Football, as probably the most followed sport in the world, has produced a bevvy of legendary players. Be it Brazil, Spain, France or Italy, a number of European and South American country has given birth to fine knots of talents worth bragging about. One such nation among them is England - the land also partly famous as the origin of the beautiful game.
Over the years, England has hardly fallen behind when it comes to fabricating legends. Like many other footballing nations, the 1966 World Cup winners have a seemingly endless list of players who have carved out a niche in the minds of the spectators with their excellent skills.
Concocting a list of ten greatest players is no mean feat, not especially when it comes to a country like England which has been a home to an extensive list of superstars. It's a downright tedious job to compare players from different eras and rank them, considering their achievements and the kind of football they played respectively.
Here's an attempt to jot down 10 of the finest English artists the beautiful game has ever manufactured.
#10 Gordon Banks
"They won't remember me for winning the World Cup, it'll be for that save. That's how big a thing it is. People just want to talk about that save."
He wasn't entirely wrong, was he?
By the time England had travelled to the next World Cup in 1970 after winning the previous edition, English shot-stopper Gordon Banks was no less than a hero among the masses. I bet it's still impossible for you to fathom how he denied Pele with this brilliant save once you watch it. This was voted as the no.41 by the UK public in the list of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.
The save itself tells you how special Gordon Banks was. Regarded as one of the greatest players ever to guard the posts, the Englishman extended peerless services to Leicester City and Stoke City, gaining a legendary status by winning the Football League Cup with both the clubs and the World Cup with England eventually.
Gordon Banks may not have a long list of trophies and laurels, but he certainly has those that are mandatory to mention. His greatness is reflected in the very fact that he held the title of FIFA's Goalkeeper of the Year award from 1966 to 1972 - for six consecutive years.
To all the goalkeepers aspiring to get their names noted down in the country's history, Gordon Banks stands as a monumental inspiration.