10 greatest Liverpool players of all time

Liverpool are the most decorated club in English football. The club, founded in 1892, has won a record 48 titles in all competitions, which is three more than any other club in the country.

Last season, the Anfield giants won their first English top-flight title in over three decades, their first in the Premier League era, to go three titles clear of Manchester United, the next most successful club in the country in terms of titles won.

In the last two decades or so, Liverpool may have ceded ground to other domestic rivals like the two Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Arsenal but they were the dominant side in England and Europe during large swathes of the 80s.

10 greatest Liverpool players in football history

In the 20th century, Liverpool have been graced by some of the biggest names in world football like Xabi Alonso, Fernando Torres, John Arne Riise and, more recently, Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Virgil Van Dijk.

However, some of the best players to have turned up for the club played during the glorious 80s decade when Liverpool were arguably at their most dominant best in their history.

#10 Jamie Carragher

Jamie Carragher was one of football's few one-club men, a rarity in the modern game. He played senior club football only for Liverpool during a 17-year-long distinguished career that spanned over 700 games in all competitions.

The full-back, who later transitioned to the centre of defence, has played the most Premier League games (508) than any Liverpool player.

Carragher won 11 domestic and continental honours with Liverpool - a tally that includes two FA Cup and one Champions League title - but a Premier League title is conspicuous by its absence.

A strong, versatile and rather old-fashioned centre-back who was renowned for his tackling prowess, tactical intelligence and positional awareness, Carragher has been described by Chelsea legend Didier Drogba as one who always played the game hard but fair:

"I would say Jamie Carragher was the most difficult one in terms of aggression, but he was always fair."

Carragher, on his part, complimented the Ivorian for changing the perception of a striker.

"Looking back, I think Drogba changed perceptions about what a striker could do and the way in which a team could be shaped. Many times, he did the job of two players, and it allowed his managers at Chelsea to change the team around him."

#9 Phil Neal

Phil Neil is the most decorated player in Liverpool history, winning 22 trophies for the club during a glorious 11-year stint at Anfield, a tally that included as many as eight league titles and four in the European Cup.

The right-back, who featured in four of Liverpool six triumphs in the European Cup (now called the Champions League), made 595 appearances in all competitions after joining the club in the summer of 1974.

Neil was a 17-year-old playing non-league football with Wellingborough in 1968 when he was spotted by Northampton. The versatile player even pulled on a goalkeeper's shirt in a 1973-74 game against Rotherham before Liverpool came calling.

The player exhibited his versatility at Liverpool, often slotting in at left-back before making the right-back position his own as the Anfield club picked up league and league cup doubles galore in the 80s that included the treble of league, league cup and European cup in 1983-84.

Liverpool won a hat-trick of top-flight titles in 1982-84, Neil's fifth, sixth and seventh at the club before the infamous Heysel tragedy happened with Neil at the helm. A year later, the player won an eighth league title with Liverpool.

Besides sharing penalty-taking duties at the club, Neil was a player far ahead of his time as attacking full-backs who also scored goals were an unknown commodity in the game.

#8 Kevin Keegan

Kevin Keegan began his professional career as a midfielder with Scunthorpe United before joining Liverpool as a twenty-year-old in 1971.

However, the player's prowess up front soon saw him get transitioned to a centre-forward. In a glorious six-season stay at Anfield, Keegan scored 100 goals and provided 56 assists in over 300 games in all competitions as Liverpool won three English league titles, two UEFA Cups, one European Cup and one FA Cup title.

It was Keegan's brace in the first leg of the 1973 UEFA Cup final against Borussia Monchengladbach that laid the platform for Liverpool's first European success.

Although the striker missed a penalty in that game, Liverpool had done enough to seal a convincing 3-0 win before a 0-2 defeat in the return leg meant that the Anfield club won their first-ever European title.

#7 Graeme Souness

Graeme Souness arrived as a part of a three-member Scottish contingent at Liverpool in 1978 after the club had won the first of six European Cup titles.

In a successful seven-season stint at Anfield, the central midfielder scored 52 goals in 325 appearances and won 12 trophies that included five league triumphs, three European Cups and four league cups.

As the Liverpool captain, Souness lifted the treble of league, league cup and European Cup in 1983-84 and scored one of the penalties in the shootout win over AS Roma.

#6: Billy Liddel

Billy Liddel is one of the greatest players to have pulled on a Liverpool jersey.

Spotted by the club at the tender age of 17 in 1938, Liddel had to wait for the end of the Second World War before he could make his debut for Liverpool.

After winning his first league title with the Anfield club in 1946-47, Liddel was the only bright spot for Liverpool in the gloomy 1950s that reached a nadir when the club endured relegation in 1953-54.

Nevertheless, the versatile winger, who later transitioned to centre-forward, continued to score goals galore and brought a smile to the Kop when there was little reason to rejoice otherwise. Although the humble Liddel would have never accepted, he was one of the single biggest reasons for Liverpool to stay afloat in the second division and not slip to the third.

Liddel made his 537th and final appearance for Liverpool in 1960, a record for most appearances for the club that would stand for more than a decade.

He was quite the gentleman off the field too. Liddel never drank, smoked or swore but did a lot of charity work. Unfortunately, Liddel's best period for the club coincided with one of the club's darkest as promotion eluded Liverpool.

Liddel, unfortunately, passed away with Alzheimer's in 2001 but the legacy of the man is unlikely to be forgotten by Liverpool old-timers.

#5 Ian Rush

With 346 goals in 660 games in all competitions, Ian Rush is Liverpool's all-time top-scorer.

In a goal-laden 16-season stint at Merseyside, the Welshman scored goals and lifted trophies galore as Liverpool experienced arguably the most dominant spell in their illustrious history.

Not surprisingly, Rush's finest season in a Liverpool shirt coincided with the club's finest as the Welshman's 47 goals in 1983-84 propelled the Anfield club to a treble of league, league cup and European cup.

After a lone season with Juventus in 1986-87, the striker returned to Anfield on loan the next season, with the move becoming permanent a season later; but for Rush, the goals continued to flow unabated.

In 1992, Rush surpassed Roger Hunt as the club's record goal-scorer and in the same year, the Welshman was elevated as the captain of the team.

Rush's 19 trophies with Liverpool included a hat-trick of league titles from 1982 to 1984 and two more in 1986 and 1990.

Although Liverpool wouldn't win another league title for exactly three decades, Rush won fourth Super Cup, third FA cup and fifth league cup before leaving the club for good in 1996 but not before leaving his mark as one of the greatest to have graced the Anfield turf.

#4 Alan Hansen

Alan Hansen is arguably one of the finest centre-backs to have played for Liverpool.

After debuting for the club in 1977, Hansen, like another Liverpool legend Phil Neil, bagged a rich haul of eight league titles en route to winning 22 trophies in all competitions.

In 1978-79 season, Hansen played a key role in the centre of Liverpool's defence as the club conceded a miserly 16 goals in a 42-game season. Renowned for his impressive tackling and positional awareness, Hansen was a part of the Liverpool team that won the treble in 1983-84 and the double two seasons later.

Like a few other players in this list, Hansen was at the forefront of Liverpool's dominance of the domestic scene and in Europe in the 80s as the player won seven league titles and three continental ones during the decade.

#3 John Barnes

After arriving from Watford in a £900,000 transfer in 1987, John Barnes endeared himself to the Liverpool faithful by producing magic down the flanks with his powerful left foot.

Barnes won only two leagues during his time at Anfield. However, the second of those titles came during his best season at the club in 1989-90, one in which he scored 22 goals and provided 16 assists as Liverpool won their 18th English top-flight title.

The Jamaican-born Englishman, who scored 107 goals in 408 appearances for the club in all competitions, became the Liverpool captain in the mid-90s but by then, the club was in transition, and major domestic and continental honours would be years away.

One final opportunity of silverware came in the 1996 FA Cup final, which Liverpool lost to Manchester United in what turned out to the Barnes' last outing for the club as he moved to Newcastle before retiring three years later while playing for Charlton.

#2 Steven Gerrard

Steven Gerrard is arguably one of the finest players in Liverpool history never to have won a league title.

Of course, Gerrard and Liverpool came tantalisingly close in 2013-14 when the Anfield club led the Premier League table by five points with three games to go. But Gerrard's slip that led to Chelsea's opener in their 2-0 win at Anfield sparked a dramatic implosion and a six-year-long wait before the class of 2020 under Jurgen Klopp brought home title number 19.

Gerrard, one of only two Liverpool players to have played over 700 games for the club, is the only one to feature in the club's top-five list of appearance makers as well as goal-scorers.

After failing to find the back of the net in his first season for the club in 1998-99, Gerrard scored in each of his next 16 seasons at the club. The midfielder's finest hour in a Liverpool shirt came in the thrilling penalty shootout win over AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul.

It was Gerrard's goal that kickstarted Liverpool's comeback from 0-3 down before the Anfield club prevailed in a penalty shootout to win their fifth European Cup/Champions League and the first in over two decades.

Blessed with raw power, speed, grace and creativity, Gerrard is often described as a generational talent. His seven trophies at the club, however, didn't include a league title.

The longest-serving Liverpool captain wore the captain's armband for the club for more than a decade (2003 to 2015), which is longer than any other player before he drew the curtains on a distinguished career by scoring for the 186th and final time for Liverpool in a 1-6 defeat at Stoke City in the last game of the 2014-15 Premier League season.

#1 Kenny Dalglish

26-year-old Kenny Dalglish, widely regarded as one of the greatest to have played in the famed Reds jersey, arrived at Liverpool in the summer of 1977 after the club had won their first European Cup.

Dalglish scored his first goal seven minutes into his Liverpool debut in a league game at Middlesbrough and would do so on 171 more occasions in 514 other appearances for the club.

The striker netted 31 times in all competitions in his debut season, with his final goal of the season proving to be the difference between Liverpool and Club Brugge in the 1978 European Cup final as the Reds successfully defended their continental title.

Dalglish would score memorable goals during his Liverpool career that included league-clinchers against Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, with the striker making his signature goal celebration of raising his arms aloft and letting out a radiant smile on each occasion.

The striker, who became the Liverpool player/manager after the Heysel tragedy, won his seventh and eighth league titles in 1988 and 1990 respectively before calling time on his playing career.

Dalglish's achievements with the club during his two managerial stints further endeared himself to the club faithful as he etched his name into Liverpool folklore, with his second stint seeing the club's six-year trophy drought coming to an end when the Reds won the 2011-12 Carling Cup.

About the author

Bhargav is a veteran sports journalist and editor at Sportskeeda, with a rich professional experience of 17 years, working for the likes of Siemens and Bombay Dyeing. An avid football and tennis follower for over three decades, Bhargav uses his vast knowledge and experience, attention to detail, an unbiased yet interesting writing style, and thorough research to craft insightful articles, which have raked in over 20 million reads so far.

Bhargav supports Italy at national level, a team steeped in tradition and history according to him. He still harbors the heartbreak from the Azzurri’s 1994 FIFA World Cup final defeat against Brazil, and protagonist-turned-antagonist from the game, ‘Divine Ponytail’ Roberto Baggio is his all-time favorite player. His favorite manager is Marcelo Lippi, who ended Italy’s 24-year wait for the World Cup trophy, winning it in 2006.

Outside Europe’s top five leagues, he follows the MLS following Lionel Messi’s move in 2023 but favors Cristiano Ronaldo in the G.O.A.T. debate. During his free time, Bhargav enjoys driving off to new places and singing.

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Edited by Rachel Syiemlieh