Best Player in history - England

Best Player in history - England

Fans hand Shearer, Matthews, Bowles honours

<!-- end pagetitle -->

LONDON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Alan Shearer, Stanley Matthews and Stan Bowles have been honoured in a poll by being voted the best player in the history of two different clubs.

<!-- new alias = AUS_england_england_story_300x250 --><!-- new key = +story;kvpage=story;kvcc=AUS;kvsection=england;kvleague=england;kvclub=;kvaid=492104;grp=5834453 --><!-- Tag // Tag for network 605: ESPN TN // Website: ESPN SC Keyword Site // Page: All // Placement: 300 X 250 (1181107) --><!-- .write('<scr'+'ipt ="1.1" ="http://ad.dc2.adtech.de/addyn|3.0|605|1181107|0|170|ADTECH;loc=100;target=_blank;key=england+story+england++AUS;kvsection=england;kvpage=story;kvleague=england;kvclub=;kvcc=AUS;grp=5834453;misc='+new Date().getTime()+'"></scri'+'pt>'); //--><!-- End of Tag -->The Professional Footballers Association (PFA) organised the nationwide poll as part of their centenary celebrations.

Shearer, who won the Premier League with Blackburn Rovers in 1995 and scored more goals for his hometown club Newcastle United than anyone else, was voted the best player in the history of both clubs.

Matthews, the first footballer to be knighted, led the way at Stoke City and Blackpool, where he won the FA Cup at the age of 38 in 1953.

Bowles, one of the most flamboyant players of the 1970s, was acclaimed the best by the fans of west London clubs Queens Park Rangers and Brentford.

Manchester United fans showed a sense of history by opting for Duncan Edwards, who died as a result of the 1958 Munich air crash, ahead of Bobby Charlton, George Best, Eric Cantona and Denis Law.

Premier League clubs' best players voted in PFA fans' poll:

Arsenal - Thierry Henry (France)
Aston Villa - Paul McGrath (Ireland)
Birmingham City - Trevor Francis (England)
Blackburn Rovers - Alan Shearer (England)
Bolton Wanderers - Nat Lofthouse (England)
Chelsea - Gianfranco Zola (Italy)
Derby County - Kevin Hector (England)
Everton - Dixie Dean (England)
Fulham - Johnny Haynes (England)
Liverpool - Kenny Dalglish (Scotland)
Manchester City - Bert Trautmann (West Germany)
Manchester United - Duncan Edwards (England)
Middlesbrough - Juninho (Brazil)
Newcastle United - Alan Shearer (England)
Portsmouth - Jimmy Dickinson (England)
Reading - Robin Friday (England)
Sunderland - Charlie Hurley (Ireland)
Tottenham Hotspur - Jimmy Greaves (England)
West Ham United - Bobby Moore (England)
Wigan Athletic - Arjen de Zeeuw (Netherlands)

 

Lonegunmen2007-12-20 12:29:24

Perhaps surprising to see Duncan Edwards name there against Man Utd. I know he was young when he died. Still a very nice touch though for one of the Busby Babes.

I saw Stan Bowles playing for Brentford in 1981. He wasn't quite in his prime back then but the Bee's supporters loved him.

I'd put Bergkamp ahead of Henry. Actually i'd probably put a few gooners ahead of him, not that i'm taking anything away from the man just imo there were better players who have worn the Arsenal shirt.

Would probably go for Charlton or Best ahead of Edwards too.

Wait for it...
My grandfather and Billy Dean were friends...
My uncle scored against Bert Trautmann.

And as for Charlton, or Best, better than Edwards?  That's a NO!


dairyflat2007-12-20 20:20:27

Not surprising at all,given some of the things that have been said about him it seems the football world lost a true star the day he died and he still hadnt developed to his full potential if you believe some of what is written about him.If you doubt it do google search its amazing some of the stuff thats there about him.

No arguments from me re Zola at Chelsea.  But some interesting other selections.  Is Kevin Hector the best Derby could muster? McGrath at Villa?  Interesting that Greaves came out ahead of Hoddle and Pat Jennings at Spurs.  Poor old Wigan.  Surely they must have a folk hero back in time better than that geezer!

Kevin Hector was a great player.... 268 league goals! The fans at Derby didn't call him The King for nothing. 

Not as far as I know.

Get this. This is when I knew...  I was 12 my school gave me a sports book as a prize. Me and friend were reading it when my grandmother looked over shoulder and said "that's Billy Dean".  Me and mate go "how do you know?". She says "well he's a mate of your grandfather's...". 


At 12 in Lower Hutt it didn't get much better...

some of those were ridiculous