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It’s hard to believe that we’re over 20 years removed now from the first season of the Premier League – 1992/93. Since then the league has grown immeasurably into arguably the best – and certainly the richest – one in the world, but that growth can largely be traced back not to the beginning, but the mid-90s.
It was that period that saw the explosion of talent arriving in the league, from countries all over Europe and even further, as well as from within England’s own shores. Everyone remembers the legends from that time like Eric Cantona, Dennis Bergkamp, Gianfranco Zola and Alan Shearer, but so many more classy players have been unfairly forgotten.
Whether it was down to their run being relatively short, or because it came at a smaller club, the following 10 players have all largely been brushed aside in the history books. Here are 10 great Premier League players you’ve probably forgotten about.
#10 Philippe Albert
Everyone remembers Newcastle United’s mid-90s side that became known as ‘The Entertainers’. Kevin Keegan’s side never actually won a trophy but their exciting, gung-ho tactics won them millions of neutral fans and they came painfully close to lifting the Premier League in 1995/96.
Their attacking players like Les Ferdinand, David Ginola and Alan Shearer remain well-remembered but many people seem to have forgotten Belgian defender Philippe Albert, signed by Keegan for just £2.6m in the summer of 1994. Albert was an immediate hit with the Magpies faithful as he helped them win their first six league games in 1994/95 before his season was curtailed by injuries.
1995/96 was much better for him as he made 23 appearances and was one of Newcastle’s outstanding players – although it must be said, a lot of his popularity came from his daring raids into the opponent’s box, and not so much for his own defensive play.
His most memorable moment? Chipping Peter Schmeichel to score Newcastle’s fifth goal in a 5-0 win over Man United in October 1996. It was probably Kevin Keegan’s best match as Newcastle boss, and probably Albert’s too. In the end the Belgian stayed at St. James’ Park until 1997/98, playing 96 games overall.
#9 Tony Yeboah
While few people had heard of Ghanaian striker Tony Yeboah when he was signed by Leeds United in January 1995, it didn’t take the fans long to take to him, as he quickly gained a reputation for scoring some of the most memorable goals in the early seasons of the Premier League. In a way, it’s odd that more people don’t remember him!
Yeboah essentially only spent one full season at Leeds – 1995/96 – as injuries and a loss of form meant he was shipped back out to Germany at the end of 1996/97 after only playing seven games that season. But the things he did in that full season were the stuff of legend.
There was the outrageous volley against Liverpool in August 1995 that crashed in off the bar and took Leeds to a 1-0 win; his hat-trick against Monaco in September 1995 and then the hat-trick against Wimbledon just days later that contained the goal that was voted the best of the season – Yeboah controlled the ball on his chest and knee, dummied his way past an onrushing defender and crashed a right-footed shot in via the crossbar again.
Strangely enough, Yeboah later claimed that the goal against Wimbledon was just “good”, while the Liverpool goal was his only truly great one. Crazy stuff!
#8 Patrik Berger
The 1996 European Championships took place in England and was almost like a shop window for the Premier League’s clubs. One man who caught the eye was Czech Republic’s attacking midfielder Patrik Berger, who was signed that summer by Liverpool for £3.25m.
With his flowing locks and rock star looks, Berger was practically guaranteed to become a cult favourite with the Anfield crowd, and sure enough, he settled in immediately, claiming the FA’s Player of the Month award for September 1996 after scoring four goals in five games. He even had a Football Focus video package dedicated to him, set to a popular hit at the time, called You’re Gorgeous.
The next season saw Berger fall out with manager Roy Evans, but when Evans was fired and Gerard Houllier took over at Liverpool, the Czech attacker enjoyed the best years of his Anfield career, eventually playing a part in winning both the UEFA Cup and FA Cup in 2000/01. He even set up Michael Owen’s winner in the FA Cup final against Arsenal.
While he went on to have brief runs with Portsmouth and Aston Villa as his career waned, his peak was definitely at Liverpool – in the end, he spent seven seasons there, and why he’s largely forgotten today is a mystery really.
#7 Robbie Fowler
Different circumstances could’ve seen Robbie Fowler remembered as the best striker of his generation, the man who led the line for Liverpool and England too. Unfortunately, despite an insane goal record for Liverpool in his early years – practically a goal every other game – the emergence of Michael Owen and then Wayne Rooney, as well as his inability to unseat Alan Shearer as England’s frontman meant that he’s largely overlooked these days.
It’s crazy really – when Fowler exploded onto the scene in the early 1990s, he couldn’t stop scoring. 1993/94 saw him score five goals in a League Cup tie with Fulham, his first EPL hat-trick in just his fifth league game, and 12 goals in his first 13 games; in 1994/95 he hit a hat-trick against Arsenal in just under five minutes, at the time the fastest in league history.
Incredibly, Fowler hit more than 30 goals for three consecutive seasons – 1994/95, 1995/96 and 1996/97. Unfortunately, his 1997/98 season was ruined by a knee injury and when he returned, his place as Liverpool’s top striker had been taken by the younger – and equally prolific – Owen. And while he did win a treble of cups in 2000/01 – the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup – by that point he was Liverpool’s third-choice striker behind Owen and Emile Heskey.
Fowler has been described as one of the most natural finishers in English football history – it’s just a shame that he played at the same time as a handful of strikers who turned out to somehow be even better.
#6 Harry Kewell
Leeds United’s young side from the late 1990s to the early 2000s were one of the most exciting in the Premier League at the time, and no other player sums that team up better than Australian attacking midfielder Harry Kewell, a man who is painfully overlooked these days.
Kewell first broke through from Leeds’s youth side in 1995/96, but it was in 1997/98 when he really began to make his mark, as he was an ever-present in the Leeds side and began to be recognised as one of the best young players in the league. He garnered even more publicity due to his relationship with Emmerdale actress Sheree Murphy, who he went on to marry in 2002.
Kewell’s best season for Leeds was 1999/00, in which he scored 10 league goals and assisted 13 and was named as the PFA Young Player of the Year as well as on the PFA Team of the Season. The following season saw him contribute to Leeds making it all the way to the semi-finals of the Champions League, but despite his consistently great showings, the side began to slide after this due to their financial issues.
Eventually Kewell moved to Liverpool in the summer of 2003 and while he did win the Champions League with them in 2005, he was never a key player as he’d been at Leeds, due to persistent injuries, and he now goes down as a classic forgotten player despite Australian fans remembering him warmly.
#5 Chris Sutton
In today’s Premier League – when Kyle Walker can be bought for £50m and Romelu Lukaku for £75m – it seems bizarre to remember a time when the British transfer record was in fact £5m. But that was indeed the case in the summer of 1994 when Blackburn Rovers – at the time chasing the title by splashing the cash in a similar way that both Manchester sides and Chelsea do today – spent that sum on Norwich striker Chris Sutton after he hit 25 goals in 1993/94.
The gamble on Sutton paid off – he formed a formidable striking partnership with Alan Shearer, and scored 15 league goals alongside Shearer’s 34 as Blackburn won the Premier League title for the first and only time. 1995/96 saw an unfortunate drop in form – injuries curtailed his season and he only scored one league goal – but over the next two seasons he regained his mojo and ended up the joint top scorer in 1997/98, hitting 18 league goals as Blackburn climbed back up to sixth.
Sutton spent one more season at Blackburn where he was supposed to lead the line again, but instead, was kept out of action by a series of injuries and the side ended up being relegated. A pre-Abramovich move to Chelsea followed but Sutton never really fit in at Stamford Bridge, scoring just one league goal in his season there, before moving to Scotland with Celtic, where he regained his old form again.
Unfortunately, though, it seems his time in Scotland – as well as the fact that he played in an era full of brilliant strikers – means he’s become largely forgotten.
#4 Steve Stone
These days, if a player hits a patch of form like winger Steve Stone did in 1995, within weeks he’d probably be linked with every huge European club out there. Stone had been at Nottingham Forest since 1989, when his career began, but became a true star at the club in their first season in the Premier League, 1994/95.
That season saw Stone play 41 games for Forest as they were the surprise package in the EPL, finishing third – the highest that a newly promoted club has ever finished in the league.
The next season was even better for Stone. While Forest could only finish 9th in the league, he started the season on fire, scoring goals and playing the best football of his career. It was enough to earn him an England call-up, and he made the most of the opportunity, scoring twice in his first three England games.
1996/97 saw Stone miss practically the whole season with a bad leg injury, but upon his return, he soon made his way back into the Forest first team, although his England career had ended by that point. He continued to be a consistent performer and when Forest were relegated in 1998/99, he moved to Aston Villa where he saw success until John Gregory, the manager who signed him, was sacked.
Stone could well be considered something of a two or three-season wonder, but his form in that time makes him unfairly forgotten today.
#3 Henning Berg
Not many players can say they won the Premier League with two different clubs and usually the ones that can are well-remembered and considered EPL legends. That’s why it’s so odd that Norwegian defender Henning Berg is usually overlooked in any discussions about classic Premier League players.
Berg was an ever-present in the Blackburn Rovers side that won the league in 1994/95 – missing just two games throughout – and while Rovers slipped down the table in the following two seasons, Berg remained one of their more consistent players, forming a solid partnership with Scottish legend Colin Hendry at the heart of Blackburn’s defence.
His form was enough for Manchester United to sign him in the summer of 1997 for a then-British record fee for a defender, £5m. Berg was first-choice throughout his first season at United, but didn’t play quite so much in 1998/99 – the season United won the treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League. This meant he was the first player to win the league with two different clubs – a title he held alone until 2010.
1999/2000 saw Berg regain his place in United’s defence, and he remained one of the Premier League’s most solid defenders even as he moved back to Blackburn for the start of 2000/01. The other names to have won the league with two different sides – Cole, Anelka, Clichy, Toure, Tevez and Huth – are all well-remembered, and really, Berg should be too.
#2 Dion Dublin
More recognisable these days as a TV presenter for Homes Under The Hammer, in the 1990s Dion Dublin was one of the Premier League’s most consistent and dangerous strikers. Like the afore-mentioned Chris Sutton, it’s probably the fact that he played in such a great era that has caused him to be largely forgotten.
Dublin’s biggest successes came at Coventry City, who signed him from Manchester United at the start of 1994/95. It was at Coventry where he established himself as one of the best strikers in the Premier League, as even while his club struggled, he kept on scoring – 13 in his first season, and then 14 and 13 in the subsequent ones. 1997/98 was his peak as he became the joint top scorer with 18 goals, and earned a spot in the England squad, although he was unlucky to miss out on the World Cup in 1998.
His wish to move to a bigger club was granted in 1998/99 as he moved to Aston Villa and saw immediate success, scoring seven goals in his first four games at the club. Even a broken neck in December 1999 couldn’t stop him as he returned to action and continued to score goals for Villa right up until he finally left the club in 2004.
Dublin remains one of the most underrated Premier League strikers of the 90s, most likely because he played for a club who perennially fought against relegation. If he’d played for a bigger club, who knows how he’d be remembered?
#1 Georgi Kinkladze
In the days before Manchester City had enough money to buy whoever they wanted, they were an underdog side full of cult heroes, none of whom stand out more than Georgi Kinkladze. The Georgian winger might be forgotten today due to City’s recent successes, but in the 90s he was as popular with City fans as anyone.
Strangely enough Kinkladze only actually played one season with Man City in the Premier League. That season was 1995/96, and although City were largely terrible throughout – they were relegated to the old First Division as the season ended – Kinkladze was outstanding for the most part, meaning upon relegation he was linked with some of Europe’s biggest clubs. Instead, he chose to stick with City, playing two seasons in the First Division in which teams regularly sent two players to mark him.
It was his lone EPL season that stood out, though – Kinkladze became known for his dribbling skills and his mazy runs, as well as for scoring some ridiculous individual goals. His most impressive? The goal against Southampton that came second in 1995/96’s Goal of the Season competition. Kinkladze beat five players before chipping the ball over the goalkeeper and into the net.
Today’s successes at City might mean he’s not well-recalled, but Kinkladze is definitely worthy of being more memorable than he is today thanks to those performances.
