A retrospective of the first fifty years of my life, picking fifty items that resonate with me. This one is about footballers. Ones that I can remember playing; not ones I’ve seen on film since, so although they were playing when I was alive, Pele and George Best miss out.
There are some biases at work here, obviously the list is a bit Tottenham heavy, but as a fan what would you expect that. Arsenal, Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid, France, Spain, Germany and Argentina don’t fare as well as they should, but this is my favourite players, and by no means a list of the best players during this period.
There is no particular order to the list
- Glenn Hoddle
- Osvaldo Ardiles
- Steve Perryman
- Gary Mabbutt
- Garth Crooks
- Steve Archibald
- Gareth Bale
- Luka Modric
- Ledley King
- Stan Bowles
- Paul Gascoigne
- Tony Currie
- Bob Latchford
- Frank Worthington
- Alan Hudson
- Harry Kane
- Liam Brady
- Gus Poyet
- Kevin Hector
- Ray Clemence
- Kevin Keegan
- Kevin Keelan
- Lee Bowyer
- Matt Le Tissier
- Dion Dublin
- Michel Platini
- Jurgen Klinsmann
- Marco Van Basten
- Ruud Gullit
- Paolo Maldini
- Zico
- Socrates
- Jose Luis Chilavert
- Jorge Campos
- Robbie Keane
- Alan Shearer
- Kenny Dalglish
- John Barnes
- Tim Cahill
- Gary Lineker
- Paul Merson
- Tony Galvin
- Roger Milla
- George Weah
- Gheorghe Hagi
- Gabriel Batistuta
- Steve Walsh
- Cyrille Regis
- Trevor Francis
- Paul Mariner
Rumours that Topps cards and Panini stickers have influenced this list may well be true.