The 5 greatest captains in the Premier League era

The role of the captain of a football team is always something that causes debate – should they lead by shouting at their teammates and inspiring them on to victory?

Or should they be quieter and lead by example – by playing to the best of their ability? Can a goalkeeper really be an effective captain?

Most recently, the role of the captain has been brought into question altogether, largely by the fact that teams like Liverpool have often not had their ‘club’ captain on the field altogether. That serves up the question; does a team need an effective captain at all?

Well, the following five players certainly make the point that a team definitely needs an effective captain and can be far better for it.

These five led their team to victory time after time – even when the odds seemed impossible. Here are five of the best captains in Premier League history.

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#1 Roy Keane

Roy Keane captained Manchester United to four Premier League titles

No team have been as successful in the Premier League as Manchester United and in their most dominant era – from the early 90’s until the mid-2000’s – they were driven by one of the most inspirational captains in the history of the game, combative Irish midfielder Roy Keane.

Keane took over the captaincy of the team at the beginning of the 1997/98 season when Eric Cantona unexpectedly retired but missed most of that campaign with a knee injury.

United lost the Premier League title to Arsenal, and as 1998/99 dawned, Keane was determined to make sure that the Red Devils took the championship back.

The Irishman ended up leading United to a treble of the league title, the FA Cup and the Champions League, and it was in the latter that perhaps his greatest display as captain took place.

Booked in the second leg of the semi-final against Juventus and thus ruled out of the final, Keane went on to put on an unbelievable performance – seemingly covering every blade of grass – and helped to haul United from two goals down to win the game 3-2, sending them through.

Keane was a great captain because not only did he hold himself to the highest possible standard, he demanded the same from all of his teammates – who were regularly dressed down by an angry Keane should they fail to do so – and even his own fans.

During his time as United captain, he won seven major trophies including four Premier League titles. More than a decade on, he remains the Red Devils’ greatest Premier League captain.

#2 Steven Gerrard

Steven Gerrard always led by example on the field

Steven Gerrard never won the Premier League as the captain of Liverpool and compared to some others, his trophy haul seems relatively modest – just three major honours during his time as the leader.

But he undoubtedly belongs high on this list not because of his abilities to force higher standards out of his teammates, but because somehow, he had the ability to single-handedly drag his side to victory against all odds.

Witness his performance in the 2005 Champions League final – a final that Liverpool probably would never have reached had it not been for Gerrard.

He inspired a comeback in the group stages in a pivotal game against Olympiakos, scoring the final goal in a 3-1 victory after his side went 1-0 down and looked doomed.

The final has of course gone down in football history – Liverpool looking dead and buried, 3-0 down at half-time before a Gerrard-inspired comeback – he scored the first goal – saw them roar back to make the game 3-3 before winning a penalty shoot-out.

That performance alone would land him on this list, but it wasn’t the only time Gerrard pulled a miracle out of the bag.

There was also the FA Cup Final in 2006 – Liverpool trailed West Ham twice, once at 2-1 and once at 3-2 before equalisers from Gerrard – the last one a 35-yard volley during injury time – took them to another victorious penalty shoot-out.

So Gerrard might’ve only won three major trophies as captain, but without him on the pitch, two of those wins probably would’ve been impossible.

Which makes him a truly great captain – nobody else led by example quite so well.

#3 John Terry

Chelsea fans will always consider John Terry their "captain, leader, legend"

Despite playing at Aston Villa now, at every Chelsea home game, a large banner can be seen hanging from the rafters at Stamford Bridge that reads ‘John Terry – Captain, Leader, Legend’.

That essentially tells you all you need to know about how great of a captain Chelsea’s home-grown hero was – even if some unsavoury incidents off the field didn’t make him popular with fans of other sides.

In terms of statistics, you simply can’t argue with the greatness of Terry as a captain. He’s the only man to lead his side to five Premier League title triumphs, and he also led Chelsea to four FA Cups, three League Cups, the Champions League and the Europa League.

The Champions League victory was a controversial one as Terry was suspended for the final only to turn up for the celebrations in full kit, but only a fool would claim he hadn’t played a large part in getting the Blues to Munich.

In the first leg of the semi-final with Barcelona, in which Terry helped his side to keep a clean sheet against a dominant Barca side.

Perhaps his most telling contribution though came in his first season as captain – 2004/05. Selected as the leader by new manager Jose Mourinho, Terry led the Blues to a title win with the best defensive record in Premier League history, keeping the most clean sheets and accruing the highest points total too.

That season saw him voted the Player of the Year by his fellow professionals; one of the highest honours possible, and rare for a central defender – only the second defender to win the award in Premier League history.

It tells you how highly everyone rated Terry and despite his off-field reputation, it’s hard to deny his effectiveness as captain.

#4 Tony Adams

Tony Adams is the most successful captain in Arsenal history

When you think of the stereotypical football captain – chest-beating, bellowing at his teammates and willing to run through brick walls for his team – the first man that comes to mind in the Premier League era has to be Arsenal’s Tony Adams.

He spent his entire 22-year career playing at centre-back for the Gunners and despite retiring at the end of the 2001/02 season, it could be argued that they’ve never truly replaced him.

Adams became captain of Arsenal long before the dawn of the Premier League era – he was named captain by George Graham in January 1988, when he was still just 21 years old, and he remained in the role for the next 14 years until his retirement.

During that time he won four league titles (two Premier Leagues), three FA Cups and the European Cup Winners Cup in 1994.

Arguably his most impressive feat? Being able to adapt to a new era in football, when manager Arsene Wenger took control of Arsenal in late 1996.

Adams had been used to an old-school approach and had faced a battle with alcoholism, but when Wenger took over and began to change things – introducing a new dietary and lifestyle regime – Adams made the needed changes and remained captain.

One season later he led Arsenal to their first Premier League trophy, memorably scoring the Gunners’ final goal in their title-winning match against Everton.

By the time his career ended, Adams had made 674 appearances for Arsenal and had become the club’s most successful captain.

In 2011, to commemorate the club’s 125th anniversary, a statue of Adams was erected outside the Emirates Stadium – a fitting tribute to one of the greatest captains of the Premier League era.

#5 Vincent Kompany

Vincent Kompany has captained Man City to their greatest successes

Despite all of the mega-expensive players that Manchester City have brought to the Etihad since the Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008, arguably the most important signing of all arrived days before the buyout and cost just somewhere around a paltry £8m.

That man went on to captain the team and has since won two Premier League titles – and naturally, looks on course to lead them to a third. His name? Vincent Kompany.

Kompany helped City to win the first trophy of their new era – the FA Cup – in 2010/11 and it was prior to the following season that he was first named club captain.

The Belgian was integral to City’s success, playing in 31 of their 38 Premier League games and after heading the winner in the Manchester derby with two games remaining, he led them to their first Premier League trophy.

Success has followed pretty consistently for Kompany; the only knock on him that could be made is his injury record.

Despite leading City to another Premier League trophy in 2013/14 and three League Cup triumphs, his playing time has been greatly hampered since that first title-winning season. But it’s in his absence that it becomes apparent quite how good of a captain he is.

City simply never look quite as solid without Kompany in the side as they do when he’s there, and while he isn’t a chest-beater like Adams was and isn’t capable of dragging a side to victory like Gerrard was, his leadership and organisational qualities are on a level that put him up there with the Premier League’s greatest captains.

The fact that he’s practically the sole survivor from the pre-Sheikh Mansour era says it all, really.