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Success comes in many forms but for a footballer, the ultimate achievement of winning trophies arguably trumps everything else. Clubs win cups and league titles. The drama of the cup win and a glinting addition to the trophy cabinet is considered special but the true measurement of how good a side is the league title.
The league requires a tremendous amount of consistency and the best players of all time almost always are a part of sides that challenge for the league titles. In fact, most Internationally known players star or at least are a part of league winning teams. The best players of the division are in the best club. For instance, in this year's Premier League, Harry Kane, Sergio Aguero, David Silva, Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard are all playing for teams that are challenging for the top division.
Sometimes even the best individually gifted players fail at the final hurdle or don't come close at all for a variety of reasons. Many notable legends go without winning a major trophy all their lives and in this list, we look at some of the most reputable players who unfortunately never got to lay their hands on a Top Division title through the entirety of their careers.
#5 Fernando Torres
The 33-year-old is no longer considered prime property in football. He makes this list because he is unmistakably a Liverpool icon and an Atletico Madrid fan-favourite, having become the captain of Los Rojiblancos at the age of nineteen.
Linked with a move to the Premier League three transfer windows in a row, Torres finally left Spain for England in 2007. He was nothing short of sensational at Merseyside. In three and half seasons at Liverpool, he finished the club's top scorer twice and moved in a British record fee (at the time) to Chelsea a few years ago.
Torres' misfortune and lack of confidence hampered his progress at Chelsea, but manager after manager kept providing him with the opportunities to prove himself.
But that misfortune is not what we are here to talk about. In 2005, Liverpool had marked a legendary come from behind Champions League win. In 2007, the season before Torres joined Liverpool, the club reached the Champions League final once again, this time losing to Milan.
Torres was brought in to bolster their chances of winning again. But the club reached the semi-finals and stumbled. In 2008/09, Torres and Gerrard were lethal in front of goal and fired Liverpool to 86 points, but it wasn't enough as Manchester United showed no signs of slowing down that year.
Chelsea had won the 2009/10 league title and when Torres joined the club, they did not challenge for the top four spot three seasons in a row, though they did finally end their long wait for the Champions League title.
He left in 2013-14 on loan to Milan and was soon shipped off to Atletico with Chelsea on their way to a league title and Atletico defending their crown. Since he joined the club, the Madrid side have failed to challenge for title! Talk about unfortunate!
#4 Steven Gerrard
There isn't much to be said about Steven Gerrard that observers don't know about. Considered England's finest midfielder of his generation, Gerrard tried hard to be a one-club man until he decided to leave for LA Galaxy for one season.
A Champions League winner in 2005, Gerrard was announced the UEFA Club Player of the Year the same year. A versatile player, Gerrard made 504 Premier League appearances for Liverpool, third on the all-time list for Liverpool. Blessed with superb technique and vision, Gerrard could operate anywhere in the central midfield in his prime.
In his later years, he became a 'Half-Back', sitting deep in the Liverpool area and spraying balls around the pitch while driving forward an attack from defence. Gerrard was also England's captain and played in four World Cups.
Gerrard's Liverpool side finished runners-up a few times over his career. The second, which was the 2013-14 campaign, was painfully close as Gerrard's slip arguably cost Liverpool the title. Heading into the game against Chelsea, Liverpool needed to avoid a defeat but were left chasing the game after the error by the skipper.
#3 Socrates
The Brazilian was a legendary playmaker for the Samba Boys and appeared in 60 games for his country, scoring 22 times. Often featured in lists which talk about great international stars with no World Cup, Socrates is even more unfortunate. He did not have any major domestic honours to speak off as well!
Ranked the 61st Greatest Player in the 20th Century by FIFA and the winner of the South American Player of the Year in 1982, Socrates has much to celebrate about individually. But all his senior trophies came at Regional levels in Brazil and that is the most unfortunate part of his career. He played his football for Brazilian big boys like Flamengo, Corinthians and Santos but failed to appear for a successful side.
Socrates retired in 1999 and had a brief career as a manager in Brazil with not much success.
#2 Gary Lineker
Gary Lineker has been described as one of the finest to have played football from England. To quote The Telegraph,
A goal machine for Leicester, Everton, Barcelona, Tottenham and England whose reflexes, courage, calmness and positioning made him the closest thing English football has had to its own Gerd Muller since Jimmy Greaves.
Lineker was an amazing goalscorer. He was highly rated at Leicester City, with whom he began his career and played for the likes of Everton, Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur with a brief spell in Japan.
Lineker plundered defences and managed a career total of 238 goals in 461 games as an elite level striker. It is almost astonishing that he failed to win a league title with the collection of clubs he played for. He joined Everton from Leicester in 1985. Everton were then the defending Champions of England and had won the European Cup Winners Cup the previous season beating Bayern Munich on the way to a memorable victory.
In Lineker's sole season at Goodison Park, he scored 40 goals in 41 games and Everton finished runners-up to Liverpool. The Heysel Disaster meant that English clubs were banned from European competitions and Lineker left to join Barcelona under Terry Venables.
He played for four seasons at Camp Nou winning the European Cup Winners Cup and the Copa Del Rey but failed to win the league title before leaving for Spurs. He won an FA Cup at Spurs in his last season and he left for Japan where he wound out his career.
#1 Sir Stanley Matthews
Sir Stanley Matthews is celebrated as one of the greatest British footballers in history. A career spanning three decades and two years with two spells at Stoke City and a few years at Blackpool, Matthews managed 697 league appearances scoring 71 times.
With 54 England caps, Matthews was one of England's most recognisable footballers for the vast majority of his career. Playing on the right side of pitch, Matthews was a skillful player who drew large crowds wherever he played, often just there to see him play.
He won one FA Cup in 1953 with Blackpool in a match labelled as the Stanley Matthews Final. Such was his influence on the press!
Despite his magnificent profile, Matthews played for Stoke in the Second Division after he left Blackpool. Since his retirement, he left for South Africa where he began coaching a side of black boys and organised tournaments and tours for his side.
Matthews was called 'a black man with a white face' by his team 'Stans Men captain Gilbert Moiloa. Matthews left an imprint beyond football in the Apartheid strangled South Africa.
He was a true man, who stood in the face of oppression and helped in his own way. His down to earth nature was very popular among people and he was voted Blackpool's greatest hero.
He remains the only player to have been knighted as an active footballer, getting the honour in 1965.
