
It’s a debate that splits football fans like few others – who is your club’s best ever player?
Can Cristiano Ronaldo compete with Duncan Edwards? Thierry Henry with Cliff Bastin? John Charles with Ronnie Radford?
In that vein, to mark it's 100th anniversary, the Professional Footballers’ Association has published a list detailing every single league club’s best player ever - as voted for by supporters.
A quick straw poll of the office saw barely a handful agree with the result of the list – and that’s the beauty of it right? With so many to choose from, how do we fans narrow our club’s best players down to just one?
Each club’s best player according to the PFA’s poll is listed below – interestingly with the likes of Alan Shearer and Stan Bowles appearing for more than one club.
But who would you rate as your club’s best player?
And it’s not just at club level the debate rages of course – the argument over who is the best player ever to grace the international stage is as, if not even more, hotly contested.
A book published by ‘headline’ entitled “Greatest Ever Footballers” takes a statistical approach – with interesting results.
The results are based, firstly, on ‘A’ international appearances - and each appearance is awarded points that are weighted by the following criteria:
* Team played for – For example, appearances for more successful countries (Brazil and Argentina for example) count for more than less successful countries. Being in winning teams and progressing further in international competition also weighs heavier.
* More points from competitive matches over friendlies.
* Captaining your country earns more points.
* Appearances as substitute do not count as much as starts.
* Players who score goals, or keepers and defenders that keep clean sheets are awarded extra points.
Secondly, players pick up points when their team – at domestic or international level – achieves honours.
Thirdly, individual honours – such as FIFA World Player of the Year and English Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year – are also counted.
All in all, it produced a list headed by Pele – but in which George Best does not make the top 100, Romario and Luis Figo are ranked above the likes of Diego Maradona, Franz Beckenbauer and Alredo di Stefano, and Iranian frontman Ali Daei is ranked as the 26th best player of all time.
Bobby Charlton is the greatest ever English player, Pat Jennings Northern Ireland’s, Kenny Dalglish Scotland’s and Ryan Giggs is Wales’.
There are far too many issues, players and teams to pick out of the entire book to list here, but why not let us know your thoughts on the world’s best ever player? Or your country’s best ever player? Why not split them up into position? Or into decade?
If you ask me how a certain player is ranked by this book and I can answer, I will try, otherwise – get involved!
THE CLUB-BY-CLUB LIST (according to the PFA)
| Accrington Stanley | Chris Grimshaw |
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| Arsenal | Thierry Henry |
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| Aston Villa | Paul McGrath |
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| Barnet | Dougie Freedman |
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| Barnsley | Neil Redfearn |
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| Birmingham | Trevor Francis |
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| Blackburn Rovers | Alan Shearer |
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| Blackpool | Stanley Matthews |
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| Bolton Wanderers | Nat Lofthouse |
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| Boston Utd | Paul Bastock |
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| Bournemouth | Ted Macdougall |
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| Bradford City | Stuart McCall |
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| Brentford | Stan Bowles |
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| Brighton | Peter Ward |
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| Bristol City | John Atyeo |
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| Bristol Rovers | Devon White |
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| Burnley | Jimmy McIlroy |
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| Bury | Chris Lucketti |
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| Cambridge Utd | Dion Dublin |
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| Cardiff City | Phil Dwyer |
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| Carlisle Utd | Hugh Mcilmoyle |
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| Charlton Athletic | Derek Hales |
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| Chelsea | Gianfranco Zola |
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| Cheltenham Town | Neil Grayson |
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| Chester City | Ian Rush |
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| Chesterfield | Ernie Moss |
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| Colchester | Karl Duguid |
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| Coventry City | Steve Ogrizovic |
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| Crewe | David Platt |
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| Crystal Palace | Ian Wright |
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| Darlington | Alan Walsh |
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| Derby County | Kevin Hector |
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| Doncaster Rovers | Alick Jeffrey |
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| Everton | Dixie Dean |
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| Exeter | Alan Banks |
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| Fulham | Johnny Haynes |
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| Gillingham | Andy Hessenthaler |
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| Grimsby Town | Matt Tees |
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| Halifax Town | Paul Stoneman |
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| Hartlepool Utd | Wattie Moore |
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| Hereford | Ronnie Radford |
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| Huddersfield Town | Dennis Law |
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| Hull City | Ken Wagstaff |
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| Ipswich Town | John Wark |
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| Kidderminster | Kim Casey |
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| Leeds Utd | Billy Bremner |
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| Leicester City | Steve Walsh |
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| Leyton Orient | Lawrie Cunningham |
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| Lincoln City | Alan Graver |
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| Liverpool | Kenny Dalglish |
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| Luton Town | Mick Harford |
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| Macclesfield | Sir John Askey |
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| Man City | Bert Trautman |
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| Man Utd | Duncan Edwards |
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| Mansfield Town | Ken Wagstaff |
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| Middlesbrough | Juninho |
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| Millwall | Teddy Sheringham |
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| Newcastle Utd | Alan Shearer |
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| Northampton | Joe Kiernan |
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| Norwich City | Kevin Keelan |
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| Nottm Forest | Stuart Pearce |
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| Notts County | Don Masson |
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| Oldham Athletic | Bert Lister |
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| Oxford Utd | John Aldridge |
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| Peterborough | Terry Bly |
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| Plymouth | Tommy Tynan |
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| Port Vale | Robbie Earle |
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| Portsmouth | Jimmy Dickinson |
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| Preston NE | Sir Tom Finney |
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| QPR | Stan Bowles |
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| Reading | Robin Friday |
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| Rochdale | Reg Jenkins |
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| Rotherham | Ronnie Moore |
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| Rushden & Diamonds | Paul Underwood |
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| Scunthorpe Utd | Jack Brownsword |
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| Sheffield Utd | Tony Currie |
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| Sheffield Wed | Chris Waddle |
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| Shrewsbury Town | Arthur Rowley |
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| Southampton | Matt Le Tissier |
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| Southend | Steve Tilson |
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| Southport | Eric Redrobe |
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| Stockport | Luke Beckett |
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| Stoke City | Stanley Matthews |
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| Sunderland | Charlie Hurley |
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| Swansea City | Ivor Alvchurch |
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| Swindon | Don Rogers |
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| Torquay | Robin Stubbs |
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| Tottenham | Jimmy Greaves |
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| Tranmere Rovers | Ian Muir |
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| Walsall | Alan Buckley |
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| Watford | John Barnes |
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| West Brom | Tony Brown |
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| West Ham | Bobby Moore |
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| Wigan Athletic | Arjen de Zeeuw |
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| Wimbledon | Dave Beasant |
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| Wolves | Steve Bull |
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| Wrexham | Joey Jones |
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| Wycombe W | Dave Carroll |
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| Yeovil Town | Terry Skiverton |
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| York City | Barry Jackson |
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THE TOP 25 PLAYERS OF ALL TIME (according to 'The Greatest Ever Footballers')| 1 | Pele | Brazil |
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| 2 | Ronaldo | Brazil |
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| 3 | Romario | Brazil |
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| 4 | Luis Figo | Portugal |
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| 5 | Zinedine Zidane | France |
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| 6 | Diego Maradona | Argentina |
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| 7 | Lothar Matteus | Germany |
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| 8 | Gerd Muller | Germany |
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| 9 | Franz Beckenbauer | Germany |
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| 10 | Cafu | Brazil |
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| 11 | Roberto Carlos | Brazil |
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| 12 | Marco van Basten | Holland |
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| 13 | Michel Platini | France |
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| 14 | Rivaldo | Brazil |
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| 15 | Paolo Maldini | Italy |
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| 16 | Zico | Brazil |
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| 17 | Raul | Spain |
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| 18 | Ruud Gullit | Holland |
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| 19 | Eusebio | Portugal |
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| 20 | Ferenc Puskas | Hungary/Spain |
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| 21 | Johan Cruyff | Holland |
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| 22 | Alfredo di Stefano | Argentina/Spain |
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| 23 | Bobby Charlton | England |
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| 24 | Jurgen Klinsmann | Germany |
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| 25 | Kenny Dalglish | Scotland |
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