Hall of Fame - The Greatest Premier League Players

Welcome to the home of the greats.

A place for celebration, admiration and nostalgia.

For moments made famous and players famous for having made them.

2021 Inductees

Alan Shearer

If there was a ball and there was a goal, nothing could stop Alan Shearer.

Not defenders, not distance, not great goalkeepers nor even the laws of physics sometimes. That was why he scored a record 260 of them in the Premier League.

The call of home to play for his boyhood club Newcastle United made him a Geordie legend, but meant he lifted the Premier League Trophy just once.

Some are scorers of great goals, some great scorers of goals. Shearer was both. He was the ultimate centre-forward, scoring from all angles, with his left foot, with his right foot and with his head and scoring with pace, power and technique.

“He’s a superb team player and an inspirational captain,” said Bobby Robson, his inspirational manager at Newcastle. “As a player he is up there with the very best.

Thierry Henry

Pace, power and grace. Henry gave Premier League defenders nightmares for eight seasons.

Converted by Arsene Wenger from a winger to striker, he redefined forward play, starting on the left, but proving just as deadly closer to goal.

He scored over 20 Premier League goals five seasons running, claiming four Golden Boots, with some outrageous strikes.

Not content with just scoring he provided 74 assists, including a record 20 in 2002/03, and he won two Player of the Season awards.

"It was embarrassing for the defenders," reflected Wenger. "He just scored when he wanted."

Eric Cantona

Eric Cantona was a catalyst for Manchester United's dominance of the Premier League in the 1990s after his shock move from defending champions Leeds United early in the competition's inaugural 1992/93 campaign.

Cantona helped United to end their 26-year title drought that year, and they were Premier League champions four times in five seasons at Old Trafford before his retirement in May 1997.

The Frenchman inspired his team with his approach and his skill that brought plenty of magic moments, such as his sublime lob versus Sunderland in December 1996.

Roy Keane

Roy Keane was the fierce heartbeat of Manchester United's midfield and their domination of the Premier League in the 1990s.

The tough-tackling Irishman joined from Nottingham Forest for a British-record fee in 1993 and was a leader in the United side, before becoming club captain in 1997.

His energy and fighting spirit inspired his team-mates to seven titles during his time at the club.

David Beckham

Aside from the glamour, David Beckham brought to the Premier League a range of passing it had never experienced.

His right foot set the Premier League alight on the opening weekend of 1996/97, when he scored for Manchester United from the halfway line at Wimbledon.

He tormented opponents with whipped, curling crosses that were impossible to defend and easy for team-mates to score as United claimed six titles with Beckham.

And from free-kicks the winger scored 18 Premier League goals, a total no player has threatened.

Dennis Bergkamp

Dennis Bergkamp’s arrival in 1995 introduced the Premier League to a new level of skill that inspired Arsenal to three PL titles and opened the competition’s borders to more international stars.

The Dutchman’s technical ability and eye for a pass gave the competition some of its most entertaining play.

As well as providing gilt-edged chances for team-mates, Bergkamp scored some spectacular goals, including the strike against Newcastle United which was voted by fans as the best goal in the Premier League's first 25 years.

Frank Lampard

Over the course of 21 seasons in the Premier League, Frank Lampard was one of the competition’s most complete midfielders.

A champion on three occasions at Chelsea, no midfielder has ever got near to his 177 goals for the Blues, West Ham United and Manchester City.

No player has matched his getting double figures for goals in 10 consecutive seasons as he became Chelsea’s all-time leading scorer.

Named Player of the Season for 2004/05, he also surpassed a century of assists in the Premier League.

Steven Gerrard

After coming through Liverpool’s Academy, Steven Gerrard spent 17 years as the driving force of the Merseysiders’ midfield in the Premier League.

Famed for his driving runs, his ability to inspire team-mates and his spectacular strikes from distance, only Frank Lampard has scored more from midfield than Gerrard's 120 goals.

The Reds’ long-serving captain also provided 92 top-flight assists and won six monthly awards in his stellar career.

2022 Inductees

Patrick Vieira

Patrick Vieira came to the Premier League a relative unknown but left having redefined the role of a central midfielder.

The Frenchman provided a rare combination of power, aggression and skill at the heart of an Arsenal midfield that won three Premier League titles.

His long-range strikes and late runs into the penalty area brought 31 goals, including the one that sealed Arsenal’s Invincible season in 2003/04, the captain lifting the Premier League Trophy after an unbeaten campaign.

Wayne Rooney

After announcing himself on the Premier League and global stage with a sensational first goal for boyhood club Everton against Arsenal, Wayne Rooney lived up to that promise by becoming one of the competition's greatest ever forwards.

Rooney scored 208 Premier League goals, a tally beaten only by Alan Shearer, and provided 103 assists, the third-highest total in the competition's history, in 491 appearances.

He won five titles, one Player of the Season award and was named Player of the Month five times in a glorious 13-year spell at Old Trafford, bookended by two spells at Goodison Park.

Ian Wright

A latecomer to the professional game, Ian Wright made up for the lost time in his career.

After his move from Crystal Palace, the livewire striker was Arsenal’s leading scorer in the club’s first five seasons in the Premier League.

A scorer of spectacular goals, Wright also had the knack of being in the right place at the right time and in helping Arsenal to the 1997/98 title, he beat Cliff Bastin's club record of 178 goals.

Peter Schmeichel

Few goalkeepers have dominated the Premier League as Peter Schmeichel did with Manchester United in the 1990s.

He was one of the first to deal comfortably with the new backpass law.

Schmeichel’s long throws that launched United’s attacks were also an innovation in the competition.

But his spectacular saves, including his “star fish” jump, denied many strikers time and again and helped him to five titles as well, as Player of the Season award in 1995/96.

Paul Scholes

Ranked by his peers as one of the finest midfielders of his generation, Paul Scholes helped Manchester United to 11 Premier League titles across three decades.

Scholes was a creative influence and attacking threat in United’s midfield.

His vision and range of passing helped to provide 55 assists for his team-mates, while his fearsome shooting ability produced some memorable strikes among the 107 goals he scored from 499 league appearances.

Didier Drogba

Blessed with pace, power and skill, Didier Drogba was instrumental in helping Chelsea to two successive Premier League titles in 2004/05 and 2005/06.

The Ivorian’s 104 Premier League goals are the most by an African, many struck spectacularly from distance or powered in with his head.

As well as winning the PL Trophy four times in two spells with Chelsea, Drogba claimed two Golden Boots.

Vincent Kompany

Vincent Kompany was Man City's Captain Fantastic, being presented with the Premier League Trophy four times after pulling the team from mid-table to the top in 11 glorious years at the Etihad Stadium.

The Belgian joined City as a midfielder in 2008 before making the centre-back spot his own.~In 2011/12, as well as keeping 15 clean sheets he scored a crucial header against title rivals Manchester United in the run-in to be named the Player of the Season as City claimed a first Premier League title.

He earned 94 shutouts in total and continued his knack for scoring vital title-race goals, with a final-day effort in 2013/14 and a 2018/19 wonder strike versus Leicester City both pivotal in City being crowned champions.

Sergio Aguero

Scoring twice in both his first and last Premier League appearances summed up how Sergio Aguero was the competition's most prolific striker over his 10 years in England.

No player with 20+ goals can match the Man City striker's minutes-per-goal ratio, and the Argentinian's total of 184 Premier League goals is the most by an overseas player.

Aguero put his name in Man City folklore with his stoppage-time winner to clinch the club's first Premier League title in his debut 2011/12 season, the first of five winners' medals.

He also won the 2014/15 Premier League Golden Boot and claimed the Player of the Month accolade seven times.

2023 Inductees

Sir Alex Ferguson

Sir Alex Ferguson is the most successful manager in British football history, winning 13 Premier League titles with Manchester United.

He ended Man Utd’s 26-year wait for a top-flight title in the inaugural Premier League season of 1992/93. He went on to enjoy unprecedented success over the next two decades until his retirement at the end of the 2012/13 campaign.

Alongside his 13 title successes, Ferguson also won the Manager of the Month award 27 times and the Manager of the Season accolade 11 times. His all-time Premier League record stands at 528 wins from 810 matches.

Arsene Wenger

It was “Arsene who?” when Wenger arrived at Arsenal in 1996, but within two years the Frenchman had etched his name into the history of the club and the Premier League.

Over the course of the next two decades, Wenger's genius and vision revolutionised the English game on and off the pitch.

Under his guidance, Arsenal combined a ruthless edge to match their brand of quick passing, which led them to three Premier League titles.

His free-flowing side from 2003/04, dubbed “The Invincibles”, will go down as one of the best in English football history, going an entire season unbeaten.

Rio Ferdinand

Rio Ferdinand broke the mould of the no-nonsense English central defender in the Premier League.

Composed and stylish, he made his first-team debut for West Ham United at 17.

After Leeds United made him the world’s most expensive defender, Manchester United broke the British transfer record two seasons later and immediately reaped rewards as they regained the Premier League title in 2002/03.

That was the first of six Ferdinand claimed in his 12 seasons at Old Trafford. His 504 Premier League appearances are second among central defenders.

Petr Cech

Right from his debut season in which he kept 24 clean sheets, a Premier League record, for title-winning Chelsea, Petr Cech was one of the Premier League's greatest goalkeepers.

The Czech is the only keeper to have totalled a double-century of clean sheets, with nobody coming close to his 202 in 443 appearances.

He won four league titles and three Golden Gloves in 11 seasons at Stamford Bridge, before switching to Arsenal for four seasons, adding another Golden Glove in 2015/16.

Tony Adams

Tony Adams was Mr Arsenal, spending his entire career at the club and leading his team to Premier League titles in 1997/98 and 2001/02.

As captain, Adams was a formidable leader and defender, keeping 115 clean sheets across the opening decade of the competition.

Of his 12 Premier League goals, the most memorable came in the 4-0 win over Everton that confirmed the 1997/98 title. His foray into attack and sublime finish seemed to encapsulate his adaptation to the modernisation of the game, on and off the pitch, that was led by manager Arsene Wenger after his arrival in 1996.

To this day, Terry remains the only player to feature in all five of Chelsea’s title-winning seasons, while his 41 goals are the most by any defender in the competition’s history.