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In this day and age of football, one club men are very hard to find. One who epitomised the term ‘loyalty’ in the Premier League was Ryan Giggs who spent an astonishing 24 years at Manchester United, playing in every Premier League season until his retirement at the end of last season.
Some players leave clubs to find success elsewhere, while other are pried away with the promise of higher wages.
The select few who stay behind no matter the roller coaster ride their club goes through are the ones who are loved the most, while some players seem like they have been around for ages since they joined the club as a teenager.
Currently, Chelsea’s John Terry and Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard – England captains past and present – are the most loyal players in the Premier League. Both joined their respective club’s first team squad in 1998. Both players are into their mid-30s and could hang around just a little while longer.
Frank Lampard is another player who just missed out after Chelsea released him of his services after 13 long years.
| DEBUT YEAR | PLAYER | CLUB |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Steven Gerrard | Liverpool |
| John Terry | Chelsea | |
| 2000 | Tony Hibbert | Everton |
| 2001 | Andy Wilkinson | Stoke City |
| 2002 | Darren Fletcher | Manchester United |
| Leon Osman* | Everton | |
| Alan Tate* | Swansea | |
| 2004 | Petr Cech | Chelsea |
| Wayne Rooney | Manchester United | |
| Julian Speroni | Crystal Palace | |
| Mark Noble* | West Ham | |
| 2005 | Aaron Lennon | Tottenham Hotspur |
| Gabriel Agbonlahor | Aston Villa | |
| 2006 | Theo Walcott | Arsenal |
| Tomas Rosicky | Arsenal | |
| Abou Diaby | Arsenal | |
| Michael Carrick | Manchester United | |
| Jonny Evans* | Manchester United | |
| Kelvin Davis | Southampton | |
| Benoit Assou-Ekotto* | Tottenham Hotspur | |
| Joe Hart* | Manchester City | |
| John Obi Mikel | Chelsea | |
| Andy King | Leicester City | |
| 2007 | Anderson* | Manchester United |
| Leighton Baines | Everton | |
| Phil Jagielka | Everton | |
| Tim Howard | Everton | |
| Lucas Leiva | Liverpool | |
| Angel Rangel | Swansea | |
| Ryan Shawcross* | Stoke City | |
| Chris Brunt | West Brom | |
| James Morrison | West Brom |
* denotes players who have played at (or sent by) the club on loan.
