Top 10 English Soccer Players

Top 10 English Soccer Players

England national team World Cup 2018 – By Антон Зайцев / CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL

England has consistently been known as a footballing powerhouse.

Many of the greats come from this tiny country, where soccer (ahem, ‘football’) rules the culture. Kids grow up in families where the club ties are so strong that tensions run high if there are differing club supporters in the same household. You grow up supporting your club, and you never falter – no matter what. Sorry, Arsenal fans.

With club loyalties at an all-time high, there are differing opinions on who really was the ‘greatest’ to hail from this island. Despite some various thoughts on the best players, we have come up with the top 10 English soccer players, with no bias as to the best Premier League club (although Liverpool is pretty great, just saying). 

1) Ashley Cole

AshleyColeFinale – By rayand / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

Cole was born on December 20th, 1980, and began his career with his local club, Arsenal. He made his debut at age 18 and signed his first professional contract in 2000. He established himself as a starter in the first team during the fall of the 2000-2001 season, where he would play until 2006.

After controversies with the head coach over his contract, and a rumored move to another club, he underwent a tough last year with his boyhood club. He finally made the transfer to Chelsea after 228 appearances, where he spent the majority of his career and gained the most notoriety. He cemented himself as a key player at the club, and remained here until 2014, winning numerous FA cups, Chelsea’s Player’s Player of the Year, and the European Cup. 

Cole is known for his aggressive playing style, his ability to get forwards and back very quickly, and his knowledge of the game. He is widely regarded as one of the best defenders and best left-backs of his generation. 

2) Sir Bobby Charlton

Bobby Charlton – By Unknown author / Public domain

Charlton was born on October 11th, 1937, and began his career with Manchester United – where he would remain for much of his playing career. After he signed in 1956, he earned a regular place in the lineup. He survived a disaster, where he lived through the Munich air disaster of 1958, being saved by Manchester United goalkeeper Harry Gregg. Seven of Charlton’s teammates sadly perished in this accident, and he was now looked upon to help rebuild the team.

He helped United win the First Division in 1965 and then helped them win again in 1967. He became United’s second all-time leading scorer with 249 goals during his 758 appearances with the club. 

During his international career, he was named on the England team for four World Cups, ranging from 1958-1970. He was the nation’s most capped player when he retired from the national team in 1970, having represented his country 106 times. 

3) David Beckham

David Beckham at Al Saad – By David_Beckham_at_Al_Saad.JPG: Photo by Waqar A Majidderivative work: Simo82 / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

Beckham was born on May 2nd, 1975, and began his professional career with Manchester United, where he would debut at just 17 years old. With his teenage club, he won the Premier League a whopping six times, the UEFA Champions League once, and the FA Cup twice. 

After a deteriorating relationship with Alex Ferguson, the manager, he moved to Real Madrid, where he played four seasons and won the La Liga championship. In 2007, he moved to L.A. Galaxy in the MLS, where he signed a five-year contract. 

During his playing career, he was the first British footballer to play in 100 UEFA Champions League games. He made his debut for the England national team in 1996 at the age of 21, and was captain of the team for six years, earning 58 caps during his time. 

Beckham was widely known for his long-range of passing, ability to deliver pinpoint-accurate crosses into the box, and his incredible bending free-kick technique. He is hailed as one of the most successful and best set-piece takers of all time. He was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the greatest living players.

4) Harry Kane

Harry Kane – By enviro warrior from england / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)

Kane was born on July 28th, 1993, and began his career with Arsenal. He then was released and moved to Ridgeway, Watford, and then Tottenham. During his first full season at the club, Kane scored 31 goals during all competitions, finishing the league as a second-highest goal scorer. After two more years, he finished as the league’s top goalscorer at the age of 23, helping the club to a UEFA Champions League qualification. 

Kane has won the Premier League Player of the Month six times and has been awarded Tottenham’s third-highest all-time goal scorer in all competitions. He has scored 32 goals in just 45 games for the English national team, having made his senior debut at age 21 – and scoring in that game. 

5) Michael Owen

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Owen was born on December 14th, 1979, and began his senior career at Liverpool in 1996. He debuted in May of the following year and scored on his debut. During his first season in the PremierLeague, he scored a staggering 18 goals, and repeated that top form for the next 7 years, from 1997-2004. In 2001, he won the Ballon d’Or after he led Liverpool to win the treble. 

During his career at Liverpool, he scored 118 goals in just 216 appearances in the Premier League, and 158 goals in 297 appearances overall. Owen is widely regarded as one of the greats to play for Liverpool and was named by Pelé as one of the world’s greatest living players in 2004. 

Owen is one of only 9 players to have scored more than 150 goals in the Premier League. He also was the youngest player to have reached 100 goals in the league, showing his incredible goal-scoring ability and incredible talent.

6) Frank Lampard

Frank Lampard – By Frank_Lampard.jpg: Wonker from London, United Kingdomderivative work: Lando09 / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

Lampard was born on June 20th, 1978, and began his career in 1995 at West Ham United. He signed for Chelsea in 2001 for almost $12 million, where he stayed with the team for 13 years. He became Chelsea’s all-time leading goal scorer, scoring 211 goals in competitions. 

During his time in Chelsea, he won Premier League titles, a UEFA Champions League title, FA Cups, a UEFA Europa League title, and Football League cups. He is one of only 9 players to have scored more than 150 goals in the Premier League, and he is the fourth-highest in the league in terms of assists, coming in at 102. 

During his international career, he played 106 matches for the English team. He was a squad member at three World Cups and the 2004 UEFA Euros, where he scored 29 goals in his time on the national team. 

7) Steven Gerrard 

Steven Gerrard in 2014 – By Biser Todorov / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

Gerrard was born on May 30th, 1980, and began his professional career for Liverpool in 1998. After numerous seasons of winning various cups, he was named captain in 2003, and continued to lead his club to titles, winning the fifth European title and being named Man of the Match. 

Gerrard has been regarded as the greatest player ever to play for Liverpool, having won two FA Cups, three League Cups, Champions League, UEFA Cup, and UEFA Super Cup during his almost 20-year-stint at Liverpool. After his career at Liverpool, he spent almost two seasons in the MLS playing for the LA Galaxy before retiring in 2016. 

Gerrard is the fourth-most capped player in the history of the English national team, accumulating 114 caps and scoring 21 goals in the process. He made his debut in 2000 and continued to play until the end of 2014. 

8) Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney Euro 2012 vs italy – By Football.ua / CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL

Rooney was born on October 24th, 1985, and began his career with the Everton youth team at 9 years old. He made his professional debut at just 16 years old. He moved to Manchester United for almost $26 million in 2004, where he would go on to win 16 trophies. 

Rooney scored 253 goals for United during all matches, making him their top leading scorer of all time. His 183 goals were the most any player has scored for one club in the Premier League. In addition to his goal-scoring abilities, he has 103 assists, making him the third-highest in terms of ranking. 

In the national team, he made his international debut at just 17 years old in 2003. He has featured during three World Cups and has won England Player of the Year four times. 

9) Trent Alexander-Arnold

Trent Alexander Arnold – By joshjdss / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

Some might question the next two choices for this list, but we thought it to be important to recognize the new wave of players making a name for themselves in the Premier League. At just 21 years old, Alexander-Arnold has cemented himself as a key player for Liverpool, starting and playing 90 minutes at every game at right-back. 

Born in Liverpool on October 7th, 1998, he joined the academy in 2004 and worked his way up through the youth system. He made his senior debut at just 18 years old in 2016 and has since appeared over 100 times. He won the young player of the season award two years in a row and was the youngest-ever player to start in two back-to-back Champions League finals. 

10) Phil Foden

Phil Foden – By Brad Tutterow / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

Foden was born on May 28th, 2000, and began his career with the Manchester City Academy at the age of 8. He grew up moving through the levels in the academy and representing his country in the under-age teams. In 2017, he won the FIFA U-17 World Cup Golden Ball award after the successful World Cup campaign. During the same year, he debuted for the pro City team and was named Young Sports Personality of the Year.

Now, he has made over 60 appearances for Manchester City, becoming the youngest recipient of a Premier winner’s medal. He was the club’s youngest-ever goalscorer in the Champions League and is the youngest English player to start and score in the knockout stages. 

England has always been a cultural hub for soccer – and with the talent of these players, you can see why.

England team Russia 2018 – By Кирилл Венедиктов / CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL

England invests a lot in their development system, training players from a young age to work their way up through the academy levels with the hopes of debuting for the senior team. Due to the investment they have in their players, you can see the talent and work ethic that they instill in the young phenoms, creating the legends that we know today.