 in Santiago) is a retired Chilean football striker. Along with Marcelo Salas and Elias Figueroa he is regarded as one of Chile's most recognized footballers.
He was a member of the Chilean national team and played in the 1998 World Cup. He played for several clubs, notably Spanish clubs Sevilla and Real Madrid C.F. as well as Italian club Internazionale. He won the 1994-95 La Liga title and was the season's top scorer with Real Madrid. He also won the UEFA Cup with Internazionale.
In 2004, Zamorano was selected among the FIFA 100, a list of the best living football players in the world compiled by Pelé.
Zamorano started his career at the club Trasandino then he moved to Cobresal in Chile in 1985. In 1988, he moved to Europe to Swiss team FC St. Gallen, scoring 34 goals in 56 matches in three seasons. In 1991 Zamorano debuted in the Spanish Primera División with Sevilla, where he would play 59 matches and score 21 goals before he was sold to Real Madrid for $5 million.
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Jack Charlton
John "Jack" Charlton, OBE, DL (born 8 May 1935 in Ashington, Northumberland) is an English former footballer and manager who played for Leeds United in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and was part of the England team who won the 1966 World Cup. He is the brother of former Manchester United and England footballer Bobby Charlton.
Charlton was a part of the successful Leeds United side of the 1960s and 1970s, winning a league championship (1969), an FA Cup (1972), a League Cup (1968) and two Fairs Cups (1968 and 1971) and made a club record 773 appearances. He won 35 England caps and played in every game of the successful 1966 World Cup campaign. In 2006, Leeds United supporters voted Charlton into the club's greatest ever XI.
Charlton later became a manager of both domestic and international sides. In his first season as a manager, he led Middlesbrough to the Second Division title, for which he was voted Manager of the Year in 1974. He later took charge of the Republic of Ireland national team, and led them to their first ever World Cup in 1990, where they reached the quarter-finals.
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Jack Hixon
Jack Hixon (1921 – 20 December 2009) was an English football talent scout. A familiar face at football games across the North East for decades, Hixon played a major part in furthering the careers of many footballers from the region.
Working as Burnley's scout in the North East for many years, Hixon also recommended players to Southampton, Ipswich Town, Sunderland and Newcastle United.
His most notable protégé was Alan Shearer, with whom he remained close friends up until his death.
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Jack Walker
Jack Walker (19 May 1929 – 17 August 2000) was a British industrialist and businessman, from Blackburn, Lancashire. Walker invested tens of millions of pounds in Blackburn Rovers Football Club after amassing a personal fortune of £600 million. He moved to St Helier, Jersey to become a tax exile in 1974. He also funded the Jersey Rugby Club and First Tower Football Club
The youngest of three children, he was born into a working class family in Blackburn and left school at 13. After leaving school Walker worked as a sheet metal worker and a conscript craftsman in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers before taking over the family business with his brother, Fred Walker after the death of their father in 1951. Together, they transformed Walkersteel from a back-street scrap metal business started by their father after the war into a steel stockholding concern. By 1990 they had built up the business so successfully that it had become the largest steel stockholder in Britain, employing 3,400 people at 50 sites. In 1956 the turnover was £46,000. In 1988 the business was making an annual profit of £48m. The Walker brothers bought GKN and then sold it to British Steel for a reported £360m, the highest price ever paid for a private company at the time.
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Jackie Milburn
John Edward Thompson 'Jackie' Milburn, (11 May 1924 – 9 October 1988), also known to fans as Wor Jackie and 'the first World Wor' in reference to his global fame, was a football player for Newcastle United and England. ("Wor" in the Geordie dialect means "our"), and remains United's 2nd highest Top Goal Scorer of all time with a total of 200 goals.
Milburn grew up in the coal mining town of Ashington, Northumberland, 15 miles north of Newcastle, Milburn's employment as a fitter (repairing heavy machinery) had reserved occupation status during World War II, which meant that he remained in Ashington. He was the son of Alexander Milburn, the uncle of the four professional footballing Milburn brothers John ('Jack') Milburn b 1908 (Leeds United and Bradford City), George Milburn b 1910 (Leeds United and Chesterfield), James ('Jimmy') Milburn b 1919 (Leeds United and Bradford City), and Stanley ('Stan') Milburn b 1926 (Chesterfield, Leicester City and Rochdale), who were brothers of Jack and Bobby Charlton's mother Elizabeth 'Cissie' Milburn b 1912. .
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Jamie Redknapp
Jamie Frank Redknapp (born 25 June 1973, in Barton on Sea, Hampshire) is a retired English footballer who was active from 1989 until 2005. He is now a football pundit with Sky Sports, and an editorial columnist with the Daily Mail.
A midfielder, Redknapp played for England 17 times between 1995 and 1999. At club level, he scored 34 goals from 314 appearances in the domestic leagues. He won one major trophy during his career – the 1995 League Cup with Liverpool. He also picked up winner's medals in the FA Community Shield and the UEFA Super Cup in 2001 (though he was an unused substitute in both games).
In a career that was blighted by a succession of injuries, Redknapp was as famous for his media profile off the field as much as on it. He married the pop singer Louise in 1998.
Redknapp comes from a well-known footballing family. His father, Harry Redknapp, is the manager of Tottenham Hotspur. He is also a cousin of the Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard, and a nephew of former West Ham United coach Frank Lampard Senior.
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Jan Ceulemans
Jan Anna Gumaar Ceulemans (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈjɑn ˈkøːləmɑns]; born 28 February 1957 in Lier, Belgium) is a Belgian former football player who played as a midfielder.
He is his country's most capped player with 96 international appearances. Most of his time with Belgium took place under the guidance of Guy Thys. This period saw the Belgium squad record some of their finest results, which include reaching the final of Euro 80 and fourth place at the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
Ceulemans' first of three World Cup appearances was at the 1982 FIFA World Cup, where Belgium beat the defending champions Argentina 1-0 in the opening game of the tournament at Nou Camp en route to reaching the second round. Among one of Ceulemans' finest achievements was captaining his national side to fourth place in the 1986 FIFA World Cup, scoring three goals in the tournament including a beautiful diving header against Spain in the quarter-finals. His performance earned the nickname "Captain Courageous".[1]. He retired from international competition after the 1990 FIFA World Cup; Jan scored the 3rd goal in a 3-1 win over Uruguay but Belgium was eliminated by England in the round of sixteen, with the winning goal being scored by David Platt in the 119th minute in extra time. Jan had struck the post during the game.
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Jari Rantanen
Jari Rantanen (born 31 December 1961 in Helsinki, Finland) is a retired football striker.
During his club career, Rantanen notably played for HJK Helsinki and FinnPa, as well as spells abroad with Estoril Praia, K. Beerschot V.A.C., IFK Göteborg and Leicester City. He also made 29 appearances for the Finland national team, scoring 4 goals.
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Javier Saviola
Javier Pedro Saviola Fernández (born 11 December 1981) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for S.L. Benfica in Portugal, as a striker.
Known for his speed, he represented both FC Barcelona and Real Madrid during his career (amongst others), and was named, as the youngest player, to Pelé's FIFA 100 list of the 125 greatest living footballers. Due to his Spanish ancestors, he also holds Spanish nationality since 2004.
An Argentine international in the 2000s, Saviola represented the country at the 2006 World Cup and the 2004 Copa América.
Nicknamed El Conejo (The Rabbit), Buenos Aires-born Saviola made his debut for Club Atlético River Plate at the age of 16, and went on to be a prolific goalscorer for the club.
He helped River to the 1999 Apertura and 2000 Clausura championships, and earned the 1999 South American Footballer of the Year award. Still only 18, he gained a reputation as a phenomenal prospect.
In 2001, aged 19, Saviola moved abroad to play for FC Barcelona in a £15 million transfer. He obtained Spanish citizenship shortly after, thereby not being restricted by the Spanish league maximum on the number of non-European Union citizens allowed in each club. Under coach Louis van Gaal, he scored 17 goals in his first season, finishing third best scorer in La Liga.
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Javier Zanetti
Javier Adelmar Zanetti (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈχaβ̞je̞ɾ saˈne̞ti]; born 10 August 1973 in Dock Sud, Buenos Aires Province) is an Argentine footballer who plays for Serie A club Internazionale. Javier Zanetti has played for Inter since 1995, taking the captain's armband from 29 August 1999. Known for his versatility, he is adept on both the left and right wing, having played on both flanks as a fullback as well as a winger. He slots into several midfield positions with ease, particularly as a defensive or central midfielder. Internationally, he holds the record of the most capped player in the history of the Argentine national team and has played in the 1996 Olympic tournament and in two World Cups, in 1998 and 2002.
Known as "Pupi" in Argentina, Zanetti was born in Buenos Aires, picking up the nickname "El Tractor" (The Tractor) soon after his move to Italy where his strength, resilience, stamina, and his ability to run past opposing defenders when joining the attack from his right back position earned him notoriety. More recently, he plays in the right midfield. He ended a 4-year goal drought when he scored on 5 November 2006. In the national team, he is deployed as a right back but is able to switch between defense and attack easily.
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Jesús María Pereda
Jesús María Pereda Ruiz de Temiño (15 June 1938 – 27 September 2011), also known as Chus Pereda, was a Spanish football midfielder and manager.
In a 16-year professional career, he played mainly for Barcelona, amassing La Liga totals of 197 games and 55 goals for four teams - including Real Madrid. In 1964, he helped Spain win the European Championship, being an international throughout the decade.
After retiring, Pereda was in charge of several Spanish youth teams, namely the U20s and the U21s.
Although born in Medina de Pomar, Burgos, Castile and León, Pereda was raised in Balmaseda in Biscay, Basque Country and, as a schoolboy, he captained the provincial U-16 team. He began his senior career with Bilbao club SD Indautxu, where his teammates included veteran goalkeeper Raimundo Lezama and Miguel Jones - Pereda and Jones, and later a third club player, José Eulogio Gárate, were all controversially rejected by Athletic Bilbao because of their birthplaces, with Pereda moving to Real Madrid and the others to Atlético Madrid.
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Jimmy Adamson
James "Jimmy" Adamson (4 April 1929 – 8 November 2011) was an English professional footballer and football manager. He was born in Ashington, Northumberland. He made 476 appearances for Burnley ranking him sixth in their all-time appearance list.
Adamson, a right-half, joined Burnley in January 1947 after playing non-league football in his native Ashington and working as a miner. His early career was interrupted by National Service, which he completed with the Royal Air Force, meaning his debut had to wait until February 1951, when Burnley played away to Bolton Wanderers. He played once for the England B team, but never made the full England side.
He was an ever-present as Burnley won the 1959-60 Football League Championship and captained the side to the 1962 FA Cup Final which they lost against Tottenham Hotspur. He was also named Footballer of the Year in 1962.
Adamson formed a midfield partnership with inside-forward Jimmy McIlroy, around which much of Burnley's creative play was centred.
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Jimmy Case
James Robert Case (born 18 May 1954) is a retired English football player who shot to fame with the all-conquering Liverpool side of the 1970s and became known as a player with one of the hardest shots in the game.
Case was brought up in Allerton and was a distant neighbour of musician Paul McCartney on the council estate which had been built in the interwar years. He was a keen member of the local scouts. As a young teenager he was quite small for his age.
His credentials, however, were established locally when during a football game between the Garston Church Choir and the Allerton Scouts he gave the goalkeeper of the choir a hefty kick when the score was 23-22, with coats as goalposts. Jimmy established his reputation as a winner, if not a bad loser.
Even though Jimmy's team lost, his legend was born. There were subsequent games on Springwood Park where Jimmy played with such aces as John Gidman (Everton) and Billy Ashcroft (Middlesbrough).
Although small in stature, Jimmy graduated through the schools teams and then joined a tough dockers' side, Blue Union. The physical nature of these early games would have an impact on the rest of his football career.
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Jimmy Greaves
James Peter "Jimmy" Greaves (born 20 February 1940 in Manor Park, East Ham, England) is an English former football player, England's third highest international goalscorer, the highest goalscorer in the history of Tottenham Hotspur football club, the highest goalscorer in the history of English top flight football and more recently a television pundit - famous for his trademark catchphrase it's a funny old game. He is considered to be one of the finest goalscorers of his generation.[citation needed]
Greaves scored on his debut for Chelsea in 1957. He finished as top League goalscorer twice whilst at Chelsea, in 1959 and 1961, and his 41 league goals in the 1960-61 season remains a club record. However, they did not win any major trophies while he was playing for them.
In 1960 he became the youngest player to score 100 league goals in English football, at the age of 20 years 290 days.
He briefly joined the Italian side A.C. Milan in 1961, after reportedly turning down a huge offer from Newcastle United and scored ten goals in 10 games, but he failed to settle and left after only a few months. Bill Nicholson then signed him for Tottenham Hotspur for £99,999. The unusual fee was intended to relieve Greaves of the pressure of being the first £100,000 player. Greaves however has rejected this, claiming Nicholson did not want to be the first manager to sign a player for £100,000. [3]
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Joe Harvey
Joe Harvey (11 June 1918 – February 1989) was an English football player and later manager. He spent much of his career at Newcastle United; he was the club's longest serving captain, manager, and, as of the 2011 – 12 season the last to win a major trophy.
He quickly established himself in Newcastle's youthful side and after an impressive debut against Barnsley was made captain of the side. Before playing for Newcastle Harvey was an established inside forward, at Newcastle he began to settle in the half-back position. At the end of his first season with the club he was demobbed. Partly thanks to his time as a sergeant, he was an authoritative figure amongst the Newcastle players who had the utmost respect for him. However, his time at the club was not without controversy. In the 1946–47 he was memorably suspended by the club's directors, along with team mate Len Shackleton, after going on strike against the quality of accommodation the club had provided the team. Both players were forced to make a public apology for their actions. Harvey was also believed to have been involved in the illegal selling of tickets for the 1952 FA Cup Final, although he was never charged for this.
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Joe Kinnear
Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kinnear (born 27 December 1946) is an Irish football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Newcastle United. Kinnear played as a defender, spending the majority of his career — ten seasons — with Tottenham Hotspur. With Tottenham he won the FA Cup, the Football League Cup twice, the FA Community Shield and the UEFA Cup. Kinnear was born in Dublin, moving to Watford, England at the age of seven. He was capped 26 times for the Republic of Ireland national football team.
Joe Kinnear moved to England at the age of seven. His father died when he was young and his mother brought up five children on a council estate in Watford.
Kinnear first made an impression as a player with St Albans City and North Watford Youth Football Club (Manager Charlie Pinnington). His talent as a defender was quickly recognised and in 1963 he moved to Tottenham Hotspur where he spent ten years, playing in the 1967 FA Cup final against Chelsea, a game Tottenham won 2–1. Kinnear made almost 200 league appearances for Tottenham, chipping in with two league goals. He won four major honours during his time at the club: the FA Cup in 1967; the UEFA Cup in 1972 and the Football League Cup on two occasions (in 1971 and 1973). In 1975, he moved to Brighton, where he made 16 appearances before retiring at the relatively young age of 30.
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Joe Mercer
Joseph 'Joe' Mercer, OBE (9 August 1914 – 9 August 1990) was an English football player and manager.
Mercer was born in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, the son of a former Nottingham Forest and Tranmere Rovers footballer, also named Joe. Joe Mercer senior died, following health problems resulting from a gas attack during the Great War, while his son was only 12. In later life, after his footballing career was over, Joe Mercer junior became a regular attendee at Tranmere Rovers due to his father's involvement.
Joe Mercer, a left-half, first played for Ellesmere Port Town. He was a powerful tackler and good at anticipating an opponent's moves. He joined Everton in September 1932 at the age of 18 and claimed a regular first team place in the 1935–36 season. Mercer made 186 appearances for Everton, scoring two goals and a winning a League Championship medal in the 1938–39 season. While playing for Everton he gained five England caps between 1938 and 1939.
Like many players of his generation, Mercer lost out on seven seasons of football due to the Second World War. He became a sergeant-major and played in 26 wartime internationals, many of them as captain. The Everton manager Theo Kelly accused Mercer of not trying in an international against Scotland, but in reality Mercer had sustained a severe cartilage injury. Even after consulting an orthopaedic specialist, the Everton management refused to believe him and Mercer had to pay for the surgery himself. During the war Mercer guested for Chester, making his debut in a 4–1 win over Halifax Town in September 1942.
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Johan Cruyff
Hendrik Johannes Cruijff OON (Dutch: [ˈjoˑɦɑn ˈkrœy̆f]) born 25 April 1947 in Amsterdam), known as Johan Cruyff, is a former Dutch footballer and is currently the manager of the Catalan national team. He won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974, which is a record jointly held with Michel Platini, Marco van Basten and Lionel Messi. Cruyff was one of the most famous exponents of the football philosophy known as Total Football explored by Rinus Michels, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in association football.
After his retirement from playing in 1984, Cruyff became highly successful as manager of Ajax and later FC Barcelona; he remains an influential advisor to both clubs. His son Jordi has also gone on to play football professionally.
In 1999, Cruyff was voted European Player of the Century in an election held by the IFFHS, and came second behind Pelé in their World Player of the Century poll. He came third in a vote organised by the French weekly magazine France Football consulting their former Ballon d'Or winners to elect their Football Player of the Century. He was named as the greatest football player of all time by the Bleacher Report for the combination of his skill and his revolutionary application of Rinus Michels's total football to the sport.
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Johan Neeskens
Johannes Jacobus "Johan" Neeskens (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈjoʊ̯.ɦɑ.nəs ja.ˈkoʊ̯.bʏs ˈjoʊ̯.ɦɑn ˈneɪ̯s.kəns]; born 15 September 1951 in Heemstede, Netherlands) is a Dutch football manager and former midfielder. As a player, he was an important member of the Dutch national team that finished as runners-up in the 1974 and 1978 FIFA World Cups. Former England manager Alf Ramsey said Neeskens was "as good as any player" in the tournament. He was the assistant coach to Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona but was sacked along with Rijkaard as the end of the 2007–08 season. He was the head coach of the Dutch B national team until June 2009, at which date he has been appointed as the assistant coach to Frank Rijkaard at Galatasaray SK.
Neeskens, a native of Heemstede, Noord-Holland, started his career at RCH Heemstede in 1968, before being spotted by Rinus Michels and signed for Ajax in 1970. The youngster impressed at right-back, playing in that position for Ajax in the 1971 European Cup Final win against Panathinaikos. During the 1971–72 season, Neeskens took up more of a central midfield role, in support of Johan Cruijff. He adapted well to his new central midfield role because he was a tireless runner, had great technical skills and scored his fair share of goals. Ajax completed a hat-trick of European Cup wins between 1971 and 1973, and Neeskens moved on to FC Barcelona in 1974 to join Cruijff and Michels. There he was nicknamed Johan Segon (Johan the Second).
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John Terry
John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional footballer. Terry plays in a centre back position and is the captain of Chelsea in the Premier League. He was also captain of the England national football team, holding the post from August 2006 to February 2010, and from March 2011 to February 2012.
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 four consecutive seasons, from 2005 to 2008. He was also named in the all-star squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the only English player to make the team. He wears the number 26 shirt for Chelsea.
Terry is Chelsea's most successful captain, having led them to three Premier League titles, four FA Cups and two League Cups since 2004. 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.
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John Wark
John Wark (born 4 August 1957) is a Scottish former footballer who spent most of his playing time with Ipswich Town. He won a record four Player of the Year awards before becoming one of the four inaugural members of the club's Hall of Fame. Wark had long spells at the club, which bookended his career, and a third, brief interlude dividing his briefer periods at Liverpool and Middlesbrough. A versatile player, Wark played most of his professional games as a midfielder, although he sometimes played as a central defender and on occasion as a striker.
Born in Glasgow, Wark represented Scotland in international football, winning 29 caps and scoring seven goals. This included selection for Scotland in the 1982 FIFA World Cup in which he made three appearances and scored twice.
During his playing career, Wark appeared in the film Escape to Victory. Since retiring as a professional player in 1996, he has continued to work for Ipswich Town—since April 2009 in the corporate hospitality department. His autobiography, Wark On, was published in 2009.
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Johnny Carey
John Joseph "Johnny" Carey (23 February 1919 in Dublin, Ireland – 22 August 1995 in Macclesfield, England), also known as Jackie Carey, was an Irish footballer and manager. As a player Carey spent most of his career at Manchester United, where he was team captain from 1946 until he retired as a player in 1953. He was also a dual internationalist, playing for and captaining both Ireland teams – the FAI XI and the IFA XI. In 1947 he also captained a Europe XI which played a Great Britain XI at Hampden Park. In 1949 he was voted the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year and in the same year captained the FAI XI that defeated England 2–0 at Goodison Park, becoming the first non-UK team to beat England at home. Carey was also the first non-UK player and the first Irishman to captain a winning team in both an FA Cup Final and the First Division. Like his contemporary Con Martin, Carey was an extremely versatile footballer and played in nine different positions throughout his career. He even played in goal for United on one occasion.
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Josef Masopust
Josef Masopust (born 9 February 1931 in Střimice near Most) is a Czechoslovak former football player and coach. He was named European Footballer of the Year in 1962. In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of the Czech Republic by the Football Association of the Czech Republic as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years. He played as midfielder and was an indispensable player for Czechoslovakia. He capped 63 times, scoring 10 goals for his country.
He was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.
In 1962, Masopust led the Czechoslovakia team that reached the 1962 FIFA World Cup final, losing to Brazil. He scored in the Final and Czechoslovakia took the lead, Brazil however came back to win 3-1. Because of his performance at the World Cup Finals, he was named European Footballer of the Year in 1962. Overall, he was capped 63 times for his country, scoring ten goals (he also played in the 1958 FIFA World Cup). In Europe, he took Czechoslovakia to third place at the 1960 UEFA European Football Championship.
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José Fonte
José Miguel da Rocha Fonte (born 22 December 1983 in Penafiel) is a Portuguese footballer who plays for Southampton in the Premier League, as a central defender.
After playing for a host of teams in his country, he has spent the vast majority of his career in England, where he represented Crystal Palace and Southampton.
Fonte finished his football formation (after already having played there from ages 10–13) at Sporting Clube de Portugal, but only appeared with the reserve side as a senior, in the third division. In 2004, he signed with Sport Comércio e Salgueiros but the club was in several financial difficulties and ended shortly after. As a result, he terminated his contract and transferred to F.C. Felgueiras, in the second level.
In the 2005 off-season, Fonte made his top flight debut with Vitória de Setúbal, where his performances attracted the eye of national powerhouse Sport Lisboa e Benfica, who signed him in January 2006, immediately loaning him out to fellow first-division side F.C. Paços de Ferreira; he finished the season with 26 league appearances and one goal, as both Paços and Setúbal managed to maintain its division status.
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Juan Sebastián Verón
Juan Sebastián Verón (born 9 March 1975) is an Argentinian professional football player who is the current captain and midfielder for Estudiantes de La Plata in the Argentine Primera División. Verón's career started in Estudiantes, continued in Argentina's Boca Juniors, and included stints in several Serie A clubs (where he won the Scudetto with Lazio and with Internazionale, and a UEFA Cup with Parma), and England's Manchester United and Chelsea. In 2006, Verón returned to Estudiantes.
In 2004, he was included in the FIFA 100 centenary list of the 125 greatest living footballers, selected by Pelé as part of FIFA's centenary celebrations. Verón has both Argentine and Italian citizenship. His nickname is La Brujita (Little Witch), a nod to his father Juan Ramón who was known as La Bruja (The Witch) and was also a championship winning player with Estudiantes.
Juan Sebastián Verón is the eldest son of former Argentina striker Juan Ramón Verón, who scored against Manchester United in the 1968 Intercontinental Cup at Old Trafford for Estudiantes. He was born the day his father played a derby for Estudiantes against cross-town rivals Gimnasia y Esgrima. As a boy, Verón dreamed of playing for English club Sheffield United, as his uncle, Pedro Verde, played for the club at the time. When his son started to play professionally, his father tried to persuade one of his former clubs Panathinaikos to sign him. However, after a short trial with them, they finally decided that he was not good enough for their team. After his transfer to Manchester United, Verón said, "So there I was hoping to play for Sheffield United and here I am at Manchester United!"
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Julio César Romero
Julio César Romero Insfrán, nicknamed Romerito (born 28 August 1960 in Luque, Paraguay) is a former football midfielder from Paraguay, considered among the best players in Paraguayan football history. He is the only Paraguayan named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.
Romero started his career at local club Sportivo Luqueño in 1977, by 1979 Romerito's consistent performances had earned him a place in the Paraguay national football team that played in the FIFA World Youth Championship and was considered one of the best players of the tournament along with Maradona. In the same year, Romerito played the Copa América which was eventually won by Paraguay.
In 1980 he joined now defunct New York Cosmos where he played alongside such greats as Carlos Alberto and Franz Beckenbauer.
Romero moved to Brazil to play for Fluminense where he was selected as the South American Footballer of the Year in 1985. He became a fan favorite after leading the team to a Campeonato Brasileiro.
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Juninho Paulista
Osvaldo Giroldo Júnior (born 22 February 1973 in São Paulo), better known as Juninho Paulista or simply Juninho, is a former Brazilian footballer. During his professional career, he played for Brazilian clubs São Paulo FC, Vasco da Gama, Palmeiras, CR Flamengo, as well as English club Middlesbrough, Spanish club Atlético Madrid, Celtic in Scotland and Sydney FC in Australia.
Juninho also played nearly 50 international matches with the Brazilian national team from 1995 to 2003, winning the 2002 FIFA World Cup championship and the bronze medal at the 1996 Olympic tournament.
Born in São Paulo, Juninho played youth football for FC curvados e Orgulhoso, a local club set up in São Paulo, and then futsal at EC Juventus .
Juninho began his senior career with Ituano FC, from city of Itu, state of São Paulo in 1990. In 1993 playing for Ituano FC against São Paulo FC, Juninho scored and was awarded the player of the match, helping Ituano FC beat São Paulo in a Paulista Championship match, fact which got attention of the São Paulo FC's head coach Telê Santana, who requested its team to buy the young talent. After being awarded the best rookie of the 1993's Paulista Championship playing by Ituano FC.
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Jupp Heynckes
Josef "Jupp" Heynckes (born 9 May 1945 in Mönchengladbach) is a former football player and manager currently the manager of Bayern Munich of the Fußball-Bundesliga. As player he belonged to the core of the team of Borussia Mönchengladbach in its golden era of the 1960s and 1970s where he won many national championships and the Cup as well as the UEFA Cup. He was a member of the West German national squad that won the European Championship and the World Cup in the first half of the 1970s. As manager he won two German championships with Bayern Munich and the 1997–98 UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid, their first title in the competition in more than thirty years.
Heynckes played 369 matches in the German Bundesliga, scoring 220 goals. His tally is the third highest in this league, after Gerd Müller's 365 goals and Klaus Fischer's 268 goals.
He started his playing career in 1964 with Borussia Mönchengladbach who were in the second division. In 1965 the club, managed by the legendary Hennes Weisweiler, achieved promotion to the Bundesliga. Heynckes stayed on for two more years and then left for Hannover 96, where he spent three years.
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Just Fontaine
Just "Justo" Fontaine (born 18 August 1933 in Marrakech, Morocco) is a former French football player.
He holds the record for most goals scored in a single FIFA World Cup finals tournament, with 13 in 1958. He has also scored the fourth most goals for any player in the World Cup finals overall, beaten only by Ronaldo, who scored fifteen goals (in three World Cup tournaments), Gerd Müller who scored 14 goals (in two World Cup tournaments) and Miroslav Klose (in three World Cup tournaments), who scored fourteen goals as well. Although France did not win the 1958 World Cup, Fontaine became the second player after Alcides Ghiggia to score in every match of a World Cup.
Though born in Marrakech, he moved to Casablanca, where he attended the Lycée Lyautey.
Fontaine began his amateur career at USM Casablanca, where he played from 1950 to 1953. Nice recruited him in 1953, and he went on to score 44 goals in three seasons for the club. In 1956, he moved on to Stade de Reims where he teamed up with Raymond Kopa, Kopa went to Real Madrid in 1958, Fontaine scored 121 goals in six seasons at the Stade de Reims. In total, Fontaine scored 165 goals in 200 matches in the Ligue 1, and twice won the championship; in 1958 and 1960.
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Jürgen Klinsmann
Jürgen Klinsmann (born 30 July 1964 in Göppingen) is a German football manager and former player who is currently the coach of the United States men's National team. As a player, Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe and was part of the West German team that won the 1990 FIFA World Cup and the German one that won the 1996 UEFA European Championship. One of West Germany's/Germany's premier strikers during the 1990s, Klinsmann scored in all six major international tournaments he participated, from Euro 1988 to 1998 World Cup.
He managed the German national team to a third-place finish in the 2006 World Cup. On 12 July 2006, Klinsmann officially announced that he would step down as Germany's coach after two years in charge and be replaced by assistant coach Joachim Löw. He took over as coach of Bayern Munich in July 2008, when Ottmar Hitzfeld stepped down to take over as the head coach of the Swiss National Team. On 27 April 2009 he was released early, even though he had won five of the previous seven league games and was only three points behind league leader VfL Wolfsburg. In the jointly initiated reforms at Bayern it emerged there was a severe clash of opinions between coach and club management.
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Keith Curle
Keith Curle (born 14 November 1963 in Bristol) is an English former professional footballer and manager of Football League One side Notts County.
As a player he was a defender from 1981 to 2005, notably playing in the Premier League for Manchester City where he was also the club captain. He also played for Bristol Rovers, Torquay United, Bristol City, Reading, Wimbledon, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Sheffield United, Barnsley. He became player-manager of Mansfield Town in 2002, where he remained until 2005, later becoming manager of Chester City and Torquay United.
Curle began his career at hometown club Bristol Rovers, for whom he made a goalscoring debut on 29 August 1981 in the (old) Third Division against Chester. He left two seasons later to join Torquay for £5,000 but remained at Plainmoor only for four months before returning to his native city, this time with Bristol City.
The Robins won promotion from the fourth tier at the end of the 1983/84 season soon after Curle's arrival. He remained with the club for three full seasons in the third flight, amassing 128 appearances in total. He finally left Ashton Gate to join Reading for £150,000 in October 1987.
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Kelvin Davis
Kelvin Geoffrey Davis (born 29 September 1976) is an English footballer who currently plays as a goalkeeper for Championship club Southampton. Born in Bedford, Davis began his career with Luton Town as a youth player in 1991 and remained there until 1999. Davis later played for Wimbledon, Ipswich Town and Sunderland before moving to Southampton in 2006. With over 200 league appearances for the club, Davis has been the captain of Southampton since Michael Svensson's departure in 2009.
Davis was born in Bedford, Bedfordshire and started his career as a trainee with Luton Town, turning professional in July 1994. He joined Torquay United on loan in September 1994 as cover for the injured Ashley Bayes, making his debut in the 3–3 draw at home to Colchester United on 17 September. He also played in the 2–1 defeat at home to Barnet the following week before returning to Luton. He had a further loan spell, with Hartlepool United in August 1997.
He joined Wimbledon in July 1999 for a fee of £600,000. He joined Ipswich Town on a free transfer in July 2003, where he enjoyed the acclaim of Championship Goalkeeper of the year, helping steer Ipswich to third in the table.
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Kenny Burns
Kenneth "Kenny" Burns (born 23 September 1953) is a former Scotland international footballer, most famous for his time with Nottingham Forest, where he played a vital role in their European Cup successes.
Burns was born in Glasgow, and started his career with Rangers as an apprentice but left for Birmingham City aged 17, in 1971. He arrived at the Blues as a defender, but was converted to striker after Bob Latchford left in 1974, and earned the first of his 20 international caps in that role soon afterwards. However, after joining Nottingham Forest for £150,000 in 1977, he was converted back into a central defender by Brian Clough and Peter Taylor.
Burns proved a great success in his new role and was voted FWA Footballer of the Year in 1977-78, as Forest won the First Division title. He was an influential figure in the side's European Cup campaigns over the next three seasons, his defensive partnership with Larry Lloyd instrumental to Forest's victory in the 1979 and 1980 tournaments. He also managed to score in the second leg of the 1979 UEFA Super Cup final victory against Barcelona. At one time he was renowned for his 'wild man' image and while maintaining an aggressive nature, he also possessed a shrewd football brain and was always likely to score vital goals.
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Kenny Dalglish
Kenneth Mathieson "Kenny" Dalglish (Scottish pronunciation: [dɛlɡliːʃ]) MBE (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former footballer and manager. In a 22-year playing career, he played for two clubs, Celtic and Liverpool, winning numerous honours with both. He is Scotland's most capped player, with 102 appearances, and joint leading goal scorer, with 30 international goals. Dalglish was voted PFA Player of the Year for the 1982–83 season, and Football Writers' Footballer of the Year in 1979 and 1983. In 2009 FourFourTwo magazine named Dalglish as the greatest striker in post-war British football, and in 2006 he topped a Liverpool fans' poll of "100 Players Who Shook the Kop". He has been inducted into both the Scottish and English football Halls of Fame.
Dalglish began his career with Celtic and between 1971 and 1977 he won four Scottish First Division titles, four Scottish Cups and one Scottish League Cup with the club. In 1977, Bob Paisley paid a British transfer record of £440,000 to bring Dalglish to Liverpool. His years at Liverpool marked one of the club's most successful periods: he won seven league titles, three European Cups and five domestic trophies. For these achievements and his style of play he was given the name King Kenny by Liverpool supporters. Dalglish became player-manager of Liverpool in 1985 and in a six-year tenure won three league titles and two FA Cups. He resigned as Liverpool manager in 1991.
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Kevin Keegan
Joseph Kevin Keegan, OBE (born 14 February 1951) is a former international footballer and former manager of the England national football team and several English clubs, most notably Newcastle United.
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 of Division One in 1971. At Liverpool, Keegan won three First Division titles, two UEFA Cups, one FA Cup and the European Cup. He also gained his first England cap in 1972, and moved to German top-flight club Hamburger SV in the summer of 1977. At Hamburg he was crowned European Footballer of the Year in both 1978 and 1979, won the Bundesliga title in 1978–79, and reached the European Cup final the following year. Keegan moved to Southampton that summer, and spent two seasons at the club before a transfer to second-tier Newcastle United 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.
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Kieron Dyer
Kieron Courtney Dyer (born 29 December 1978) is an English footballer who plays for Queens Park Rangers as an attacking midfielder. Born in Ipswich, he went to Westbourne sports college and played youth football for his home club before going on to make nearly 100 league appearances for the club's first team. He was sold to Newcastle United for £6m which at the time was the highest fee paid for a Ipswich player, this record stood until the £12m transfer of Connor Wickham to Sunderland FC in 2011, and made nearly 200 appearances for Newcastle between 1999 and 2007. A £6m move to West Ham United followed, but Dyer suffered from a variety of injuries, restricting him to only thirty league appearances in four seasons. In March 2011, he was sent out on month-long loan to Ipswich Town.
He has represented England on 33 occasions and was a member of the England squads at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2004, but has not been capped since 2007.
Born in Ipswich, Dyer's career began with his hometown team, Ipswich Town, whom he signed for as a 17-year-old trainee in 1996. He broke into the Ipswich first team during his first season at the club, and quickly established a reputation as one of the top youngsters in English football outside of the Premier League. He had spent three years at Portman Road when he requested a transfer in order to further his international prospects following Ipswich's failure to gain promotion through the playoffs into the Premier League in 1999.
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Klaus Allofs
Klaus Allofs (born 5 December 1956) is a retired German footballer who played as a striker.
A prolific goalscorer for club and country, his younger brother, Thomas, was also a professional footballer – and a striker. He amassed Bundesliga totals of 424 games and 177 goals over the course of 15 seasons (being crowned the competition's top scorer on two occasions), mainly in representation of Fortuna Düsseldorf and Köln.
Allofs gained nearly 60 caps for West Germany, representing the nation in one World Cup and two European Championships, winning the Euro 1980 tournament.
Born in Düsseldorf, Allofs began playing professionally for home team Fortuna Düsseldorf, in 1975. He started his career as an attacking midfielder, and scored nearly 100 overall goals for the club, helping it two consecutive German cup wins, while often playing upfront with sibling Thomas. In 1978–79, he finished as the Bundesliga's topscorer, and also scored four in eight in Fortuna's UEFA Cup Winners' Cup runner-up run, including one in the final, an extra time loss against FC Barcelona.
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Les Ferdinand
Leslie "Les" Ferdinand MBE (born 8 December 1966 in Paddington, London) is a former English footballer. His playing career included spells at Queens Park Rangers, Beşiktaş, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Bolton Wanderers F.C., during which period he earned a number of appearances for England. He became the first player to score for 6 different Premier League clubs.
He is the cousin of current Premier League players Rio and Anton Ferdinand and his son Aaron currently plays for Harrow Borough in the Isthmian League. He also has a daughter, Lauren. Popularly nicknamed Sir Les, he was made an MBE in the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours.
On 5 November 2008 Ferdinand joined fellow ex-Spur Tim Sherwood on the coaching staff of Tottenham Hotspur, utilising his experience to work with the strikers.
Ferdinand is the joint fifth highest scorer of all time in the Premier League with 149 goals.
Ferdinand started his career in non-league football, first at AEL (a KOPA Cypriot team in England) then to Southall then moving to Hayes. He was spotted by Queens Park Rangers and moved there for £30,000.
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Lex Schoenmaker
Alex "Lex" Schoenmaker (born 23 August 1947) is a Dutch former professional football player and manager.
Born in The Hague, Schoenmaker played as a striker for ADO, Feyenoord and FC Den Haag. Her also played in the North American Soccer League for the San Francisco Gales, Edmonton Drillers and the Fort Lauderdale Strikers.
Schoenmaker has managed teams in the Netherlands (VCS Laakkwartier, FC Volendam, ADO Den Haag, Dordrecht'90 and TOP Oss), Saudi Arabia (Al-Hilal) and the United Arab Emirates (Al-Jazira).
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Liam Brady
Liam Brady (born 13 February 1956) is an Irish former association football player, and former assistant manager of the Republic of Ireland national football team.
In his playing days, Brady was a midfielder renowned for his elegant technical skills, most notably his left foot, and his high-quality passing and close control. He found success both with Arsenal (one FA Cup title) and Juventus (two Serie A titles), and won 72 caps for the Republic of Ireland national football team.
Brady is now head of Youth Development at Arsenal, and is a frequent television pundit with RTÉ Sport.
Born in Dublin, Brady started his career at Arsenal, moving to London to join the side on schoolboy forms in 1971, at the age of 15. He turned professional on his 17th birthday in 1973, and made his debut on 6 October 1973 against Birmingham City as a substitute for Jeff Blockley, and put in an assured performance. However his next match, in a North London derby against Tottenham Hotspur, Brady had a poor match, and Arsenal manager Bertie Mee decided from then on to use the young Irishman sparingly for the time being. Brady ended the 1973–74 season with 13 appearances (four of them as substitute) to his name.
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Liam Donaldson
Sir Liam Joseph Donaldson (b. 3 May 1949, Middlesbrough, England, UK) was the Chief Medical Officer for England, the 15th occupant of the post since it was established in 1855. As such he was principal advisor to the United Kingdom Government on health matters and one of the most senior officials in the National Health Service (NHS).
In the 2002 New Year Honours, Liam Donaldson received a knighthood in recognition of his achievements in health and health care.
It was announced in December 2009 that Sir Liam planned to retire from the post of Chief Medical Officer in May 2010, although he said that, if the influenza pandemic should unexpectedly worsen, he would have postponed his retirement.
Donaldson qualified in medicine from the University of Bristol in 1972, and he did his two six-month pre-registration house jobs at the Bristol Royal Infirmary.
Donaldson was appointed as Chief Medical Officer in 1998. Between 1994 and 1998 he was Regional Director for the NHS Region of Northern and Yorkshire, and prior to that Regional Medical Officer and Regional Director of Public Health for the Northern Regional Health Authority. He began his career as a surgeon before training in public health.
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Lilian Thuram
Lilian Thuram (born Ruddy Lilian Thuram-Ulien on 1 January 1972 in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe) is a retired professional football defender and is the most capped player in the history of the France national team, and one of the twenty most capped players of all time.
He played at the top flight in France, Italy and Spain for over 15 seasons, including ten in the Serie A with both Parma and Juventus. With France national football team, Thuram won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. Thuram holds the record for most appearances at the European Championship, with 16.
Thuram's football career began with AS Monaco of the French Ligue 1 in 1991. He then transferred to Parma FC (1996–2001) and then to Juventus FC (2001–2006) for £25 million, and eventually to FC Barcelona in 2006.
Thuram started his professional career with AS Monaco in 1991. He only made 1 appearance that season, but was officially promoted to the first team the following season, when he would go on to make 19 appearances. He was inserted into the starting eleven by the end of 1992 and would go onto make 155 league appearances for the Ligue 1 outfit, before transferring to Parma FC in the summer of 1996. He made his national team debut in 1994, while at Monaco.
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Lothar Matthäus
Lothar Herbert Matthäus German pronunciation: [ˈloːtaɐ̯ maˈtɛːʊs], (born 21 March 1961 in Erlangen, West Germany) is a German football manager and former player.
In 1990, he was named European Footballer of the Year and World Soccer Player of the Year after captaining West Germany to victory in the 1990 World Cup. One year later, he was also named the first ever FIFA World Player of the Year.
He has played in five World Cups (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998) more than any other outfield player, and holds the record for the most World Cup matches played (25 games). He also won Euro 80, and played in Euro 84, Euro 88, and Euro 2000. In 1999, he was again voted German Footballer of the Year despite being 38 years old. He is the most capped German player of all time, retiring with a total of 150 appearances (83 of them when the team was called West Germany) and 23 goals for the German national team. Matthäus is a member of the FIFA 100 – a list of 125 of the greatest living football players chosen by Pelé. Maradona said about Matthäus "he is the best rival I've ever had. I guess that's enough to define him" in his book Yo soy el Diego (I am Diego).
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Luca Toni
Luca Toni, Ufficiale OMRI (born 26 May 1977) is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who currently plays for UAE Pro-League club Al Nasr. He had successful spells at top clubs such as Palermo, Fiorentina, Bayern Munich, and Roma, as well as a short stint at Juventus. Toni is highly regarded for his goal scoring ability as can be seen by his prolific goals to games ratio at many of his clubs.
His style is at times seen as being unorthodox. His strength, however, and power have seen him become one of Serie A's most lethal finishers of the past decade. As well as the medals he has collected, he has also won several individual honours, including the Capocannonieri for the 2005–06 season in which he scored 31 goals, as well as finishing topscorer with 24 goals in the 2007–08 Fußball-Bundesliga.
Toni started his professional career at Modena. This was followed by a number of seasons spent around Serie B and Serie C1 with teams such as Empoli, Fiorenzuola, and Lodigiani. After a Serie B season with Treviso in 1999, he moved to Vicenza, playing in Serie A for the first time. He then moved to Brescia, playing for two seasons alongside Roberto Baggio.
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Ludwig Bründl
Ludwig "Bubi" Bründl (born on 23 November 1946 in Munich) is a retired German football player. He played eight seasons in the Bundesliga between 1965 and 1975.1860 Munich won their first and only Bundesliga title in 1966 during Bründl's first season with the senior team, although he made no appearance on the field. Bründl enjoyed the most successful spell of his career with Eintracht Braunschweig, where he scored a total of 67 goals in 148 games in all official competitions between 1971 and 1975. This includes ten goals in six games in the 1971–72 UEFA Cup, which made Bründl the tournament's first top scorer.
Club
Individual
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Luís Figo
Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo, OIH, (born 4 November 1972) is a former Portuguese international footballer. He played as a midfielder for Sporting CP, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Internazionale, during a career which spanned over a period of 20 years. He retired from football on 31 May 2009. He won 127 caps for the Portuguese national football team, a number that makes him the most capped Portuguese player in history.
Figo was the 2000 European Footballer of the Year, the 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year, and was named amongst the FIFA 100.
Figo is one of the few football players to have played for both the Spanish rival clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. He had a successful career highlighted by several trophy wins, such as one Portuguese Cup, four La Liga titles, two Spanish Cups, three Spanish Super Cups, one UEFA Champions League title, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, two UEFA Super Cups, one Intercontinental Cup, four Serie A titles, one Italian Cup and three Italian Super Cups.
Figo started his career at Sporting CP. He won his first senior international cap in 1991. Prior to that, he won the Under-21 World Championships and Under-16 European Championships with Portugal junior sides, alongside Rui Costa, João Pinto and he was also a significant part of Portugal's "Golden Generation".
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Malcolm Waldron
Malcolm Waldron born 6 September 1956 is a former footballer who played for various clubs, including Southampton and Portsmouth. He played as a Centre back during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Born in Emsworth, Hampshire, Waldron was initially spotted playing for Havant and Hampshire school teams and was snapped up by Southampton, joining them as an apprentice in July 1973 before signing professional papers on reaching 18 in September 1974.
He made his debut on 12 April 1975 in a 0-0 draw away to Nottingham Forest. He made 3 appearances that season and 2 the following before establishing himself as a regular member of the Saints' defence in 1976-77. Although he could player anywhere in the back four, his best position was as sweeper, with his strength lying mainly in heading and tackling.
Waldron is described in Holley & Chalk's The Alphabet of the Saints as being "extememly agile and lithe for a big man, he also packed a thunderbolt of a shot and scored some memorable gals for the club".
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Marcel Desailly
Marcel Desailly (French pronunciation: [maʁsɛl dəsaji]; born Odenke Abbey 7 September 1968 in Accra, Ghana) is a retired Ghanaian born French footballer and star of the France national football team squad, with whom he won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. He also enjoyed a distinguished career at club level with several major European clubs.
Born as Odenke Abbey to Ghanaian parents, Marcel had his name changed when his mother married the head of the French Consulate in Accra who adopted all the children (the former professional footballer Seth Adonkor, seven years his elder, was a half-brother of his). He arrived in France as a four-year-old and, following Adonkor's lead, began his career at FC Nantes. There, as part of the famed FC Nantes youth programme, he played alongside a young Didier Deschamps, who became his closest friend. Desailly turned professional in 1986, two years after his half-brother had died in a car accident. In 1992, he moved to Olympique de Marseille, where he reunited with Deschamps, and won the UEFA Champions League the following year. In 1994, while playing for AC Milan, he again won the Cup (scoring in the final himself), being the first player to win the Cup in consecutive seasons with different clubs. During his time in Milan he won two Italian league titles, in 1994 and 1996. Although he prefers to be a central defender, he also played as a defensive midfield for some time while being at A.C. Milan.
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Marco van Basten
Marcel "Marco" van Basten (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmɑr.koʊ̯ vɑm.ˈbɑs.tə(n)]; 31 October 1964) is a Dutch football manager and former football player, who played for Ajax and Milan, as well as the Dutch national team, in the 1980s and early 1990s. He is regarded as one of the greatest forwards of all time and has scored 277 goals in a high-profile career, which ended in 1995 as a result of an injury suffered two years earlier. He was later the head coach of Ajax and the Dutch national team.
Known for his strength on the ball, his tactical awareness and spectacular strikes and volleys, van Basten was named European Footballer of the Year three times (1988, '89 and '92) and FIFA World Player of the Year in 1992. Van Basten was voted eighth in a poll organised by the French weekly magazine France Football consulting their former Ballon d'Or winners to elect the Football Player of the Century. In 2004, a nationwide poll was held for the 100 greatest Dutch people (De Grootste Nederlander) and van Basten was number 25, the second highest for a football player[citation needed]. In March 2007, Sky Sports ranked van Basten first on its list of great athletes who had their careers cut short.
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Mario Kempes
Mario Alberto Kempes Chiodi (born 15 July 1954 in Bell Ville, Córdoba) is a retired Argentine footballer. His father, Mario, also a footballer, inspired him to play from a young age. At the age of 7, he began playing with a junior team and at 14, he joined the Talleres reserves. He is most notable for playing for Valencia and being the focal point of Argentina's 1978 World Cup win.
Kempes was nicknamed El Toro and El Matador. During his first stint with Valencia, he won two consecutive Pichichis, scoring 24 and 28 goals in 1976–77 and 1977–78. His career started at local club Instituto, where he played alongside Osvaldo Ardiles before quickly moving on to Rosario Central, where he scored 85 goals in 105 matches and established himself as a notorious goalscorer, which prompted a move to Valencia, where he would go on to win the Copa del Rey, the European Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Super Cup. Famous as a hard-working forward, he used to strike from outside the penalty area with his surging runs goalwards and was not the traditional center-forward operating solely inside the box. Many defenders found difficulty handling his attacking style.
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Marius Trésor
Marius Trésor (born January 15, 1950 in Sainte-Anne, Guadeloupe) is a retired football defender from France, who was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers.
Trésor's career began with the French club Ajaccio. He also played for Olympique de Marseille and Girondins de Bordeaux. With Marseille, he won the French Cup in 1976. He also won the Ligue 1 title in 1984 with Girondins de Bordeaux. For the French national team, Trésor played in the World Cup in 1978 and 1982. He obtained 65 international caps, scoring four goals.
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Mark Hughes
Leslie Mark Hughes, OBE (born 1 November 1963), is a former Welsh international footballer and the current manager of Queens Park Rangers having joined on 10 January 2012. As an international footballer, he made 72 appearances and scored 16 goals.
During his playing career he was most noted for two spells at Manchester United, but he also played for Barcelona and Bayern Munich, as well as the English clubs Chelsea, Southampton, Everton and finally Blackburn Rovers, before retiring in 2002.
He won a host of medals during his playing career, including two Premier League title medals, four FA Cups, three League Cups and two European Cup Winners' Cups. He also collected an FA Cup runners-up medal and a League Cup runners-up medal.
His reign as Wales manager was his first managerial post; he was appointed in 1999 and remained in the role until 2004. He failed to qualify for a World Cup or European Championship during his five years in charge, although his reign coincided with a marked improvement in results; he came particularly close to securing European Championship qualification in 2004.
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Martin Keown
Martin Raymond Keown (born 24 July 1966) is a former English footballer who played as a defender from 1984 to 2005 notably in the Premier League for Arsenal where he made over 300 appearances for the club and won nine major trophies.
He also played for Brighton & Hove Albion, Aston Villa, Everton, Leicester City and Reading. Keown made his England debut in 1992 against France and went on to win 43 caps for the national side over the next 10 years, gradually forming a respected defensive partnership with Arsenal team-mate Tony Adams at both club and international level. Keown represented England at four major international football finals including the 1998 and 2002 World Cups.
He is now a part-time scout and coach for Arsenal, as well as a pundit for the BBC, ESPN, TV3 Ireland, and Al Jazeera Sports +3.
A tough and uncompromising centre back from Oxford, Keown played for local sides and his local Gaelic football team as a boy, before joining Arsenal on a schoolboy contract in 1980, though he made his professional debut on loan at Brighton & Hove Albion in 1984.
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Matthew Le Tissier
Matthew Le Tissier ( /ləˈtɪsi.eɪ/) is a retired, Guernsey-born, English footballer. Le Tissier spent his entire club career with Southampton and gained eight caps for the England national football team. An attacking midfielder with exceptional technical skills, Le Tissier is the second-highest ever scorer for Southampton behind Mick Channon and was voted PFA Young Player of the Year in 1990. He was the first midfielder to score 100 goals in the Premier League. He is notable for his record at scoring penalty kicks, converting from the spot 47 times from 48 attempts and is considered one of the greatest ever from the 12 yard spot.
In spite of interest from bigger clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur in 1990 and Chelsea in 1996, Le Tissier remained at Southampton for his entire professional career, his loyalty garnering special affection from Southampton's fans who nicknamed him "Le God".
Following the end of his playing career, Le Tissier became a football pundit, and currently works as a panelist on Sky Sports show Soccer Saturday. In 2011 he became Honorary President of Guernsey FC.
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Maurizio Ganz
Maurizio Ganz (born October 13, 1968 in Tolmezzo, Italy) is a former Italian football striker.
Ganz started his career at Sampdoria in 1985. He later helped Parma to promotion from Serie B in 1989-90 season. When he played for Inter Milan, Ganz scored 36 goals from 68 appearances and was a feared goalscorer.
Ganz moved to AC Milan in 1997. In his first season he won the Scudetto with them and was very influential, but in his later season he spent a lot of his time on the bench because Alberto Zaccheroni, AC Milan manager at that time, had other star players like Oliver Bierhoff, George Weah, Andriy Shevchenko, Leonardo, and Zvonimir Boban. Although he did score a priceless hat-trick against Inter in a cup tie that will always be remembered. He later went on loan to Venezia and Atalanta before eventually moving on. Finished with an impressive record of 204 goals in 469 games.
Ganz received two call-ups for the Italian national team in 1993, but did not gain an international cap.
He played one game and scored a hat-trick for Padania, an unofficial national team that competes in the Viva World Cup.
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Mel Blyth
Melvin Bernard "Mel" Blyth (born Norwich, England on 28 July 1944) is a former footballer, who played for several clubs, including Southampton with whom he won the FA Cup in 1976.
Mel Blyth started his football career with non-league Great Yarmouth. He then joined Norwich City, although he never made an appearance in the first team.
When, in October 1967, former Norwich manager, Ron Ashman, took up the reins at Scunthorpe United, then struggling at the foot of Division 3, he returned to his old club to sign several players, including Steve Deere, Geoff Barnard and Mel Blyth to shore up the holes in the defence.
Unfortunately, Scunthorpe were relegated at the end of the 1967-68 season and in July 1968, Mel moved on to Crystal Palace.
Mel joined Crystal Palace in the summer of 1968 as an old-style wing-half, but he developed into a centre-back. He immediately became a regular member of Palace’s 1968-69 Division 2 promotion side, and the in their first ever match in Division 1, he scored Palace’s first goal in the top flight with a looping header against Manchester United. He followed this with another goal against Everton on the following Saturday.
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Mia Hamm
Mariel Margaret "Mia" Hamm (born on March 17, 1972, in Selma, Alabama) is a retired American soccer player. Hamm played many years as a forward for the United States women's national soccer team and was a founding member of the Washington Freedom. Hamm has scored more international goals in her career than any other player, male or female, in the history of U.S. soccer (158). She is the second most capped female player in soccer history behind Kristine Lilly, appearing in 275 international matches throughout her career.
Hamm was named the women's FIFA World Player of the Year the first two times that award was given (in 2001 and 2002), and is listed as one of FIFA's 125 best living players (as chosen by Pelé). Washington Post columnist Michael Wilbon called Hamm, "Perhaps the most important athlete of the last 15 years."
She retired from the sport in 2004, when she played her last game in the 2004 Fan Celebration Tour to commemorate the U.S. women's national team's victory in the 2004 Olympics. In 2007, her first year of eligibility, she was selected for induction into the National Soccer Hall of Fame by having 137 votes of the 141 ballots cast. Women's Professional Soccer, a professional soccer league that launched in 2009, features Hamm's silhouette in its logo.
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Michael Ballack
Michael Ballack (born 26 September 1976) is a German professional footballer, who is currently playing for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. He is among the top goal scorers in the history of his international team. Ballack has worn the number 13 shirt for every team he has played for except for Kaiserslautern. He was selected by Pelé as one of FIFA's 100 Greatest Living Players, and as the UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year in 2002. He has won the German Footballer of the Year award three times – in 2002, 2003 and 2005. In his prime, Ballack was known for his passing range, scoring ability, ball skills and commanding presence in the midfield.
Ballack began his career as a youth at Chemnitz, his local team, and made his professional debut in 1995. Although the team were relegated in his first season, his performances in the Regionalliga the following season led to a transfer to Kaiserslautern in 1997. He won the Bundesliga in his first season at the club; his first major honour. He became a first team regular in 1998–99 season and also earned his first senior national cap for Germany. He moved to Bayer Leverkusen for €4.1 million in 1999. The 2002 season saw him win a slew of runners-up medals: Bayer Leverkusen finished second in the Bundesliga, German Cup, UEFA Champions League and Germany lost to Brazil in the 2002 World Cup Final.
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Michael Laudrup
Michael Laudrup (born 15 June 1964 in Frederiksberg) is a retired Danish footballer, who works as a manager and last coached La Liga side RCD Mallorca. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of football. His most prominent run of football came with Spanish club Barcelona, with whom he won four straight La Liga championships. He famously moved to arch rivals Real Madrid in 1994, with whom he won his fifth La Liga title in a row. He made his debut for the Denmark national football team on his 18th birthday in 1982, and scored 37 goals in a total of 104 appearances for his country. From November 1994, he captained Denmark for a total of 28 matches, including the victorious 1995 Confederations Cup tournament. He retired as an active player in June 1998.
In 1999, he was voted the Best Foreign Player in Spanish Football over the preceding 25-year period and in April 2000 he was knighted, receiving the Order of the Dannebrog. In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Denmark by the Danish Football Association; their most outstanding player of the past 50 years. He was officially named the best Danish footballer of all time by the Danish Football Association (DBU) in November 2006.
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Michael Owen
Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979 in Chester) is an English professional footballer who is currently a free agent after being released by Manchester United in June 2012.
The son of former footballer Terry Owen, Owen 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, despite 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.
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 and had the season's highest ratio of goals scored to number of minutes played. He returned to England the following season, joining Newcastle United for £16 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. After the final season of his four-year contract, Newcastle were relegated, and Owen moved to Manchester United as a free agent.
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Michel Platini
Michel François Platini (born 21 June 1955) is a former French football player and manager, and the president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2007.
During his professional footballing career, Platini played for the clubs Nancy, Saint-Étienne, and Juventus, and was a member of the French national team that won the 1984 European Championship, a tournament in which he was the top goalscorer and voted the best player. He also participated in the 1978, 1982 and 1986 World Cups, reaching the semi-finals in the latter two. Platini, Alain Giresse, Luis Fernández and Jean Tigana together made up the "carré magique" (French for "magic square"), the group of midfield players that formed the heart of the French national team throughout the 1980s.
Considered one of the best passers in football history as well as one the best free kick specialists and finishers, he holds the record for most goals (9) scored in European Championship final tournaments despite only appearing in the 1984 edition. Despite being a midfielder, he held the national team top scorer record until striker Thierry Henry surpassed the 41 goals mark in 2007.
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Michelle Akers
Michelle Akers (born February 1, 1966 in Santa Clara, California) is a former leading American association football player, who starred in the historic 1991 and 1999 Women's World Cup victory by the U.S.. She won the Golden Boot as the top scorer in the 1991 tournament. She is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Michelle Akers was born on February 1, 1966 to Robert and Anne Akers in Santa Clara, California. She grew up in a suburb of Seattle, Washington. She went to and played soccer at Shorecrest High School. She was named an All-American three times while attending that school.
Akers attended the University of Central Florida on a scholarship where she was selected as four-time NCAA All-American. She was Central Florida's Athlete of the Year in 1988-89, the all-time leading scorer in UCF history, won the Hermann Trophy in 1988, and had her #10 jersey retired by the school.
She played for the first-ever U.S. Women's National team in August 1985 on the first international trip for the US Women. Due to an ankle injury, she did not play in the first game. However, she played in the second ever international game and scored the second goal in the history of the program against Denmark, in a 2-2 tie.
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Mick Channon
Michael Roger "Mick" Channon (born 28 November 1948) is a sportsman who enjoyed a career as a striker with Southampton and England in the 1970s and later became a hugely successful racehorse trainer.
Channon was born in Orcheston, Wiltshire and made his debut for Southampton as a 17 year old in 1966, scoring in the match against Bristol City. Within three years he had established himself as the club's main goalscorer and was consistent in front of goal at a time when Southampton were one of the more unglamorous teams in English football's First Division. However, despite a record season tally of 21 goals for Southampton in 1974, the club were relegated to the Second Division at the end of the season.
Channon stayed loyal to Southampton despite obvious concerns for his international chances and was rewarded in 1976 which was a special year for Channon. Southampton were still in the Second Division but nevertheless enjoyed a dream run to the FA Cup final where they played Manchester United. Although Southampton were a lower division side, they were considerably more experienced than Manchester United's youthful team. Southampton won 1–0, with Channon playing a part in the winning goal scored late in the game by Bobby Stokes. It was his first domestic honour in the game.
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Milan Baroš
Milan Baroš (Czech pronunciation: [ˈmɪlan ˈbaroʃ]) (born 28 October 1981) is a Czech footballer who plays as a striker for Galatasaray and the Czech national football team. He is known for his direct style of play, pace and dribbling skills.
In the 2008–09 season, Baroš scored 20 goals in the Süper Lig, the highest total in the league. He was the winner of the Golden Boot at UEFA Euro 2004, where he scored five goals, and he has previously played for clubs including Liverpool, Aston Villa, and Olympique Lyonnais.
Baroš was introduced to top-level football at FC Baník Ostrava. In 1998 he made his debut in the Gambrinus liga, the top of Czech football, becoming a regular over the next few seasons. In 2000, he won the Talent of the Year award at the Czech Footballer of the Year awards.
Baroš joined Liverpool in 2002 and was given the number 5 shirt, making his debut in a Champions League tie away to Barcelona. It was his only appearance of the 2001–02 season. The following season, Baroš scored twice on his Premiership debut away to Bolton Wanderers and ended the season with 12 goals for the club. This included a brace in a 6–0 away win over relegated West Bromwich Albion on 26 April 2003.
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Milan Galić
Milan Galić (Serbian: Милан Галић, born 8 March 1938 in Bosansko Grahovo) is a former Serbian footballer.
He scored 37 international goals in 51 matches for the Yugoslavia national football team. He participated in the 1960 Summer Olympics, winning the gold medal, the 1960 UEFA European Football Championship, where Yugoslavia finished second (despite his goal in the final), and the 1962 FIFA World Cup, where Yugoslavia finished fourth. On the club level, he played for FK Partizan and Standard Liège. In 1960 he played in one of his 57 internationals against Denmark. He got sent off, but Yugoslavia still won 3-1. Later the International Referees committee decided that the referee had erred in the dismissal.
In 1962, according to the selection of Sport daily newspaper, Galić was declared the sportsperson of the year in Yugoslavia.
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Nat Lofthouse
Nathaniel "Nat" Lofthouse, OBE (27 August 1925 – 15 January 2011) was an English professional footballer who played for Bolton Wanderers for his whole career. He was capped 33 times for the England national football team between 1950 and 1958, scoring 30 goals and giving himself one of the greatest goals-per-game ratios of any player to represent England at the highest level.
Born in Bolton, Lancashire, in 1925, Lofthouse joined the town's main club on 4 September 1939 and made his debut in a wartime 5–1 win against Bury on 22 March 1941 when he scored two goals. It was then more than five years until he made his league debut for the club, but he eventually played against Chelsea on 31 August 1946, when he scored twice in a 4–3 defeat. Lofthouse would go on to play 33 games for England, but his debut on 22 November 1950 made him 25 when he finally broke into the team. He perhaps justified a claim to an earlier call-up by scoring both goals in a 2–2 draw against Yugoslavia at Highbury on his debut.
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Neil Lennon
Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a former footballer from Northern Ireland. He is the manager and former captain of Celtic.
During his playing career he represented English clubs Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City before moving to Scottish club Celtic where he made over 200 appearances as a midfielder. Before retiring as a player, he returned to England to represent Nottingham Forest and Wycombe Wanderers.
Lennon made 40 appearances for Northern Ireland in nine years, scoring two goals.
Lennon was born in Lurgan, County Armagh and attended St Michael's Grammar School in the town. As a youngster he played gaelic football for the school and was also selected for the Armagh minor team. He grew up supporting Celtic and played football for the local Lurgan Celtic youth team.
Lennon joined Glenavon, after reaching the final of the Milk Cup and scored on his Irish League debut. He then joined Manchester City as a trainee in 1987, before he signed for Crewe Alexandra on a free transfer in August 1990.
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Neil Webb
Neil John Webb (born 30 July 1963 in Reading, Berkshire) is an English former footballer and television pundit. He played as a midfielder and defender between 1980 and 1997 notably for Portsmouth, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United. Webb also played for Reading, Swindon Town, Grimsby Town, Aldershot Town and Chinese side Instant-Dict.
Webb joined Reading on leaving school in 1979 and made his first-team debut in February 1980. He became the youngest ever scorer for the team. In July 1982 he transferred to Portsmouth for £87,500. At Fratton Park he was a regular first-team player and helped them win promotion to the Second Division (as Third Division champions) in his first season, and over the next two seasons they came close to reaching the First Division.
In 1985, Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough paid Portsmouth £250,000 for Webb. At Forest he developed into a top class midfielder. During his time on Trentside he won the League Cup in 1989 (scoring in the final against Luton) and became a regular member of the England national team. Webb was one of the Forest players who had to cope with the horrors of the Hillsborough disaster during the opening minutes of their FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool. Webb played in the rescheduled game at Old Trafford, which Liverpool won 3–1. He scored Forest's goal.
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Nemanja Vidić
Nemanja Vidić (Serbian Cyrillic: Немања Видић, Serbian pronunciation: [ně̞maɲa v̞ǐːditɕ]) (born 21 October 1981) is a Serbian footballer who captains English Premier League club Manchester United. He was part of the Serbia national football team from 2002 to 2011.
After establishing himself at Red Star Belgrade during the early 2000s, Vidić moved to Spartak Moscow in the summer of 2004. He further increased his reputation when he was part of the "Famous Four" Serbian national team defence that conceded just one goal during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. He would later sign for Man United for around £7m in January 2006 before establishing a prominent defensive partnership with Rio Ferdinand the following season and earning a reputation for his no-nonsense defending.
He has collected a host of honours in his United career including 3 consecutive Premier League titles (4 titles in total), the UEFA Champions League, the FIFA World Club Cup, three League Cup medals, as well as being included in three consecutive (4 in total including 2010–11 season) PFA Team of the Year sides from 2007 to 2009. In the 2008–09 season, he helped United to a record-breaking run of 14 consecutive clean sheets and was awarded the Barclays Player of the Season. He also collected both the club's Fans' and Players' Player of the Year awards. At the start of the 2010–11 season Vidić was selected as the new team captain of Manchester United. He collected his second Barclays Player of the Season in 2010-11.
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Neville Southall
Neville Southall MBE (born 16 September 1958) is a Welsh former international footballer. He has been described as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation and won the FWA Footballer of the Year award in 1985. He was awarded the MBE in 1995 for his services to football.
After joining Bury from Winsford United for £6,000 in 1980, he moved on to Everton for £150,000 the following year. He went on to make a club record 578 appearances in the Football League and Premier League (750 in all competitions); his honours with the club include a European Cup Winners' Cup medal in 1985, a First Division championship medal in 1984–85 and 1986–87, an FA Cup winners medal in 1984 and 1995, and an FA Charity Shield winners medal in 1984, 1985, 1986, and 1995. He also played in the 1985 and 1989 FA Cup finals, the League Cup final in 1984, and helped Everton to second place in the league in 1985–86. After leaving Everton in 1998, he became Torquay United's regular goalkeeper for two years. He also made a handful of appearances for numerous other clubs. He played internationally for Wales, winning a record 92 caps between 1982 and 1998; despite this he did not feature in any major international competitions. According to the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation, he played a total of 979 competitive matches for club and country.
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Nick Barmby
Nicholas Jon "Nick" Barmby (born 11 February 1974) is an English former professional footballer and former manager of Football League Championship club Hull City.
As a player he played as a midfielder and at his peak he earned a total of 23 caps for England between 1995 and 2001. As well as two Premier League seasons with Hull, Barmby has appeared in England's top flight for Tottenham Hotspur, Middlesbrough, Everton, Liverpool and Leeds United having also represented Nottingham Forest outside the Premiership. Barmby is one of only five players to have scored for six different Premier League teams.
Growing up on the west side of Hull, he played for local teams Springhead and National Tigers as a boy showing talent from a very early age. Consequently, he ended his education at the local Kelvin Hall High School (where he started in 1985) early in order to complete his studies at the Football Association's School of Excellence, while also honing his skills for the professional game.[citation needed] His father, Jeff Barmby, was also a player in his younger days and became his son's advisor and agent as his skills began to attract the attention of various clubs.
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Nicolas Anelka
Nicolas Sébastien Anelka (French pronunciation: [nikɔlas anɛlka]) (born 14 March 1979 in Le Chesnay, France) is a professional football player who is currently a player and assistant manager of Shanghai Shenhua. Anelka was also a regular starter for the French national team. Former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has described him as a quick player with good aerial ability, technique, shooting, and movement off the ball.
Anelka began his career at Paris Saint-Germain, but soon moved to Arsenal. He became a first team regular and won the PFA Young Player of the Year Award the following season. Real Madrid signed him for £22.3 million in 1999, a record fee at the time, but he did not settle in well and returned to Paris Saint-Germain in a £20 million deal. Despite regular first team football in Paris, Anelka set his eyes upon the Premier League once more; he went on loan to Liverpool in January 2002 but joined Manchester City for £13 million at the start of the 2002–03 season.
After three seasons in Manchester, he moved to Fenerbahçe for two seasons before returning to England to join Bolton Wanderers – in deals worth £7 million and £8 million, respectively. He transferred to Chelsea from Bolton for a reported £15 million in January 2008. During his transfers over the years, he has built an aggregate transfer cost of just under £90 million. On 12 December 2011, Shanghai Shenhua announced that they have reached an agreement with Anelka to join the team when the winter transfer window opens.
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Nigel Clough
Nigel Howard Clough (born 19 March 1966) is an English former footballer and the current manager of Derby County. Playing predominately as a striker, but later in his career was used as a midfielder, Clough was capped by England 14 times in the early 1990s.
Clough is most notable for his time at Nottingham Forest, where he played over 400 times in two separate spells, mostly under the managership of his father Brian and scored 131 goals, making him the second highest scorer in the club's history. He subsequently had spells with Liverpool, Manchester City and Sheffield Wednesday before moving into non league football at the age of 32 when he became player manager with Southern Football League Premier Division side Burton Albion in 1998. Over the next decade, during half of which he continued to play a regular role on the field, Clough took Burton up from the seventh tier of the English football league system to the brink of promotion to League Two before leaving halfway through the 2008-09 season to follow in his father's footsteps and take over at Derby County.
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Nigel Martyn
Antony Nigel Martyn (born 11 August 1966), more commonly known as Nigel Martyn, is a former English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper from 1987 until 2006
Having started his career with Bristol Rovers he moved to Crystal Palace where he became the first £1million goalkeeper in British football and also won the Full Members Cup. Martyn then left to spend six seasons at Leeds United. He went on to win 23 England caps. An ankle injury forced him to retire in 2006, following three seasons at Everton.
Born in St Austell, Cornwall, Martyn started his career as a midfielder until invited to play as a goalkeeper for his brother's works team when he was sixteen. He started by playing amateur football for Cornish sides Heavy Transport F.C., Bugle and St Blazey while working in a plastics factory and for a coal merchant, before beginning his professional career with Bristol Rovers in 1987 after apparently having been "spotted" by Rovers' tea lady whilst she was on holiday.
While still in Cornwall he was also a cricketer, and played with Cornwall Schoolboys as a wicket keeper, as well as Fowey C.C. Since his retirement from professional football, he has returned to cricket, playing regularly for a local Leeds team.
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Nigel Pearson
Nigel Graham Pearson (born 21 August 1963) is an English football manager and former professional player. He is currently in his second spell as manager of Leicester City, having previously managed Hull City, Southampton and Carlisle United, and been assistant manager for England Under-21s and Newcastle United. During his playing career, he was a defender and played for Shrewsbury Town, Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough.
Pearson was born in Nottingham where he attended William Sharp Comprehensive school, and began his playing career with non-league Heanor Town before joining Second Division Shrewsbury Town in November 1981. He made his first team debut in a 1–0 defeat at Oldham Athletic on the opening day of the 1982–83 season. Pearson's first Football League goal came on 12 March 1983 in a 3–1 win against Barnsley at Gay Meadow. Pearson ended the season with 39 out of a possible 42 starts as Shrewsbury finished in ninth place in the table.
The following season, Shrewsbury finished one place higher but injuries restricted Pearson to 26 games. Injury prevented him from playing at all in 1984–85, when Shrewsbury again finished eighth in the table, but he returned in 1985–86 making 35 appearances as Shrewsbury dropped to 17th.
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Nílton Santos
Nílton Reis dos Santos (born 16 May 1925) is a Brazilian former association footballer who played defender. Born in Rio de Janeiro, he was a pioneering left back, being one of first full backs to participate in the offensive game.
He was called "The Encyclopedia" because of his knowledge of the sport of football. He was world class both at defending and attacking and possessed very good technique. Nílton was a key player in defence during the 1954, 1958 and 1962 World Cup finals (he was also in the Brazilian squad for the 1950 finals, but made no appearances) and became famous for scoring a magnificent goal in the 1958 tournament when Brazil played Austria. Dribbling his way through the whole field, he finished with a superb shot, driving his coach Vicente Feola crazy (he kept on insisting for Nílton to retreat to the defensive field, but was ignored until the goal was scored).
Pelé named him in his "top 125 greatest living footballers" in March 2004.
Nílton Santos played for only 2 teams in his professional career; Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas and the Brazilian national team collecting 75 caps and scoring 3 goals; he is regarded as the best left wingback in the history of the game.
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Oliver Kahn
Oliver Rolf Kahn (German pronunciation: [ˈɔ.lɪ.vɐ ˈkʰaːn], byname Der Titan [deɐ̯ ti.ˈtʰaːn] (the Titan); born 15 June 1969) is a former German football goalkeeper. He started his career in the Karlsruher SC Junior team. He had his debut game in the professional squad in 1987. In 1994, he was transferred to Bayern Munich for the fee of 4,600,000 DM, where he played until the end of his career in 2008.
He is one of the most successful German players in recent history, having won eight German championships, six German cups, the UEFA Cup (1996), the UEFA Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup (both 2001). His individual contributions have earned him four consecutive UEFA Best European Goalkeeper awards, three IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper awards, and two German Footballer of the Year trophies. At the 2002 FIFA World Cup, he became the first and only goalkeeper in the tournament's history to win the Golden Ball.
From 1994 to 2006, Kahn was part of the German national team, in which he played as a starter after the retirement of Andreas Köpke. In the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the team reached the Finals. While the team was several times derided for their poor performance, Kahn's prowess proved to be the deciding factor in several games up until the final, where Germany lost to Brazil 0–2 and Kahn received criticism for two blunders. Nonetheless, he was named the tournament's best player and received the Golden Ball award.
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Omar Sívori
Enrique Omar Sívori (2 October 1935 – 17 February 2005) was an Italian Argentine football striker and manager. He is known for his time with the successful Juventus side during the late 1950s and early 1960s. At club level he also played for River Plate and Napoli.
On the international level, he first appeared for the Argentine national team, winning the Copa América. Later in his career, he played for the Italian national team and took part in some of the 1962 World Cup. After his retirement as player, he coached several teams in Argentina, including the national side.
Sívori's footballing talent was acclaimed and he won the coveted European Footballer of the Year in 1961.
Encyclopædia Britannica describe his playing style as "audacious and brilliant". Sívori utilized his dribbling skills and favourite move of the nutmeg (playing the ball between an opposition players legs) to defeat defenders. Primarily a left footed player, Sívori had the ability to score with his left, his right and despite his relatively short stature his head; this would sometimes see him receiving kicks to the face.
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Osvaldo Ardiles
Osvaldo César Ardiles (born 3 August 1952 in Bell Ville, Córdoba Province), often referred to in Britain as Ossie Ardiles, is a football coach, pundit and former midfielder who won the 1978 World Cup as part of the Argentine national team. He now runs his own soccer school in the UK called the Ossie Ardiles Soccer School.
A competitive and skilled midfielder, Ardiles became a cult hero in England, along with Glenn Hoddle and compatriot Ricardo Villa, as a player for Tottenham Hotspur. He left England for a period on loan as a result of the outbreak of the Falklands War in 1982, thus missing most of the 1982–83 English season.
As manager of Tottenham in the mid-1990s, he played several matches utilizing a formation that had five forwards, a formation that hadn't been used in English football since the 1950s.
In Ireland he has been a pundit for RTÉ Sport.
In January 2012, newly promoted J. League Division 2 side Machida Zelvia appointed Ardiles as their manager.
As a youngster, Ardiles played football in the streets and was given the nickname Pitón (python) by his brother because of his snake-like dribbling skills. He began his professional career in Argentina with Instituto de Córdoba, alongside with Mario Alberto Kempes. He also played for Club Atlético Belgrano and Huracán. After the 1978 World Cup he moved to England to play for Tottenham where he spent ten seasons.
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Paolo Maldini
Paolo Cesare Maldini (born 26 June 1968) is an Italian former footballer who played as a left or central defender, being adept with either foot although naturally right footed. He spent all 25 seasons of his career at Serie A club Milan, before retiring at the age of 41 in 2009, becoming a symbol and a legend of the club. During that period, he won the Champions League five times, as well as seven Serie A titles, one Coppa Italia, five Supercoppa Italiana, five European Super Cups, two Intercontinental Cups. He played for 14 years for the Italian national team, making his debut in 1988 before retiring in 2002 with 126 caps and four World Cup participations.
Maldini played at a world class level for his entire career spanning 2 and a half decades, and won the Best Defender trophy at the UEFA Club Football Awards at the age of 39. He came second to George Weah for the FIFA World Player of the Year Award in 1995, the closest a defender had ever reached to winning the award at the time. He was also the Milan and Italy captain for many years and was considered a leader amongst leaders by fellow footballers, leading to the nickname "Il Capitano" (the Captain). Paolo's father Cesare formerly played for and captained Milan, and is a successful national U-21 manager.
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Paolo Rossi
Paolo Rossi (born 23 September 1956 in Prato) is an Italian former football striker. In 1982, he led Italy to the 1982 FIFA World Cup title, scoring six goals to win the Golden Boot/top scorer honors, and the Golden Ball. After his performance at the 1982 FIFA World Cup he became a hero in the hearts of all Italians. Rossi is one of only two players to have won all three honours at a single tournament (the other is the Argentinian Mario Kempes, in 1978). Javier Saviola, Lionel Messi, Sergio Agüero and Dominic Adiyiah accomplished this in junior teams, in the 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cups respectively. He is listed among Pelé's 125 all-time greatest footballers.
Since retiring, Rossi has gone into sports journalism and punditry. He currently works as a pundit for Juventus Channel.
Rossi was born at Santa Lucia, in the province of Prato (Tuscany).
He made his debut in professional Italian football with Como, to which Juventus had sent him to gain experience after three operations on his knees, as a right wing, where his small build would not be a hindrance.
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Pat Jennings
Patrick Anthony "Pat" Jennings OBE (born 12 June 1945 in Newry, County Down) is a Northern Ireland former football player. He played 119 games for Northern Ireland as a goalkeeper, a figure which at the time was a world record and is still a Northern Ireland record, in an international career which lasted for over 22 years. During his career Jennings played for Newry Town, Watford, and in the top division with Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, winning the FA Cup with both of the north London rivals. In total, Jennings made over 1,000 top level appearances, and despite being a goalkeeper he scored in the 1967 FA Charity Shield.
After playing for Shamrock Rovers' under-18 side at the age of 11, Jennings concentrated on Gaelic football until he was sixteen years old, when he made his soccer comeback with his hometown side Newry Town. After impressing with the team he moved to English Third Division side Watford in May 1963. Jennings again impressed in his first season in England, playing every league game for his club, and making two international appearances that season. He was signed by Tottenham Hotspur for £27,000 in June 1964.
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Patrick Kluivert
Patrick Stephan Kluivert ([ˈpɛtrɪk ˈklœy̆vərt] ( listen); born 1 July 1976) is a Dutch former footballer, currently head coach of the youth side of FC Twente. He played as a striker for AFC Ajax, A.C. Milan, FC Barcelona, Newcastle United, Valencia CF, PSV Eindhoven, and Lille OSC. Kluivert played for the Dutch national team from 1994 to 2004. He is their all-time leading goalscorer with 40 goals. In 2004, he was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers chosen by Pelé as part of FIFA's centenary observances.
Patrick Stephan Kluivert was born on 1 July 1976 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. His father, a professional football player, was born in Calcutta, Suriname and his mother in Curaçao. Kluivert learned to play football on the street. After he played for football club Schellingwoude one year, he joined the AFC Ajax youth academy at the age of seven.
During his younger years, he played several different positions, even as a defender. He was strong in technique, football intelligence, and speed, but his personality was considered too impulsive. Kluivert played for the Dutch national teams under-15, under-16 and under-17.
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Patrick Vieira
Patrick Vieira (born 23 June 1976 in Dakar, Senegal) is a retired French footballer of Senegalese descent who is the Football Development Executive at Manchester City in the English Premier League.
He rose to prominence during his time at Arsenal from 1996 to 2005, where he won three Premier League titles – one unbeaten – and four FA Cups, eventually becoming club captain. After leaving Arsenal in 2005, he spent one season at Juventus before joining Internazionale in 2006, following Juventus' relegation for their part in a match-fixing scandal. He has 107 caps for France, and was part of their 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000-winning sides.
In May 2010, Vieira was nominated Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. He announced his retirement from professional football on 14 July 2011. Vieira is currently Football Development Executive at Manchester City with a role to oversee aspects such as youth development, commercial partners and the club's social responsibility programme, "City in the Community".
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Paul Breitner
Paul Breitner (born 5 September 1951 in Kolbermoor, Bavaria) is a former German football player. One of Germany's most controversial players, he was capped 48 times for his country.
His football career lasted from 1970 until 1983, mainly playing for Bayern Munich (1970–74 and 1978–83) and Real Madrid (1974–78), with one season playing for Eintracht Braunschweig. His early success was as a free roaming left back, as likely to score from the right midfield as to stop an attacker in his own penalty area. Later in his career he moved to midfield and became one of the top midfielders through the early 1980s.
The early peak of Breitner's long and successful career was at age 21 in 1972 as part of the winning German European Championship team. This was followed two years later with victory as a member of the German World Cup squad. The final was played in Munich against the Netherlands, and Breitner scored the first German goal on a penalty kick. In the final, he, Franz Beckenbauer and Berti Vogts formed a slick unit at the back and their water-tight defense prevented the Dutch from winning the World Cup. He moved to Real Madrid following the World Cup and quit the West German squad, remaining off the side until enticed to return by Jupp Derwall in 1981. Breitner is one of only four footballers to have achieved the feat of scoring in two different World Cup final matches, sharing that honour with Pelé, Vavá, and Zinédine Zidane. He achieved this in 1974 against the Netherlands and in 1982 against Italy.
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Paul Gascoigne
Paul John Gascoigne (born 27 May 1967), nicknamed Gazza, is an English retired professional footballer.
Playing in the position of midfield, Gascoigne's career included spells at Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Lazio, Rangers, Middlesbrough, Everton and Gansu Tianma, at all of which he scored at least one goal. He was capped 57 times for the England national football team.
Gascoigne was born in the Dunston area of Gateshead, England.
Gascoigne started playing football at the age of four, playing in the street and nearby park. He played for his school Brighton Avenue Primary School, Gateshead team from the age of eight, and later played for the local Redheugh Boys' Club although being underage. He later attended Breckenbeds Junior High School (which closed in September 1996) then the Heathfield Senior High School (also closed in September 1996), both in the Low Fell area of Gateshead.
He was noticed by football scouts while playing for Gateshead Boys, and given a trial at Ipswich Town although he failed to impress. Further trials at Middlesbrough and Southampton proved unsuccessful, before Newcastle United signed him as a schoolboy in 1980. At school he was once caught practising his autograph during a geography lesson, his reason being that he was "going to be a famous footballer". His teacher was unimpressed, telling him that "only one in a million becomes a professional footballer." Nevertheless, he was signed on as an apprentice at Newcastle in 1983, initially playing for the youth team under Colin Suggett.
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Paul Ince
Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince (born 21 October 1967 in Ilford, Greater London) is an English football manager and a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder from 1982 to 2007.
He spent the majority of his playing career at the highest level, after leaving West Ham United he joined Manchester United where he played in the Premier League. After two years in Italian Serie A with Internazionale he returned to England to play in the top flight for Liverpool, Middlesbrough and Wolverhampton Wanderers. After a spell as player-coach of Swindon Town, he hung up his boots whilst player-manager of Macclesfield Town in 2007. He went on to manage Milton Keynes Dons (twice), Blackburn Rovers and Notts County. He was capped 53 times by England, scoring 2 goals.
As a player he won numerous honours with Manchester United, became the first black player to captain the England team and was also the first black Briton to manage a team in the highest tier of English football.
Ince grew up as a West Ham United supporter. He was spotted playing, aged 12, by West Ham manager John Lyall around the time that the club was in the Second Division and achieved a surprise FA Cup final triumph over Arsenal.
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Paul Merson
Paul Charles Merson (born March 20, 1968) is an English former professional footballer, manager and current sports television pundit. As a player he played as a forward who later in his career dropped into the midfield playmaker position in a career that lasted from 1985 until 2006.
He notably played in the Premier League for Arsenal, Middlesbrough and Aston Villa, as well as appearing in the Football League for Brentford and Portsmouth. He also played for Walsall where he spent two years as player-manager before finishing his career in non-league football with Tamworth. He briefly came out of retirement in 2012 for Welshpool Town where he played in a one-off game. Merson earnt 21 caps for England, scoring 3 times.
Born in Harlesden, North West London, Paul Merson started his career at Arsenal, joining the club as an apprentice in 1984. After a loan spell at Brentford, then under manager Frank McLintock, he made his debut for the Gunners on 22 November 1986 against Manchester City, and gradually established himself in George Graham's successful Arsenal side of the late 1980s. By the 1988-89 season he was a regular on the right wing, at the end of which Arsenal secured the First Division title with a last gasp Michael Thomas goal in the final game of the season against Liverpool. Merson scored ten times that season, made his debut for the England U21 side, and was voted PFA Young Player of the Year.
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Paul Scholes
Paul Scholes ( /ˈpɔːl ˈskoʊlz/; born 16 November 1974) is an English footballer, a one-club man who has played his entire professional career for Manchester United.
Born in Salford, but later moving to Langley, Scholes excelled in both cricket and football whilst at school. He first trained with Manchester United at the age of 14 after being spotted by a scout visiting his school, signing for them as an apprentice on leaving school in 1991, and turning professional in 1993. He made his full debut for United in the 1994–95 season. He went on to play a key part in the club's Treble-winning success in the 1998-99 season, and has won ten Premier League, three FA Cup and two UEFA Champions League winners medals.
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.
Cited by some of his footballing peers as one of the best midfielders of his generation, Scholes has also been criticised for his discliplinary record, amassing over 120 bookings in all competitions during his career and being sent off ten times.
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Paulinho Cascavel
Paulo Roberto Bacinello, aka Paulinho Cascavel (born 29 September 1959), is a Brazilian retired footballer who played as a striker.
Unknown in his native land, he played with relative success in Portugal, most notably for Vitória de Guimarães and Sporting. His nickname stems from his birthplace.
Born in Cascavel, Paraná, Cascavel started his career with local amateurs Cascavel Clube Recreativo, then successively represented Criciúma Esporte Clube, Joinville Esporte Clube and Fluminense Football Club. In 1984 he moved to Portugal, signing with league powerhouse F.C. Porto, but his spell there was quite unassuming, as he amassed virtually no official appearances.
In the following season, Cascavel moved to Guimarães' Vitória Sport Clube, scoring 22 goals in his second year – league's best – as the Minho side overachieved for a final third place, and qualified for the UEFA Cup.
Cascavel was then signed by another league giant, Sporting Clube de Portugal, for 1987–88, repeating individual accolades in his first season, now with 23 goals, but the Lisbon side finished fourth. He also scored six in as many matches in the club's European Cup Winners' Cup quarterfinal run.
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Paulo Roberto Falcão
Paulo Roberto Falcão (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpawlu ʁoˈbɛʁtu fawˈkɐ̃w̃]; born October 16, 1953) is a Brazilian head coach and former footballer, currently managing Bahia. He is widely considered one of the best players in Internacional and Roma history, and one of the most talented midfielders of all time, especially at his peak in the mid 1980s. At one stage, he was the world's highest paid footballer, earning £10,000 a week.
For the Brazil national team, he was capped 34 times between February 1976 and June 1986. He was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers to mark FIFA’s centennial in March 2004.
Falcão began his professional career at Sport Club Internacional of Porto Alegre, in Rio Grande do Sul, where he played from 1973 to 1980, winning three Brazilian National Championships(1975, 1976, 1979) and reaching the finals of the 1980 Copa Libertadores, losing to Nacional. During his time at Sport Club Internacional, he was surprisingly left out of the Brazil squad for the World Cup in Argentina in 1978, though he made the shortlisted pre-tournament 40.
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Pavel Nedvěd
Pavel Nedvěd (Czech pronunciation: [ˈpavɛl ˈnɛdvjɛt] ( listen); born 30 August 1972 in Cheb) is a retired Czech football midfielder. He is one of the most successful Czech players to emerge from the newly formed Czech Republic, winning numerous accolades with Lazio and Juventus, including the last ever Cup Winners' Cup. Widely regarded as one of the finest midfielders of the modern era, he was the recipient of the prestigious Ballon d'Or in 2003, only the second Czech player to receive this honour, and the first since the breakup of Czechoslovakia. He was also the recipient of the 2nd Golden Foot award in 2004. Nedved was a key member of the Czech Republic team, which reached the final of Euro '96, during which he garnered much international attention. He was later given the international captaincy. Well known for his energy and tireless runs, as well as his goal scoring ability, Nedved was nicknamed Furia Ceca ("The Czech Fury", an Italian wordplay on the phrase Furia Cieca, meaning "Blind Fury") by Juventus fans.
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Pavel Pogrebnyak
Pavel Viktorovich Pogrebnyak (Russian: Павел Викторович Погребняк; born 8 November 1983 in Moscow) is a Russian association footballer who currently plays as a striker with the English side Fulham and with the Russian national team. He is nicknamed Pogreb ("The Cellar") or Velikiy Po ("Po the Great"), the latter was popularized by his former Zenit teammate Andrei Arshavin.
Pogrebnyak started playing football at the age of six for the Spartak Moscow football school. In 2001, he made his début for the Spartak reserve team and one year later he was selected for the first team squad. Between 2001 and 2003, he scored eight goals in 23 appearances.
In 2003, Pogrebnyak played 40 matches and scored 15 goals while on loan with Baltika Kaliningrad. The following season, he returned to Spartak Moscow, appearing 16 times and scoring two goals. The same season he also scored six goals for FC Khimki in 12 appearances. In 2005, Pogrebnyak played for Shinnik Yaroslavl and scored four goals in 23 matches. Pogrebnyak made his true breakthrough during the 2006 season with Tom Tomsk scoring 13 goals in 26 matches and became one of the favorites amongst the local fans.
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Pelé
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (name given as Edison on birth certificate, born 21 October 1940 (however, Pelé himself claims that he was born on 23 October) ), known by his nickname Pelé (Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: [peˈlɛ]), is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as the best football player of all time. In 1999, he was voted Football Player of the Century by the IFFHS International Federation of Football History and Statistics. In the same year French weekly magazine France-Football consulted their former "Ballon D'Or" winners to elect the Football Player of the Century. Pelé came in first place. In 1999 the International Olympic Committee named Pelé the "Athlete of the Century". In his career he scored 760 official goals. He is also the most successful Top Division goal scorer of all time with 541 League goals. In total Pelé scored 1281 goals in 1363 games.
In his native Brazil, Pelé is hailed as a national hero. He is known for his accomplishments and contributions to the game of football. He is also acknowledged for his vocal support of policies to improve the social conditions of the poor (when he scored his 1,000th goal he dedicated it to the poor children of Brazil). During his career, he became known as "The King of Football" (O Rei do Futebol), "The King Pelé" (O Rei Pelé) or simply "The King" (O Rei).
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Peter Beardsley
Peter Andrew Beardsley MBE (born 18 January 1961) is an English former footballer who played between 1979 and 1999. He once set a record transfer fee in the game and represented his country 59 times between 1986 and 1996, once as captain. He played for Newcastle United, Liverpool and Everton, having also had spells with Carlisle United, Manchester United, Vancouver Whitecaps, Bolton Wanderers, Manchester City, Fulham, Hartlepool United and the Melbourne Knights. He is currently employed as the Reserve Team manager of Newcastle United. He was briefly appointed as the club's caretaker manager in 2010.
Born in Longbenton, Northumberland, Beardsley was a product of the famous Wallsend Boys Club in North Tyneside. However, he was released as a teenager by hometown club Newcastle United and began his professional career with Carlisle United in 1978. He managed 22 goals in 104 league games, helping them win promotion to the Second Division at the end of the 1981–82 season.
He was transferred to Canadian club Vancouver Whitecaps on 9 September 1982, but his stay in North America was brief. Only weeks after arriving in Canada, he was on his way back to England when Ron Atkinson paid £250,000 to take him to Manchester United. He made just one first team appearance for United in a Football League Cup tie against AFC Bournemouth before returning to Vancouver on a free transfer on 1 March 1983, but again his stay in North America was a short one. He was on the move once again on 23 September 1983, this time to join Newcastle.
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Peter Crouch
Peter James Crouch (born 30 January 1981) is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Stoke City and the England national team.
Crouch started his career as a trainee with Tottenham Hotspur. However he failed to make a first team appearance for the club, leaving it in 2000 and playing for several teams including four Premier League clubs – Portsmouth, Aston Villa, Southampton and Liverpool – before returning and finally making his senior Tottenham debut in 2009. He was the second top-scorer in the 2006–07 Champions League season, behind AC Milan's Kaká.
Crouch was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire, but his family moved to Singapore when he was one year old, where they stayed for three years before returning to Great Britain and settling in Ealing, London. A keen footballer from an early age, he became a ball boy at the age of ten. As a child, he attended some Chelsea games. Later, he told the Liverpool official website that despite this, he and his friends at the time were fans of Queens Park Rangers.
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Peter Houtman
Peter Houtman (born June 4, 1957 in Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland) is a retired football striker from the Netherlands, who obtained eight caps for the Dutch national team in the 1980s, scoring seven goals.
Houtman played for Feyenoord Rotterdam and FC Groningen. He also had spells with Club Brugge, Sporting Lisboa, Sparta Rotterdam, ADO Den Haag and Excelsior Rotterdam. For Feyenoord he scored 90 goals in 153 official matches.
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Peter Reid
Peter Reid (born 20 June 1956) is an English football manager, pundit and retired player, who is currently without a club since his departure from Plymouth Argyle.
A defensive midfielder in his playing days, Reid enjoyed a long and successful career. He built his reputation as one of England's brightest midfield talents of the time at Bolton Wanderers, before signing for Everton in 1982. It was there that he enjoyed the most fruitful spell of his career, as he helped the club win domestic and European honours, including the Football League twice. He was voted as the PFA Players' Player of the Year in 1985 and came fourth in the World Soccer Player of the Year award, behind Michel Platini, Preben Elkjær and Diego Maradona. He also received his first senior England call-up that year, and represented his country at the 1986 FIFA World Cup and 1988 UEFA European Championship. He won 13 caps in total. Reid joined Queens Park Rangers in 1989, but moved on to Manchester City a year later to begin his managerial career.
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Peter Schmeichel
Peter Bolesław Schmeichel MBE (Danish pronunciation: [ped̥ɐ ˈsmɑɪ̯ˀɡ̊l̩]; born 18 November 1963) is a retired Danish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and was voted the "World's Best Goalkeeper" in 1992 and 1993. He is best remembered for his most successful years at English club Manchester United, whom he captained to the 1999 UEFA Champions League to complete the Treble, and for winning UEFA Euro 1992 with Denmark.
Born in Gladsaxe, Copenhagen, Schmeichel was famous for his intimidating physique (he is 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) tall and weighed about 105 kg (16 st 7 lb) during his playing days. He wore specially made size XXXL football shirts. Unusual for a goalkeeper, Schmeichel scored 11 goals during his career, including one for the national team. He is also the most capped player for the Denmark national team, with 129 games between 1987 and 2001. In addition to Euro 92, he played for his country at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and three additional European Championship tournaments. He captained the national team in 30 matches.
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Peter Shilton
Peter Leslie Shilton OBE (born 18 September 1949 in Leicester, England) is a former English footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He currently holds the record for playing more games for England than anyone else, earning 125 caps.
His 30-year career included eleven different clubs, three World Cups, two European Cup finals and more than 1,000 competitive matches. He has the rare distinction of having played over 100 league games for five different clubs. 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 10 clean sheets in World Cup finals with French keeper Fabien Barthez.
During his time at Nottingham Forest he won two European Cups, a UEFA Super Cup, the First Division championship, the Football League Cup and many other honours.
Shilton also holds the all-time record for the most competitive appearances in world football.
Shilton was a 13 year old pupil at King Richard III Boys School, Leicester, when he started training at schoolboy level with his local club Leicester City in 1963. He caught the eye of first-team goalkeeper Gordon Banks, who commented to the coach about how promising he was. Within four years, Shilton had forced Banks' own departure from Leicester after the teenager gave the club an ultimatum over which goalkeeper should be first choice.[citation needed]
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Phil Boyer
Philip John "Phil" Boyer (born 25 January 1949) is an English former footballer who played for various clubs during his career, including Southampton, Norwich City, Bournemouth and Manchester City. He has the rare distinction of having played over 100 league games for four different clubs. He also made one appearance for England.
Born in Nottingham, Boyer attended Musters Road School, Nottingham, from where he joined Derby County as a trainee in August 1965. Although he signed as a professional in November 1966, manager Brian Clough allowed him to leave the Baseball Ground in July 1968, without having made a first team appearance.
After completing his apprenticeship with Derby County, Boyer moved to York City in July 1968 for a fee of £3,000. In 125 appearances, Boyer scored 34 times but played an important role in creating opportunities for forward partner Ted MacDougall, with whom he was later to play at three other clubs. At the end of his first season at Bootham Crescent, York successfully applied for re-election to the Fourth Division, and their fortunes then gradually improved and they achieved promotion at the end of the 1970–71 season (after Boyer had left).
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Phil Neville
Philip John "Phil" Neville (born 21 January 1977) is an English footballer who captains Premier League club Everton. Neville also played for England from 1996 until 2007. He is the younger brother of former Manchester United defender Gary Neville, and the twin brother of England netball international Tracey Neville.
Neville won six Premier League titles, three FA Cups and the Champions League with his previous club, Manchester United. He can play in defence or midfield, and is often used as a full back. Due to this versatility he has operated in a number of different positions throughout his career.
Born in Bury, Greater Manchester, Neville, along with brother Gary, was one of "Fergie's Fledglings". Phil attended Elton High School where he was Deputy Head Boy. He started training with the Manchester United Academy along with his brother, then later joined as a trainee, making his first-team debut in the 1994–95 season but did not get many first-team opportunities until the following season.
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Pierre van Hooijdonk
Petrus Ferdinandus Johannes "Pierre" van Hooijdonk (Dutch pronunciation: [pi.ˈjɛr vɑn ˈɦoːɪ̯.dɔŋk], born 29 November 1969) is a retired Dutch football player who played as a striker. His last spell was at Feyenoord Rotterdam. Van Hooijdonk was capped 46 times for the Dutch national team, scoring 21 goals, and played in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2000 and Euro 2004. He was noted for his spectacular free kicks.
As a child, Van Hooijdonk who was born in Steenbergen lived in a small village nearby named Welberg. While playing in one of SC Welberg's youth squads he became familiar with the sport. His favourite team was NAC Breda and he was already watching their games at a young age. When he was 11 years old he took part in a talent pool on the open day of the team and he impressed the NAC scouts. He was asked to join NAC, which he did and played mainly as a right midfielder. When he was 14 he was told he was not good enough for NAC and he switched to amateur side V.V. "Steenbergen". Here he switched to the striker position and he would play five years for the team, of which the last two seasons in their first team. His performances at V.V. "Steenbergen" were noticed by RBC Roosendaal scout Tiny van Dijk and he was brought into the team at amateur level.
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Raimondo Ponte
Raimondo Ponte (born 4 April 1955 in Windisch, Switzerland) is a former Swiss international footballer, currently managing FC Chiasso.
He joined Nottingham Forest from Grasshopper-Club Zürich for the 1980–81 season and made 21 league appearances for Forest, before moving to play for French club SC Bastia.
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Ray Houghton
Raymond James "Ray" Houghton (born 9 January 1962) is a retired football player, and current analyst and commentator with RTÉ Sport. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Houghton played international football for the Republic of Ireland, for whom he qualified through his Irish father.
Houghton is particularly remembered by Irish fans for scoring two of the most important goals in the national team's history, which resulted in 1–0 victories over England in Stuttgart at the 1988 European Championship, and Italy at the Giants Stadium in New York at the 1994 World Cup. At club level Houghton is best remembered for his success in the Liverpool side of the late 1980s.
Houghton was born in Castlemilk, Glasgow but began his career in London at West Ham United where he came through the ranks and signed professional forms as a 17 year-old on 5 July 1979. Houghton's endeavour failed to make any impact at Upton Park and after 3 years, in which he made just 1 appearance as substitute, he was on the move. On 7 July 1982 he moved on to Fulham on a free transfer.
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Raymond Kopa
Raymond Kopa (born Kopaszewski, on October 13, 1931 in Nœux-les-Mines, Pas-de-Calais), is a former French football offensive midfielder, integral to the French national team of the 1950s.
Often considered one of leading players of his generation, Kopa was a free-role playmaker who was quick, agile and known for his love of dribbling. He was also a renowned playmaker, as well as a prolific scorer.
Born into a family of Polish immigrants, Kopa began his professional career at the age of 17 with SCO Angers in France's second level, and was transferred two years later to Stade de Reims, with whom he won French championships in 1953 and 1955. He helped Reims reach the first European Cup final in 1956, which the team lost to Alfredo Di Stéfano's Real Madrid, 4-3.
Kopa was transferred to Real Madrid the subsequent season, where he was soon joined by Ferenc Puskás. At Real Madrid, Kopa won the Spanish league in 1957 and 1958. Kopa also became the first French player to win the European Cup when Madrid defeated Fiorentina 2-0 in the 1957 final. He would go on to be European champion again in 1958 and 1959, the last against former side Stade de Reims, where Just Fontaine played.
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René van de Kerkhof
Reinier "René" Lambertus van de Kerkhof (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrɛi̯.nir rəˈneː lɑm.ˈbɛr.tʏs vɐn də ˈkɛrk.ɦɔf]) (born 16 September 1951) is a former Dutch football player, who played for FC Twente and PSV Eindhoven.
van de Kerkhof and his twin brother Willy were squad members of the Dutch national team that made the World Cup final in 1974 and became key players in the team that made the 1978 final. Overall, van de Kerkhof appeared 47 times for his country, scoring five goals.
He is well remembered due to the incident before the 1978 World Cup final, when the opponent Argentinians objected to the cast he wore on his injured forearm since it could have injured an Argentinian player. Despite the bandage having been passed by FIFA and worn in previous matches, the referee, Italian Sergio Gonella vacillated, while the Dutch players threatened to walk off the field. Finally an extra layer of padding was applied to the bandage as a solution, and the match could start.
1978 was his most successful year anyway, besides becoming runners-up at the FIFA 1978 World Cup tournament, he also won the UEFA Cup, the Dutch championship and the Dutch Cup with PSV that year: "we had won everything possible – the title, the Dutch Cup and the UEFA Cup, and we had five or six players who had been runners-up at the FIFA World Cup in Argentina with the Netherlands. It was a beautiful period under coach Kees Rijvers", Van de Kerkhof later would tell to Berend Scholten.
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Richard Dinnis
Richard Dinnis is a radio football commentator who was coach of Blackburn Rovers 1970-1975, coach and manager of Newcastle United in 1975–1977. He currently works as a football commentator for BBC Radio Lancashire, commentating on local football games in North West England.
Dinnis never played professional football, only ever playing amateur football. He was a schoolteacher in Darwen Lancashire teaching Physical education . He obtained his Football Association 'A' Licence coaches badge and then was employed as reserve team coach at Blackburn Rovers. When their manager, Gordon Lee took over as manager at Newcastle United, he appointed Dinnis as first team coach. During the 1975-76 season Dinnis was a peripheral figure. Dinnis himself said that his main job was to support Gordon Lee. At the start of the 1976-77 season Dinnis took over the coaching duties with Lee picking and motivating the team.In 1976 Newcastle went to the League Cup Final against Manchester City with Gordon Lee as manager and Dinnis as coach. "Don't shoot the ball boy". Toonarama. http://www.toonarama.co.uk/managers/dinnisa.html. Retrieved 2007-08-18. </ref>
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Rickie Lambert
Rickie Lee Lambert (born 16 February 1982) is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Southampton. Lambert began his professional career with Blackpool in 1998 and later played for Macclesfield Town, Stockport County, Rochdale and Bristol Rovers before moving to Southampton for £1 million in August 2009.
Lambert proved a key signing for Southampton, scoring 21 goals in the league to seal promotion to the nPower Championship in 2010, and 27 league goals the following season to secure the Saints' promotion back to the Premier League after their seven year absence. He has won the "Golden Boot" award in 3 of the last 4 seasons, and was named the nPower Championship Player of the year for 2011-12.
Lambert is known for his large stature and physical performances, and his ability to score both from open play and set-pieces. He has drawn comparisons with Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier for his physical appearance, remarkable ability in front of goal and penalty taking ability. Lambert has converted from the spot successfully at every attempt for the club; Le Tissier converted 47 out of 48 times.
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Rinat Dasayev
Rinat Fayzrakhmanovich Dasayev (Russian: Ринат Файзрахманович Дасаев, Tatar: Rinat Faizrahman uly Dasaev; born June 13, 1957 in Astrakhan, Russian SFSR) is a Russian former football goalkeeper of Tatar ethnicity, who played in three World Cups with the Soviet national team. He is considered the second best Russian goalkeeper ever behind Lev Yashin, and one of the best in the world in the 1980s. He was awarded the title of the World’s Best Goalkeeper of the Year award in 1988 by the IFFHS. In 2004, he was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers.
Dasayev, nicknamed “The Iron Curtain” and "The Cat", was a goalkeeper for the Russian football club Spartak Moscow during most of the 1980s. He won the Soviet championship in 1979 and 1987 and was named Best Soviet Goalkeeper by Ogonyok (Огонëк) magazine in 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988. In 1982 he was named Soviet Footballer of the Year. Dasayev played for the Soviet national team at the 1980 Summer Olympics, winning the bronze medal. He appeared in the 1982, 1986 and 1990 FIFA World Cups, as well as the Euro 88 (where the Soviet Union lost the final and Dasayev was powerless to stop Marco van Basten's legendary volley). In total, he was capped 91 times from 1979 to 1990, being the second-most capped player ever for the Soviet Union.
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Rio Ferdinand
Rio Gavin Ferdinand (born 7 November 1978) is an English footballer. He plays at centre back for Manchester United in the Premier League and for the England national football team. He has amassed 81 caps for England in total, and has been a member of three FIFA World Cup squads.
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 three times in four 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.
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Rivaldo
Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira (born 19 April 1972), commonly known as Rivaldo (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁiˈvawdu]), is a Brazilian professional footballer for Kabuscorp. He plays as an attacking midfielder and sometimes as a supporting striker.
He most notably played five years with Spanish club FC Barcelona, with whom he won the 1998 and 1999 Spanish La Liga championship and the 1998 Copa del Rey. Between 1993 and 2003, Rivaldo played 74 matches and scored 34 goals for the Brazil national football team and was an integral part of the 2002 FIFA World Cup winning Brazilian team.
In 1999, Rivaldo was honoured as FIFA World Player of the Year, Ballon d'Or winner and European Footballer of the Year. He was named by Pelé as one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards Ceremony in 2004. He is also the president of Mogi Mirim Esporte Clube in his native Brazil.
Born in Paulista, Pernambuco, Brazil, Rivaldo had an extremely poor upbringing in the favelas of the port town of Recife. His physical appearance still marks the poverty he experienced in his childhood: malnourishment-caused bowleggedness and the loss of several teeth. Rivaldo began his professional career at the age of 16, when he signed with Paulistano, from Pernambuco, in 1989, despite the Paulistano coaches believing him too physically weak to succeed. Rivaldo's father Romildo was killed in a road accident in 1989, but Rivaldo went on to his first professional contract later that year.
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Rob Lee
Robert Martin "Rob" Lee (born 1 February 1966 in West Ham, London) is a retired English footballer who played the majority of his career for Charlton Athletic and Newcastle United.
Lee came through the academy of Charlton Athletic and established himself in the first team by the 1984–85 season. He rapidly became the Addicks' star player playing as a winger and helping Charlton to promotion to the First Division at the end of the 1985–86 season. He remained a regular in the top-flight over the next four years until Charlton were relegated back to Division Two at the end of the 1989–90 season.
Lee remained with Charlton for over two years, but he was sold after the beginning of 1992–93 season as the club needed money to finance the return to The Valley. At the time, Charlton were second in the table, and Lee moved to the team above them, Newcastle United, for a fee of £700,000. He moved to Newcastle after their manager, Kevin Keegan, told him that Newcastle upon Tyne was closer to London than Middlesbrough, the other club interested in signing Lee, and who were in the Premier League - though ultimately Newcastle were promoted that season and Middlesbrough were relegated.
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Rob Rensenbrink
Pieter Robert ("Rob") Rensenbrink (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈpi.tər ˈroʊ̯.bərt (ˈrɔp) ˈrɛn.sə(m).ˌbrɪŋk], born July 3, 1947 in Amsterdam) is a former Dutch football player and member of the Dutch national football team that reached two World Cup finals in 1974 and 1978. A creative left winger of considerable talent, he became a legend in Belgium whilst playing in the great Anderlecht side of the 1970s. A talented dribbler as well as a cool finisher, he only ever missed two penalties in his entire career, and often enjoyed telling the keeper beforehand where he was going to place the ball, and then still beating him there. He was also the first winner of the Onze d'Or
Born in Amsterdam, Rensenbrink started his career at DWS, an Amsterdam amateur club, before moving to Belgian side Club Brugge in 1969. Between 1971 and 1980 he played for Anderlecht where he enjoyed his greatest club successes. In total when in Belgium he twice won the Belgian Championships, the Belgian Cup five times and at European club level the European Cup Winners' Cup twice (in 1976 and 1978 as well as being runner-up in 1977). Among his team mates was Dutch internationalist compatriot, Arie Haan.
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Robbie Fowler
Robert Bernard "Robbie" Fowler (born 9 April 1975) is an English professional footballer and manager who plays as a striker and is currently without a club
He is best remembered for his playing days at Liverpool and is the fourth-highest goalscorer in the history of the Premier League. Fowler scored 183 goals in total for Liverpool, 128 of which were scored in the Premier League (162 Premier League goals in total). He subsequently played for Leeds United and Manchester City, before returning to Liverpool in January 2006.
He moved clubs 18 months later to sign for Cardiff City. He refused a one year "pay as you play" contract extension and signed with Blackburn Rovers on a three-month "pay as you play" deal instead. In December 2008, he departed Blackburn and forged a career in Australia with North Queensland Fury and Perth Glory. In 2011 he joined Thai side Muangthong United as a player, but later was appointed player/manager where he remained until 2012. He has been capped for England twenty-six times, scoring seven goals.
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Robert Pirès
Robert Emmanuel Pirès (born 29 October 1973 in Reims) is a French international footballer who is currently a free agent. He is perhaps best known for his time with Arsenal, with whom he won three FA Cups and two FA Premier League titles including the club's famous unbeaten season of 2003–04. A former France international, Pirès earned 79 caps between 1996 and 2004 for his country, including winning both the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000.
Pirès has played the majority of his career as a left winger, but can also play all across the midfield or in a position to support the striker(s).
Pirès was born in Reims to a Portuguese father and Spanish mother. Pirès, the elder of two boys, spent most of his childhood dressed in two football shirts that reflected his divided loyalty. One was a Portugal shirt (his father was a Benfica fan) and the other was a Real Madrid shirt. Pirès confessed he had difficulty in school because his French was not good due to the fact his parents only spoke Spanish and Portuguese. His passion for football was inherited from his father, António, who played with Les Corpo, a local team, and every Saturday night Pirès would watch him play. At the age of 15, Pirès left school and began his dream of a career in football with a two-year sports degree course in Reims. At the insistence of his mother, Pirès continued with Reims and eventually was called up four years later.
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Roberto Baggio
Roberto Baggio (Italian pronunciation: [roˈbɛrto ˈbaddʒo]; born 18 February 1967) is a retired Italian footballer. Widely regarded as one of the finest footballers of all time (4th in the Fifa internet poll; member of the Fifa World Cup Dream Team), Baggio won both the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year in 1993. He is the only Italian player ever to score in three World Cups. He is also one of the top 5 all-time goalscorers for Italy. Baggio is known as Il Divin Codino (The Divine Ponytail), for the hairstyle he wore for most of his career and his Buddhist background.
Baggio was born in Caldogno, Veneto, son of Matilde and Fiorindo Baggio. He has 7 brothers and sisters. As a youngster, he always had a keen interest in the sport of football and played for a local youth club over a period of nine years. After scoring 6 goals in one game, Baggio was persuaded by scout Antonio Mora to join Vicenza. Roberto Baggio is the 6th of 8 siblings. His younger brother, Eddy Baggio, was also a footballer who played 86 games in Serie B. After his serious career threatening injury in 1985, Baggio, formerly a Roman Catholic, converted to Buddhism. He married his girlfriend Andreina Fabbi in 1989, in a traditional Roman Catholic ceremony however. They have a daughter, Valentina, and two sons, Mattia and Leonardo.
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Roberto Rivelino
Roberto Rivellino (born 1 January 1946 in São Paulo) is a former Brazilian footballer.
The son of Italian immigrants from Macchiagodena (Isernia), he was famous for his large moustache, thunderous long-range free kicks, excellent long passes, quick thinking and distinct way of controlling the ball. He also invented a football move called the "flip flap", famously copied by Ronaldinho, Zlatan Ibrahimović and Cristiano Ronaldo in recent years. He is widely regarded as one of the most graceful football players ever, and among the very best midfielders of his generation.
Rivellino started as a futsal player at Clube Atletico Barcelona. After that, he tried his luck with Barcelona's biggest rival in futsal, Corinthians, where he moved on to professional football and quickly became a favourite of the fans—and was therefore nicknamed "O Rei do Parque" (King of the Park) (after the club's home ground, Parque São Jorge). However, the late 60s and early 70s were one of the most troubled periods in the history of the club, which did not win a single São Paulo state league title from 1954 to 1977.
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Robin van Persie
Robin van Persie (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrɔbɪn vɑn ˈpɛrsi] ( listen); born 6 August 1983) is a Dutch footballer who plays as a striker for Arsenal and the Dutch national team. He is a youth product of Feyenoord. Having joined Arsenal in 2004, Van Persie became the club captain on 16 August 2011. His playing style and ability have drawn comparison to Dutch legend Marco van Basten.
The son of two artists, Van Persie was encouraged to follow in his parents' footsteps, but he instead preferred football and joined SBV Excelsior's youth squad. He made his breakthrough at his hometown club Feyenoord, where he spent three seasons and won the 2002 UEFA Cup. He was named the Dutch Football Talent of the Year for the 2001–02 season. Disagreements with manager Bert van Marwijk culminated in a change of club and Van Persie moved to Premier League side Arsenal for £2.75 million in 2004 as a long-term replacement for Dennis Bergkamp. He won the FA Community Shield and the FA Cup in his first season with the London club and went on to win the 2006 Rotterdam Sportsman of the year award. Van Persie has been named Premier League Player of the Month three times. Van Persie topped the goal assists leader board with 11 assists in the 2008–09 Premier League.
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Rod Wallace
Rodney Seymour "Rod" Wallace (born 2 October 1969) is an English professional footballer and reserve team coach of Combined Counties Football League side Epsom & Ewell. As a player he was a striker from 1988 to 2004.
Wallace was born in Lewisham but started his football career at Southampton in 1988 playing 128 league games scoring 45 goals. This form earned him a transfer to Leeds United where he won the First Division championship. After spending seven years at Leeds, Dick Advocaat signed him on a Bosman ruling transfer for Rangers where he scored 41 league goals and was part of the squad that won five out of six trophies in their first two seasons. After leaving Rangers in 2001 he signed for Bolton Wanderers on a free transfer for a season and then Gillingham before retiring from professional football.
He signed for the Saints as an apprentice in 1986 along with his twin brother Ray Wallace. Elder brother Danny Wallace had already become an established member of the Southampton first team.
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Roger Milla
Roger Milla (born Albert Roger Mooh Miller, 20 May 1952) is a retired Cameroonian footballer who played as a striker. He was one of the first African players to be a major star on the international stage. He played in three World Cups for the Cameroon national team.
He achieved international stardom at 38 years old, an age at which most forward-playing footballers have retired, by scoring four goals at the 1990 World Cup, the most memorable of which came in the match against Colombia when he dispossessed the showboating Colombian goalkeeper René Higuita 35 yards from goal, going on to score in the empty net with Higuita stranded. He helped the Cameroon team reach the quarter-finals.
He is also remembered for his trademark goal celebration of running to the corner flag and performing a dance. In the years that have followed, he has been recognised as a pioneer of the many unconventional and imaginative goal celebrations seen since then. He was named one of the 125 greatest living football players in 2004 by the legendary Brazilian football player Pelé.
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Romário
Romário de Souza Faria (born January 29, 1966 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), better known simply as Romário (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁoˈmaɾiu]), is a former footballer who played striker, manager and current politician. He helped the Brazil national team win the 1994 FIFA World Cup and was one of the most prolific strikers in the world.
He was selected the FIFA World Player of the Year and won the World Cup Golden Ball in 1994, chosen as forward on FIFA Dream Team and named as one of the Top 125 greatest living footballers as part of FIFA's 100th anniversary celebration. He is also known as one of very few strikers to surpass the mark of 1,000 goals.
From very humble origins, Romário was spotted in childhood when playing for Olaria, a small club from the Rio de Janeiro suburb. He was taken to the junior team of Vasco da Gama where he won two state leagues (1987/88) and earned his first call-ups to the national team. Romário came to international attention when he became the top scorer at the 1988 Olympic football tournament.
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Ronaldinho
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980 in Porto Alegre), commonly known as Ronaldinho (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁonawˈdʒĩɲu]) or Ronaldinho Gaúcho, is a Brazilian footballer who is currently a free agent and plays for the Brazilian national team as an attacking midfielder or forward. He is a two-time winner of the FIFA World Player of the Year, awarded to the best player over the year. He won the award in both 2004 and 2005.
"Ronaldinho," the diminutive and term of endearment for "Ronaldo," is accompanied in Brazilian usage by the nickname "Gaúcho," in order to distinguish him from fellow footballer and countryman Ronaldo, who was known as "Ronaldinho" in Brazil beforehand. Ronaldo simply went by his first name upon his move to Europe, thereby allowing Ronaldinho to drop the "Gaúcho" and go by the name Ronaldinho abroad.
Prior to his move to Flamengo, he played for Paris Saint-Germain F.C., FC Barcelona and A.C. Milan. With the Spanish club, he won his first Champions League in 2006 and the Ballon d'Or in 2005. He became a Spanish citizen in January 2007.
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Ronaldo
Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima (Portuguese pronunciation: [χoˈnawdu luˈiz naˈzaɾiu dʒi ˈlimɐ]; born 18 September 1976), commonly known as Ronaldo, is a retired Brazilian footballer who last played for Corinthians. He is considered by experts and fans as one of the greatest football players of all time. In 2012, he was voted Goal.com's "Player of the Decades" in an online poll gathering 29.55% of all votes. He won his first Ballon d'Or as the European Footballer of the Year in 1997 (aged only 21) and again won the award in 2002 (26 years old). Additionally, he is one of only three men to have won the FIFA Player of the Year award three times, along with French footballer Zinedine Zidane and Argentine striker Lionel Messi.
Considered by many as the most complete striker in the past 30 years, in 2007, he was named as one of the best starting eleven of all-time by France Football and was named to the FIFA 100, a list of the greatest footballers compiled by fellow countryman Pelé. In 2010, he was voted Goal.com's "Player of the Decade" in an online poll, gathering 43.63 percent of all votes and was also included as centre forward in the "Team of the Decade". On 23 February 2010, Ronaldo announced that he would retire after the 2011 season, signing a two-year contract extension with the Corinthians at the same time. Ronaldo has played for Brazil in 98 international matches, scoring 62 goals. He was a part of the Brazilian squad that won the 1994 and 2002 World Cups. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo became the highest goalscorer in the history of the World Cup with his fifteenth goal, surpassing Gerd Müller's previous record of 14. He is also the only player to have won the World Cup Golden Ball and Golden Boot in separate tournaments. Having suffered a string of serious injuries throughout his career, Ronaldo retired on 14 February 2011, citing pain and hypothyroidism as the reasons for his premature retirement.
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Roy Keane
Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish former footballer and manager. In his 18-year playing career, he played for Cobh Ramblers, Nottingham Forest, and Manchester United, before ending his career at Celtic. Keane was a dominating central-midfielder, noted for his aggressive and highly competitive style of play, an attitude which helped him excel as captain of Manchester United from 1997 until his departure in 2005, having joined the club in 1993. Keane helped United achieve a sustained period of success in more than 12 years at the club. He then signed for Celtic but retired as a player less than a year later.
He played at international level for much of his career, representing the Republic of Ireland over a period of 14 years, most of which he spent as captain. He played in every Republic of Ireland game at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, although he was sent home from the 2002 World Cup after an incident with national coach Mick McCarthy.
He was appointed manager of Sunderland shortly after his retirement as a player, and took the club from 23rd position in the Football League Championship in late August to win the division title and gain promotion to the Premier League. Keane's arrival was cited as the catalyst for Sunderland's recovery. He managed to keep Sunderland from relegation in the 2007–08 season, but in his second season as a top-flight manager he left his position with Sunderland in the relegation zone. In April 2009, he was appointed as manager of Ipswich Town, but was sacked by the club in January 2011 with them 19th in the Championship.
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Rudi Völler
Rudolf 'Rudi' Völler (Nickname Tante Käthe (engl. Aunt Käthe), born 13 April 1960 in Hanau, Hesse) (pronounced [ˈfœlɐ]) is a German former international football striker, and a former manager of the German national team. He won the FIFA World Cup in 1990 as a player and coached the national team to second place at the 2002 World Cup.
Rudi is an unlockable player in EA Sports, 2006 FIFA World Cup and EA BIG's FIFA Street 3 as a classic player and hard to beat. He was also included in the 'Classic Germany' team in Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer 6 and Pro Evolution Soccer 2009.
Criticism comes to Rudi Völler as he advertise for the controversial energy provider Teldafax.
Völler joined the Bundesliga team Werder Bremen in 1982, winning his first cap for Germany in the same year. Following a successful season, in which he became the Bundesliga's top scorer, foreign clubs became interested in the striker, and in 1987 he was transferred to A.S. Roma, where he became a mainstay of the team and earned the nickname 'il tedesco volante' (the flying German). He won the Italian Cup in 1991, and was the club's top scorer on several occasions.
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Rui Costa
Rui Manuel César Costa, OIH (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʁuj ˈkɔʃtɐ]; born 29 March 1972) is a former Portuguese football player and current Director of Football for Sport Lisboa e Benfica. An attacking midfielder also capable of playing as a deep-seated defensive midfielder. Renowned for his fine technique and his excellent passing, he's now considered as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation. In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100, as one of the 125 greatest living football players.
At the age of five, Costa joined the infant indoor football team of Damaia Ginásio Clube. Rui tried his luck at Benfica. Within ten minutes of training, Portugal legend Eusébio, who was supervising the youngsters, was impressed at Rui's skills. Up until 1990, Rui played for Benfica's youth squads. That season he was loaned to Fafe on a season long deal.
In 1991, after the Under-21 World Cup, which Portugal won after a victorious penalty kick scored by Costa, he returned to Benfica. There, he won the Cup of Portugal in 1993 and the Portuguese First Division title in 1993–94. This would be Benfica's last league title for 11 years.
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Ruud Geels
Geertruida ("Ruud") Maria Geels (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɣeːr.ˌtrœy̯.daː (ˈryt) mɑ.ˈrijaː ˈɣeːls]) (born July 28, 1948 in Haarlem, Noord-Holland) is a retired football striker from the Netherlands, who obtained 20 caps for the Dutch national team, scoring eleven goals, in the 1970s.
Geels was a prolific goal scorer, scoring 388 goals in seventeen years of professional football. He served several clubs. Geels is one of very few players alongside Ronald Koeman, who played for all three big clubs in the Netherlands: Ajax Amsterdam, Feyenoord Rotterdam and PSV Eindhoven. Geels was a member of the national team that ended up in second place at the 1974 FIFA World Cup.
With Feyenoord
Eredivisie: 1965, 1969
KNVB Cup: 1965, 1969
Uefa Champions League: 1970
With Club Brugge KV
Belgian League: 1973
With AFC Ajax
Eredivisie: 1977
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Ruud Gullit
Ruud Gullit (help·info) (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈryt ˈɣʏɫɪt], born as Ruud Dil [ˈryt ˈdɪɫ], September 1, 1962 in Amsterdam) OON is a Dutch football manager and former football player, who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the captain of the Netherlands national team that was victorious at Euro 88 and was also a member of the squad for the 1990 World Cup. He was named the European Footballer of the Year in 1987 and the World Soccer Player of the Year in 1987 and 1989. He was a versatile player, playing in numerous positions during his career. Gullit was working to promote the Belgian-Dutch 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup bid.
Gullit was born Ruud Dil in Amsterdam to George Gullit, a Suriname migrant, and Ria Dil, his buitenvrouw, from the Amsterdam Jordaan inner city district. The family lived in one split level room on the top floor of a small apartment building. Gullit's father worked as an economics teacher at a local school, his mother as a custodian at the Rijksmuseum.
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Ruud van Nistelrooy
Rutgerus Johannes Martinus "Ruud" van Nistelrooij (Dutch pronunciation: [ryt vɑn ˈnɪstəlroːi̯] ( listen); born 1 July 1976) is a retired Dutch footballer. He is the second-highest goalscorer in Champions League history with 60 goals. He is a three-time Champions League top scorer, as well as a top scorer in three different European domestic leagues. He was a pure goal scorer known for his shooting ability, calmness in front of goal and positioning.
Van Nistelrooy began his career with Den Bosch, before moving onto Heerenveen, eventually making a name for himself at PSV Eindhoven where he won two Dutch leagues. His goalscoring record at PSV attracted attention from Manchester United; a deal was in place in the summer of 2000, but because of injury problems his move was secured a year later for a then British record fee of £19 million. His time at United was successful, winning the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and FA Community Shield, along with winning the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year twice. Van Nistelrooy hit 150 goals in just 219 games for United, as well as being their all time European record goalscorer, but fell out of favour towards the end of his tenure. Real Madrid then secured his services in 2006. Although an injury blighted the end of his days with Madrid, he did win La Liga twice and the Supercopa de España before signing for Hamburg during the January transfer window in 2010. After a season-and-a-half with Hamburg, he moved back to Spain with Málaga in the summer of 2011. His retirement from football was announced on 14 May 2012.
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Ryan Giggs
Ryan Joseph Giggs OBE (born Ryan Joseph Wilson on 29 November 1973) is a Welsh footballer who plays for Manchester United. Giggs made his first appearance for the club during the 1990–91 season and has been a regular player since the 1991–92 season. He established himself as a left winger during the 1990s, and continuing in this position well into the 2000s, though he has been increasingly used in a deeper playmaking role in his latter years. Giggs is known for his tireless running, ball possession and ability to create goalscoring opportunities for those around him.
Giggs is the most decorated player in English football history. He also holds the club record for competitive appearances. During his time at United, he has won 12 Premier League winner's medals, four FA Cup winner's medals, three League Cup winner's medals and two Champions League winner's medals. He has two runner-up medals from the Champions League, three FA Cup finals and two League Cup finals, as well as being part of the team five times when it finished second in the Premier League. In recent years, Giggs has captained the team on numerous occasions, particularly in the 2007–08 season when regular captain Gary Neville was ruled out with various injuries.
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Rüştü Reçber
Rüştü Reçber (pronounced [ˈɾyʃty ˈɾetʃbeɾ]; born 10 May 1973, Korkuteli) is a Turkish international footballer who currently plays as a goalkeeper for Beşiktaş J.K. in the Turkish Süper Lig, having previously played for Antalyaspor, Fenerbahçe and Barcelona.
He has played a key role in the success of the Turkish national squad, and it was at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, where Turkey finished third, that his performances saw him selected for the tournament's all-star team. He is Turkey's record appearance holder, having earned 119 caps. He made his debut against Iceland in 1994 and his final appearance came against Armenia in 2009.
Rüştü was named the best goalkeeper in European competitions in 2002, selected for the 2002 UEFA Team Of The Year by public vote. In 2004, he was selected to FIFA 100 by Pelé as one of the 125 best living footballers in the world. Rüştü retired from international level after UEFA Euro 2008 with 120 international caps to his name but was called to play against Spain on 28 March 2009 and 1 April.
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Sam Allardyce
Samuel "Sam" Allardyce (born 19 October 1954), nicknamed "Big Sam", is an English football manager and former professional player. In June 2011 he was appointed as manager of West Ham United.
As a footballer he made over 400 appearances and played for Bolton Wanderers, Sunderland, Millwall, Tampa Bay Rowdies, Coventry City, Huddersfield Town, Preston North End, West Bromwich Albion and Limerick. Moving into management he took charge of Limerick, Blackpool and Notts County before managing Bolton Wanderers from 1999 to 2007. Commonly known as Big Sam, he led Bolton to a League Cup final as well as guiding them to UEFA Cup qualification for the first time in their history.
Following a spell at Newcastle United from 2007 to 2008, Allardyce managed Blackburn Rovers from 2008 until 13 December 2010.
Allardyce was born in 1954 at a recently built council house in Ash Green on the Old Park Farm Estate in Dudley. He was the son of Robert Allardyce (1916–1989) and Mary Agnes Allardyce (1918–1991). He has an older brother, Robert junior, who was born in 1951.
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Savo Milošević
Savo Milošević (Serbian Cyrillic: Саво Милошевић, Serbian pronunciation: [sǎʋɔ milɔ̌ːʃɛʋitɕ]; born 2 September 1973) is a retired Serbian footballer who played as a striker.
After making a name for himself at Partizan, he signed for Aston Villa, and went on to spend the vast majority of the following decade playing in Spain, where he represented four clubs, amassing La Liga totals of 241 games and 91 goals, and netting nearly 300 official goals over a 16-year professional career.
At international level, Milošević played for the national team of FR Yugoslavia (later renamed Serbia and Montenegro), and later for Serbia, surpassing the century of caps for both teams combined, and appearing in two World Cups and one European Championship.
Born in Bijeljina, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Milošević joined the youth ranks of FK Partizan at not yet 14, making his senior debuts in 1992, and scoring an astonishing 60 league goals in his last two seasons combined - a competition-best in both years - as the Belgrade side won back-to-back national championships, including the double in 1993–94.
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Scott Parker
Scott Matthew Parker (born 13 October 1980) is an English footballer who plays for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. He is the FWA Footballer of the Year for the 2010–11 season. He has represented England at every level from under-16 to senior. Uniquely, he won his first four England caps while playing for four different clubs. He is known as a tough tackling central midfielder.
Parker was born in Lambeth, London, and attended Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College in New Cross Gate. As a 13 year old, he appeared in a well-known British advert for McDonald's, in which he played keepie uppie, during the 1994 FIFA World Cup campaign. Parker is a graduate of The Football Association's now-defunct national School of Excellence at Lilleshall.
After graduating from Lilleshall, Parker signed for Charlton Athletic as a trainee and made his first team debut as a substitute against Bury in the First Division on 23 August 1997, a game which ended 0–0. He signed his first professional contract with the club two months later. Over the next couple of years he made only a few sporadic substitute appearances for Charlton, although he was one of the brightest prospects in English football. In October 2000 Charlton, then in the Premier League, loaned Parker to First Division side Norwich City for two months to give the England under-21 international some first team experience. At Norwich he scored once against Sheffield Wednesday. On his return to The Valley, Parker was immediately called into the first team to replace injured captain Mark Kinsella. Parker played so well for Charlton that, upon his return from injury, Kinsella could not regain his place in the starting line-up. Parker soon became the linchpin of Charlton's midfield, combining tenacious tackling with an ability to carry the ball quickly from defence to attack and play telling passes, creating many chances for his teammates. He played 145 times for Charlton, scoring 10 goals.
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Sepp Maier
Josef Dieter "Sepp" Maier (born 28 February 1944) is a German former professional football goalkeeper. His nickname was "Die Katze von Anzing" ("the cat from Anzing") for his fast reflexes.
Born in Metten, Bavaria, Maier has spent his entire professional career at Bayern Munich. He began playing for Bayern's youth sides in 1958. During the 1970s, he was part of the legendary Bayern team which included the likes of Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Müller and won three European Cups in a row, a German record. Between 1966 and 1979 he played in 442 consecutive Bundesliga matches, still a German national record.
Maier was selected in the West Germany squad for four consecutive World Cups. In 1966 in England, he was a non-playing deputy to Hans Tilkowski. At the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, he was the undisputed starter and played all games (including the legendary 3–4 semifinal loss to Italy after extra time) except the third-place match.
In the 1974 FIFA World Cup on home soil, at the top of his footballing abilities, he reached the peak of his international career as the Germans went all the way to the final with a legendary team that included the likes of Franz Beckenbauer, Berti Vogts, Gerd Müller and Paul Breitner. The greatest triumph came when the hosts defeated a Johan Cruyff-inspired Netherlands team 2–1 in the final in Maier's own hometown Munich.
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Shay Given
Séamus John James "Shay" Given (born 20 April 1976) is an Irish footballer who plays for Aston Villa and the Republic of Ireland national team as a goalkeeper.
With 121 international caps over the last 15 years, Given has made more appearances for the Republic of Ireland than any other player in history. With more than 100 caps, he is thus a member of the FIFA Century Club. He gained his first international cap in 1996, and has rarely missed a full international game since. He played in goal during every match for his country during the 2002 FIFA World Cup campaign, helping them to reach the knockout stage. He was later on the pitch in Paris when the Republic was controversially knocked out of the playoffs for a spot in the 2010 FIFA World Cup by France before helping his team qualify for UEFA Euro 2012.
Given started his playing career as a youth goalkeeper at Celtic in the early 1990s, leaving in 1994 having been deemed surplus to requirements, Given was part of the Sunderland team who won the Football League First Division title in 1995–96, while on loan from Blackburn Rovers. He was signed by Newcastle United in 1997, and it was there that he began competing to be a first-choice Premier League goalkeeper. Given was part of the teams who came runners-up in the 1998 and 1999 FA Cup campaigns, and was named in the Premier League Team of the Season for 2001–02 and 2005–06. He played in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup with Newcastle, and was involved in the club's title challenge in 2001–02. Although he submitted a transfer request during the 2000–01 campaign after losing his position in the starting lineup, it was denied, and Given went on to regain his place.
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Slava Metreveli
Slava Kalistratovich Metreveli (Georgian: სლავა მეტრეველი; Russian: Слава Калистратович Метревели) (30 May 1936 in Sochi - 7 January 1998 in Tbilisi) was a Georgian football player and later a football manager.
Metreveli played most of his career for Torpedo Moscow (1956-1962) and Dinamo Tbilisi (1963-1971).
He played for Soviet Union national team (48 matches/11 goals), and was a participant at the 1962 FIFA World Cup, 1966 FIFA World Cup, 1970 FIFA World Cup and at the 1960 UEFA European Football Championship, where the Soviet Union won the gold medal. In the latter, Metreveli scored in the final against Yugoslavia as they won 2-1.
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Sol Campbell
Sulzeer Jeremiah "Sol" Campbell (born 18 September 1974) is a retired English footballer. A central defender, Campbell has played for Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Portsmouth, Notts County and Newcastle United, as well as the English national team.
Born in east London to Jamaican parents, Campbell's professional debut was at the age of 18 for FA Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in December 1992. Campbell spent nine years at Tottenham, scoring 10 goals in 255 appearances, and captaining the team to victory in the 1999 Football League Cup Final against Premier League side Leicester City. In 2001 he controversially joined Tottenham's North London rivals Arsenal, the first high profile free transfer within the Premier League under the Bosman ruling. In his five years and 195 appearances at Arsenal he won two Premier League winners medals and two FA Cup winners medals, encompassing the 2001–02 League and FA Cup double, and being part of the team that became known as The Invincibles for their undefeated 2003–04 Premier League campaign. Campbell was also part of the side that lost 2–1 to Barcelona in the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final, in which he scored the only goal for Arsenal. In August 2006 he joined Premier League side Portsmouth on a free transfer; his three years with the club included captaining them to success in the 2008 FA Cup Final against Championship side Cardiff City.
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Sonny Anderson
Sonny Anderson da Silva (born 19 September 1970), known as Sonny or Anderson, is a retired Brazilian footballer who played as a striker.
A prolific goalscorer in the club level, he is best known for his spells with Lyon, Monaco (he played most of his abroad career in France) and Barcelona.
Born in Goiatuba, Goiás, Anderson started playing professionally with CR Vasco da Gama, but failed to make an early impression; after failing to score in 18 matches in his last year, he moved to Guarani Futebol Clube. His first abroad experience came with Servette FC, and his impact was instant, scoring 20 goals in his first season, then helping the club to the national league in the following, bagging 11 in just the first half of the season, as he left in January 1994 to Olympique de Marseille.
After six months, with L'OM relegated due to a bribery scandal, Anderson moved to fellow Ligue 1 team AS Monaco FC, scoring at an equally impressive pace, and winning team (1997 league) and individual accolades alike.
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Stan Bowles
Stanley Bowles (born 24 December 1948 in Collyhurst, Manchester, England) was a leading English footballer who gained a reputation as one of the game's greatest mavericks. He was a cousin of Paul Bowles.
Bowles began his career as an apprentice at Manchester City, although his fiery temper resulted in him falling out with coach Malcolm Allison and being released after a series of off-field incidents. After a brief and unsuccessful stay at Bury, he was signed by Ernie Tagg, manager of Crewe Alexandra, then in the Fourth Division, where his skill caught the eye of a number of bigger clubs. In October 1971 he was signed by Carlisle United, at the time a Second Division club, scoring 13 goals in 36 appearances for the Cumbrians. After a managerial change at the club, he was sold to Queens Park Rangers (QPR) for £112,000 in September 1972.
He replaced in the team a previous QPR folk-hero, Rodney Marsh, who had been transferred to Bowles' first club Manchester City only six months before. Bowles took over Marsh's number 10 shirt, which other players had been reluctant to wear in fear of being compared unfavourably to the mercurial Marsh. Bowles had no such qualms about taking the shirt, joking that, coming from the North, he had never really heard of Marsh.
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Stan Seymour
Stan Seymour (16 May 1895 – 24 December 1978) was a footballer who played, managed, chairmanned, and directed Newcastle United. Born in Kelloe, Seymour is one of the all-time Newcastle United greats, and was known as 'Mr. Newcastle United' after the various years and roles he delivered for the club. As a player, despite his small physique, he was famous for tearing defences from down the left wing.
After originally being rejected by Newcastle United as a teenager; the local pit worker was told to 'come back when you grow up', he played some non-league football for Shildon Athletic and Coxhoe before joining Bradford City in 1911 where he had a short spell at the Yorkshire-based side; making only one competitive appearance. After his short stint at Bradford, he then joined Scottish side Greenock Morton. He developed as a player at Morton, becoming popular with the locals who called him 'The little Englishman'. Unlike England, a fairly normal league season was played throughout the First World War in Scotland, and in all of Seymour's time in Greenock, Morton never finished outside the top four of what was a highly competitive league (the moment he had gone they slipped dramatically down the table). His performances were noticed back in England and he was eventually offered a transfer to the club who originally rejected him, Newcastle United in 1920 for a fee of £2,500.
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Stanley Matthews
Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the English game, he is the only player to have been knighted while still playing, 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".
A near-vegetarian teetotaller, he kept fit enough to play at the top level until he was 50 years old. He was also the oldest player ever to play in England's top football division and the oldest player ever to represent the country. He played his final competitive game in 1985, at the age of 70. Matthews was also an inaugural inductee to the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 to honour his contribution to the English game.
He spent nineteen 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. In between his two spells at Stoke he spent fourteen years with Blackpool; where he became an FA Cup winner in 1953 (known as the Matthews Final), after he was on the losing side in the 1948 and 1951 finals. Between 1937 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.
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Stephen Carr
Stephen Carr (born 29 August 1976 in Dublin) is an Irish footballer who plays for and captains Birmingham City. He previously played for the Premier League teams Tottenham Hotspur and, for a shorter spell, Newcastle United. He is a former international player with the Republic of Ireland. His position is right back, but had been known to deputise at left back or centre back when required.
As a fifteen year old, Carr went on trial from Stella Maris Football Club where he played his schoolboy football to Tottenham Hotspur and was signed up by then manager Ossie Ardiles. He made his debut for the club on 29 September 1993 away to Ipswich Town in the 1993–94 Premier League season. However he had to wait until the 1996–97 season to establish himself as a regular first-team player, when he made 28 appearances that campaign.
He picked up a League Cup medal with Spurs in 1999 after contributing to a 1–0 win over Leicester City in the final. The 1999-00 Premier League season was arguably his best ever as far as his performances are concerned, as well as scoring a fantastic 35-yard screamer[citation needed] against champions Manchester United.
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Steve Clarke
Stephen "Steve" Clarke (born 29 August 1963 in Saltcoats) is a former Scottish association football player and current First Team Coach of Liverpool FC. He played for St. Mirren, Chelsea and Scotland, winning three major trophies with Chelsea towards the end of his career. After retiring as a player he moved into coaching and has worked as an assistant manager for Newcastle United, enjoyed successes working alongside Jose Mourinho for Chelsea, and then alongside Gianfranco Zola at West Ham United.
Spotted whilst playing for Beith Juniors, Clarke started his professional football career with St. Mirren. Clarke was initially on a part-time contract with St. Mirren, while he completed an apprenticeship as an instrument engineer. He was transferred to Chelsea for £422,000 in February 1987. He stayed at Chelsea until 1998, making 421 appearances. He was a part of the Chelsea sides which won the 1997 FA Cup Final, 1998 Football League Cup Final and 1998 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final. The latter game, against VfB Stuttgart in Stockholm, was Clarke's final appearance for the club. In 2005 he was voted into Chelsea's centenary XI, occupying the right-back berth.
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Steve McClaren
Stephen "Steve" McClaren (born 3 May 1961) is an English football manager and former player, currently manager of Dutch team FC Twente.
His managerial career began at Middlesbrough in the Premier League, who won the League Cup in 2004 and finished as runners-up in the 2006 UEFA Cup. McClaren then served as manager of England from August 2006 to December 2007. He was sacked after England failed to qualify for the 2008 European Championship. In 2008 McClaren became manager of FC Twente, with whom he won the club's first Eredivisie championship in the 2009–10 season. He then worked as manager of VfL Wolfsburg in Germany between May 2010 and February 2011. After a short spell as manager of Nottingham Forest, he returned to Twente in January 2012.
Despite his successes at Manchester United, where he had been assistant manager to Alex Ferguson from 1999 to 2001, and Middlesbrough, he was vilified by the English media following England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008. He was dubbed 'the wally with a brolly', after his use of an umbrella to protect himself from rain during his final game in charge. McClaren's time in charge at FC Twente saw his professional reputation recover somewhat after he managed them to the Eredivisie title.
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Steve McManaman
Steven McManaman (born 11 February 1972) is a retired English footballer who played as a midfielder, winger and playmaker. Having spent his playing career at two of European football's most successful clubs of the 20th century,Liverpool and Real Madrid, as well as a spell at Manchester City, McManaman is the most decorated English footballer to have played at any foreign club in terms of trophies won overseas.
McManaman was the first British player to win the UEFA Champions League title twice, and was also the first English footballer to win the Champions League with a non-English club. In 2008, he was ranked third in a Top 10 of greatest British footballers to play overseas, just behind Kevin Keegan and John Charles.
He is also notable for a contractual saga in the late 1990s, that resulted in his football transfer becoming one of the most controversial and high profile Bosman ruling related transfers of all time, with the deal resulting in McManaman once becoming the highest paid British player in history, for the years 1999 through 2001.
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Steve Nicol
Stephen "Steve" Nicol (born 11 December 1961 in Irvine, Scotland) is a Scottish former professional footballer. A utility player who played in the all-conquering Liverpool team of the 1980s, he was most recently coach of New England Revolution, and was the longest-tenured head coach in MLS to coach a single club.
As a player, Nicol was a significant member of the all-conquering Liverpool team of the 1980s, with whom he won five Football League First Division titles, three FA Cup winners medals, and the 1984 European Cup. After 14 years with Liverpool, Nicol also played with several other English teams, including Notts County, Sheffield Wednesday and Doncaster Rovers, before emigrating to the United States in 1999.
He was the only defender to score a hat trick in the English Premier League.
He was also a regular member of the Scotland national football team, and represented his country at the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
Nicol started his career with Ayr United in 1979 and spent just over two seasons with the Scottish side, racking up 70 league appearances, before Liverpool manager Bob Paisley decided to pay, what turned out to be, a bargain price of £300,000 to bring Nicol to Anfield on 26 October 1981.
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Steve Perryman
Stephen John "Steve" Perryman MBE (born 21 December 1951 in Ealing, London) is a former English international football player who is best remembered for his successes with Tottenham Hotspur during the 1970s and early 1980s. Perryman was voted Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year in 1982 and made a club record 854 first team appearances for Tottenham Hotspur. He is now the director of football at Exeter City.
A midfielder and occasional defender, Perryman played in a club record 854 first team appearances, in all competitions for Tottenham Hotspur between 1969 and 1986. During his seventeen year career with the north London club, Perryman collected many medals, winning the UEFA Cup in 1972 and 1984 (playing in both legs of the 1972 final and just the first leg of the 1984 final), the FA Cup in 1981 and 1982 and the League Cup in 1971 and 1973.
After leaving White Hart Lane Perryman moved to Oxford United in 1986, then Brentford as player-manager in the same year, before retiring in 1990.
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Steven Gerrard
Steven George Gerrard MBE ( /ˈdʒɛrɑrd/; born 30 May 1980) is an English footballer who plays for and captains Premier League club Liverpool. He also has 91 caps for the England national team. He has played much of his career in a centre midfield role, but he has also been used as a second striker and right winger.
Gerrard, who has spent his entire career at Anfield, made his début in 1998 and cemented his place in the first team in 2000, succeeding Sami Hyypiä as team captain in 2003. His honours include two FA Cups, three League Cups, one UEFA Champions League, one UEFA Cup, and two Super Cups. In 2005, Gerrard came third in voting for the Ballon d'Or.
Gerrard made his international debut in 2000 and has represented England at the Euro 2000 and Euro 2004, as well as the 2006 World Cup where he was the team's top goalscorer with two goals. Gerrard first captained his country at the 2010 World Cup in the absence of regular captain Rio Ferdinand, who missed the tournament through injury. He was named again as England captain for the Euro 2012.
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Stig Inge Bjørnebye
Stig Inge Bjørnebye (born 11 December 1969) is a retired Norwegian footballer who played in Norway, England, and Denmark, most notably for Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers. His preferred position was left back, which he occupied for domestic clubs and the national team. Bjørnebye was appointed assistant manager of Norway in 2003, relinquishing the role three years later to succeed Tom Nordlie as manager of IK Start.
For club and country, Bjørnebye was noted for his precise deliveries from the flanks. Described as a "solid, no-nonsense full-back", Bjørnebye played competitive football for 16 years until injury compelled retirement in March 2003. He represented the Norwegian national team 75 times, scoring once, and appeared in 194 Premier League matches.
Bjørnebye was born in Elverum, the son of skier Jo Inge, who competed in the 1968 and 1972 Winter Olympics. As a child, Bjørnebye exhibited an interest in emulating his father by becoming a ski jumper.
His footballing career began as a youth player with home club Elverum IL, before joining Strømmen IF in the late 1980s. He moved to Kongsvinger IL in 1989, establishing himself as a first-team regular and securing a transfer to Rosenborg in 1992. His inaugural season with Rosenborg yielded the Norwegian Premier League and Norwegian Cup, in the final of, which he scored the deciding goal against Lillestrøm SK.
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Stuart Pearce
Stuart Pearce MBE (born 24 April 1962) is an English football manager and former player. He is currently manager of the England national under-21 team and most recently been made manager of the Great Britain Olympic football team. As a player, Pearce captained both the England national football team and Nottingham Forest, turning out 78 times for England between 1987 and 1999.
He retired as a player in 2002 while at Manchester City. He remained with the club as a coach under Kevin Keegan's managership until being promoted to the manager's job in 2005. He was manager of the club for two years before being dismissed. He is now full-time manager of the England U-21 team, a position he previously held part-time while still Manchester City manager.
Born in Shepherds Bush, London, Pearce first attended Fryent Primary School in Kingsbury, North West London before attending Claremont High School in Kenton. He failed a trial at Queens Park Rangers and then rejected an offer from Hull City, instead settling into a career in the non-league game with his local side, Wealdstone, while training and working as an electrician and plumber. For almost five years, he was the first choice full back for the team, then amongst the biggest names of non-league football in the Alliance Premier League.
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Syd Owen
Sydney William Owen (28 February 1922 – January 1999) was an English footballer and football coach.
Owen was born in Birmingham. He made 388 first-team appearances for Luton Town. In 1959 he was the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year and led Luton Town to the FA Cup Final. He became a highly valued member of Don Revie's coaching staff at Leeds United and later served Manchester United in a similar role.
He earned three caps for the England national football team, and was a member of the 1954 FIFA World Cup team.
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Sócrates
Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira, MD (19 February 1954 – 4 December 2011), simply Sócrates, was a Brazilian footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He was also a qualified doctor.
He played for Botafogo-SP before joining Corinthians in 1978. He then moved to Italy to play for Fiorentina, returning to Brazil in 1985 to end his career.
Sócrates was a technical playmaker, known for great through passes and his vision on the field, as well as his physical strength. He was also a two-footed player and a prolific goal scorer. His ability to read the game was highly valued, and his signature move was the blind heel pass. He was considered to be one of the greatest midfielders ever to play the game. Easily recognizable for his beard and headband, he became the "symbol of cool for a whole generation of football supporters".
Sócrates played for Brazil during seven years, scoring more than 20 goals and representing the nation in two World Cups, captaining the team in the 1982 edition; he also appeared in the 1979 and 1983 Copa América tournaments, and was named South American Footballer of the Year in 1983, being selected to Pelé's FIFA 100 list in 2004.
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Teddy Sheringham
Edward Paul "Teddy" Sheringham MBE (born 2 April 1966) is a retired English footballer, and the father of footballer Charlie Sheringham. Sheringham played as a striker, and had a successful career at the club level, winning almost every domestic honour available with his clubs, most notably the Treble with Manchester United in the 1998–99 season. The pinnacle of his career came when he scored the equaliser and provided the assist for Manchester United's winning goal in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final against Bayern Munich. Sheringham also represented England at international level. He was awarded an MBE in June 2007. He retired from competitive football at the end of the 2007–08 season with Colchester United, at the age of 42, after a career lasting 25 years.
Sheringham began his professional career at Millwall in 1982 at the age of 16, after impressing a scout when playing for non-league club Leytonstone & Ilford during a youth team game against Millwall. He was signed up, initially as an apprentice and scored on only his second appearance for the club in a match away at Bournemouth in January 1984. After being loaned out by the club twice in 1985 to Aldershot and later a Swedish side, Djurgården, he quickly became a first choice selection at Millwall and during the late 1980s formed a striking partnership with Tony Cascarino. He was the club's top goalscorer in four seasons (1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89 and 1990–91) and played in every game of the season twice, in 1986–87 and 1990–91.
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Terry McDermott
Terence "Terry" McDermott (born 8 December 1951 in Liverpool) is a former football midfielder and coach. He is the father of Newcastle United player Greg McDermott and Marsaxlokk player Neale McDermott
McDermott joined Bury as a youngster in 1969. He made a total of 90 appearances and eight goals before joining Newcastle United in 1973.
Manager Joe Harvey gave McDermott his Newcastle debut on 17 March 1973, at Old Trafford, with a match against Manchester United. He came off the bench but could not do anything to prevent Newcastle losing 2-1.
McDermott reached the FA Cup Final in 1974 against Liverpool. However, Newcastle lost the match 3-0.
Liverpool boss Bob Paisley, in his first season in charge after replacing Bill Shankly, brought McDermott to Merseyside in November 1974. He made his Liverpool debut, along with Phil Neal, on 16 November, in a Merseyside derby with fierce rivals Everton at Goodison Park. Neither side could break the deadlock with both sides sharing the points. McDermott's first goal came in a 1-1 league draw with Burnley at Turf Moor on 8 March 1975.
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Terry Venables
Terence Frederick "Terry" Venables (born 6 January 1943 in Dagenham), often referred to as "El Tel", is a former football player and manager, as well as being a media pundit. During the 1960s and 70s, he played for various clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers, and gained two caps for England. He was the national team manager of England from 1994 to 1996 (leading the team to the semi-finals of the 1996 European Championships), and of Australia from 1997 to 1998. He has also managed several club sides including Crystal Palace, Queens Park Rangers, Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United in England, and Barcelona in Spain.
Venables attended Lennards Secondary School (now The Ockendon Maths And Computing College) In South Ockendon, Essex.[citation needed]
Venables left school in the summer of 1957 and signed for Chelsea as an apprentice. He became professional for them in 1960, after being left out of England's Olympic squad. He emerged as the captain and one of the key players in the Chelsea side which challenged for honours in the 1960s, narrowly missing out on Football League and FA Cup success, and winning the League Cup in 1965, scoring in the final against Leicester City. But a fall-out with manager Tommy Docherty culminated in him and seven other players being sent home for breaking a pre-match curfew and ultimately led to his sale to Tottenham Hotspur for £80,000 in 1966. He had made 202 appearances for Chelsea and scored 26 goals.
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Teófilo Cubillas
Teófilo Juan Cubillas Arizaga (born 8 March 1949) is a Peruvian former footballer. He was selected as Peru's greatest ever player in an IFFHS poll, in which he was also included in the world's Top 50. He is one of only two players to have scored five goals in two different FIFA World Cups.
Nicknamed El Nene (The Kid), he was part of the Peru national team that won the 1975 Copa América. He helped Peru reach the quarter finals at the 1970 FIFA World Cup and again at the 1978 World Cup and was elected the South American Footballer of the Year in 1972.
He is the all-time leading scorer for his country, with 26 goals in 81 matches.In 2004 Pelé selected Cubillas as one of the FIFA 100, a list of 125 footballing greats. In February 2008, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Brazilian World Cup victory, he was selected in the All-Star First Team of South America of the past 50 years.
Nicknamed "Nene" (the babe) for his boyish looks, Cubillas began his career with Alianza Lima at the age of 16 in 1966. Whilst at Alianza he was top scorer in the Peruvian Primera División in 1966 and 1970.
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Thierry Henry
Thierry Daniel Henry (French pronunciation: [tjɛʁi ɑ̃ʁi]; born 17 August 1977) is a French footballer who plays as a striker for New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer.
Henry was born in Les Ulis, Essonne (a suburb of Paris) where he played for an array of local sides as a youngster and showed great promise as a goal-scorer. He was spotted by AS Monaco in 1990 and signed instantly, making his professional debut in 1994. Good form led to an international call-up in 1998, after which he signed for the Serie A defending champions Juventus. He had a disappointing season playing on the wing, before joining Arsenal for £11 million in 1999.
It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class footballer. Despite initially struggling in the Premier League, he emerged as Arsenal's top goal-scorer for almost every season of his tenure there. Under long-time mentor and coach Arsène Wenger, Henry became a prolific striker and Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with 228 goals in all competitions. The Frenchman won two league titles and three FA Cups with the Gunners; he was nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year twice, was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year twice, and the FWA Footballer of the Year three times. Henry spent his final two seasons with Arsenal as club captain, leading them to the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final.
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Tibor Nyilasi
Tibor Nyilasi (born 18 January 1955 in Várpalota, Hungary) is a retired Hungarian football player and manager. He signed with Ferencvaros in 1972 and played there until transferring to Austria Vienna in 1983. For the Hungarian National Football Team he made 70 appearances from 1975 to 1985, scoring 32 goals. He played in the 1978 FIFA World Cup (where he was famously sent off against Argentina) and the 1982 FIFA World Cup. After he retired as a player he was manager of Ferencvaros.
Ferencvárosi TC
Austria Wien
Ferencvárosi TC
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Tim Flowers
Timothy David "Tim" Flowers (born 3 February 1967) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper from 1984 until 2003. He is currently employed as a goalkeeper coach at Football League Two side Northampton Town.
As a player he was notably part of the Blackburn Rovers side that won the Premier League in 1995 and earnt 11 caps for England. He also played for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Southampton, Swindon Town, Leicester City, Stockport County, Coventry City and Manchester City.
Flowers was born in Kenilworth and began his career with Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1984. He quickly broke into the first team, becoming their regular goalkeeper by his 18th birthday, but his breakthrough came at the bleakest time in the club's history, as the two seasons he spent there both ended in relegation (in 1984–85 to the Third Division and in 1985–86 to the Fourth. After Wolves fell into the Fourth Division to complete a hat-trick of successive relegations, they had to sell Flowers as part of the effort to avoid bankruptcy.
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Tim Sherwood
Timothy "Tim" Sherwood (born 6 February 1969 in St Albans) is an English former professional footballer and current assistant first-team coach of Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur.
As a player he was a midfielder from 1987 until 2005, he was notably the captain of Blackburn Rovers' Premiership title-winning side in 1995. He also played for Watford, Norwich City, Tottenham Hotspur, Portsmouth and Coventry City. He also made three appearances for the England national team.
Sherwood made his debut for Watford against Sheffield Wednesday on 12 September 1987. 31 more league appearances followed in Division Two. He moved to Norwich City in July 1989 and notched up a total of 88 games and 13 goals in Norwich colours before joining Blackburn Rovers in February 1992.
As one of Kenny Dalglish's first signings for Blackburn, he initially struggled to make the first team but became an integral part of Dalglish's big spending Rovers side. Under Sherwood's captaincy, Blackburn finished second in the Premiership in 1993-94 before winning it the following season. At this point it was a surprise that he did not gain international recognition, adding only an England B cap to the England Under 21 honours he picked up whilst at Norwich. During his time at the club Dalglish had wanted to sign both Zinedine Zidane and Christophe Dugarry who were playing in France for FC Girondins de Bordeaux, however Rovers Chairman Jack Walker reportedly said to Dalglish: "Why do you want to sign Zidane when we have Tim Sherwood?"
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Tom Finney
Sir Thomas Finney, OBE (born 5 April 1922, Preston, Lancashire) is a former English footballer, famous for his loyalty to his league club, Preston North End, and for his performances in the English national side. Finney is also the current President of Kendal Town. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1961 Queen's New Year Honours and a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1992 Queen's New Year Honours and was knighted in the 1998 Queen's New Year Honours.
Finney was born at home in Preston on a street next to the Deepdale stadium to parents Alfred Finney (b.1894) and Margaret Mitchell (b.1896). He was frail and somewhat sickly in his youth and stood only 4 ft 9 in (1.45 m) at the age of fourteen. When he was offered the opportunity to sign for Preston North End (PNE), his father insisted that he complete his apprenticeship in the family's plumbing business before signing as a professional. This led to one of his nicknames, the 'Preston Plumber'. Finney's mother Margaret died in 1927, at the age of 32, when Tom was only four years old. He was married to Elsie Noblett from 1945 until her death from Alzheimer's disease in 2004. They had two children; a son Brian (born 1947) and a daughter Barbara (born 1950).
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Tom Mather
Tom Mather (1888 in Chorley, Lancashire - 1957), was a football player and manager.
Mather was assistant secretary of both Manchester City and Bolton Wanderers before taking the manager's job at Bolton at the beginning of the First World War, remaining at the club until 1915 when he was called up by the Royal Navy. He remained as manager, in name only, until July 1919, his duties being taken on, and then over, by his assistant Charles Foweraker. After his national service he moved to Southend United as manager.
Mather moved to Stoke City as manager and spent twelve years at Stoke winning the Third Division North title in 1927 and Second Division title in 1932. Mather is also notable as the man who gave Stanley Matthews his debut.
Mather left in 1935 to join Newcastle United as manager.
After World War 2 Mather managed Leicester City and Kilmarnock before returning to Stoke on Trent to work for a catering company.
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Tomas Brolin
Per Tomas Brolin (born 29 November 1969 in Hudiksvall) is a Swedish former professional football player who had a successful period with A.C. Parma during the early nineties winning the 1992 Coppa Italia, the 1993 Cup Winners' Cup, the 1993 UEFA Super Cup and the 1995 UEFA Cup.
Brolin also played for the Swedish national team, finishing third in the 1994 World Cup and was also a beaten semi finalist at the 1992 European championship as well as having competed in the 1990 World Cup.
Although a class act in his youth, in 2007 he was voted in at Number 2 in The Times poll of the "50 Worst footballers (to grace the Premier League)", reflecting his dismal downturn in form after he signed for the English club Leeds United in 1995.
His once glittering career never recovered after the transfer to Leeds United, and by the age of 29 he had retired from playing.
Brolin's first professional match was for Näsvikens IK in 1984 at the age of 14 against Kilafors, and he went onto make 36 appearances for the fourth division club. GIF Sundsvall, spotted Brolin and offered him a contract in which he could continue his education while developing his career. In 1986 Brolin enrolled at Fotbollsgymnasiet, the football academy in Sundsvall. He was subsequently signed by GIF Sundsvall, making his first team debut in 1987 against IF Elfsborg.
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Tomasz Kulawik
Tomasz Kulawik (born May 4, 1969 in Olkusz) is a retired Polish football player and coach.
On the field, he played as a midfielder. In the Polish Football League, he played for Zaglebie Sosnowiec, Wisła Kraków, and Ruch Chorzow whom he played for 257 times and scored 37 goals. He helped win the Polish Championship with Wisła Kraków in the 1998/1999 season and in the 2000/2001 season. In addition, the he contributed to the winning of the Polish Cup in 2001 and League Cup in 2000.
Kulawik made two appearances for the Poland national football team during 1998.
After finishing his playing career, he joing the coaching staff of Wisła Kraków. After the dismissal of Jerzy Engel in 2005, he became a temporary manager of Wisła Kraków for a few matches. Currently, he is the manager of the Wisła Kraków youth team in the Mloda Ekstraklasa.
Surprisingly, Kulawik returned to the playing field in the 2007/2008 season playing for 5th league team Boleslaw Bukowno.
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Tony Book
Anthony Keith Book is a retired English footballer and manager who was born in Bath, 4 September 1934. Book spent a large part of his career in Non-League football with his home town club Bath City, before entering league football with Plymouth Argyle. At the age of 31, he joined First Division Manchester City, where he became captain. Under Book's captaincy, Manchester City won four trophies, making him the most decorated Manchester City captain of all-time. Book had a five year tenure as Manchester City manager from 1974–1979, and subsequently held various coaching roles at the club until 1996.
Tony Book was born in Bath, but at the age of four moved to India when his father, an officer in the Somerset Light Infantry, received an overseas posting. During World War II, Book's father served in Burma, and Book lived with his mother and brothers in army quarters in a number of places in British India, including Mumbai and Multan. In September 1945, the Book family returned to England. Tony started secondary school in Bath, and gained his first experience in competitive football when he was selected to play for both Bath boys and Somerset boys.
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Tony Coton
Anthony Philip "Tony" Coton (born 19 May 1961 in Tamworth) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper from 1978 to 1999.
He made 500 appearances in the Football League and Premier League playing as a goalkeeper for Birmingham City, Watford, Manchester City and Sunderland. He came out of retirement briefly in 2004 for Hereford United following a goalkeeping crisis. He was renowned for his excellent reflexes and shot-stopping abilities, and now works as a sports agent.
Coton started his professional career at Birmingham City in 1978, having signed from Mile Oak Rovers the previous year. He made his Football League debut as a 19-year-old, on 27 December 1980 in the First Division match against Sunderland. His first touch of the ball was to save a penalty awarded after 54 seconds. By the 1982–83 season he had established himself as Birmingham's first choice goalkeeper.
Birmingham were relegated from the First Division at the end of the next season, but Coton found his way back into the top flight with a transfer to Watford, for a sum of £300,000. He soon replaced Steve Sherwood in Watford's goal and at the end of his second full season at Vicarage Road he won the Hornets' Player of the Season and Display of the Season awards, the latter for a clean sheet against Liverpool. He remained with the club even after their relegation from the First Division in 1988. He went on to become Watford Player of the Season for an unprecedented third time in 1989–90.
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Tony Daley
Anthony Mark ("Tony") Daley (born 18 October 1967 in Birmingham) is an English former footballer, who made the vast majority of his appearances for Aston Villa, playing mainly as a winger, well known for his pace. He is currently Fitness Coach at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Daley joined hometown club Aston Villa as an apprentice and soon made his senior debut aged 17 on 20 April 1985 in a 2–0 defeat at Southampton. He played for the Midlands club for ten seasons, nine at the highest level, and finished a runner-up in both the 1989–90 and 1992–93 league championships. He also played in their 1994 League Cup final triumph where they defeated Manchester United at Wembley.
During this period, Daley was capped seven times for England between 1991 and 1992 under former club manager Graham Taylor. He made his full debut as a substitute in a vital 1–1 draw in Poland on 13 November 1991 that saw England qualify for 1992 European Championships in Sweden. He was subsequently chosen for the squad at the tournament and played in two of England's three games there, but after the tournament he never played for England again.
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Tony Dorigo
Anthony Robert "Tony" Dorigo (born 31 December 1965) is an Australian-born English former professional footballer who played as a defender from 1983 to 2001.
He played for Aston Villa, Chelsea, Leeds United and the England national side., as well as Torino, Derby County and Stoke City.
Despite being born in Australia, Dorigo holds a British passport and during his playing career he represented the England team on 15 occasions. He also made 7 appearances for the England B team and 11 for the England under-21s.
He made his league debut for Aston Villa against Ipswich in 1984 as an 18 year old and would go on to win the clubs player of the year award during his time at Villa Park.
He signed for Chelsea from Aston Villa for £475,000 and he won the club's player of the year award in his first season, though they were also relegated. He helped the club win promotion back to the First Division at the first attempt. He left Chelsea in somewhat acrimonious circumstances in the summer of 1991, having made and then withdrawn a transfer request, and then seemingly fallen out with manager Bobby Campbell after being dropped from the side due to declining a new contract. He was sold to Leeds for £1.3m. He made 180 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 11 goals.
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Torbjörn Nilsson
Torbjörn Anders Nilsson (born in Västerås, 9 July 1954) is a Swedish former football striker and coach. He is considered to be one of the best Swedish footballers of all time, having won the Swedish championship twice and the UEFA Cup once with IFK Göteborg, where he spent most of his career. He also had a less successful spell in the Netherlands with PSV Eindhoven and a better one in Germany with 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Nilsson has had various levels of success as a manager.
Torbjörn Nilsson was born in Västerås on 9 July 1954, and raised in Hallstahammar. He and his family (father Göte, mother Daisy, the brothers Rolf and Bosse and sister Rose-Marie) moved to Partille, outside Gothenburg, before he started school, and he began his footballing career in Jonsereds IF at the age of seven or eight. Nilsson joined IFK Göteborg for the 1975 season, and helped the club climb back to the top tier of Swedish football, Allsvenskan, by winning Division 2 in 1976. He tried his luck abroad with PSV Eindhoven, but returned to IFK after only one season. He then helped the team to a treble in 1982, the Swedish championship (IFK won both Allsvenskan and the title-deciding play-off), Svenska Cupen, and the UEFA Cup. He was awarded Guldbollen, the Swedish footballer of the year award, for his heroics.
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Torsten Gütschow
Torsten Gütschow (born 28 July 1962 in Görlitz) is a German former footballer who played as a striker. He is most associated with Dynamo Dresden, with whom he had two successful spells, playing top level football in East Germany and after reunification. In between these he played for three other German clubs, and spent six months with Galatasaray of the Turkish Super Lig. A strong and instinctive goalscorer, Gütschow was top scorer in each of the last three seasons of the DDR-Oberliga, and was the last ever East German Footballer of the Year. He won three international caps for East Germany, scoring two goals between 1984 and 1989. Since retiring he has taken up coaching, and has been manager of TuS Heeslingen since 2006.
Gütschow played as a youth for Traktor Zodel and Dynamo Görlitz, before joining Dynamo Dresden in 1976. After four years in their youth setup, he was promoted to the first-team, making his DDR-Oberliga debut in 1980. He established himself as a consistent goalscorer, and scored 17 goals in the 1984–85 season. The next two seasons were blighted by injury, but he returned to form, partnering Ulf Kirsten up front, and was the league's top scorer in its last three seasons. His seven goals in the 1988-89 UEFA Cup made him the competition's top scorer and in 1991 he was named as the last ever East German Footballer of the Year.
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Trevor Steven
Trevor McGregor Steven (born Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, 21 September 1963) is a football talent scout. He was formerly an England footballer who shot to fame with the successful Everton side of the 1980s.
A right-sided midfielder with great vision and pinpoint crossing ability, Steven grew through the ranks at Burnley, making his debut in 1981. Over the next two seasons he became a regular supplier of goals and Everton boss Howard Kendall, who was building a new team based on youth, decided to bid for him.
Steven is now recognised for his media work, particularly with RTÉ Sport in Ireland.
Steven began his professional football career with Burnley on leaving school in the summer of 1980, and broke into the first team in the 1981–82, at the age of 18, when he scored three goals in 36 league games to help Burnley win promotion to the Second Division as Third Division champions. He managed eight goals in the 1982–83 season, but was unable to prevent Burnley from going straight back down to the Third Division.
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Ugo Ehiogu
Ugochuku "Ugo" Ehiogu (born 3 November 1972 in Homerton, London) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre back from 1989 until 2009 notably in the Premier League with lengthy spells at Aston Villa and Middlesbrough.
He also played for in the Football League for West Bromwich Albion, Leeds United and Sheffield United, as well as a spell in the Scottish Premier League with Rangers. Ehiogu is also a former England international earning 4 caps, scoring 1 goal.
Ehiogu (pronounced Air-hee-og) began his career at West Bromwich Albion as a trainee, turning professional in 1989. After just a few games for Albion in the Second Division, Ron Atkinson brought him to First Division Aston Villa for £40,000 in August 1991. By 1994, he had replaced Shaun Teale as the main central defensive partner to Paul McGrath.
He remained at the club for nine years, making over 300 appearances in all competitions. He was part of the Villa team that won the 1996 League Cup as Villa beat Leeds 3–0. Ehiogu also won a runners-up medal when Villa lost 1–0 to Chelsea in the 2000 FA Cup Final. He joined Middlesbrough from Villa in November 2000 for, at the time, a club record fee of £8 million. The deal went ahead after negotiations between Villa and West Bromwich Albion, whose 50% sell-on clause on the player had been seen as a stumbling block to the move.
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Ulf Kirsten
Ulf Kirsten (born 4 December 1965 in Riesa, East Germany) is a former German football striker, the first player in history to reach a total 100 caps playing with two different national teams. His biggest success was the win of the 1992–93 DFB-Pokal. His nickname was der Schwatte.
On the club level, Kirsten played for only two teams: from 1983 to 1990 he was with Dynamo Dresden. In the East German Oberliga he made 154 matches and scored 57 goals for Dynamo Dresden.
Kirsten had an unusual build, measuring only 172 cm (5'8"), but weighing 81 kg (179 lbs). He had an unusually low centre of gravity which enabled him to protect the ball in the box against much bigger defenders and turn around quickly for close-range shots. This playing style was often compared to Gerd Müller. In addition, despite his small height, Kirsten was also a feared header.
He was one of the first East German footballers to enter the Bundesliga after the German reunification. In the German Bundesliga he played 350 matches for Bayer Leverkusen and scored 182 goals (ranked # 5 in the All-Time-Scorer-List). Kirsten established himself as one of the most dangerous strikers in the Bundesliga, but Bayer regularly ended as runner-up to either Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund. He stayed there until his retirement in 2003. He also played in the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final. In the 1999–2000 season, Kirsten won the EFFIFU award for being the most efficient striker in the league.
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Uriah Rennie
Uriah D. Rennie (born 23 October 1959 in Sheffield, South Yorkshire) is a retired English football referee.
He began refereeing in 1979 in local leagues, then operated in the Northern Premier League until 1994, at which time he was appointed to the Football League List of referees.
He was given his first Premiership appointment on 23 August 1997, controlling the 2-0 away win by Crystal Palace at Leeds United, goals being scored by Paul Warhurst and Attilio Lombardo.
In 2000, he became a FIFA referee.
He dealt Alan Shearer his first red card in a Newcastle v Aston Villa match in 1999, the reason for the red card was "persistent use of the elbow"
In 2001, he joined the Select Group of professional referees. Keith Hackett, head of the Professional Game Match Officials Board has described him as "the fittest referee we have ever seen on the national and world scene."
He refereed the 2001 (old) Football League Division One Play-off Final between Bolton Wanderers and Preston North End at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, when Bolton won 3-0 with goals from Farrelly, Ricketts and Gardner. Uriah did not show a red or yellow card at all during the match.
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Uwe Seeler
Uwe Seeler (born 5 November 1936 in Hamburg) is a former German football official and retired football player. He played for Hamburger SV and also made 72 appearances for the West German national team.
Seeler followed in his father's footsteps as a player for Hamburger SV, making his first team debut in 1954 in a German Cup match, aged just under 18, scoring four goals (8–2 vs. Holstein Kiel). In later years, despite tempting offers from Italian and Spanish clubs he remained loyal to Hamburg, working on a second career as a merchant besides playing football, as in those days football stars in Germany did not earn the huge salaries seen now.
Seeler was a gifted striker who, among other things, was renowned for his overhead kick. He scored 137 times in 239 Bundesliga games, 43 times in 72 international games for the German national team, and 21 times in 29 European club tournament games. He was captain of both his club team and the national team for many years. He and his club won the German championship in 1960 and the DFB-Pokal (German FA Cup) in 1963. He was top scorer of the first Bundesliga season 1963–64 and German Footballer of the Year in 1960, 1964 and 1970.
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Viktor Ponedelnik
Viktor Vladimirovich Ponedelnik (Russian: Виктор Владимирович Понедельник) (born May 22, 1937 in Rostov-on-Don) is a former Soviet football player, regarded as one of the best strikers in Soviet football history.
Ponedelnik first started playing for a local team, Rostselmash, in 1956. In 1958 he switched to SKA Rostov-on-Don and was invited to join the Soviet national team. In the 1960 European Championship, the only major Championship ever won by the Soviet Union, Ponedelnik headed home the winning goal in extra time in the final game against Yugoslavia. Ponedelnik retired in 1966 after gaining weight and undergoing surgery for appendicitis. He scored 20 (according to some accounts, 21) goals in 29 games for his country.
In later years, Ponedelnik worked as a coach, a sports journalist, an editor of a sports publication, and an advisor to the President of the Russian Federation. He has received numerous awards for his contribution to Soviet and Russian sport. He is married and has three children and four grandchildren.
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Vincent Kompany
Vincent Jean Mpoy Kompany (born 10 April 1986 in Uccle, Brussels) is a Belgian footballer who plays for Manchester City and the Belgium national team. He is capable of playing at both centre back and defensive midfield. In the 2011–12 season he was awarded the captaincy of Manchester City, leading his club to win the Premier League that season, their first league title in 44 years.
Kompany began his professional career at Anderlecht, spending three years at the Belgian club before moving to German club Hamburger SV in 2006. In the summer of 2008, at the age of 22, he completed a transfer to his current club, Premier League side Manchester City. He has since established himself as an integral part of the Manchester City squad and is one of the bargain buys of the revolutionised City era, blossoming into one of the Premier League's best centre backs. Kompany was included in the Premier League Team of the Year for two years in a row in 2011 and 2012, and won the Premier League Player of the Season in 2012.
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Vágner Love
Vágner Silva de Souza (born 11 June 1984 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), commonly known as Vágner Love, is a Brazilian football striker who plays for Flamengo.
Vágner Love started his career with Palmeiras. In the 2003 season he helped them to return to the Brazilian Série A, the national First division.
He was then bought by CSKA Moscow.In the summer of 2004, prior to their Champions League campaign. For over a year after his arrival at CSKA Moscow, rumours kept appearing that he did not want to stay in Moscow, and a transfer to Corinthians in particular was hinted at numerous times. However, these rumours subsided and Vágner mentioned a number of times that he was fully committed to his contract and is looking forward to completing its full tenure.
He scored the final goal that sealed CSKA's 3–1 victory in the 2005 UEFA Cup Final over Sporting Clube de Portugal at the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon. Additionally to this UEFA Cup final, he has gone on to win the Russian Premier League title and Russian Cup in 2005, 2008, and the Russian Super Cup in 2006.
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WAGs
WAGs (or Wags) is an acronym, used particularly by the British tabloid press, to describe the wives and girlfriends of high-profile footballers, originally the England national football team. The term came into common use during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, although it had been used occasionally before that.[citation needed] The acronym has since been used by the media in other countries to describe the wives and girlfriends of sportsmen in general.
The first recorded use of the term was in 2002: "It was never guaranteed that the wives and girlfriends (or "the Wags", as staff at the Jumeirah Beach Club call them for short) would get along. Mrs Beckham's tongue, for one thing, has previously run away with itself."
In 2006 it was generally printed as "WAGs", but a singular, "Wag" or "WAG", quickly came into vogue (even though the singular form would logically be "wife or girlfriend", reading as "WOG"); for example: "any additional pounds she gained during Wag drinking sessions"; "a property heiress, model and actress, appears a likely sports WAG".Susie Dent's annual Language Report for the Oxford University Press (2006) capitalised the entire acronym as "WAG" ("wife and/or girlfriend") .
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Walter Pandiani
Walter Gerardo Pandiani Urquiza (born 27 April 1976) is an Uruguayan footballer who plays for RCD Espanyol as a striker.
Nicknamed El Rifle, his best assets are his strength and aerial ability, and he spent most of his professional career in Spain, where he made a name for himself at his first and last clubs - Deportivo de La Coruña and Osasuna - appearing for a total of four teams.
Born in Montevideo, Pandiani started his career with local C.A. Progreso, moving on to Basañez and C.A. Peñarol, the latter also in the country's capital, before signing with Deportivo de La Coruña in 2000. Never an undisputed starter in Galicia, he was one of the team's most important offensive elements, often scoring as a substitute (he netted 13 in the 2003–04 season).
Pandiani, who had a successful loan stint at RCD Mallorca while still at Depor, moved to Birmingham City in the Premier League, also on loan, in January 2005, after a series of run-ins with coach Javier Irureta. He scored a goal on his debut against Southampton in a 2–1 home win, and went on to score three more in the season, prompting manager Steve Bruce to sign him on a permanent contract for reported fee of £3 million.
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Wayne Bridge
Wayne Michael Bridge (born 5 August 1980) is an English footballer who plays as a left back for Manchester City. A graduate of the Southampton Academy where he made his debut in 1998, he has also played for Chelsea, West Ham, Manchester City and Fulham during his Premiership career. Bridge made 36 appearances for the England national team, including representing England in the World Cup.
Bridge was born in Southampton, but moved to Winchester at an early age. He attended Oliver's Battery Primary and Kings' School, Winchester. When playing for Olivers Battery he was spotted by Micky Adams, who recommended him to Southampton, who signed him as a trainee in July 1996. He made his reserve team debut, as a centre-forward against Portsmouth on 13 August 1997 and turned professional in January 1998.
He made his first-team debut on 16 August 1998 (the opening day of the 1998–99 season) coming on as a replacement for John Beresford, who had badly damaged his knee. Bridge made his first senior start in the next match on 22 August in a 5–0 defeat away to Charlton Athletic. As Southampton struggled to pick up points (with only two points after the first nine games), Bridge played (on the left wing) in most of Saints' league games until early December before losing his place to Hassan Kachloul. For the remainder of the 1998–99 Premier League season Bridge was only used occasionally, as Saints narrowly completed their "Great Escape" from relegation. He completed his first season as a first-team player with 15 starts and 8 substitute appearances.
wn.com/Wayne_Bridge -
Wayne Rooney
Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Manchester United and the England national team.
Rooney made his senior international debut in 2003 becoming the youngest player to represent England (a record later broken by Theo Walcott). He is England's youngest ever goalscorer. He played at UEFA Euro 2004 and scored four goals, briefly becoming the competition's youngest goalscorer. Rooney featured at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups and is widely regarded as his country's best player. He has won the England Player of the Year award twice, in 2008 and 2009. As of September 2011, he has won 73 international caps and scored 28 goals. Along with David Beckham, Rooney is the most red carded player for England, having been sent off twice.
Aged nine, Rooney joined the youth team of Everton, for whom he made his professional debut in 2002. He spent two seasons at the Merseyside club, before moving to Manchester United for £25.6 million in the 2004 summer transfer window. The same year, Rooney acquired the nickname "Wazza". Since then, with Rooney in the team, United have won the Premier League four times, the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League and two League Cups. He also holds two runner-up medals from both the Premier League and the Champions League. In April of the 2011–12 season Rooney scored his 180th goal, making him United's fourth highest goal-scorer of all time.
wn.com/Wayne_Rooney -
Wikipedia Persondata
wn.com/Wikipedia_Persondata -
William Gallas
William Eric Gallas (French pronunciation: [wiljam ɡalas]; born 17 August 1977) is a French footballer who plays for Tottenham Hotspur. Gallas began his career in France, before being signed by English club Chelsea in 2001. He transferred to rivals Arsenal as part of an exchange deal in 2006. While his career has been marked by both individual and team successes – including Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006 – he has also encountered controversy as a consequence of his on-field behaviour and friction with other personnel. In 2007, he was named Arsenal's captain, but was removed from the role during the 2008–09 season after criticising teammates in a media interview. Gallas left Arsenal at the end of the 2009–10 season, when his contract expired.
Gallas was born in Asnières-sur-Seine. He is the cousin of fellow footballer Ludovic Quistin and of Mathieu Bastareaud, a French rugby union centre playing for Stade Français.
A graduate of the French Football academy at Clairefontaine, Gallas started his professional career at second division SM Caen, helping them to promotion as champions in 1996. He was subsequently transferred to Olympique Marseille in 1997. Gallas spent four seasons at Marseille, where he played alongside Robert Pirès among others. He made his debut in the UEFA Champions League playing for Marseille, and he also played against Chelsea in that competition in 2000.
wn.com/William_Gallas -
Willie McFaul
William Stewart McFaul (born 10 January 1943), known as Willie or Iam McFaul, is a Northern Irish former football player and now coach.
McFaul was born in Coleraine. He joined Newcastle United from Linfield in his native Northern Ireland in 1966 after impressing in a friendly match.
He went on to serve Newcastle as player, coach, assistant manager and then finally, in 1985, as manager. He was sacked in October 1988 after a poor start saw early season optimism turn into an ultimately futile struggle against relegation.
His reputation was as a caring and loyal manager, who got the best out of a number of players including Peter Beardsley and Paul Goddard. His biggest contribution to the game was probably his decision to make Paul Gascoigne an integral part of the first team despite being only 18 at the time. McFaul has since managed teams in Northern Ireland and worked as the coach of the national team of Guam. In Northern Ireland he managed his hometown club Coleraine who are very close to his heart. Sadly things didn't go to plan and his spell as manager coincided with a lowly period in Coleraine very proud history. He did, however, discover Paul Gaston, who went on to captain Coleraine and play over 600 games for the club.
wn.com/Willie_McFaul -
Willy van de Kerkhof
Wilhelmus "Willy" Antonius van de Kerkhof (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʋɪl.ɦɛl.mʏs ˈwɪli ɑn.ˈtoː.niʏs vɐn də ˈkɛrk.ɦɔf]) (born 16 September 1951) is a former Dutch footballer.
van de Kerkhof and his twin brother René were squad members of the Dutch national team that made the World Cup final in 1974 and became key players in the team that made the 1978 final. He also played for the Netherlands at the Euro 1980. Overall, van de Kerkhof appeared 63 times for his country, scoring five goals.
He was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.
wn.com/Willy_van_de_Kerkhof -
Wim Kieft
Willem "Wim" Cornelis Nicolaas Kieft (born 12 November 1962) is a retired Dutch footballer who played as a centre forward.
A prolific goal-scorer whose main asset resided in his heading ability, he played in his country for two of the most important clubs, Ajax Amsterdam and PSV Eindhoven, with equal team and individual success. He also played abroad in Italy and France.
For the Dutch national team, Kieft scored in double digits in more than one decade of play, being a very valuable member of the squad that won Euro 1988. He also represented the nation at the 1990 World Cup.
Born in Amsterdam, Kieft started his professional career with local giants AFC Ajax, making his first team debuts on 4 May 1980, at not yet 18. Amongst his youth teammates were Frank Rijkaard, John van 't Schip, Marco van Basten and Gerald Vanenburg, as in his first two full seasons he scored at an astonishing rate, especially in 1981–82, when he netted 32 goals in as many games, being crucial as the side lifted the Eredivisie title, and receiving the European Golden Boot award.
wn.com/Wim_Kieft -
Zbigniew Boniek
Zbigniew "Zibì" Kazimierz Boniek (Polish pronunciation: [ˈzbiɡɲɛv ˈbɔɲɛk]; born 3 March 1956 in Bydgoszcz) is a former Polish footballer and coach. He first played at Zawisza Bydgoszcz and later at Widzew Łódź. Boniek was named by Pelé as one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers and by FIFA as one of the 100 best-ever players. On 12 October 2009 he received a Golden Foot career award.
Boniek was transferred to Italian football giants Juventus in 1982. That same year he won a bronze medal (third place) as part of the Polish team at the 1982 FIFA World Cup. With Juventus he won the Cup Winners' Cup and the European Super Cup in 1984 (scoring in the final of the former) and the European Cup in 1985.
Boniek represented Poland in 80 internationals and scored 24 goals. After finishing his professional career at A.S. Roma in 1988 he had a successful business career.
As a player, Boniek was known for his blistering pace and acceleration. He was one of the best dribblers of his time and also displayed superb technique.
wn.com/Zbigniew_Boniek -
Zico
Arthur Antunes Coimbra (Portuguese pronunciation: [aʁˈtuʁ ɐ̃ˈtũnis koˈĩbɾɐ], born 3 March 1953 in Rio de Janeiro), better known as Zico ([ˈziku]), is a Brazilian coach and former footballer. He is the current head coach of the Iraq national football team. Often called the "White Pelé", he is commonly considered one of the most skilled finishers and one of the best passers ever and possibly the world's best player of the early 80's. He was also known as one of history's greatest free kick specialists, able to bend the ball with pace. The gifted midfielder was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. Also according to Pelé, generally considered the best footballer ever, "throughout the years, the one player that came closest to me was Zico".
Zico scored 52 goals in 72 international matches for Brazil, and represented them in the 1978, 1982 and 1986 World Cups. They did not win any of those tournaments, even though the 1982 squad is considered one of the greatest Brazilian national squads ever. Zico is often considered one of the best players in football history not to have been on a World Cup winning squad. He was chosen 1981 and 1983 Player of the Year.
wn.com/Zico -
Zinedine Zidane
Zinedine Zidane (French pronunciation: [zinedin zidan]) (born 23 June 1972) is a retired French footballer. Zidane was the leading figure of a generation of French players that won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship. After a brief international retirement, he returned to the national team in 2005 and captained France to the 2006 World Cup Final where he won the Golden Ball as the tournament's most outstanding player.
In club level Zidane won the La Liga and the UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid, two Serie A league championships with Juventus and an Intercontinental Cup and a UEFA Super Cup each with both aforementioned sides. He is one of only four players to have been FIFA World Player of the Year three or more times (Brazilian forward Marta is a five time winner (female award), while Brazilian striker Ronaldo (male award) and German striker Birgit Prinz (female award) have won three each). He also won the Ballon d'Or in 1998. He retired from professional football after the 2006 World Cup.
wn.com/Zinedine_Zidane -
Óscar Cardozo
Óscar René Cardozo Marín (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈo̞skaɾ re̞ˈne̞ karˈð̞o̞so̞ maˈɾin], born 20 May 1983) is a Paraguayan footballer who plays for S.L. Benfica in Portugal, as a striker.
Known for his powerful left-foot shot and free-kick skills, he first gained notoriety whilst playing for Newell's Old Boys, which led to a move to Benfica, where he scored more than 100 official goals and won four major titles, namely the 2010 national championship, where he also was the top scorer.
Nicknamed "Tacuara" (Big cane in Guarani), Cardozo gained more than 50 caps for Paraguay, representing the nation at the 2010 World Cup.
Born in Juan Eulogio Estigarribia, Cardozo started his senior career with modest Club Atlético 3 de Febrero of Ciudad del Este, helping it to the second division championship. In 2004, he moved to the top level with Asunción's Club Nacional, where he quickly established himself as the team's top scorer, netting 17 overall goals in his last season.
Cardozo arrived at Argentina and Newell's Old Boys in the second half of the 2006–07 season for a transfer fee of $1.2 million, joining compatriots Diego Gavilán, Santiago Salcedo and Justo Villar. He scored 11 goals in only 16 games in the Apertura, but his team could only finish 18th in the tournament, and 13th overall; as a result of his performances, he was voted the 2006 Paraguayan Footballer of the Year.
wn.com/Óscar_Cardozo
Shearer, Alan Filmography
- Sport Relief 2010 (2010)
- Match of the Day: 2010 FIFA World Cup (2010)
- Sport Relief 2008 (2008)
- Big Dunc: The Story of a Goodison Hero (2008)
- Football Top 10 & Boxing Top 10 (2006)
- The Alan Shearer Story (2005)
- Goal! (2005)
- Avenue of the Stars: 50 Years of ITV (2005)
- The Britpop Story (2005)
- Stan Collymore: Confessions of a Premiership Footballer (2004)
- Match of the Day FA Cup (2004)
- Inside the Mind of Roy Keane (2003)
- The Story of Football (2002)
- The Real David Beckham (2000)
- 2000 UEFA European Football Championship (2000)
- Purely Belter (2000)
- The Match (1999)
- The Treble (1999)
- Passion, Pride and Penalties (1998)
- 1996 UEFA European Football Championship (1996)
Shearer, Alan Filmography
- Blue Crush 2 (2011)
- Death Race 2 (2010)
- Supernova (2005)
- Dangerous Ground (1997)
- A Good Man in Africa (1994)
- Journey to the Center of the Earth (1989)
- Alien from L.A. (1988)
Shearer, Alan Filmography
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Alan Shearer Tribute: The Best Goals
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:16
- Updated: 04 Dec 2012
A collection of Shearer goals, including the FA Cup Semi Final goal against Tottenham in extra time. song is "Spring and by Summer Fall - Blonde Redhead" "oooooh, thats how he dreamt it last night"
http://wn.com/Alan_Shearer_Tribute_The_Best_Goals
A collection of Shearer goals, including the FA Cup Semi Final goal against Tottenham in extra time. song is "Spring and by Summer Fall - Blonde Redhead" "oooooh, thats how he dreamt it last night"
Alan Shearer - Local Hero - sky sports 2006 tribute to the football legend
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 47:31
- Updated: 04 Dec 2012
Alan Shearer - Local Hero - sky sports 2006 tribute to the football legend, that sky aired in febuary 2006 worth the watch
http://wn.com/Alan_Shearer_Local_Hero_sky_sports_2006_tribute_to_the_football_legend
Alan Shearer - Local Hero - sky sports 2006 tribute to the football legend, that sky aired in febuary 2006 worth the watch
- published: 17 Jun 2011
- views: 26445
- author: thetoon99
Alan Shearer's Top 6 Goals
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:40
- Updated: 29 Nov 2012
Alan Shearer's top 6 goals in a black & white shirt. Enjoy !
http://wn.com/Alan_Shearer's_Top_6_Goals
Alan Shearer's top 6 goals in a black & white shirt. Enjoy !
- published: 22 May 2012
- views: 8062
- author: Howard Ross
Legends of the Barclays Premier League - Alan Shearer
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 22:48
- Updated: 04 Dec 2012
ESPN UK Documentary
http://wn.com/Legends_of_the_Barclays_Premier_League_Alan_Shearer
All of Alan Shearers 206 Newcastle Goals 1996-2006
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 26:31
- Updated: 02 Dec 2012
Many Thanks to QuickfireGoals As this is his video! Alan Shearer and his 206 Goals for Newcastle United in 404 appearances for the magpies in Episode #12 from 1996 when he left Blackburn Rovers to 2006 when he retired. He scored one wrongly disallowed goal vs Manchester United (Goal #96) so he actually scored 207 Goals, but it never counted so it still stands at 206, an incredible acheivement Tags and Stuff Alan shearer Newcastleunited ToonArmy 206goals legend,stjamespark 1996-2006 black burn everton premiership nufc volley v blackburn
http://wn.com/All_of_Alan_Shearers_206_Newcastle_Goals_1996-2006
Many Thanks to QuickfireGoals As this is his video! Alan Shearer and his 206 Goals for Newcastle United in 404 appearances for the magpies in Episode #12 from 1996 when he left Blackburn Rovers to 2006 when he retired. He scored one wrongly disallowed goal vs Manchester United (Goal #96) so he actually scored 207 Goals, but it never counted so it still stands at 206, an incredible acheivement Tags and Stuff Alan shearer Newcastleunited ToonArmy 206goals legend,stjamespark 1996-2006 black burn everton premiership nufc volley v blackburn
- published: 07 Aug 2012
- views: 2396
- author: iAndyz
Lee Dixon Angry At Alan Shearer Butting In Or The Question He Was Asked? On MOTD
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:01
- Updated: 04 Dec 2012
During analysis of the England - Ukraine game Lee Dixon is asked by Gary Lineker "Where have England got to improve?", Lee doesn't seem like he knows what to say saying things like "John Terry at the back" and "At front you've got Rooney" and when Alan Shearer takes over Lee pulls a bemused look at Gary when he thinks he's off camera. Was he annoyed that Alan Shearer took over? Was he annoyed that he was asked that question or do you think he simply did it because he couldn't think what to say? If you like this video please subscribe to my channel to see more videos like this. Also when you click 'Like' please share on Twitter and Facebook. Thanks
http://wn.com/Lee_Dixon_Angry_At_Alan_Shearer_Butting_In_Or_The_Question_He_Was_Asked?_On_MOTD
During analysis of the England - Ukraine game Lee Dixon is asked by Gary Lineker "Where have England got to improve?", Lee doesn't seem like he knows what to say saying things like "John Terry at the back" and "At front you've got Rooney" and when Alan Shearer takes over Lee pulls a bemused look at Gary when he thinks he's off camera. Was he annoyed that Alan Shearer took over? Was he annoyed that he was asked that question or do you think he simply did it because he couldn't think what to say? If you like this video please subscribe to my channel to see more videos like this. Also when you click 'Like' please share on Twitter and Facebook. Thanks
- published: 24 Jun 2012
- views: 83132
- author: Lee Averiss
Alan Shearer's goal against Everton
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:24
- Updated: 30 Nov 2012
I OWN NOTHING. ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.
http://wn.com/Alan_Shearer's_goal_against_Everton
I OWN NOTHING. ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.
- published: 15 Jan 2012
- views: 13689
- author: Becks10ful
Shear Class | An Alan Shearer Goals Compilation | NUFC
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:57
- Updated: 29 Nov 2012
To the greatest Premier League striker of all time. A Geordie hero. And Number 9. All feed back is appreciated. Enjoy! Song - Thunderstruck / ACDC Edited on Video Pad Twitter - @zOdhraNUFC Howay The Lads!
http://wn.com/Shear_Class_|_An_Alan_Shearer_Goals_Compilation_|_NUFC
To the greatest Premier League striker of all time. A Geordie hero. And Number 9. All feed back is appreciated. Enjoy! Song - Thunderstruck / ACDC Edited on Video Pad Twitter - @zOdhraNUFC Howay The Lads!
- published: 07 Jan 2012
- views: 12316
- author: zOdhr4N
Sir Alan Shearer 1996-2006
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:51
- Updated: 02 Dec 2012
Commitment, Leadership, Passion, Skill, Strength and many more qualitys. But the real reason we loved Alan Shearer was his love for the club. First song: Yann Tiersen "Comptine d'un autre été" Second song: Todd Hannigan "Thicker than water". A tribute to the greatest Striker of all time.
http://wn.com/Sir_Alan_Shearer_1996-2006
Commitment, Leadership, Passion, Skill, Strength and many more qualitys. But the real reason we loved Alan Shearer was his love for the club. First song: Yann Tiersen "Comptine d'un autre été" Second song: Todd Hannigan "Thicker than water". A tribute to the greatest Striker of all time.
- published: 04 Sep 2006
- views: 126348
- author: howaythetoon9
Alan Shearer Open To Blackburn Manager Vacancy
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:19
- Updated: 07 Oct 2012
BBC pundit Alan Shearer admits he would be speak to the owners about the current managerial vacancy at Blackburn Rovers if they were to call him, although he says he has not been approached yet and "things would have to change" at the club. Blackburn were relegated to the Championship last season, and are without a manager after Steve Kean quit, saying his position had become "untenable" with the owners Venky's. Speaking on Football Focus, Shearer - who won the 1994-95 Premiership with Rovers - says he hopes the problems can be resolved soon as they are "a lovely football club". If you like this video please subscribe to my channel to see more videos like this. Also when you click 'Like' please share on Twitter and Facebook. Thanks Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use
http://wn.com/Alan_Shearer_Open_To_Blackburn_Manager_Vacancy
BBC pundit Alan Shearer admits he would be speak to the owners about the current managerial vacancy at Blackburn Rovers if they were to call him, although he says he has not been approached yet and "things would have to change" at the club. Blackburn were relegated to the Championship last season, and are without a manager after Steve Kean quit, saying his position had become "untenable" with the owners Venky's. Speaking on Football Focus, Shearer - who won the 1994-95 Premiership with Rovers - says he hopes the problems can be resolved soon as they are "a lovely football club". If you like this video please subscribe to my channel to see more videos like this. Also when you click 'Like' please share on Twitter and Facebook. Thanks Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use
- published: 06 Oct 2012
- views: 347
- author: Beanyman62Sports
alan shearer vs roy keane
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:10
- Updated: 03 Dec 2012
like and fav the video thanks alan shearer was the bigger man :)
http://wn.com/alan_shearer_vs_roy_keane
like and fav the video thanks alan shearer was the bigger man :)
- published: 05 Jan 2012
- views: 88959
- author: DannyboyTvshow
Alan Shearer Analysis on Van Persie Handing Andre Santos His Shirt - BBC Match Of The Day
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:46
- Updated: 14 Nov 2012
Alan Shearer's shares his thoughts on Robin Van Persie handing his shirt to Andre Santos after loosing 1-0 at half time at Old Trafford on Match Of The Day.
http://wn.com/Alan_Shearer_Analysis_on_Van_Persie_Handing_Andre_Santos_His_Shirt_BBC_Match_Of_The_Day
Alan Shearer's shares his thoughts on Robin Van Persie handing his shirt to Andre Santos after loosing 1-0 at half time at Old Trafford on Match Of The Day.
- published: 03 Nov 2012
- views: 15455
- author: JustJosh2591
Alan Shearer McDonalds Advert (1998)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:01
- Updated: 10 Nov 2012
http://wn.com/Alan_Shearer_McDonalds_Advert_1998
Alan Shearer Testimonial 3
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:42
- Updated: 16 Nov 2012
Alan Shearer Testimonial
http://wn.com/Alan_Shearer_Testimonial_3
Alan Shearer - Local Hero - Part 1
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 15:00
- Updated: 28 Nov 2012
**** PLEASE READ DESCRIPTION ***** Part 2 - www.youtube.com All Clips taken from - Alan Shearer - The Legend DVD. Buy it from play.com It is excellent and a lot more content then this 30 minute tribute! www.play.com Song 1 - Why Aye Man - Mark Knopfler - Itunes: itunes.apple.com Song 2 - Shoot to thrill - AC/DC - www.acdc.com Song 3 - Colossal - Wolfmother - Itunes: itunes.apple.com ***This is a none profit video*** *******This video is property creative. This video is not being used to make money in any way and is for entertainment and leisure purposes only. This is an act of fair usage as described by the US Copyright Office, therefore, a dispute should not occur over this video********* Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.
http://wn.com/Alan_Shearer_Local_Hero_Part_1
**** PLEASE READ DESCRIPTION ***** Part 2 - www.youtube.com All Clips taken from - Alan Shearer - The Legend DVD. Buy it from play.com It is excellent and a lot more content then this 30 minute tribute! www.play.com Song 1 - Why Aye Man - Mark Knopfler - Itunes: itunes.apple.com Song 2 - Shoot to thrill - AC/DC - www.acdc.com Song 3 - Colossal - Wolfmother - Itunes: itunes.apple.com ***This is a none profit video*** *******This video is property creative. This video is not being used to make money in any way and is for entertainment and leisure purposes only. This is an act of fair usage as described by the US Copyright Office, therefore, a dispute should not occur over this video********* Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.
- published: 06 Sep 2010
- views: 28912
- author: benmols2
Brothers Play - FIFA 12 - Alan Shearer played for AC Milan
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:05
- Updated: 24 Oct 2012
Playing some more games with my brother, this time we play a game I'm used to, FIFA BITCH!!!! Enjoy his lack of football knowledge and be sure to Like and Subscribe :: Twitter :: twitter.com @MrChailis :: Seans Channel:: www.youtube.com :: Music :: www.youtube.com @HoodieAllen :: Song in Intro :: www.youtube.com :: Intro designer :: www.youtube.com :: Background music :: Remember the Dreams - Machinima Sound
http://wn.com/Brothers_Play_FIFA_12_Alan_Shearer_played_for_AC_Milan
Playing some more games with my brother, this time we play a game I'm used to, FIFA BITCH!!!! Enjoy his lack of football knowledge and be sure to Like and Subscribe :: Twitter :: twitter.com @MrChailis :: Seans Channel:: www.youtube.com :: Music :: www.youtube.com @HoodieAllen :: Song in Intro :: www.youtube.com :: Intro designer :: www.youtube.com :: Background music :: Remember the Dreams - Machinima Sound
- published: 08 Jul 2012
- views: 889
- author: LiteralGaming
Alan Shearer - Hero
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:39
- Updated: 02 Oct 2012
A little tribute for Newcastle's greatest player ever, Sir Alan Shearer.
http://wn.com/Alan_Shearer_Hero
A little tribute for Newcastle's greatest player ever, Sir Alan Shearer.
- published: 18 Aug 2012
- views: 129
- author: chris4andrea
Fenton gives Shearer & Dowie the runaround
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:38
- Updated: 19 Nov 2012
Fenton gives Shearer, Dowie and Zola the runaround.. Subscribe here: www.youtube.com Where else to find The Football Daily... Facebook: www.facebook.com Twitter: twitter.com Buzzfeed: www.buzzfeed.com
http://wn.com/Fenton_gives_Shearer_Dowie_the_runaround
Fenton gives Shearer, Dowie and Zola the runaround.. Subscribe here: www.youtube.com Where else to find The Football Daily... Facebook: www.facebook.com Twitter: twitter.com Buzzfeed: www.buzzfeed.com
- published: 08 Jul 2012
- views: 104052
- author: TheFootballDaily
Alan Shearer career highlights video...
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:10
- Updated: 20 Nov 2012
A comp made by myself a couple of years ago as a reminder of some of the things Newcastle's and Englands greatest ever centre forward achieved. I hope you like it!
http://wn.com/Alan_Shearer_career_highlights_video
A comp made by myself a couple of years ago as a reminder of some of the things Newcastle's and Englands greatest ever centre forward achieved. I hope you like it!
- published: 15 Apr 2008
- views: 83228
- author: pedro111nufc
Alan Shearer talks about sex
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:19
- Updated: 26 Nov 2012
Spain v Italy, and Alan Shearer has the players sex lives on his brain
http://wn.com/Alan_Shearer_talks_about_sex
Spain v Italy, and Alan Shearer has the players sex lives on his brain
- published: 01 Jul 2012
- views: 46309
- author: robdoylecouk
Alan Shearer at YMT Annual Celebrity Golf Day
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:11
- Updated: 01 Nov 2012
An impromptu performance from football royalty Alan Shearer while attending YMT Celebrity Golf Day and Gala Evening with celebrity duo Ant & Dec also in attendance. Jonny Wilkes and His Well Swung Band were the headline act during the night. The Golf Day is an annual celebrity event organised to raised funds for the Youth Ministry Team, a north-east based charity. More about the Youth Ministry Team here: www.ymt.org
http://wn.com/Alan_Shearer_at_YMT_Annual_Celebrity_Golf_Day
An impromptu performance from football royalty Alan Shearer while attending YMT Celebrity Golf Day and Gala Evening with celebrity duo Ant & Dec also in attendance. Jonny Wilkes and His Well Swung Band were the headline act during the night. The Golf Day is an annual celebrity event organised to raised funds for the Youth Ministry Team, a north-east based charity. More about the Youth Ministry Team here: www.ymt.org
- published: 03 Jun 2012
- views: 838
- author: life2dfull
Shearer butts in
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:40
- Updated: 16 Nov 2012
England v Ukraine. 19-6-12. Lee Dixon gives Gary Lineker a bemused look as Alan Shearer talks over him
http://wn.com/Shearer_butts_in
England v Ukraine. 19-6-12. Lee Dixon gives Gary Lineker a bemused look as Alan Shearer talks over him
- published: 20 Jun 2012
- views: 78944
- author: Boxnudger
Overhead Kick.mp4
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:24
- Updated: 30 Jul 2012
England wore black armbands as a mark of respect following the death of Dr. Tony O'Neill, FAI General Secretary and co-organiser behind Euro '96. Also respect was shown, particularly through a minute's silence preceding kick-off, for those who lost their lives in the Paddington rail disaster. England started strong with classic Shearer to open the scoring with a fantastic overhead kick. England won 2-1 after Jaime Redknapp providing another goal in the 66th minute.
http://wn.com/Overhead_Kickmp4
England wore black armbands as a mark of respect following the death of Dr. Tony O'Neill, FAI General Secretary and co-organiser behind Euro '96. Also respect was shown, particularly through a minute's silence preceding kick-off, for those who lost their lives in the Paddington rail disaster. England started strong with classic Shearer to open the scoring with a fantastic overhead kick. England won 2-1 after Jaime Redknapp providing another goal in the 66th minute.
- published: 18 Aug 2011
- views: 259
- author: Sportdafa
photo: AP / New York City Police Department
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noodls
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(Source. Chelsea Football Club Ltd) We use cookies on this website... To find out more about cookies, please see our Privacy Policy. If you continue using our website, we will assume that you consent to the cookies we set. NEW! Log in using your social profile ... YOU CHOOSE ... When doing the BBC analysis Alan Shearer was casting his expert eye over the two goals but I suggested he should add something that I had clipped up separately ... (noodl....(size: 13.3Kb)
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alan Shearer[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1970-08-13) 13 August 1970 (age 41)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 000 | Wallsend Boys Club | ||
| 1986–1988 | Southampton | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1988–1992 | Southampton | 118 | (23) |
| 1992–1996 | Blackburn Rovers | 138 | (112) |
| 1996–2006 | Newcastle United | 303 | (148) |
| Total | 559 | (283) | |
| National team | |||
| 1990–1992 | England U21 | 11 | (13) |
| 1992 | England B | 1 | (0) |
| 1992–2000 | England | 63 | (30) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2009 | Newcastle United | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
|||
Alan Shearer OBE, DL (born 13 August 1970) is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team. He is considered by some as one of England's best strikers, being both Newcastle's and the Premier League's record goalscorer. After retiring as a player in 2006, Shearer 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.
A native of Newcastle upon Tyne, Shearer made his professional debut with English top-flight club Southampton in 1988, scoring a hat-trick in the process. During several years on the south coast, he became known for his classic style of play, strength and goalscoring ability; he soon received an international call-up along with a transfer to Blackburn Rovers in 1992. Shearer established himself as a player in northern England; he became a regular in the England squad, and his 34-goal tally helped Blackburn secure the Premier League title in 1994–95. He was named Football Writers' Association Player of the Year in 1994 and won the PFA Player of the Year award in 1995. The 1995–96 season saw Shearer make his first Champions League appearances and finish as the top scorer in the Premier League with 31 goals. He was also top scorer at Euro 1996 with England, scoring five goals, and in the 1996–97 Premier League, with 25 goals. He scored 283 league goals in his career, including a record 260 in the Premier League, and a total of 422 in all competitions including international at all levels.[2] Shearer has amassed a goals to game ratio of 0.667 throughout his career at every level.
A world-record £15 million move to his boyhood heroes, Newcastle United, followed the Euro '96 tournament, and Shearer spent the remainder of his career with the club. While he would never win a major trophy at Newcastle, Shearer helped his team to runners-up finishes in the Premier League and FA Cup with Newcastle, and won a second PFA Player of the Year award. After being named England's captain in 1996 and Newcastle's captain in 1999, he retired from international football following Euro 2000, having amassed 63 appearances and 30 goals for his country. As well as his media work, he has raised substantial amounts of money for various national and local charities, both within and outside of sports. Shearer is an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), a Deputy Lieutenant of Northumberland, a Freeman of Newcastle upon Tyne and an honorary Doctor of Civil Law of Northumbria and Newcastle Universities.
Contents |
Early years[link]
Shearer was born in Gosforth, Newcastle in 1970 to working-class parents Alan and Anne Shearer. His father, a sheet-metal worker, encouraged a keen Shearer to play football in his youth, and the young player continued with the sport as he progressed through school. He was educated at Gosforth Central Middle School and Gosforth High School. Growing up playing on the streets of his hometown, he originally played in midfield because "it meant [he] could get more involved in the games."[3] Shearer captained his school team and helped a Newcastle City Schools team win a seven-a-side tournament at St James' Park, before joining the amateur Wallsend Boys Club as a teenager. It was while playing for the Wallsend club that he was spotted by Southampton's scout, Jack Hixon, which resulted in Shearer spending his summers training with the club's youth team, a time he would later refer to as "the making of me".[3] Shearer had successful trials for First Division clubs West Bromwich Albion, Manchester City and Newcastle United, before being offered a youth contract with Southampton in April 1986.[3]
Club career[link]
Southampton (1986–1992)[link]
Shearer was promoted to the first team after spending two years with the youth squad. He made his professional debut for Southampton on 26 March 1988, coming on as a substitute in a First Division fixture at Chelsea,[4] before prompting national headlines in his full debut at The Dell two weeks later. He scored a hat-trick, helping the team to a 4–2 victory against Arsenal, thus becoming the youngest player – at 17 years, 240 days – to score a hat-trick in the top division, breaking Jimmy Greaves' 30 year–old record.[4] Shearer ended the 1987–88 season with three goals in five games, and was rewarded with his first professional contract.[3]
Despite this auspicious start to his career, Shearer was only eased into the first team gradually and made just ten goalless appearances for the club the following season. Throughout his career Shearer was recognised for his strength,[5] which, during his time at Southampton, enabled him to retain the ball and provide opportunities for team mates.[4] Playing as a lone striker between wide men, Rod Wallace and Matt Le Tissier, Shearer scored three goals in 26 appearances in the 1989–90 season,[6] and in the next, four goals in 36 games. His performances in the centre of the Saints attack were soon recognised by the fans, who voted him their Player of the Year for 1991.[3][6] His partnership with fellow striker Matt Le Tissier would eventually pave the way to international success.[3][7]
In the summer of 1991, Shearer was a member of the England national under-21 football squad in the Toulon Tournament in Toulon, France. Shearer was the star of the tournament where he scored seven goals in four games.[6] It was during the 1991–92 season that Shearer rose to national prominence. 13 goals in 41 appearances for the Saints led to an England call-up;[8] he scored on his debut,[9] and was strongly linked in the press with a summer move to Manchester United. A possible move for Shearer was being mentioned in the media during late autumn of 1991, but he rejected talk of a transfer (Leeds United also expressed interest in signing Shearer)[10] and vowed to see out the season with Southampton.[3]
During the summer of 1992 Southampton's manager, Ian Branfoot, became "the most popular manager in English football", as he took telephone calls from clubs "trying to bargain with players they don't want plus cash". Although Branfoot accepted that a sale was inevitable, he claimed that "whatever happens, we are in the driving seat".[11] Eventually, Shearer was sold to Blackburn Rovers for a fee of £3.6 million, with David Speedie reluctantly moving to The Dell as part of the deal. Despite Branfoot's claim to be "in the driving seat", Saints failed to include a "sell-on clause" in the contract.[12] In his four years in the Southampton first team, Shearer made a total of 158 appearances in all competitions, scoring 43 goals.[6]
Blackburn Rovers (1992–1996)[link]
Despite making just one goalless appearance as England failed to progress past the Euro 1992 group stages that summer,[13] Shearer was soon subject to a British transfer record-breaking £3.3million bid from Blackburn Rovers.[14] Although there was also interest from Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, Blackburn benefactor Jack Walker's millions were enough to prise the striker from the Saints, and Shearer moved north to Ewood Park in the summer of 1992.[15]
His first season with Blackburn was mixed – he missed half of it through injury after snapping his right anterior cruciate ligament in a match against Leeds United in December 1992, but scored 16 goals in the 21 games in which he did feature.[8] Shearer also became a regular in the England team this season and scored his second international goal; it came in a 4–0 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier win over Turkey in November. The season ended sourly, however, as Shearer was forced to miss some games due to injury and England's World Cup qualification chances were hit by a run of poor form.[3]
Returning to fitness for the 1993–94 season, he scored 31 goals from 40 games as Blackburn finished runners-up in the Premier League.[8] His performances for the club led to him being named the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year for that season.[16] On the international scene, England had failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup finals,[17] but Shearer added three more goals to his international tally before embarking on his most successful domestic season as a player to date.[15]
The arrival of Chris Sutton for the 1994–95 season established a strong attacking partnership at Blackburn. Shearer's league-record 34 goals,[18][19] coupled with Sutton's 15, helped the Lancashire club take the Premier League title from holders Manchester United on the final day of the season,[20] and the duo gained the nickname "the SAS" (Shearer And Sutton).[15] After being asked by the press how he planned to celebrate winning the title, Shearer replied, by "creosoting the fence".[21] Shearer also had his first taste of European football in the UEFA Cup that season, and scored in the second leg as Blackburn went out in the first round, losing to Trelleborgs FF of Sweden.[22] His efforts for the club led to Shearer being awarded the PFA Players' Player of the Year for 1995.[23]
Although the club could not retain the title the following year, Shearer again ended the (now 38-game) season as Premier League top scorer, with 31 goals in 35 games,[18][19][24] as Blackburn finished seventh in the league. The previous season's first-place finish also saw the club enter the Champions League. Shearer's only goal in six full Champions League games was a penalty in a 4–1 victory against Rosenborg in the final fixture[15] and Blackburn finished third in their group, failing to progress to the next stage.[25]
He passed the 100-goal milestone for Blackburn in all competitions on 23 September 1995, scoring a hat-trick in their 5–1 home win over Coventry City in the Premier League. On 30 December, he scored his 100th Premier League goal for the club in a 2–1 home win over Tottenham Hotspur. His final tally for the club was 112 goals in the Premier League and 130 in all competitions. His final goals for the club came on 17 April 1996, when he scored twice in a 3–2 home league win over Wimbledon.[26]
Shearer's international strike rate had also dried up, with no goals in the twelve matches leading up to Euro 96.[15] He missed the final three games of the season for his club due to injury, but recovered in time to play in England's UEFA European Championship campaign.
Newcastle United (1996–2006)[link]
After Euro 96, Manchester United again sought to sign Shearer, and entered the battle for his signature. Shearer stated he came close to signing for the club after extended talks with manager Alex Ferguson. Eventually both Manchester United and Newcastle United agreed fees with Blackburn Rovers and Shearer was all set to move to Manchester United but then at the last second Kevin Keegan requested one last audience with Shearer and persuaded him that his future lay at St. James Park.[citation needed]
On 30 July 1996, for a world transfer record-breaking £15 million Shearer joined his hometown club and league runners-up Newcastle United, managed by his hero Kevin Keegan.[3][27][28] Shearer made his league debut away at Everton, on 17 August 1996,[29] and maintained his form during the rest of the season, finishing as Premier League top-scorer for the third consecutive season with 25 goals in 31 Premier League games,[24][30][31] as well as winning another PFA Player of the Year accolade,[23] despite a groin injury forcing him to miss seven matches. Perhaps his best performance of the season came on 2 February 1997[32] when Newcastle went into the final 15 minutes of the game 3–1 down at home to Leicester City in the league, only for Shearer to win them the game 4–3 by scoring a late hat-trick.[33]
However, the league title still eluded the club, who finished second in the league for a consecutive year, with Keegan walking out mid-way through the season.[30]
Another injury problem; this time an ankle ligament injury sustained in a pre-season match at Goodison Park, restricted Shearer to just two goals in 17 games in the 1997–98 season. His injury was reflected in the club's form, and Newcastle finished just 13th in the League. However, United (now managed by Shearer's old boss at Blackburn, Kenny Dalglish) had a good run in the FA Cup; Shearer scored the winning goal in a semi final victory over Sheffield United as the team reached the final. The team were unable to get on the scoresheet at Wembley, and lost the game 2–0 to Arsenal.[34]
File:Alan Shearer 1998 (2).jpg
Alan Shearer after the FA Cup final defeat in 1998
An incident during a game against Leicester City in the league saw Shearer charged with misconduct by the FA,[35] with media sources claiming that video footage showed him intentionally kicking Neil Lennon in the head following a challenge.[36] The referee of the game took no action against Shearer, and he was then cleared of all charges by the FA, with Lennon giving evidence in the player's defence.[37] Former Football Association chief Graham Kelly, who brought the charges against the player, later claimed in his autobiography that Shearer had threatened to withdraw himself from the 1998 World Cup squad if the charges were upheld; a claim strenuously denied by Shearer.[38]
An almost injury-free season helped Shearer improve on his previous year's tally in 1998–99, the striker converting 14 goals in 30 league games, but Newcastle finished 13th again, with Ruud Gullit having replaced Kenny Dalglish just after the season got underway.[39] He also helped Newcastle to a second consecutive FA Cup final and qualification for the following season's UEFA Cup, but they once again lost; this time 2–0 to Treble-chasing Manchester United. Further managerial changes betrayed another lacklustre season in 1999–2000 as unpopular Ruud Gullit resigned to be replaced by the 66-year-old Bobby Robson.[40] The former's dismissal followed his decision to leave Shearer out of the starting lineup for the club's 2–1 defeat to arch-rivals Sunderland. Despite Gullit giving Shearer the captain's armband, reports of a rift between club captain and manager were rife, Gullit's decision proved deeply unpopular with fans and his departure capped a dismal start to the season.[41] The animosity between Shearer and Gullit was later confirmed by the latter, who reported telling the striker that he was "...the most overrated player I have ever seen."[42] Even with Robson in charge, the club struggled to progress beyond mid-table, although Shearer missed only one league game and notched up 23 goals.[8] Newcastle did reach the FA Cup semi finals, but a third consecutive final was beyond them as they were beaten by Chelsea. This season also saw Shearer sent off for the first time in his career, in the opening match against Aston Villa, after referee Uriah Rennie showed him a second yellow card for excessive use of his elbows.[43]
Ironically, Robson had tried to sign Shearer for Barcelona in 1997, making a bid of £20million which would have seen Shearer break the world's transfer fee record for the second time in 12 months. However, then Newcastle manager Kenny Dalglish rejected the offer.[44]
Shearer suffered an injury-hit and frustrating season in 2000–01, having retired from international football after the UEFA Euro 2000 tournament in order to focus on club football.[45] He managed only five goals in 19 games in the league. 2001–02 was much better though; Shearer bagged 23 goals in 37 league games as Newcastle finished fourth—their highest standing since 1997—meaning they would qualify for the following season's Champions League competition.[46] One of the most memorable incidents of the season saw Roy Keane sent off after a confrontation with Shearer during Newcastle's 4–3 win over the Red Devils in September 2001.[47][48] Shearer also saw red for the second time in his career this season, after allegedly elbowing an opposition player in a match against Charlton Athletic. The card was subsequently rescinded by referee Andy D'Urso after reviewing video replays after the game.[49]
The 2002–03 season saw Shearer and Newcastle make their return to the UEFA Champions League. Newcastle lost their first three matches in the opening group stage, but Shearer's goal against Dynamo Kiev,[50] coupled with further wins against Juventus and Feyenoord saw the club progress to the second group stage.[51] Shearer's hat-trick against Bayer Leverkusen and Brace against Inter in the second group stage helped him reach a total of seven Champions League goals, along with his 17 in 35 games in the league, and a total of 25 for the season as the team again improved to finish in third place in the Premier League.[52]
After this, Newcastle would have one more chance to progress in the Champions League in early 2003, but Shearer was one of those who failed to score as the team were eliminated in a penalty shootout by Partizan Belgrade in the third qualifying round. United progressed well in that season's UEFA Cup and Shearer's six goals helped the club reach the semi-finals, where they were beaten by eventual runners up Olympique de Marseille. Domestically he also had a good season, with 22 goals in 37 appearances,[8] however could not prevent the club dropping out of the Champions League places to finish in fifth, qualifying once again for the UEFA Cup.
Announcing that this would be his final season before retirement, Shearer's form in 2004–05 was patchy; alongside new signing Patrick Kluivert, he scored only seven goals in his 28 games as the club finished the season in 14th place.[8] The club fared better in the cup competitions, however, eventually losing out to Sporting in the Uefa Cup quarter-finals and Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-finals. Shearer scored a hattrick in the first round win against Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin, and ended the season with a haul of 11 European goals, in addition to his one goal in domestic cups.[8]
The summer of 2005 saw Shearer reverse his decision to retire after persuasion from then-manager Graeme Souness.[53] He decided to continue playing in a player-coach capacity until the end of the following season.[54] and he returned for one more season in 2005–06. This last season saw him break Jackie Milburn's 49-year-old record of 200 goals for Newcastle United (not including his 38 World War II Wartime League goals)[55] when he netted his 201st strike in a home Premier League fixture against Portsmouth on 4 February 2006, becoming the club's highest-ever league and cup competition goalscorer with 206 goals altogether.[56] On 17 April 2006, with three games remaining in his final season as a player, Shearer suffered a tear to the medial collateral ligament in his left knee after a collision during the 4–1 win at Sunderland in which he scored his 206th goal in what was his 395th appearance for the club. The injury caused him to miss those final three games, effectively bringing forward his retirement.[57] Shearer finished his final season with 10 goals in 32 league games.[8]
Tribute and testimonial[link]
In tribute to Shearer's contribution to Newcastle United over more than ten years, the club erected a large banner of Shearer on the outside of the cantilever superstructure of the Gallowgate End of St James' Park. The banner measured 25 metres (82 ft) high by 32 metres (105 ft) wide, covering almost half of the Gallowgate End, aptly placed above the club bar, Shearers bar, opened in his honour in 2005. The banner depicted Shearer as the "Gallowgate Giant", with one arm aloft in his signature goal celebration, with the message "Thanks for 10 great years", and was featured in the media coverage reflecting on his career at the club,[58][59][60][61] with the banner being displayed from 19 April 2006 until 11 May 2006, the day of his testimonial match. The banner could be seen across the city and as far away as Gateshead across the River Tyne, standing taller than the iconic local landmark, the Angel of the North.
Shearer was awarded a testimonial match by the club, against Scottish-side Celtic. All proceeds of the match went to charitable causes. Because of the injury he sustained three games earlier at Sunderland, Shearer was unable to play in the whole match; however he kicked-off the game and came off the bench to score a penalty, winning the game 3–2.[62] The match was a sell-out, and saw Shearer perform a lap of honour at the end with his family, with his young son notably covering his ears due to the volume of noise produced by the crowd in tribute.
International career[link]
Shearer's international career began in 1990 when he was handed a callup to the England under-21 squad under Dave Sexton. During his time with the squad, he scored 13 times in 11 games; a record return which is still unbeaten.[63][64] The striker's goals at this level, coupled with his club form, meant he was soon promoted to the senior squad by coach Graham Taylor. Marking his debut in the 2–0 win against France in February 1992 with a goal,[9] he made his only appearance for the England B team a month later. Due to replace Gary Lineker, who retired from international action after Euro 92, in the England attack,[65] Shearer played only intermittently in the qualifying campaign for the 1994 FIFA World Cup due to injury and the team failed to reach the competition finals.
Euro 96 was a more positive experience for both Shearer and England. With England not required to qualify as hosts, Shearer had not scored in 12 games in the 21 months prior,[15] and even his overall goalscoring record for England did not look too impressive so far; five goals in 23 games.[66]
However, he found the net in the 22nd minute of the first game, against Switzerland.[67] Scoring once in the following game against Scotland and twice in a 4–1 win over the Netherlands,[67] Shearer helped England to progress to the next stage in front of their own fans in Wembley.
In the quarter finals, England were outplayed by Spain but got through to a penalty shootout after a goalless draw. Shearer scored the first England penalty,[67] while the Spaniards failed to score from two of theirs, sending England into the semi-final against Germany. Shearer headed England into the lead after three minutes, but the Germans quickly equalised and the match went to penalties again. This time, Germany won from the spot; although Shearer scored, his team-mate Gareth Southgate missed his kick and England were eliminated. Shearer's five goals made him the competition's top scorer,[67] and together with team mates David Seaman and Steve McManaman, was listed in the official UEFA team of the tournament.
The new England manager Glenn Hoddle appointed Shearer squad captain for the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Moldova on 1 September 1996, and the player held onto the captaincy after scoring once in that match and twice in the following game against Poland. He scored a total of five goals in England's successful qualification campaign for the 1998 FIFA World Cup; adding strikes against Georgia and away to Poland to his tally.[15] Shearer was sidelined for much of the 1997–98 season,[68] but recovered to play in the World Cup finals. With Michael Owen replacing Teddy Sheringham as Shearer's strike partner, Shearer's return saw him score England's first goal of the tournament, in a 2–0 win over Tunisia, his only goal in the three group matches.[67] England faced long-time rivals Argentina in the second round. Shearer scored a first-half equaliser from the penalty-spot before David Beckham was sent off early in the second half. In the final minutes of the game Sol Campbell headed in what could have been the winning goal only for the referee to disallow it due to Shearer having elbowed goalkeeper Carlos Roa. The scores tied 2–2, the game went to penalties. Shearer scored again, but England were eliminated after David Batty's shot was saved by the Argentina goalkeeper.[69] This defeat ended England's participation in what was to be Shearer's only World Cup tournament.[13]
In September 1999, Shearer scored his only England hat-trick in a Euro 2000 qualifier against Luxembourg.[70] This helped England reach a play-off against Scotland; England won the game over two legs and in doing so qualified for the European Championships. By now, Shearer was approaching his 30th birthday, and he announced that he intended to retire from international football after the Euro 2000 tournament.[15]
Shearer did not score in England's opening 3–2 defeat against Portugal, but did so as England defeated Germany 1–0 in Charleroi,[71] ensuring that England beat their European neighbours for the first time since the 1966 World Cup Final. To remain in the tournament, England only required a draw against Romania in the final group match, and Shearer scored a penalty as England went in at half-time 2–1 up, but Romania ultimately won 3–2.[71] England's tournament was over, and so was Shearer's international career. From his 63 caps, he captained the team 34 times and scored thirty goals;[72] joint-fifth in the England all-time goalscorers list with Nat Lofthouse and Tom Finney.[73] Shearer remained in international retirement despite speculation of a return during the 2002 World Cup and 2004 European Championship campaigns, and further declined an offer to be assistant manager to Steve McClaren after the 2006 World Cup – a position ultimately filled by Terry Venables.[74][75][76]
Style of play[link]
As a player, Shearer was often styled as a classic English centre-forward, owing to his strength, physical stature, heading ability and strong shot.[77][78] Of his 206 Newcastle goals, 49 were scored with his head.[79] Earlier in his career, especially at Southampton, Shearer played a more creative role; providing chances for fellow strikers, and making runs into space, owing to his early development as a midfielder. Later on in his career, Shearer played a more forward role; his age meant that he lost much of the pace which served him on the south coast.[80] Able to hold the ball up well, he also functioned as a target man, providing balls for other players.[81] Although his strength allowed him to hold on to the ball, his playing style sometimes brought him criticism; most commonly that his play was too physical, and that he used his elbows too aggressively; it was this which contributed to both of his sendings off, although one was later rescinded on appeal.[82][83] As well as the two red cards, Shearer received 59 yellow cards during his career.
Shearer was noted as a proficient penalty taker for both club and country,[84][85] and he scored 45 times from the spot for Newcastle, where he was the first-choice taker. He also scored 5 goals from free-kicks for the north-east club.[79]
Coaching and management career[link]
Coaching[link]
On his retirement as a player Shearer responded to speculation of an immediate move into coaching that he would take some personal time off to "enjoy life" for the next couple of years. He was also quoted as saying that he would eventually like to move into management,[86] "when the time was right"[87] however as of March 2009 he was yet to start the UEFA Pro Licence course,.[88] which is required to be permitted to manage a team in the Premier League and European competition.[89]
Reflecting his desire for personal time off to "enjoy life", in July 2006 he turned down a coaching role with England, citing his BBC commitments and desire to be away from the pressure of a job within football.[90] Despite this, Shearer was often linked in the media with managerial or coaching positions at his three former clubs.[91][92]
Shearer took a brief role in the dugout for his final three games under Glenn Roeder. Shearer had rejected offers of coaching or assistant roles at Newcastle under both the returning Kevin Keegan in February 2008 and Joe Kinnear in November 2008.[93][94] Shearer had previously had talks about, but never been offered, a full time manager's role at Newcastle until his appointment on 1 April 2009.[95]
Manager – Newcastle United[link]
In a surprise move, late on 1 April 2009, it was announced that Shearer would become the manager of his former club Newcastle United for the remaining eight games of the season, taking over from head coach Chris Hughton who was in temporary charge while the permanent manager Joe Kinnear recovered from heart surgery, having taken ill on 7 February. Shearer stated "It's a club I love and I don't want them to go down. I'll do everything I can to stop that."[96][97]
Shearer was unveiled at a press conference the following day by club managing director Derek Llambias.[95] In explaining his acceptance of a managerial role at Newcastle at this time, Shearer stated that he would not have done this for any other club in this position, including his two other previous Premier League clubs.[95] Amid persistent questioning regarding the permanency of the appointment, Llambias announced that Shearer was to be manager for the remaining eight games, and after his recovery, Joe Kinnear would return as manager in the summer.[95] Shearer confirmed that the BBC had agreed to giving him an 8 week sabbatical from his Match of the Day role.[95] Llambias also confirmed Dennis Wise had left his executive role at the club and the club had no plans to appoint a replacement, with Shearer stating that "the people that have moved, were moving on anyways, that had nothing to do with me".[95] Wise's presence had previously been speculated as being a blockage to any possible appointment of a manager.[98] Shearer accepted the surprise offer on the Monday on the condition that he could bring in Iain Dowie as his assistant.[95] Shearer also brought in Paul Ferris to oversee club medical, physio and dietary matters.[95] Ferris had previously worked with Shearer in his playing days, and had been at the club for 13 years[95] prior to an earlier departure under then manager Glenn Roeder.[99]
His first match in charge ended in a 2–0 defeat against Chelsea at St. James' Park.[100] On 11 April, Newcastle earned their first point under Shearer with a 1–1 draw with Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium with Andy Carroll scoring a late equalizing goal.[101] After a defeat to Tottenham Hotspur and a draw against Portsmouth, his first win for Newcastle came in a 3–1 victory over Middlesbrough that lifted Newcastle from the relegation zone.[102]
On the eve of the final day of the season on 24 May, where all fixtures are played simultaneously, Newcastle faced the prospect of being relegated to the Championship, along with Hull City, Middlesbrough and Sunderland, which would end their 16 year unbroken spell in the Premier League.[103] After losing 1–0 at Aston Villa with Damien Duff scoring an own goal, Newcastle were relegated with local rivals Middlesbrough, joining West Bromwich Albion whose relegation had been confirmed in previous weeks, while Sunderland and Hull City survived. Shearer's eight games yielded only five points out of a possible twenty-four.[103]
Shearer did not get the manager's job on permanent basis. Chris Hughton stepped up from the coaching staff to take charge of the quest to get Newcastle back into the Premier League, which was achieved at the first attempt as Newcastle finished top of the Championship in 2009–10.
Despite Newcastle looking like good bets for survival with the halfway point of the 2010–11 Premier League campaign looming, Hughton was sacked on 6 December 2010 and this sparked speculation that Shearer would be re-appointed as manager of the club. However, Newcastle's directors said that they were looking for a manager with more top flight experience and Shearer had ruled himself out of the running. Alan Pardew eventually took over the role.[104][105]
Post Newcastle United[link]
On 14 June 2011, BBC Sport Wales reported the Shearer had held talks with Championship club Cardiff City over the vacant manager job.[106] Shearer commented the next day that, "unfortunately, those talks were unsuccessful on this occasion."[107]
Career outside football[link]
Television career and commercial roles[link]
After his retirement and following guest appearances, Shearer became a regular pundit for the BBC's Match of the Day. He also formed part of the team which covered the 2006 World Cup for the BBC.[108]
Former Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd announced that, after Shearer finished the 2005–06 season as Newcastle's caretaker assistant manager, he would become the club's "Sporting Ambassador" for 2006–07.[109] However in September 2008 it was reported that Shearer was sacked from this largely honorary position by the club's owner Mike Ashley despite protests from players such as Steven Taylor and Damien Duff, due to Shearer's criticism of the way in which the club was being run in the wake of the departure of Kevin Keegan.[110] These articles were denied by the club.[111][112]
Charitable causes[link]
During his playing days, Shearer had been involved with the children's charity the NSPCC, taking part in the organisation's Full Stop campaign in 1999.[113] Since retiring from football Shearer has also done work for several charities both nationally and in the Newcastle area.
In his testimonial match, he raised £1.64m benefiting fourteen good causes including £400,000 for the NSPCC and £320,000 for completion of the "Alan Shearer Centre", a respite care facility based in West Denton, Newcastle.[114][115] In October 2006 he became an ambassador for the NSPCC, describing it as "the kick-off to my most important role yet".[113] He has also worked with the charity the Dream Foundation.[116] In 2006, Shearer founded the Alan Shearer Academy Scholarship to aid the development of promising young players in the region.[117]
In 2008, he raised over £300,000 for Sport Relief in a bike ride with fellow Match of the Day presenter Adrian Chiles, the idea for which emerged in an off the cuff question from cycling fan Chiles to Shearer as to how he kept fit since retirement.[118] Shearer also played and scored twice in Soccer Aid, a game involving celebrities and former players at Wembley Stadium in September 2008, to raise money for UNICEF.[119]
On 26 July 2009, Shearer played and scored in the Sir Bobby Robson Trophy match, a charity match held at St James' Park in tribute of Sir Bobby Robson and in aid of his cancer charity the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.[120] It proved to be Sir Bobby's last public appearance, as he died five days later.[121] On 15 October 2009 Shearer became the new patron of Sir Bobby's Foundation.[122]
Personal life[link]
Family[link]
Shearer is married to Lainya, whom he met whilst a Southampton player. The couple lived locally with her parents during Shearer's second year at the south coast club, and were married on 8 June 1991 at St. James' Church in the city. In contrast to the portrayal of some WAGs (wives and girlfriends) of later players by the media, Lainya is described by Shearer as a quiet and reserved person, not comfortable in the spotlight her husband's fame sometimes brought. The couple have three children.[3] Shearer cited not wanting to uproot his family as a key reason for remaining in England during his career, having had the chance to move to Juventus or Barcelona when leaving Blackburn.[15] Shearer's family accompanied him onto the pitch following the striker's testimonial in May 2006 as he performed a lap of honour at St. James' Park.[123]
Personal honours[link]
On 6 December 2000, Shearer was given Honorary Freedom of the City of Newcastle upon Tyne, with the citation "in recognition of his role as Captain of Newcastle United Football Club and as former Captain of England which have enhanced the reputation of the City".[124][125][126]
Shearer was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours.[14]
On 4 December 2006, Shearer was created a Doctor of Civil Law by Northumbria University, at a ceremony at Newcastle City Hall, where the University vice-chancellor declared that "Throughout his career Alan Shearer has been hard-working, committed, disciplined and focused in his endeavours, fighting back from career-threatening injuries with great determination and courage".[127]
On 1 October 2009, Shearer was commissioned as Deputy Lieutenant of Northumberland, having been nominated by the Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland, the Duchess of Northumberland, Jane Percy, and approved for the position by The Queen.[128] In this role, Shearer, along with 21 other deputies, is the stand-in for the Duchess when she cannot fulfill her role as The Queen's official representative in the region at official engagements.[129] Deputies must live within 7 miles of the county boundaries, and retain their appointment until age 75.[129] The Duchess said of the appointment that "You could not find a more iconic person than Alan, not just for what he has done in football but for all the extra work he tirelessly does for charity and communities. I am delighted he has accepted the role of Deputy Lieutenant because he is a real role model. I have promised him he is not going to have to do too much, but even if it is just one occasion a year he is the perfect choice"[129]
On 7 December 2009 Shearer was made a Doctor of Civil Law by Newcastle University.[130][131][132] Chancellor Sir Liam Donaldson stated "Newcastle United are my team. Alan Shearer is more than just a local legend, he's probably one of the greatest footballers of all time".[131][132]
Career statistics[link]
Club[link]
| Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1987–88 | Southampton | First Division | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 5 | 3 | |
| 1988–89 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 10 | 0 | |||
| 1989–90 | 26 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 2 | – | 35 | 5 | |||
| 1990–91 | 36 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 6 | – | 48[133] | 14[133] | |||
| 1991–92 | 41 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 3 | – | 60[133] | 21[133] | |||
| Total | 118 | 23 | 14 | 4 | 18 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 158 | 43 | ||
| 1992–93 | Blackburn Rovers | Premier League | 21 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 | – | 26 | 22 | |
| 1993–94 | 40 | 31 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | – | 48 | 34 | |||
| 1994–95 | 42 | 34 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 49 | 37 | ||
| 1995–96 | 35 | 31 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 48[134] | 37 | ||
| Total | 138 | 112 | 8 | 2 | 16 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 171 | 130 | ||
| 1996–97 | Newcastle United | Premier League | 31 | 25 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 40[134] | 28 |
| 1997–98 | 17 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | – | 23 | 7 | |||
| 1998–99 | 30 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 40 | 21 | ||
| 1999–2000 | 37 | 23 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 50 | 30 | ||
| 2000–01 | 19 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | – | 23 | 7 | |||
| 2001–02 | 37 | 23 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | – | 46 | 27 | |||
| 2002–03 | 35 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 7 | 48 | 25 | ||
| 2003–04 | 37 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 6 | 51 | 28 | ||
| 2004–05 | 28 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 11 | 42 | 19 | ||
| 2005–06 | 32 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 41 | 14 | ||
| Total | 303 | 148 | 36 | 21 | 16 | 7 | 48 | 30 | 404 | 206 | ||
| Career total | 559 | 283 | 58 | 27 | 50 | 32 | 56 | 32 | 733 | 379 | ||
National team[link]
| England national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 1992 | 6 | 2 |
| 1993 | 1 | 0 |
| 1994 | 6 | 3 |
| 1995 | 8 | 0 |
| 1996 | 9 | 8 |
| 1997 | 5 | 3 |
| 1998 | 11 | 6 |
| 1999 | 10 | 6 |
| 2000 | 7 | 2 |
| Total | 63 | 30 |
International goals[link]
- Scores and results list England's goal tally first. "Score" column indicates the score after the player's goal.
Career totals[link]
| Professional career totals | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | Appearances | Goals | Goals per game |
| Clubs | 733 | 379 | 0.52 |
| National team | 063 | 030 | 0.48 |
| Total | 796 | 409 | 0.51 |
Manager[link]
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Newcastle United |  |
1 April 2009 | 24 May 2009 | &100000000000000080000008 | &100000000000000010000001 | &100000000000000020000002 | &100000000000000050000005 | &1000000000000001250000012.50 |
Footballing honours[link]
Club and international[link]
- Full Members Cup Finalist: 1992
- Premier League Winner: 1994–95
- Premier League Runner up: 1996–97
- FA Cup Finalist: 1998, 1999
- Tournoi de France: 1997
Individual[link]
- Euro 96 Golden Boot Winner (five goals)[67]
- UEFA Euro 1996 All-Star Team
- UEFA Cup top scorer: 2003–04, 2004–05[137][138]
- FIFA World Player of the Year – Bronze award: 1996
- Ballon d'Or – Bronze award: 1996
- Highest-ever Premier League goalscorer: 260 goals[139]
- Premier League Golden Boot: 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97
- Record for most Premier League goals in a 42-game season (1992–93 to 1994–95): 34a
- Record for most Premier League goals in a 38-game season (1995 onwards): 31b[18][19]
- Most overall goals scored for Newcastle United: 206[140]
- Most European goals for Newcastle United: 30[140]
- PFA Players' Player of the Year: 1995, 1997
- Football Writers' Association Player of the Year: 1994
- Premier League Player of the Season: 1994–95
- Inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2004.[141]
- Named by Pelé as one of the 125 greatest living footballers.[142]
- Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–93 to 2001–02)[143][144]
- Domestic and Overall Player of the Decade
- Domestic and Overall Team of the Decade
- Outstanding Contribution to the FA Premier League
- Top Goalscorer (204)
- Premier League 20 Seasons Awards (1992–93 to 2011–12)
- Top Goalscorer (260)
^ Held jointly with Andrew Cole. ^ Held jointly with Cristiano Ronaldo.
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- ^ [1]
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- ^ Stewart, Rob (18 November 2008). "Alan Shearer unlikely to take Newcastle job while Dennis Wise is still at St James' Park". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/newcastle/3477892/Alan-Shearer-unlikely-to-take-Newcastle-managers-position-while-Dennis-Wise-still-at-St-James-Park-Football.html. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ^ "Another Magpie flies the nest as fitness coach quits". Barclays Premier League. ESPN Soccernet. 14 November 2006. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=391794&&cc=5739. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ^ McNulty, Phil (4 April 2009). "Newcastle 0–2 Chelsea". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7972770.stm. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
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- ^ a b "Newcastle relegated after final day defeat". CNN.com/world sport. 24 May 2009. http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SPORT/football/05/24/premier.newcastle.relegation/. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
- ^ "Shearer rejects Toon talk". Sky Sports. 7 December 2010. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6560647,00.html. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ^ "Rob Lee reckons there is little chance of Alan Shearer returning as Newcastle boss.". London: The Sun. 7 December 2010. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3264310/Rob-Lee-doubts-Alan-Shearer-will-boss-Newcastle-again.html. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ^ "Alan Shearer holds talks with Cardiff City". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 14 June 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13770272.stm. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
- ^ "Alan Shearer will not become new Cardiff City manager". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 15 June 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13770272.stm. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
- ^ Caroe, Charlie; Edbrooke, David (9 June 2008). "Alan Shearer keen on Blackburn Rovers post". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/blackburn/2302774/Alan-Shearer-keen-on-Blackburn-Rovers-post.html. Retrieved 22 July 2008. [dead link]
- ^ "Shearer in training but not for Newcastle coaching role". The Independent. 7 March 2008. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20080307/ai_n24405416. Retrieved 5 August 2008. [dead link]
- ^ Young, Colin (15 September 2008). "Alan Shearer is kicked out as Mike Ashley reveals details of Newcastle's cash crisis". Daily Mail (London). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1055797/Alan-Shearer-kicked-Mike-Ashley-reveals-Newcastles-cash-crisis.html.
- ^ "Magpies dismiss Shearer sack talk". BBC Sport. 15 September 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/n/newcastle_united/7616394.stm. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
- ^ "Alan Shearer's Charity work". Look to the stars. http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/1091-alan-shearer. Retrieved 8 April 2009.
- ^ a b "NSPCC Ambassador Alan Shearer OBE". NSPCC. http://www.nspcc.org.uk/whatwedo/celebritysupporters/ambassadors/alanshearer/ambassadoralanshearer_wda39678.html. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
- ^ "Centre is named after Toon legend". BBC News. 11 May 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/6645813.stm. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
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- ^ Stokes, Paul (19 July 2001). "Charity leaders held over 'missing funds'". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1378995/Charity-leaders-held-over-%27missing-funds%27.html. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
- ^ "Shearer donates testimonial proceeds to charity". Ireland Online. 28 March 2006. http://breakingnews.iol.ie/sport/?jp=cweyeyidmhql. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
- ^ "Football duo finish charity ride". BBC News. 14 March 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/7297029.stm. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
- ^ "Stars take to the pitch for Soccer Aid". UNICEF. http://www.unicef.org.uk/youthvoice/socceraid.asp. Retrieved 13 August 2008. [dead link]
- ^ "Football match honours Sir Bobby". BBC News. 26 July 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8169351.stm. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
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- ^ "Robson cancer fund at £2m: Shearer". UK Press Association. 15 October 2009. Archived from the original on 15 October 2009. http://www.webcitation.org/5kXlnngzP. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
- ^ Shearer, Alan (2007). My Illustrated Career. London: Cassell Illustrated. pp. 162–222. ISBN 1-84403-586-7.
- ^ "Honorary Freedom – Citations". Newcastle City Council. undated. Archived from the original on 1 October 2009. http://www.webcitation.org/5kCaNz9fs. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
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- ^ Wildman, Rob (24 November 2003). "Newcastle quick to reap rewards". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/2425752/Newcastle-quick-to-reap-rewards.html. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
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- ^ a b c d Includes Full Members Cup
- ^ a b Includes Charity Shield
- ^ http://www.national-football-teams.com/v2/player.php?id=10820
- ^ http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/shearer-intlg.html
- ^ "UEFA Cup: List of Top Scorers". WorldFootball.net. http://www.worldfootball.net/torschuetzenkoenige/uefa-cup/. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
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- ^ a b "Goal Machines". Newcastle United F.C. Archived from the original on 22 November 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20081122215302/http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Records/0,,10278~1241751,00.html. Retrieved 26 July 2008.
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- ^ "Fifa to unveil 100 greatest". BBC Sport. 4 March 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/3532829.stm. Retrieved 26 July 2008.
- ^ "Shearer nets awards". BBC Sport. 14 April 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/2947321.stm. Retrieved 26 July 2008.
- ^ "Newcastle reach Champions League". BBC Sport. 3 May 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/2968009.stm. Retrieved 26 July 2008.
External links[link]
 |
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Alan Shearer |
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alan Shearer |
- Alan Shearer career stats at Soccerbase
- Alan Shearer profile at 4thegame.com
- February 2006 radio interview with the BBC
- Interview with Alan Shearer at vidFootball.com
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Shearer, Alan |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | Footballer |
| Date of birth | 13 August 1970 |
| Place of birth | Gosforth, England |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Alan_Shearer
Related pages:
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http://cs.wn.com/Alan Shearer
http://id.wn.com/Alan Shearer
http://es.wn.com/Alan Shearer
http://ru.wn.com/Ширер, Алан
http://nl.wn.com/Alan Shearer
http://pl.wn.com/Alan Shearer
http://fr.wn.com/Alan Shearer
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http://hi.wn.com/ऐलन शियर्र (Alan Shearer)
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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Shearer
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is about the footballer. For the actor, see Lee Dixon (actor). For the English Rugby Union player, see Lee Dickson.
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lee Michael Dixon | ||
| Date of birth | (1964-03-17) 17 March 1964 (age 48) | ||
| Place of birth | Manchester, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||
| Playing position | Right-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| - | Burnley | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1982–1984 | Burnley | 4 | (0) |
| 1984–1985 | Chester City | 57 | (1) |
| 1985–1986 | Bury | 45 | (5) |
| 1986–1988 | Stoke City | 71 | (5) |
| 1988–2002 | Arsenal | 458 | (24) |
| Total | 635 | (35) | |
| National team | |||
| 1989–1992 | England B | 4 | (0) |
| 1990–1999 | England | 22 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
|||
Lee Michael Dixon (born 17 March 1964) is a former English professional footballer born in Manchester.
He formed part of the Arsenal defence from the late 1980s, through till 2002. He was capped 22 times for England, scoring once.
Dixon currently works for the BBC's Match of the Day (as well as MotD 2 and 3) as a football pundit and writes a corresponding column for their website. At the time of his retirement, he had played at 91 out of the 92 Football League grounds – every one except Fulham F.C.'s Craven Cottage.
Contents |
Early Life[link]
Dixon was a boyhood Manchester City supporter.[1] He began his professional playing career in the lower divisions. On leaving school in 1980, he joined Burnley as an apprentice in 1980, turning professional in 1982, then signed for Chester City (where he experienced finishing bottom of the whole Football League in 1983–84), Bury and later Stoke City.
Club Career[link]
Dixon was signed by Arsenal boss George Graham in January 1988 following the departure of England right back, Viv Anderson, to Manchester United. This was the first time that Dixon had played in the First Division.
It took a while for Dixon to be given a first team role at Highbury. With England international Kenny Sansom at left back, the equally left-sided Nigel Winterburn had been a guarded success in the unfamiliar right back role, though Dixon did make his debut against Luton Town in February 1988 and played six times in total before the season ended. In the new season, Winterburn moved across to left back, allowing Dixon to take over the No.2 shirt, which he duly did for well over ten years. Displaced Sansom left Arsenal the following winter.
Dixon later wrote in his column in The Independent of the defence that he played in at Arsenal, "I was fortunate to play in an Arsenal back line that earned itself a reputation as being OK. I'm not trying to be overly modest in saying that, as individuals, we weren't the best players in the world. But certainly all my weaknesses were compensated for by Tony Adams, Nigel Winterburn, Martin Keown and Steve Bould, and vice versa. If one of us wasn't playing well, the others picked up the slack."[1]
Dixon and Winterburn made the full back positions their own for the next decade or so, while captain Tony Adams and the long-serving David O'Leary operated in the middle. Later in 1988 they were joined by Steve Bould who, like Dixon before him, had been spotted by Graham playing for Stoke City. These five defenders, often playing as a back five together (rather than the conventional back four) were the linchpin of an Arsenal side who became serious challengers for the First Division title the 1988-89 season, an honour which they had not won since 1971 but had looked more and more like winning since Graham's appointment as Arsenal manager in May 1986.
Dixon was a marauding right back, ever willing to support his winger David Rocastle and his attacking skills were still noted even though his main job (and the main priority of the side as a whole) was to defend. He also had a short spell during this period as the club's penalty taker. Arsenal took the chase for the League championship to the last day of the season when they faced Liverpool at Anfield. With Arsenal needing to win by two goals, the game stood at 1–0 as the clock showed the 90 minutes were up. Dixon received a ball in his own half and looked to mount a final attack. Spotting the run of centre forward Alan Smith towards the right channel, Dixon delivered a long ball on to his chest. Smith's run had forced a Liverpool defender across with him and Arsenal midfielder Michael Thomas made a charge into the gap, took Smith's sideways pass in his stride and slipped the ball past Bruce Grobbelaar. There was barely time for Liverpool to restart and Arsenal took the title, the first of many honours Dixon would win.
Arsenal struggled to hold on to the title the following year (and were unable to take part in the European Cup because the ban on English clubs after Heysel was still ongoing). In the 1990-91 season, Arsenal's defence (now with David Seaman playing behind them in goal) grew even meaner, with just one defeat all season as they won the League championship again.
After the 1992 summer, a fit-again Dixon was also defending the League title within the familiar Arsenal defence. With O'Leary's retirement imminent, Graham had provided extra cover in the centre of defence by signing Martin Keown from Everton – ironically the player who'd ended up playing at right back in Euro 92 after both Dixon and Stevens became unavailable.
O'Leary ended up in Dixon's place at right back for the 1993 League Cup final against Sheffield Wednesday – Dixon was suspended, having been sent off in Arsenal's FA Cup semi-final victory over Spurs. Arsenal won 2–1. Dixon was back when the sides met again for the FA Cup final which Arsenal won by the same scoreline in a replay, after the initial game had ended in a 1–1 draw.
In 1994, Dixon won a European medal to complement his domestic collection as Dixon, Winterburn, Bould and Adams suppressed the efforts of Tomas Brolin, Gianfranco Zola and Faustino Asprilla of Italian side Parma. Arsenal scored an early goal in the European Cup Winners Cup final in Copenhagen and this was enough, winning 1–0.
Dixon was again in his No.2 shirt as Arsenal slumped domestically in 1995 but reached the final of the Cup Winners Cup again. Though the defence in Paris was breached by Real Zaragoza, Arsenal equalised and took the game to extra time. A lob from 40 yards in the final minute from Nayim (an ex-Spurs player) over David Seaman prised the trophy from the Gunners.
At the end of 1996, Arsène Wenger arrived at Highbury and started to introduce lifestyle policies to the Arsenal squad, changing their life's outlook, self-awareness and diet. Wenger later admitted that he expected to replace each defender he inherited fairly quickly, but just as quickly realised he didn't need to. Dixon and his defensive colleagues recognised Wenger for giving them extra years at the helm of the game. Arsenal won the second "double" of the club's history in 1998 and Dixon received a testimonial the following year as he entered his tenth full season at Arsenal.
Dixon played in a UEFA Cup campaign in 2000 which saw Arsenal reach the final in the same Copenhagen stadium where they had won the Cup Winners Cup six years earlier. This time they were beaten on penalties by Galatasaray of Turkey. Earlier in that season he had missed a penalty in a shootout as Arsenal crashed out of the 1999/2000 FA Cup to Leicester City.[2] The following year Arsenal reached the FA Cup final but lost 2–1 to Liverpool at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff – the 37 year old Dixon being outpaced by the 21 year old Michael Owen for the winning goal. Dixon played on for one more season helping Arsenal to win another historic "double", the third in the club's history and second under manager Arsène Wenger, clinching the league title over rivals Manchester United at their home ground Old Trafford. This made him one of the few men to have won league titles in three different decades (80s, 90s and 00s)
Dixon retired from playing after winning that double in 2002 at the age of 38, with Adams quitting at the same time. Only Seaman and Keown then remained at the club from the defensive group Dixon had become associated with at Arsenal (after O'Leary's retirement in 1993, Bould had been the next to go in 1999 and then Winterburn followed him out of Highbury a year later). Dixon made 458 appearances in the League, scoring 25 goals.
International Career[link]
Dixon made his England debut in April 1990 in a World Cup warm-up game against Czechoslovakia. He played well, but there was little hope of him being in the squad for the tournament as he was at least third in the pecking order behind Gary Stevens and Paul Parker. Only injury to one of these two would have opened a door for Dixon to go to Italy and that didn't happen as the pair stayed fully fit for the length of the tournament. After the World Cup, new manager Graham Taylor instantly replaced Stevens and Parker with Dixon, who scored a goal at Wembley in his sixth international in an important Euro 92 qualifier against the Republic of Ireland. The game ended 1–1.
By the end of 1991, Dixon had played in eleven internationals, including all of the Euro 92 qualifiers, through which England qualified for the finals in Sweden. As the finals approached, Dixon suffered an injury, allowing Stevens a route back into the side as the deadline for squad announcement approached. Taylor duly named Dixon instead of Stevens in his provisional squad, but ultimately neither went to the tournament. Dixon pulled out through an injury suffered in an accident at home[3] so Stevens was recalled, only for the Rangers full back also to withdraw through injury. England ended up with no recognised right back in their squad and didn't get past the group stages.
1993 did not go well internationally, with England failing to qualify for the 1994 World Cup in the United States.[4] Dixon's 21st cap, in a 7–1 win over San Marino in the final qualifier (a result which was immaterial) seemed to be his last as Taylor quit as manager and Terry Venables took over, experimenting with other right backs until installing Gary Neville in the spot in 1995, a role he maintained until 2006.
In late January 1999, England manager Glenn Hoddle recalled Dixon to the England squad more than five years after his last appearance, and he took to the field on 1 February in a 2-0 defeat by France.[5] His international career ended with 22 caps in total but had not played in a major tournament.
After football[link]
In retirement, Dixon has concentrated on several business interests including the Riverside Brasserie in Bray, Berkshire, originally with his friend Heston Blumenthal.[6] He also works as a regular pundit for the BBC on Match of the Day 2 as well as appearing on Score, and Football Focus.
In 2010 he became "completely hooked" on cycling, and goes riding two or three times a week, after Lawrence Dallaglio persuaded him to take part in the 'Dallaglio Cycle Slam' during the Six Nations Championship in February that year, raising money for Sport Relief.[7][8] They raised over £986,000 for the charity.
Honours[link]
Club[link]
- Arsenal
Winner:
- First Division/Premier League (4): 1988–89, 1990–91, 1997–98, 2001–02
- FA Cup (3): 1993, 1998, 2002
- League Cup (1): 1992–93
- FA Charity Shield (3): 1991 (shared), 1998, 1999
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1): 1993–94
Runner-up:
- Premier League (3): 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01
- FA Cup (1): 2001
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1): 1994–95
- UEFA Cup (1): 1999–2000
- FA Charity Shield (1): 1993
International[link]
- England
Individual[link]
- Stoke City Player of the Year (1): 1987
- PFA Second Division Team of the Year (1): 1986-87
- PFA First Division Team of the Year (2): 1989-90, 1990-91
References[link]
- ^ a b Lee, Dixon (16 October 2010). "Lee Dixon: Overweight Johnson and slowing Carragher give Liverpool a real problem at the back". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/lee-dixon-overweight-johnson-and-slowing-carragher-give-liverpool-a-real-problem-at-the-back-2108100.html. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
- ^ "Gunners out in penalty thriller". BBC. 19 January 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/football/fa_cup/611203.stm. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Lee Dixon Statistics FIFA. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
- ^ [2]
- ^ "Lee Dixon on haute cuisine | Sport | The Observer". London: Observer.guardian.co.uk. 2010-01-28. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,1448085,00.html. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
- ^ World Cup 2010: Lee Dixon on two wheels in South Africa, BBC News, 10 July 2010 (video)
- ^ Dixon takes to his bike, BBC News, 10 July 2010
External links[link]
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Dixon, Lee |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | Footballer |
| Date of birth | 17 March 1964 |
| Place of birth | Manchester, England |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Roy Maurice Keane[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1971-08-10) 10 August 1971 (age 40)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Cork, Ireland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1] | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1989–1990 | Cobh Ramblers | 12 | (1) |
| 1990–1993 | Nottingham Forest | 114 | (22) |
| 1993–2005 | Manchester United | 326 | (33) |
| 2005–2006 | Celtic | 10 | (1) |
| Total | 462 | (57) | |
| National team | |||
| 1991 | Republic of Ireland U21 | 4 | (0) |
| 1991-2005 | Republic of Ireland | 67 | (9) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2006–2008 | Sunderland | ||
| 2009–2011 | Ipswich Town | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish former footballer and manager. In his 18-year playing career, he played for Cobh Ramblers, Nottingham Forest, and Manchester United, before ending his career at Celtic. Keane was a dominating central-midfielder, noted for his aggressive and highly competitive style of play, an attitude which helped him excel as captain of Manchester United from 1997 until his departure in 2005, having joined the club in 1993. Keane helped United achieve a sustained period of success in more than 12 years at the club. He then signed for Celtic but retired as a player less than a year later.
He played at international level for much of his career, representing the Republic of Ireland over a period of 14 years, most of which he spent as captain. He played in every Republic of Ireland game at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, although he was sent home from the 2002 World Cup after an incident with national coach Mick McCarthy.
He was appointed manager of Sunderland shortly after his retirement as a player, and took the club from 23rd position in the Football League Championship in late August to win the division title and gain promotion to the Premier League. Keane's arrival was cited as the catalyst for Sunderland's recovery.[2] He managed to keep Sunderland from relegation in the 2007–08 season, but in his second season as a top-flight manager he left his position with Sunderland in the relegation zone.[3] In April 2009, he was appointed as manager of Ipswich Town, but was sacked by the club in January 2011 with them 19th in the Championship.[4]
Contents |
Childhood and early career[link]
Keane was born into a working class family in the Mayfield suburb of Cork. His father, Maurice, took work wherever he could find, which led to jobs at a local knitwear company and a Murphy's Irish Stout brewery, amongst others. His family were keen on sport, football especially, and many of his relatives had played for junior clubs in Cork, including Rockmount A.F.C. Keane took up boxing at the age of nine and trained for a number of years, winning all of his four bouts in the novice league. During this period he was developing as a much more promising footballer at Rockmount, and his potential was highlighted when he was voted Player of the Year in his first season.
Keane supported Celtic and Tottenham Hotspur as a child, citing Liam Brady and Glenn Hoddle as his favourite players, but as time progressed, Manchester United's Bryan Robson became the footballer he most admired due to the all-action, box-to-box style for which 'Captain Marvel' had become famous.[5]
Cobh Ramblers[link]
Despite his growing promise, a future career in football began to look uncertain. He was turned down from the Ireland schoolboys squad after a trial in Dublin; one explanation from former Ireland coach and scout Ronan Scally was that the 14-year-old Keane was "just too small" to make it at the required level.[5] Undeterred, he began applying for trials with English clubs, but he was turned down by each one. As his childhood years passed, he took up temporary jobs involving manual work while waiting for a breakthrough in his football prospects. In 1989, he eventually signed for the semi-professional Irish club Cobh Ramblers after persuasion from Ramblers' youth team manager Eddie O'Rourke. Keane was one of two Ramblers representatives in the inaugural FAI/FAS scheme in Dublin, and it was through this initiative that he got his first taste of full-time training. His rapid progression into a promising footballer was reflected by the fact that he would regularly turn out for Ramblers' youth side as well as the actual first team, often playing twice in the same weekend as a result.
In the tough, physical world of the Irish First Division, Keane more than held his own against players much more experienced than himself, his dedication to training noticed by many. In an important FAI Youth Cup match against Belvedere FC of Dublin, Keane's performance attracted the attention of watching Nottingham Forest scout Noel McCabe, who asked him to travel over to England for a trial. Keane impressed Forest manager Brian Clough and his staff, and eventually a deal for Keane worth £47,000 was struck with Cobh Ramblers in the summer of 1990.[6]
Club career[link]
Nottingham Forest[link]
Although delighted to have signed for a big club, Keane initially found life in Nottingham difficult due to the long periods away from his family, and he would often ask the club for a few days' home leave in order to return to Cork. Keane expressed his gratitude at Clough's generosity when considering his requests, as it helped him get through the tough early days at the club.[5] Keane's first games at Forest came in the Under-21s team during a pre-season tournament in Holland. In the final against Haarlem, he scored the winning penalty in a shootout to decide the competition, and soon he was climbing the ranks at the club and playing regularly for the reserve team. His professional league debut came against Liverpool at the start of the 1990–91 season, and the resulting performance encouraged Clough to use him more and more as the season progressed.
Brian Clough's advice to me before most games was: 'you get it, you pass it to another player in a red shirt'. That's really all I've tried to do at Forest and United — pass and move — and I've made a career out of it.
Roy Keane[7]
He eventually scored his first professional goal against Sheffield United, and by 1991 he was a regular starter in the side, displacing the England international Steve Hodge. Keane scored three goals during a run to the 1991 FA Cup Final, which Forest ultimately lost to Tottenham Hotspur. In the third round, however, he made a costly error against Crystal Palace, gifting a goal to the opposition and allowing them to draw the game. On returning to the dressing room after the game, Clough punched Keane in the face in anger, knocking him to the floor.[8] Despite this incident, Keane bore no hard feelings against his manager, later claiming that he sympathised with Clough due to the pressures of management[9] and that he was too grateful to him for giving him his chance in English Football. A year later, Keane returned to Wembley with Forest for the League Cup final, but again finished on the losing side as his future club Manchester United gained a 1–0 win.
Keane was beginning to attract attention from the top clubs in the Premier League, and in 1992, Blackburn Rovers manager Kenny Dalglish spoke to Keane about the possibility of a move to the Lancashire club at the end of the season. With Forest struggling in the league and looking increasingly more likely to be relegated, Keane negotiated a new contract with a relegation escape clause. The lengthy negotiations had been much talked about in public, not least by Brian Clough, who described Keane as a "greedy child"[5] due to the high wages demanded by the Irishman. "Keane is the hottest prospect in football right now, but he is not going to bankrupt this club," Clough stated. Forest fans, however, forgave Keane by voting him the club's Player of the Season due to his battling performances towards the end of the campaign. Despite his best efforts, Keane could not save Forest from relegation, and the clause in his contract became activated. Blackburn agreed a £4 million fee for Keane, who soon after agreed a contract with the club.
There had also been speculation that Keane would sign for Arsenal, who were looking for a younger midfielder as eventual replacement for Paul Davis.
However, on the day before the paperwork was due to be signed, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson phoned Keane and asked whether he would like to join them instead of Blackburn. He was persuaded to cancel his agreement with Blackburn, and within two weeks he had signed for Manchester United for £3.75 million, a British transfer record at the time.[10] In his autobiography, Keane revealed details of his conversation with a swearing and furious Kenny Dalglish, when he informed him the Blackburn signing was off.
Manchester United[link]
Early years[link]
Despite the huge transfer fee, there was no guarantee that Keane would go straight into the first team. Paul Ince and Bryan Robson had established a formidable partnership in the centre of midfield, having just inspired Manchester United to their first league title since 1967. Captain Bryan Robson, however, was now 36 years old and in the final stages of his playing career, and a series of injuries which had kept him out of action for most of the 1992–93 season continued into 1993–94. Keane took full advantage of his run in the team, scoring twice on his home debut in a 3–0 win against Sheffield United on 19 August 1993,[11] and grabbing the winner in the Manchester derby three months later, on 7 November 1993, when United overturned a 2–0 deficit at Maine Road to beat Manchester City 3–2.[12] He had soon established himself as a permanent fixture in Alex Ferguson's side, and by the end of the season, he had won his first trophy as a professional as United retained their Premier League title in May. Two weeks later, Keane broke his Wembley losing streak by helping United to a 4–0 victory over Chelsea in the FA Cup Final, sealing the club's first ever Double.[13]
The following season was less successful, however, as United were beaten to the league title by Blackburn Rovers and beaten 1–0 in the FA Cup final by Everton.[14][15] He received his first red card as a Manchester United player in a 2–0 win FA Cup semi-final replay against Crystal Palace, after stamping on Gareth Southgate,[16] and, as punishment, was suspended for three matches[17] and fined £5,000.[18] This incident was the first of eleven red cards Keane would accumulate in his United career, and one of the first signs of his fiery temper leading to indiscipline on the field.
The summer of 1995 saw a period of change at United, with Ince leaving for Internazionale[19] as well as striker Mark Hughes moving to Chelsea[20] and Andrei Kanchelskis being sold to Everton.[21] Younger players such as David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes were brought into the team, which left Keane as the most experienced player in midfield. Despite a slow start to the 1995–96 campaign, United pegged back title challengers Newcastle United, who had built a commanding twelve-point championship lead by Christmas, to secure another Premier League title. Keane's second Double in three years was confirmed with a 1–0 win over bitter rivals Liverpool to win the FA Cup for a record ninth time.[22]
The next season saw Keane in and out of the side due to a series of knee injuries and frequent suspensions. He picked up a costly yellow card in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final against Borussia Dortmund,[23] which ruled him out of the return leg at Old Trafford.[23] United lost both legs 1–0,[24] but this was compensated for by winning another league title a few days later.[25]
Captaincy[link]
After Eric Cantona's unexpected retirement, Keane took over as club captain, although he missed most of the 1997–98 season because of a cruciate ligament injury caused by an attempt to tackle Leeds United player Alf-Inge Håland in the ninth Premier League game of the season. As Keane lay prone on the ground, Håland stood over Keane, accusing the injured United captain of having tried to hurt him and of feigning injury to escape punishment; an allegation which would lead to an infamous dispute between the two players four years later. Keane did not return to competitive football that campaign. He watched from the sidelines as United squandered an eleven-point lead over Arsenal to miss out on the Premier League title. Many pundits cited Keane's absence as a crucial factor in the team's surrender of the league trophy.[26] He initially expressed doubts as to whether he would play again due to the severity of his injury,[5] but he recovered in time to begin pre-season training for the new campaign.
"It was the most emphatic display of selflessness I have seen on a football field. Pounding over every blade of grass, competing if he would rather die of exhaustion than lose, he inspired all around him. I felt it was an honour to be associated with such a player."
Sir Alex Ferguson on Keane's performance against Juventus in 1999[27]
Any fears that Keane's injury may have reduced his effectiveness as a player were dispelled in the 1998–99 season, when he returned to captain the side to an unprecedented treble of the FA Premier League, FA Cup, and UEFA Champions League. One of his finest performances in this campaign was an inspirational display against Juventus in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final, when he helped haul his team back from two goals down to win 3–2. He scored from a header to start United's comeback and continually drove the team forwards at every opportunity. His performance in Turin has been described as his finest hour as a footballer.[28][29] Earlier in the match, however, Keane had received a yellow card that ruled him out of the final after a trip on Zinedine Zidane. In the final, United defeated Bayern Munich 2–1 at Nou Camp, but Keane had mixed emotions about the victory due to his suspension. Recalling his thoughts before the game, Keane said: "Although I was putting a brave face on it, this was just about the worst experience I'd had in football." Later that year, Keane scored the only goal in the finals of the Intercontinental Cup, as United defeated Palmeiras.
Contract negotiations dominated the landscape during the summer after the treble, with Keane turning down United's initial £2 million-a-year offer amid rumours of a move to Italy.[30] His higher demands were eventually met midway through the 1999–00 season, committing him to United until 2004. Keane was angered when club officials explained an increase in season ticket prices was a result of his improved contract and asked for an apology from the club.[31] Days after the contract was signed, Keane celebrated by scoring the winning goal against Valencia in the Champions League, although United's interest in the competition was ended by Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, partly due to an unfortunate Keane own-goal in the second leg. He was voted PFA Players' Player of the Year and Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year at the end of the season after leading United to their sixth Premier League title in eight years.
Keane caused controversy in December 2000, when he criticised sections of United supporters after the Champions League victory over Dynamo Kiev at Old Trafford. He complained about the lack of vocal support given by some fans when Kiev were dominating the game, stating: "Away from home our fans are fantastic, I'd call them the hardcore fans. But at home they have a few drinks and probably the prawn sandwiches, and they don't realise what's going on out on the pitch. I don't think some of the people who come to Old Trafford can spell 'football', never mind understand it."[31] Keane's rant started a debate in England about the changing atmosphere in football grounds,[32] and the term 'prawn sandwich brigade' is now part of the English football vocabulary, referring to people who attend football games or claim to be fans of football because it is fashionable rather than due to any genuine interest in the game.
He made headlines again in the 2001 Manchester derby, a game in which Alf-Inge Håland played. Five minutes from the final whistle, he was sent off for a blatant knee-high foul on the Norwegian in what was seen by many as an act of revenge.[33] He initially received a three game suspension and a £5,000 fine from the FA, but further punishment was to follow after the release of Keane's autobiography in August 2002, in which he stated that he intended "to hurt" Håland. Keane's account of the incident was as follows:
I'd waited long enough. I fucking hit him hard. The ball was there (I think). Take that you cunt. And don't ever stand over me sneering about fake injuries.[34]
An admission that the tackle was in fact a premeditated assault, it left the FA with no choice but to charge Keane with bringing the game into disrepute.[35] He was banned for a further five matches and fined £150,000 in the ensuing investigation. Despite widespread condemnation,[36] he later maintained in his autobiography that he had no regrets about the incident: "My attitude was, fuck him. What goes around comes around. He got his just rewards. He fucked me over and my attitude is an eye for an eye."[34]
United finished the 2001–02 season trophyless for the first time in four years. Domestically, they were eliminated from the FA Cup by Middlesbrough in the fourth round and finished third in the Premier League, their lowest final position in the league since 1991. Progress was made in Europe, however, as United reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League, their furthest advance since their successful campaign of 1999. They were eventually knocked out on away goals after a 3–3 aggregate draw with Bayer Leverkusen, despite Keane putting United 3–2 up, and after the defeat, Keane blamed United's loss of form on some of his team-mates' fixation with wealth, claiming that they had "forgot about the game, lost the hunger that got you the Rolex, the cars, the mansion."[5] Earlier in the season, Keane had publicly advocated the breakup of the Treble-winning team[37] as he believed the team-mates who had played in United's victorious 1999 Champions League final no longer had the motivation to work as hard.[38]
In August 2002 he was fined £150,000 by Ferguson and suspended for three matches for elbowing Sunderland's Jason McAteer, and this was compounded by an added five-match suspension for the controversial comments about Haaland. Keane used the break to undergo an operation on his hip, which had caused him to take painkillers for a year beforehand. Despite early fears that the injury was career-threatening,[39] and suggestions of a future hip-replacement from his surgeon,[40] he was back in the United team by December.
I'd come to one firm conclusion, which was to stay on the pitch for ninety minutes in every game. In other words, to curb the reckless, intemperate streak in my nature that led to sendings-off and injuries.
Keane on his 'new' style of play[5]
During his period of rest after the operation, Keane reflected on the cause of his frequent injuries and suspensions. He decided that the cause of these problems was his reckless challenges and angry outbursts which had increasingly blighted his career.[5] As a result, he became more restrained on the field, and tended to avoid the disputes and confrontations with other players. Some observers felt that the "new" Roy Keane had become less influential in midfield as a consequence of the change in his style of play, possibly brought about by decreased mobility after his hip operation. However, after his return, Keane displayed the tenacity of old,[39] leading the team to another league title in May 2003.
Throughout the 2000s (decade), Keane maintained a fierce rivalry with Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira. The most notable incident between the two took place at Highbury in 2005 at the height of an extreme period of bad blood between United and Arsenal. Vieira was seen confronting United defender Gary Neville in the tunnel before the game over his fouling of José Antonio Reyes in the previous encounter between the two sides,[41] prompting Keane to verbally confront the Arsenal captain.[37] The incident was broadcast live on Sky Sports, with Keane clearly heard telling match referee Graham Poll to "Tell him [Vieira] to shut his fucking mouth!" After the game, which United won 4–2, Keane controversially criticised Vieira's decision to play internationally for France instead of his birthplace of Senegal. However, Vieira later suggested that having walked out on his National team in the World Cup finals Keane was not in a good position to comment on such matters.[42] Referee Poll later revealed that he should have sent off both players before the match had begun, though was under pressure not to do so.[41]
Overall, Keane would lead United to 9 major honours, making him the most successful captain in the club's history. Keane scored his 50th goal for Manchester United on 5 February 2005 in a league game against Birmingham City. His appearance in the 2005 FA Cup final, which United lost to Arsenal in a penalty shootout, was his seventh such game, an all-time record in English football at the time.[43] Keane also jointly holds the record for the most red cards received in English football, being dismissed a total of 13 times in his career. He was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2004 in recognition of his undoubted impact on the English game, and became the only Irish player to be selected into the FIFA 100, a list of the greatest living footballers picked by Pelé.
Departure[link]
Keane unexpectedly left Manchester United by mutual consent on 18 November 2005,[44] during a protracted absence from the team due to an injury sustained in his last competitive game for the club,[45] due to a robust challenge from Luis García against Liverpool. His departure marked the climax of increasing tensions between Keane and the United management and players since the club's pre-season training camp in Portugal, when he argued with Ferguson over the quality of the set-up at the resort.[46] Ferguson was angered further by Keane's admission during an MUTV phone-in that he would be "prepared to play elsewhere"[47] after the expiration of his current contract with United at the end of the season.
“He [Keane] was our captain, he was our leader and he left a mark: where we are now is down to him, our dedication comes from the standards he set. The rules about time-keeping, about getting in a half-hour early, they were his instructions back in the day and those traditions continue.”
Another of Keane's appearances on MUTV provoked more controversy, when, after a humiliating 4–1 defeat at the hands of Middlesbrough in early November, he took the opportunity to criticise the performances of John O'Shea, Alan Smith, Kieran Richardson and Darren Fletcher.[49] The harshest analysis, however, was reserved for the club's record signing Rio Ferdinand: "Just because you are paid £120,000-a-week and play well for 20 minutes against Tottenham, you think you are a superstar."[50] The outburst was deemed too damning by the United management and was subsequently pulled from transmission by the club's TV station. Keane's opinions were described by those present at the interview as "explosive even by his standards".[49]
“Happiness is not being afraid.”
Keane on lack of fear[5]
Keane had scored 33 league goals for Manchester United, and a total of 50 in all competitions.[51] The first two of his goals for the club came in the 3-0 home win over Sheffield United in the Premier League on 18 August 1993,[52] the last on 12 March 2005 in a 4-0 away win over Southampton in the FA Cup.[53]
Two weeks later, after another row with Ferguson, Keane reached an agreement with Manchester United allowing him to leave the club immediately in order to sign a long-term deal with another club.[50] He was offered a testimonial in recognition of his twelve and a half years at Old Trafford, with both Ferguson and United Chief Executive David Gill wishing him well for the future.[50] On 15 December 2005, Keane was announced as a Celtic player, the team he had supported as a child, after agreeing to a contract in the region of £40,000 per week.[54]
It was later revealed by United that Keane's testimonial would take place at Old Trafford on 9 May 2006 between United and Celtic. The home side won the game 1–0, with Keane playing the first half for Celtic and the second half in his former role as Manchester United captain.[55] The capacity crowd of 69,591 remains the largest crowd ever for a testimonial match in England.[56] All of the revenue generated from the match was given to Keane's favourite charity, the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.
Celtic[link]
Keane's Celtic career began in ignominious fashion in January 2006, when the Glasgow giants crashed to a 2–1 defeat to Scottish First Division side Clyde in the third round of the Scottish Cup. His abrasive style had clearly not dwindled since his arrival, as he was seen criticising some of his new team-mates during the match.[57] Keane scored what turned out to be his only Celtic goal a month later in a 2–1 Scottish Premier League victory over Falkirk.[58] He retained his place the following Sunday in his first Old Firm derby, leading Celtic to victory in a typically combative Man of the Match performance. Celtic went on to complete a double of the Scottish Premier League title and Scottish League Cup, his last honour as a player.
On 12 June 2006, Keane announced his retirement from professional football on medical advice,[59] only six months after joining Celtic. His announcement prompted glowing praise from many of his former colleagues and managers, not least from Sir Alex Ferguson, who opined: "Over the years when they start picking the best teams of all time, he will be in there."[59]
International career[link]
Keane was part of the squad that participated in the 1988 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship although he didn't play [3]. When called up for his first game at international level, an Under-21s match against Turkey in 1991, Keane took an immediate dislike to the organisation and preparation surrounding the Irish team, later describing the set-up as "a bit of a joke."[5] He would continue to hold this view throughout the remainder of his time spent with the national team, which led to numerous confrontations with the Irish management. Keane declared his unavailability to travel with the Irish squad to Algeria, but was surprised when manager Jack Charlton told him that he would never play for Ireland again if he refused to join up with his compatriots.[5] Despite this threat, Keane chose to stay at home on the insistence of Forest manager Brian Clough, and was pleased when a year later he was called up to the Irish squad for a friendly at Lansdowne Road. After more appearances, he grew to disapprove of Charlton's style of football, which relied less on the players' skill and more on continuous pressing and direct play. Tensions between the two men peaked during a pre-season tournament in the United States, when Charlton berated Keane for returning home late after a drinking session with Steve Staunton.[5]
Keane was included in Ireland's squad for the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the USA and played in every game, including a famous 1–0 victory over tournament favourites and eventual runners-up, Italy. Despite a second-round exit at the hands of the Netherlands, the tournament was considered a success for the Irish team, and Keane was named the best player of Ireland's campaign. Keane, however, was reluctant to join the post-tournament celebrations, later claiming that, as far as he was concerned, Ireland's World Cup was a disappointment: "There was nothing to celebrate. We achieved little."[5]
Keane missed crucial matches during the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification matches due to a severe knee injury, but came back to captain the team to within a whisker of qualifying for UEFA Euro 2000, losing to Turkey in a play-off. Ireland secured qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup under new manager Mick McCarthy, greatly assisted by a number of match-winning performances from Keane. In the process of qualification, Ireland went undefeated, both home and away, against international football heavyweights Portugal and the Netherlands, famously beating the latter 1–0 at Lansdowne Road.
2002 FIFA World Cup incident[link]
Main article: 2002 Roy Keane incident
The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) selected the training base intended for use during Ireland's World Cup campaign. During the course of the first training session, Keane expressed serious misgivings about the adequacy of the training facilities and the standard of preparation for the Irish team. He was angered by the late arrival of the squad's training equipment, which had disrupted the first training session on a pitch that he described as "like a car park".[60]
After a row with goalkeeping coach Packie Bonner and Alan Kelly on the second day of training, Keane announced that he was quitting the squad and that he wished to return home to Manchester due to his dissatisfaction with Ireland's preparation. The FAI were unable to get Keane an immediate flight home at such short notice, meaning that he remained in Saipan for another night, but they called up Colin Healy as a replacement for him. The following day, however, McCarthy approached Keane and asked him to return to the training camp, and Keane was eventually persuaded to stay.
Despite a temporary cooling of tensions in the Irish camp after Keane's change of heart, things soon took a turn for the worse. Keane immediately gave an interview to leading sports journalist Tom Humphries, of the Irish Times newspaper, where he expressed his unhappiness with the facilities in Saipan and listed the events and concerns which had led him to leave the team temporarily. McCarthy took offence at Keane's interview and decided to confront Keane over the article in front of the entire squad and coaching staff. Keane refused to relent, saying that he had told the newspaper what he considered to be the truth and that the Irish fans deserved to know what was going on inside the camp.[5] He then unleashed a stinging verbal tirade against McCarthy: “Mick, you're a liar... you're a fucking wanker. I didn't rate you as a player, I don't rate you as a manager, and I don't rate you as a person. You're a fucking wanker and you can stick your World Cup up your arse. The only reason I have any dealings with you is that somehow you are the manager of my country! You can stick it up your bollocks.”[31][61] Niall Quinn observed in his autobiography that “Roy Keane's 10-minute oration [against Mick McCarthy, above] ... was clinical, fierce, earth-shattering to the person on the end of it and it ultimately caused a huge controversy in Irish society.” But at the same time, he was also critical of Keane's stance, saying that "[He] left us in Saipan, not the other way round. And he punished himself more than any of us by not coming back."[62]
None of Keane's team-mates voiced support for him during the meeting, although some supported him in private afterwards. Veterans Niall Quinn and Steve Staunton backed McCarthy in a press conference after the event. It was here that McCarthy announced that he had dismissed Keane from the squad and sent him home.[63][64] By this time, the FIFA deadline for naming the World Cup squads had passed, meaning that Colin Healy was unable to be named as Keane's replacement and could not play in the tournament.
Recall[link]
Mick McCarthy resigned as Ireland manager in November 2002 after defeats to Russia and Switzerland in qualification for Euro 2004. The possibility of Keane returning to the squad for future qualifiers was raised, as Keane had not yet fully retired from international football, insisting that McCarthy's presence was the main incentive for staying away from the Irish squad.[65] McCarthy's replacement, Brian Kerr, discussed with Keane the possibility of a recall, and in April 2004 he was brought back into the Irish team to face Romania. Keane was not reinstated as captain, however, as Kerr decided to keep the armband with Kenny Cunningham. After the team's failure to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he announced his retirement from international football in order to help prolong his club career.[66]
Post-retirement[link]
Keane has reiterated his displeasure with the attitude and selection policy of the FAI. In March 2007 Keane claimed that several Republic of Ireland players get picked solely on the basis of their media exposure and that the organisation was biased towards players originating from Dublin or other regions of Leinster: "Once you keep playing them on the reputation they've built up through the media or because they do lots of interviews, then it's wrong. There's a fine line between loyalty and stupidity."[67] Keane claimed that Sunderland player Liam Miller was not picked because he was from Cork and that players with significant potential were failing to get picked for the national team. He also alleged that the FAI were incompetent in the running of their affairs. Keane was involved in further controversy in the wake of Ireland's defeat by France in the World Cup 2010 play-off. During an Ipswich Town press conference on 20 November 2009, Keane was critical of the Irish reaction to the Henry handball incident. His response included criticisms of the Irish team's defence and the FAI authorities.
Managerial career[link]
His former manager Sir Alex Ferguson had previously said that he wanted Keane to succeed him as Manchester United coach when he retired. However, in the wake of Keane's acrimonious departure from the club, Ferguson became evasive regarding Keane's prospects as a manager: "Young managers come along and people say this one will be England manager or boss of this club, but two years later they're not there. It's not an easy environment to come into, I wouldn't forecast anything."[68]
Sunderland[link]
During his time at Celtic, Keane was suggested as a potential managerial successor to Gordon Strachan by former Celtic player Charlie Nicholas.[69] However, it was Championship club Sunderland where Keane chose to launch his managerial career, re-uniting him with the club's chairman and outgoing manager, Niall Quinn. The two men, publicly at least, were on opposing sides during the fall-out from the Saipan incident, but they were on good terms at the time of the managerial appointment, with Quinn urging Sunderland fans to "support and enjoy one of football’s true greats".[70]
Keane signed a three-year deal immediately after Sunderland's victory over West Bromwich Albion on 28 August, the Mackems' first win of the 2006–07 season after a dreadful run of four consecutive defeats under Quinn's temporary management. With his new club sitting in the relegation zone already, second bottom of the Championship table, Keane chose to enforce changes quickly. His first actions as manager were deciding to keep the existing assistant manager, Bobby Saxton, and to appoint his former Nottingham Forest colleague Tony Loughlan as head coach. He wasted no time in bringing in new additions to the squad, with a total of six players signing on the final day of the August transfer window. The most notable signings were Keane's former Manchester United team-mates Dwight Yorke[71] and Liam Miller,[72] supported by former Celtic colleagues Ross Wallace and Stanislav Varga, [73] as well as Wigan Athletic pair Graham Kavanagh and David Connolly.[74]
Keane's first two games as manager could not have gone much better; first coming from behind to beat Derby County 2–1, followed by an easy 3–0 victory over Leeds United. Sunderland began to steadily creep up the league standings under Keane's management, and by the turn of the year they had escaped the bottom half of the league. Five further players were signed during the January 2007 transfer window, three (Anthony Stokes, Carlos Edwards and Stern John) on permanent contracts and two (Jonny Evans and Danny Simpson) on loan from Manchester United, Keane's old club. Results continued to improve, and Keane was rewarded with the February and March "Manager of the Month" awards,[75] while his team began to challenge for the automatic promotion places. Meanwhile, Keane tackled his players' non-professional approach with a firm hand. When three players were late for the team coach to a trip to Barnsley, in March 2007, he simply left them behind.
Sunderland secured promotion to the Premier League along with Birmingham City on 29 April when rivals Derby County were beaten by Crystal Palace.[76] A week later, the Coca-Cola Championship title was sealed, and Sunderland's revival under Keane was complete. His achievements also earned him the Championship "Manager of the Year" award.[77]
The lowest point of their next season came at Goodison Park, where they were beaten 7–1 by Everton, which Keane described as "one of the lowest points" of his career. However in the second half of the season the team's form was much improved (especially at home) and survival in the division was guaranteed with two games to go with a home win against Middlesbrough. Meanwhile, Keane carried on his trend of buying ex-Manchester United players with the addition of Kieran Richardson, Paul McShane, Danny Higginbotham, and Phil Bardsley. He has also continued his strict disciplinary policy by putting Liam Miller (one of Sunderland's apparently more consistent players) on the transfer list for being regularly late for training and other team meetings.
The beginning of the 2008–09 season would prove to be tumultuous. In September 2008 Keane became embroiled in a row with FIFA Vice President Jack Warner over the withdrawal of Dwight Yorke from the Trinidad and Tobago national team. Warner accused Keane of being disrespectful towards small countries.[78] Keane responded by calling Warner "a clown" and insisted that Yorke was retired from international football.[79] That same month Keane experienced "one of the worst and longest nights" of his career when Sunderland had to come from 2–0 down at home in a League Cup tie against Northampton. The game ended 2–2, with Sunderland progressing narrowly on penalties.[80]
Despite some positive performances, including the historic 2–1 home victory against local rivals Newcastle United on 25 October (the first time the club had accomplished this in 28 years),[81] as well as good showings by recent signings like Djibril Cissé and Anton Ferdinand, the team's general form remained inconsistent. By the end of November, Sunderland were 18th in the Premier League, having lost five of their six previous games. Keane stood down as manager on 4 December after bringing doubt on his own future with comments made in the wake of the 4–1 home defeat by Bolton the previous weekend.[82]
In an interview with The Irish Times on 21 February 2009, Keane cited differences with Sunderland 30% shareholder Ellis Short and strains with club chairman Niall Quinn as the factors in his decision to resign as Sunderland manager.[83]
Ipswich Town[link]
On 23 April 2009, Keane was appointed as the new manager of Ipswich Town on a two-year contract,[84] the day after the club had sacked Jim Magilton.[84] His first game in charge came the following Saturday with a 3–0 away win over Cardiff City – the final league match to be played at Ninian Park.[85] The following week, Ipswich rounded off the season with a 2–1 win over Coventry.[86] In the 2009–10 season Keane started to sign some players, some of them from his former club Sunderland. He signed goalkeeper Marton Fulop, midfielders Carlos Edwards and Grant Leadbitter and brought in Jack Colback, David Healy and Daryl Murphy on loan to the club. Ipswich started without a win in their first fourteen matches, making them the last team to record their first win in the whole league, finally winning on 31 October against Derby County and recording their first away win of the season on 29 November against Cardiff City. Their form gradually improved throughout the season, but Ipswich drew far too many games to come anywhere near the promotion race and they finished the season in 15th place.[87] Many inconsistencies in the 2009/10 and the 2010/11 season meant that Keane's Ipswich side never really challenged for promotions and as a result of a poor run of form, ending up with his side dropping to as low as 21st in the Championship. Keane was sacked as Ipswich manager on 7 January 2011.[4]
Media work[link]
Keane has done media work but expressed his lack of enthusiasm to do so again in future when he said, "I was asked last week by ITV to do the Celtic game," he said. "A couple of weeks before that I was asked to do the United game against Celtic at Old Trafford. I think I've done it once for Sky. Never again. I'd rather go to the dentist. You're sitting there with people like Richard Keys and they're trying to sell something that's not there." Keane added, "Any time I watch a game on television I have to turn the commentators off."
Later, Roy had a change of heart. Keane along with Harry Redknapp and Gareth Southgate were pundits for ITV's coverage of the Champions League final between Manchester United and Barcelona.[88]
Personal life[link]
Keane is married to Theresa Doyle, and they have five children: Shannon, Caragh, Aidan, Leah and Alanna. The couple met when she was a dentist's assistant and he was playing for Nottingham Forest in 1992. They married in Mayfield, Cork in 1997.[89]
When Keane moved to Manchester United, the family lived in a modern four-bedroom house in Bowdon, then moved to a mock Tudor mansion in Hale. It was not as private as he had hoped, a point proven during his exclusion from the 2002 World Cup. Often seen walking Triggs (his Labrador dog), Keane was then a regular at the Bleeding Wolf pub, and was found there by reporters on the night of David Beckham's wedding. When asked why he hadn't gone, Keane joked: "It was a choice between the wedding and the Wolf – and the Wolf won."[90]
Wanting more privacy, his family had a 1930s home bulldozed so they could build a new £2.5 million house near Hale.[91]
On 6 June 2009, it was announced that Keane and his family had purchased a new house in the Ipswich area, near to the training ground of Keane's new club, Ipswich. He eventually settled in the nearby market town of Woodbridge where he now lives with his family.[92]
[edit] Dog
Keane had a Labrador Retriever named Triggs, who died in 2010. Triggs came to international attention in 2002 during an incident ahead of the that year's FIFA World Cup when Keane engaged in a public quarrel and left the squad. Triggs accompanied Keane on regular walks pursued by the press.[93] The footballer said of Triggs, "Unlike humans, dogs don't talk shit".[94] The Daily Telegraph's Steve Wilson once described Triggs as "the most famous dog in football since Pickles, a mongrel who dug up the stolen Jules Rimet Trophy in 1966, or that dog that relieved itself on Jimmy Greaves at the 1962 World Cup".[95] Henry Winter, writing in the same paper, called Triggs "the fittest dog in Cheshire" and opined that "if Cruft's [sic] held an endurance event, Keane and Triggs would scoop gold".[96]
Following his rise to fame Triggs was mentioned by several sources on many occasions, with Keane dogged by numerous canine references for the remainder of his career.[97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104] In 2006, when Keane moved house to Sunderland, his reunion with Triggs, who joined him later, came to the notice of the press.[105] In 2007, Keane was reported to have heard of his team's promotion to the Premiership while walking Triggs.[106] The following year, Keane was said to have acquired a German Shepherd Dog named Izac to accompany Triggs.[107][108][109] Russell Brand observed the frequency with which Keane has been associated with his dogs, particularly when involved in the news – with quotes including "Keane will certainly have more time to walk his dogs", "The only real winners are Roy Keane's dogs", and "Roy Keane's dogs refused to comment on the situation" – before he googled "Roy Keane's dogs" only to discover it had more hits than "something with a lot of hits".[110]
In later life, Triggs was involved in a police investigation when his behaviour caused an argument between Keane and a neighbour.[111] He appeared in an Irish Guide Dogs advertisement in 2009 - whereupon the Irish Examiner referred to him as "football's biggest canine celebrity" -[112] and also received his own profile on Facebook.[111] Triggs was described as a "celebrity" and a "household name" upon erroneous reports of her death from cancer in September 2010.[93][111] Keane was described as "inconsolable".[111] The Irish Examiner's obituary noted how "At critical moments when the nation's happiness seemed entwined with Roy's moods, he turned to his Labrador Triggs and took to the road".[113]
Honours[link]
Player[link]
Club[link]
- Nottingham Forest
- Full Members Cup (1): 1992
- Manchester United
- Premier League (7): 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03
- FA Cup (4): 1993–94, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2003–04
- FA Community Shield (4): 1993, 1996, 1997, 2003
- UEFA Champions League (1): 1998–99
- Intercontinental Cup (1): 1999
- Celtic
Individual[link]
- FWA Footballer of the Year: 2000
- PFA Players' Player of the Year: 2000
- PFA Team of the Year: 1992–93, 1996–97, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02
- Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–93 to 2001–02): Overseas Team of the Decade
- English Football Hall of Fame: 2004
- Premier League Player of the Month (2): October 1998, December 1999
- FIFA 100
Manager[link]
Club[link]
- Sunderland
Individual[link]
Statistics[link]
Player[link]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other[nb 1] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Cobh Ramblers | 1989–90 | 12 | 1 | 12 | 1 | ||||||||
| Total | 12 | 1 | 12 | 1 | |||||||||
| Nottingham Forest | 1990–91 | 35 | 8 | 35 | 8 | ||||||||
| 1991–92 | 39 | 8 | 39 | 8 | |||||||||
| 1992–93 | 40 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 49 | 6 | |||||||
| Total | 114 | 22 | 9 | 0 | 123 | 22 | |||||||
| Manchester United | 1993–94 | 37 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 54 | 8 |
| 1994–95 | 25 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 3 | |
| 1995–96 | 29 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 6 | |
| 1996–97 | 21 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 33 | 3 | |
| 1997–98 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 2 | |
| 1998–99 | 35 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 55 | 5 | |
| 1999–2000 | 29 | 5 | – | 0 | 0 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 45 | 12 | ||
| 2000–01 | 28 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 3 | |
| 2001–02 | 28 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 4 | |
| 2002–03 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 0 | |
| 2003–04 | 28 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 3 | |
| 2004–05 | 31 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 2 | |
| 2005–06 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| Total | 326 | 33 | 46 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 82 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 480 | 51 | |
| Celtic | 2005–06 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 |
| Total | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 | |
| Career total | 462 | 57 | 55 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 82 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 625 | 75 | |
| Republic of Ireland national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 1991 | 3 | 0 |
| 1992 | 7 | 0 |
| 1993 | 9 | 0 |
| 1994 | 8 | 1 |
| 1995 | 2 | 0 |
| 1996 | 2 | 0 |
| 1997 | 7 | 2 |
| 1998 | 3 | 2 |
| 1999 | 4 | 0 |
| 2000 | 4 | 0 |
| 2001 | 7 | 4 |
| 2002 | 2 | 0 |
| 2003 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | 5 | 0 |
| 2005 | 4 | 0 |
| Total | 67 | 9 |
International goals[link]
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 November 1994 | Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland |  Northern Ireland |
4–0 | Win | UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying |
| 2, 3 | 6 September 1997 | Laugardalsvollur, Reykjavik, Iceland |  Iceland |
4–2 | Win | 1998 World Cup qualification |
| 4 | 5 September 1998 | Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland |  Croatia |
2–0 | Win | UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying |
| 5 | 14 October 1998 | Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland |  Malta |
5–0 | Win | UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying |
| 6, 7 | 24 March 2001 | Nicosia, Cyprus |  Cyprus |
4–0 | Win | 2002 World Cup qualification |
| 8 | 2 June 2001 | Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland |  Portugal |
1–1 | Draw | 2002 World Cup qualification |
| 9 | 6 October 2001 | Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland | Cyprus |
4–0 | Win | 2002 World Cup qualification |
Manager[link]
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Sunderland | |
28 August 2006 | 4 December 2008 | &10000000000000100000000100 | &1000000000000004200000042 | &1000000000000001700000017 | &1000000000000004100000041 | &1000000000000004200000042.00 |
| Ipswich Town | |
23 April 2009 | 7 January 2011 | &1000000000000008100000081 | &1000000000000002800000028 | &1000000000000002500000025 | &1000000000000002800000028 | &1000000000000003457000034.57 |
| Total | &10000000000000181000000181 | &1000000000000007000000070 | &1000000000000004200000042 | &1000000000000006900000069 | &1000000000000003867000038.67 | |||
Updated on 7 January 2011.
See also[link]
Notes[link]
- ^ Includes other competitive competitions, including the FA Community Shield, UEFA Super Cup, Intercontinental Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.
References[link]
- General
- Hildred, Stafford; Ewbank, Tim (2000). Roy Keane: Captain Fantastic. Blake Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85782-436-9.
- Hildred, Stafford; Ewbank, Tim (2002). Roy Keane: The Biography. Blake Publishing. ISBN 1-904034-59-4.
- Howard, Paul; Dunphy, Eamon (2002). The Gaffers: Mick McCarthy, Roy Keane and the Team They Built. The O Brien Press Ltd. ISBN 0-86278-781-5.
- Keane, Roy; Dunphy, Eamon (2002). Keane: The Autobiography. Michael Joseph. ISBN 0-7181-4554-2.
- O'Callaghan, Conor (2004). Red Mist: Roy Keane and the Football Civil War – A Fan's Notes. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0-7475-7014-0.
- Unknown Fan (2002). The Little Book of Roy Keane. New Island Books. ISBN 1-904301-16-9.
- Roy Keane (2002), As I See It, [DVD]
- Specific
- ^ a b c Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2006). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2006–07. Mainstream Publishing. p. 228. ISBN 978-1-84596-111-4.
- ^ James, Stuart (5 March 2007). "A jolt of T&T sets Sunderland dancing to promotion tune". The Guardian (London). http://football.guardian.co.uk/Match_Report/0,,-72822,00.html. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
- ^ "Keane and Sunderland part company". BBC Sport Online. 4 December 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/7764671.stm. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
- ^ a b "Roy Keane Roy Keane sacked as Ipswich manager". BBC Sport. 7 January 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/i/ipswich_town/9346787.stm. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Keane: The Autobiography. Penguin. 2002. ISBN 978-0-14-100981-0.
- ^ Ritter, Simon (31 October 2004). "Caught in Time: Cobh Ramblers with Roy Keane, 1990". London: The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/article501008.ece. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
- ^ "Roy Keane put on the spot". BBC Football Academy. http://newswww.bbc.net.uk/sportacademy/hi/sa/football/newsid_4566000/4566315.stm.
- ^ "The man behind the myth". http://sport.scotsman.com/roykeane/The-man-behind-the-myth.2740443.jp.
- ^ Fordyce, Tom (17 February 2003). "When managers attack". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/2770901.stm. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
- ^ "The highs and lows of Roy Keane's career". guardian.co.uk (London: The Guardian). 23 April 2009. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/apr/23/roy-keane-career-highs-lows. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
- ^ Andrews, Phil (19 August 1993). "Football: United make the most of Keane's eagerness". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-united-make-the-most-of-keanes-eagerness-1462116.html. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ^ Lovejoy, Joe (8 November 1993). "Football: City cannot contain the genius of Cantona: Keane caps thrilling comeback victory for United in Manchester derby as Telfer's pilfering takes the spoils at Kenilworth Road". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-city-cannot-contain-the-genius-of-cantona-keane-caps-thrilling-comeback-victory-for-united-in-manchester-derby-as-telfers-pilfering-takes-the-spoils-at-kenilworth-road-1502826.html. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ^ Ridley, Ian (15 May 1994). "Football / FA Cup Final: Cantona's Double take: Rampant United realise the dream after Chelsea pay the penalty for missed chances". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football--fa-cup-final-cantonas-double-take-rampant-united-realise-the-dream-after-chelsea-pay-the-penalty-for-missed-chances-1436057.html. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ^ Ridley, Ian (21 May 1995). "Rideout's ticket to glory". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rideouts-ticket-to-glory-1620376.html. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
- ^ "Underdogs Everton win FA Cup". The Independent. 21 May 1995. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/underdogs-everton-win-fa-cup-1620382.html. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ^ Moore, Glenn (13 April 1995). "United carry on regardless to reach Wembley". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/united-carry-on-regardless-to-reach-wembley-1615511.html. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ^ Moore, Glenn (14 April 1995). "Keane to feel the full force of FA retribution". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/keane-to-feel-the-full-force-of-fa-retribution-1615633.html. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ^ "Keane hit with fine after ban". The Independent. 27 May 1995. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/keane-hit-with-fine-after-ban-1621314.html. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ^ Shaw, Phil (15 June 1995). "Inter land Ince and chase Cantona". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/inter-land-ince-and-chase-cantona-1586582.html. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ^ Hodgson, Guy (24 June 1995). "Football: Hughes' move to Chelsea criticised". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-hughes-move-to-chelsea-criticised-1588109.html. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ^ Hodgson, Guy (26 August 1995). "Kanchelskis to make debut for Everton". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/kanchelskis-to-make-debut-for-everton-1598054.html. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ^ Ridley, Ian (12 May 1996). "Cantona the incomparable". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cantona-the-incomparable-1346971.html. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ^ a b Moore, Glenn (10 April 1997). "Football: United shocked by Tretschok". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-united-shocked-by-tretschok-1266351.html. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ^ Moore, Glenn (24 April 1997). "Wasteful United stricken by Ricken". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/wasteful-united-stricken-by-ricken-1269050.html. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
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- ^ Daily Mail (London). 6 May 2009. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1177813/DARREN-FLETCHER-TALKS-TO-MARTIN-SAMUEL-Teetotaller-Fergies-enforcer-learning-Keane-sitting-Uniteds-Champions-League-triumph.html.
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- ^ "10 classic Roy Keane rants". Guardian football (London). 24 August 2006. http://football.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,9753,1606114,00.html. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
- ^ McKenzie, Andrew (27 August 2006). "The Odd Couple". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/5281188.stm. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
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- ^ "Roy Keane Signs 3 Year Contract As Sunderland Manager". Soccerlens. http://soccerlens.com/manchester-united-legend-roy-keane-signs-3-year-contract-as-sunderland-manager/2202559.html.
- ^ "Yorke completes Sunderland move". BBC Sport. 31 August 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/5300876.stm. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
- ^ "Miller makes it five". safc.com. http://www.safc.com/news/?page_id=10360.
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- ^ Keane earns Championship honour BBC News
- ^ Birmingham & Sunderland promotion BBC Sport
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- ^ "Sunderland 2 Newcastle United 1". safc.com. http://www.safc.com/match/?page_id=15991.
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- ^ "Cardiff 0–3 Ipswich". BBC Sport. 25 April 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/8001889.stm. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
- ^ "Ipswich 2–1 Coventry City". ITFC. 3 May 2009. http://www.itfc.co.uk/page/MatchReport/0,,10272,00.html. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
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- ^ Don't listen to TV pundits, says Keane
- ^ Francis, Nick (8 September 2007). "Pack my WAGS for Sunderland". The Sun (London). http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007370921,00.html.
- ^ Hudson, David (1 September 2002). "Roy's pounds 21⁄2 M Manor Utd". Sunday Mirror. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_20020901/ai_n12847574.
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- ^ Suffolk house move for Keano | EADT
- ^ a b "Roy Keane suffers heartache as beloved dog Triggs passes away". Daily Mail (Associated Newspapers). 10 September 2010. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1310863/Roy-Keanes-dog-Triggs-dies.html. Retrieved 10 September 2010. [dead link]
- ^ "Sloth - part one: De Bilde mourns dog – Willebroek, 2006". The Guardian (Guardian Media Group). 21 May 2009. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/may/21/seven-deadly-sins-football-sloth-part-one. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
- ^ Wilson, Steve (24 April 2009). "The wit and wisdom of Roy Keane sees Manchester United legends underachieving". The Daily Telegraph (Telegraph Media Group). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/dailybung/5212900/The-wit-and-wisdom-of-Roy-Keane-sees-Manchester-United-legends-underachieving.html. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
- ^ Winter, Henry (30 August 2006). "Born fighter still has his point to prove". The Daily Telegraph (Telegraph Media Group). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/columnists/henrywinter/2344597/Born-fighter-still-has-his-point-to-prove.html. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
- ^ Stewart, Rob (28 July 2007). "Roy Keane still to 'prove' himself". The Daily Telegraph (Telegraph Media Group). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2317800/Roy-Keane-still-to-prove-himself.html. Retrieved 10 September 2010. "The highly-rated 35-year-old Irishman, who admitted he could end up walking his pet Labrador dog, Triggs, on a full-time basis should Sunderland's new season begin disastrously..."
- ^ "A new beginning for the cult of Keane". The Guardian (Guardian Media Group). 11 August 2007. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2007/aug/11/sport.comment1. Retrieved 10 September 2010. "Much as the young Keane who caroused his beery way around Cork's nightspots gave way to a zealously clean-living father of five whose principal hobby is walking his dog, Triggs, the United captain noted for routinely subjecting Old Trafford team-mates to excruciating criticism has morphed into a Zen-like figure renowned for touchline tranquillity."
- ^ Taylor, Louise (15 August 2007). "Roy Keane sees red again with outburst about Wags and their shopping jaunts". The Guardian (Guardian Media Group). http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/aug/15/football.britishidentity. Retrieved 10 September 2010. "Extremely unlikely to be spotted in the north-east shopping mecca that is the Gateshead MetroCentre, he much prefers taking his dog, Triggs, for long country walks."
- ^ Hourican, Emily (18 August 2007). "It's a dog's life for Paris and her pet Chihuahua". Irish Independent (Independent News & Media). http://www.independent.ie/business/world/its-a-dogs-life-for-paris-and-her-pet-chihuahua-1061658.html. Retrieved 10 September 2010. "As a nation, we have gone mad for dogs. First it was Roy Keane and his best friend Triggs, the Labrador retriever who acted as conduit of Keano's emotions during the Saipan saga."
- ^ "'You always remember the idiots ... Some people have short memories'". Irish Independent (Independent News & Media). 25 September 2008. http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/premier-league/you-always-remember-the-idiots--some-people-have-short-memories-1481674.html. Retrieved 10 September 2010. "Two years ago, Roy Keane was probably out walking Triggs when Niall Quinn presided over carnage on one of the most embarrassing nights for Sunderland football club (and there have been a few)."
- ^ Carroll, Jim (4 December 2008). "Roy Keane slings his hook. Triggs prepares for the mother of all walks". The Irish Times (Irish Times Trust). http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord/2008/12/04/roy-keane-leaves-sunderland-triggs-the-dog-prepares-for-the-mother-of-all-walks/. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
- ^ Hogan, Vincent (23 November 2009). "Shiny Big Bertha can end Roy's torture -- and ours". Irish Independent (Independent News & Media). http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/vincent-hogan-shiny-big-bertha-can-end-roys-torture--and-ours-1951216.html. Retrieved 10 September 2010. "Trust me, Triggs will approve. [...] The dog in Roy sees the lamppost in the FAI."
- ^ Wilson, Jeremy (20 June 2010). "World Cup 2010: Eight World Cup bust-ups down the years". The Daily Telegraph (Telegraph Media Group). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/world-cup-2010/7842146/World-Cup-2010-Eight-World-Cup-bust-ups-down-the-years.html. Retrieved 10 September 2010. "He shared his thoughts with manager Mick McCarthy and the rest of the squad before flying home to take his dog, Baker, for a walk."
- ^ "AND FINALLY...". BBC Sport (BBC). 18 November 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/gossip_and_transfers/6160630.stm. Retrieved 10 September 2010. "Roy Keane will be reunited with a key figure next week when his dog Baker moves up to the Sunderland area with the rest of the family."
- ^ Stewart, Rob (30 April 2007). "Quinn backs Keane to lure top players". The Daily Telegraph (Telegraph Media Group). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2312165/Quinn-backs-Keane-to-lure-top-players.html. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
- ^ "AND FINALLY". BBC Sport (BBC). 28 September 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/gossip_and_transfers/7640253.stm. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
- ^ Stewart, Rob (30 November 2008). "Roy Keane's white beard shows strain of managing Sunderland". The Daily Telegraph (Telegraph Media Group). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/sunderland/3537144/Roy-Keanes-white-beard-shows-the-strain-but-his-hair-remains-black-Football.html. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
- ^ O'Shea, Joe (14 November 2009). "Two games of four halves . . .". Irish Independent (Independent News & Media). http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/two-games-of-four-halves-1943413.html. Retrieved 10 September 2010. "But Roy Keane, no doubt watching at home with Triggs the Labrador and Izac the German Shepherd, will be delighted to hear that there won't be a prawn sandwich to be had anywhere in the stadium."
- ^ Brand, Russell (6 December 2008). "How Keane's image went to the dogs: The odd sight of Roy taking his golden retriever for a stroll has found its echo in the touchline frustration of this sublime player". The Guardian (Guardian Media Group). http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2008/dec/06/roy-keane-sunderland-russell-brand. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
- ^ a b c d Sheehy, Clodagh (10 September 2010). "Keano suffers sad blow with loss of faithful sidekick Triggs". Evening Herald (Independent News & Media). http://www.herald.ie/entertainment/around-town/keano-suffers-sad-blow-with-loss-of-faithful-sidekick-triggs-2333095.html. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
- ^ Ring, Evelyn (1 May 2009). "Triggs joins Roy to help promote guide dogs". Irish Examiner (Thomas Crosbie Holdings). http://www.examiner.ie/ireland/triggs-joins-roy-to-help-promote-guide-dogs-90746.html. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
- ^ "Farewell Triggs - So much for so little". Irish Examiner (Thomas Crosbie Holdings). 11 September 2010. http://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/editorial/farewell-triggs--so-much-for-so-little-130462.html. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
- ^ http://www.national-football-teams.com/v2/player.php?id=8607
- ^ "SoccerScene.ie – International Profile of Roy Keane". http://www.soccerscene.ie/sssenior/player.php?id=20. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
External links[link]
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Roy Keane |
- Roy Keane career stats at Soccerbase
- Roy Keane management career stats at Soccerbase
- Career photos on BBC Online
- BBC Wear – Roy Keane's first day on the job at SAFC
- English Football Hall of Fame Profile
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Andy Townsend |
Republic of Ireland captain 1997–2002 |
Succeeded by Steve Staunton |
| Preceded by Eric Cantona |
Manchester United captain 1997–2005 |
Succeeded by Gary Neville |
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Keane, Roy Maurice |
| Alternative names | Keane, Roy |
| Short description | Footballer and manager |
| Date of birth | 1971-08-10 |
| Place of birth | Cork, Ireland |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
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Alan Shearer OBE, DL (born 13 August 1970) is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team. He is considered by some as one of England's best strikers, being both Newcastle's and the Premier League's record goalscorer. After retiring as a player in 2006, Shearer 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.
A native of Newcastle upon Tyne, Shearer made his professional debut with English top-flight club Southampton in 1988, scoring a hat-trick in the process. During several years on the south coast, he became known for his classic style of play, strength and goalscoring ability; he soon received an international call-up along with a transfer to Blackburn Rovers in 1992. Shearer established himself as a player in northern England; he became a regular in the England squad, and his 34-goal tally helped Blackburn secure the Premier League title in 1994–95. He was named Football Writers' Association Player of the Year in 1994 and won the PFA Player of the Year award in 1995. The 1995–96 season saw Shearer make his first Champions League appearances and finish as the top scorer in the Premier League with 31 goals. He was also top scorer at Euro 1996 with England, scoring five goals, and in the 1996–97 Premier League, with 25 goals. He scored 283 league goals in his career, including a record 260 in the Premier League, and a total of 422 in all competitions including international at all levels. Shearer has amassed a goals to game ratio of 0.667 throughout his career at every level.
