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England is home of football as the game originated from there. “The Three Lions” or the English national football team played its first international match against Scotland in 1872. Since then, England has given birth to a lot of legendary footballers who have enriched football with their exceptional performances. England is also home to some very big clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea and most of their great players have played for those clubs.
The English are often criticized for their “kick and run” approach to the game and their players are said to be not as skillful as their French, Spanish or Dutch counterparts. England have won the World Cup only once, when it was held there in 1966. England have traditionally lacked the dour efficiency of the Germans, the defensive brilliance of the Italians or the natural flair of the Brazilians. Still, they have been home to some outstanding players over the decades and we would take a look at 5 of them in this article:
#5 Gordon Banks
The late Gordon Banks has been immortalized by the otherworldly save he pulled off to keep off a header by Pele in the 1970 World Cup match against Brazil, but there was more to him than that. He was the custodian for the English national team from 1963 to 1972 and earned 73 caps for them.
He also played in 2 World Cups and 3 European Championships for England. Banks was an excellent shot-stopper and very athletic. He was not a very big man, but made up for his lack of size with his athleticism and agility. He was also reasonably good in the air.
Banks also had a fairly successful club career with clubs like Chesterfield, Stoke City and Leicester City. He began his senior career for Chesterfield in 1958 and retired while playing for Stoke City in 1973.
He made a total of 632 appearances in his cub career and was selected in PFA team of the century. He was also a part of the 1966 World Cup winning England team and remained one of the best goalkeepers in the world throughout 1960s. Banks is most definitely the greatest goalkeeper England has ever produced and also one of its finest footballers. He passed away recently.
#4 Gary Lineker
It is often said that a player’s true worth can be gauged by his performances on big occasions and if we go by that logic, there are very few English footballers who can match Gary Lineker’s exploits. He scored 10 goals in the two World Cups he played in and also won the Golden Boot in the Mexico World Cup in 1986 by scoring 6 goals.
Lineker scored 4 more in the 1990 World Cup including one in the semifinal against West Germany, which England lost on a penalty shootout. He scored 48 goals in 80 international appearances for England in an international career spanning 8 years. He also finished runner-up in Ballon d’Or in 1986.
Lineker also had a very successful career with English clubs like Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City. He also remains one of the few English footballers to have had a successful stint in the Spanish League. Lineker won the Cup Winners’ Cup for FC Barcelona and the FA Cup for Tottenham.
He scored 221 goals from 406 matches in his club career and remains one of the most prolific English strikers of all time. Lineker’s opportunism, quick turns and ability to shoot from a tight space set him apart from most of the other strikers of his generation.
#3 Wayne Rooney
The greatest British striker of all time, Wayne Rooney was very untimely touted as “the White Pele” by a section of British media after his brilliant debut in 2004 in the European Championships. To his credit, he was not weighed down by that epithet and went on to do enough to ensure a place for himself in English football’s Hall of Fame.
Rooney was very strong physically and had superb ball-skills too. He also had a very decent shot and header on him. He played for England in 3 World Cups and 3 European Championships, but never quite fulfilled the promise he had aroused by his amazing performance in 2004. Still, he went on to score 53 goals in 120 matches for England and remains their highest goal-scorer of all time.
He also had a very successful club career and ended up as the highest goal-scorer for Manchester United, no less. He was signed from Everton as a talented 18-year-old and spent 13 seasons there. He scored 293 goals in 696 matches in his club career and replaced Bobby Charlton as United’s highest goal-scorer. Rooney won the PFA Player of the Year once, apart from winning 5 Premier League titles and a UEFA Champions League title for United.
#2 Bobby Moore
The late Bobby Moore was the English World Cup-winning captain in 1966 and a legend for his club West Ham United and Fulham. Pele termed him as the toughest defender he had faced and that lofty praise underlines Moore’s abilities as a footballer.
Moore was instrumental England’s triumph in 1966 and performed exceptionally in the 1970 World Cup as well. He played for England in 3 World Cups and earned 108 international caps. He also finished runners-up in Ballon d’Or 1970.
He was not very fast, but compensated his lack of speed with great anticipation and match-reading. He was a towering figure in English defence and forged a great partnership with Nobby Stiles at the heart of England’s defence.
He also had a great club career for West Ham United and played in 647 matches and scored 27 goals for them. He also won the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup and FA Cup. He hung up his boots in 1977 as the greatest defender ever born in England.
#1 Bobby Charlton
Sir Bobby Charlton remains the greatest player in the history of England and Manchester United. He won the World Cup with England in 1966 and earned 106 caps for them in 12 years. He won the Ballon d’Or and the Golden Ball in the 1966 World Cup. He also scored 49 international goals and remained one of the finest midfielders in the world in his prime. Charlton was known for his astute passing, great vision and good shooting prowess.
Charlton was arguably even better for his club Manchester United. He joined the club in 1956 and spent 16 seasons with them. He won 3 First Division League titles and 1 European Cup with the club. Charlton gained an enormous 758 caps for United and scored 249 goals in various competitions and remained the highest goal-scorer in United's history until Wayne Rooney eclipsed his record in 2017.
Charlton, along with his teammates like George Best, Denis Law and Nobby Stiles, made United the best club in England and one of the best in the world. He also won the prestigious Ballon d'Or in 1966.
