10 great footballers who stayed at one club

Steven Gerrard makes his final appearance at Anfield this Saturday as he walks away from Liverpool after nearly 17 years in the first-team. It has been a rollercoaster ride of epic highs and lows, but it has all been played out in the famous all-red kit. This week, we look at ten other great one-club men.

SIR TOM FINNEY Preston North End:

THIS football great served in the Second World War and worked as a plumber to supplement his football income, but he must be remembered as one of England’s best ever players. War meant Finney didn’t make his professional debut until he was 24 in 1946, but that was probably a good thing for defenders, as Finney spent the next 14 years tormenting them. Sir Tom, as he would later become, took Preston North End to the FA Cup in 1954 where they lost to West Brom and twice to runners-up in the league, but he couldn’t claim the big prizes. However, he will always be synonymous with football in Preston and their Golden Era. And as Tommy Docherty said when Finney turned 90 in 2012, ‘To me, Lionel Messi is Tom Finney reborn.’

NAT LOFTHOUSE Bolton Wanderers:

WHILE Preston had Finney, Bolton Wanderers had their own hero in Nat Lofthouse, and their careers ran simultaneously. Lofthouse scored goals for fun, finishing with 285 in 503 games for Bolton, and he was even more deadly for England, scoring 30 in just 33 caps. He earned the nickname ‘the Lion of Vienna’ after scoring the winner in a match away to Austria, while he gave Bolton the greatest day in their history with both goals in the 1958 FA Cup final triumph over Manchester United. The second goal, when he barged goalkeeper Harry Gregg into the net, has gone down into folklore too, especially with the way ‘keepers are protected in the modern game. Nat would later be Bolton’s Manager, Chief Scout and President, while the club’s mascot ‘Lofty the Lion’ was affectionately named after him too.

BILLY WRIGHT – Wolves:

BILLY WRIGHT was a one-club hero, an England centurion and a football celebrity all rolled into one. Wright was a colossus for Wolves over a 20-year period as he captained them to three First Division titles in the 1950s in the club’s golden era and he led them to victory over Hungarian side Honved in 1954. That was sweet revenge for English football after the national team had suffered 6-3 and 7-1 thrashings at the hands of the mighty Magyars. Wright would become the first player to appear more than 100 times for his country and he ended with 105 caps, 90 of which were as captain, a record which is now shared with Bobby Moore. And away from the field, Billy married Joy Beverley, one of singing trio The Beverley Sisters as football and entertainment came together in a way that has become much more common down the years.

BILLY McNEILL Celtic:

IN 1967, Celtic shocked the football world when they beat the mighty Inter Milan to become the first British winners of the European Cup. What made the ‘Lisbon Lions’ even more special was that everyone was born within 30 miles of Celtic Park. These guys knew what it meant to wear the green and white hoops. No one epitomised this more than centre-half and captain Billy McNeill. Nicknamed ‘Caesar’, Billy had a glorious Celtic career spanning 18 years and he was captain for nine successive league titles between 1965 and 1974 as well as winning numerous domestic cups. With such an affinity for the club, it was no surprise he had two spells as manager, and he is now Celtic’s official ambassador

GEORGE COHEN Fulham:

NO footballer represents loyalty better than George Cohen. The full-back served no other club in his 13-year career than Fulham, even though they divided that time between the First and Second Divisions. Nor did they win a trophy or reach a cup final. However, it didn’t stop George from winning 37 England caps and a World Cup winners’ medal on that famous Wembley afternoon in 1966. He would have carried on longer but injury forced him to stop at 29. The way Fulham thought of him was demonstrated when Cohen put his World Cup medal up for sale due to financial difficulties, and they paid £80,000 for it and put it on display at Craven Cottage a fitting tribute for a wonderful one-club man.

EDDIE GRAY – Leeds:

THE great Leeds United side of the late sixties and early seventies was packed full of household names, and none more so than Eddie Gray. He came down from Scotland to sign for the club at 16 and he would go on to play for the team for 16 years. When they were relegated from the First Division in 1982, he was made Player Manager, a job he had for three years. After a decade away, he returned to be assistant to David O’Leary and then took the main job again in 2003, although he could not prevent relegation from the Premier League. But Gray remains rooted at Leeds as a club ambassador and the official co-commentator for their matches on local radio.

MATT LE TISSIER – Southampton:

GROWING up in the late eighties and early nineties, Mondays at school were spent trying to recreate Matt Le Tissier goals. No player had a finer collection of strikes than the Southampton star. And that is what made Le Tissier stand out. He wasn’t scoring these amazing goals for a top side, he was doing it against them as the unfashionable Saints stayed up season after season against the odds. Eventually, Le Tissier retired from football in 2001 when Southampton left the Dell. So how did he mark the occasion? With a left-foot half volley in the last minute to beat Arsenal 3-2 pure Matthew Le Tissier.

TONY ADAMS – Arsenal:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=EnFKRATIKUI

FOR most Gunners supporters there will only ever be one ‘Mr Arsenal’ Tony Adams. For nearly 20 years Adams was the rock at the heart of the Arsenal defence and he was a natural leader, being made captain at just 21. He would hold that position for 14 years until he retired and he was the cornerstone of two successful Arsenal eras one under George Graham and later the French Revolution sparked by the arrival of Arsene Wenger. Despite having problems off the pitch with addictions, Adams could always put those to one side on the field as he captained the Gunners to four league titles in 13 years, as well as winning 66 caps for England and captaining his country on home soil at Euro ’96.

RYAN GIGGS Manchester United:

IT is impossible to do a list of one-club legends and not include Ryan Giggs. To spend all 23 years of his professional career at Manchester United in the modern era is something incredible and he retired last summer as the all-time record appearance holder for United and in the Premier League. And it’s hard to imagine anyone ever breaking those records again. Giggs burst onto the scene as a flying winger, and finished as a skilful central midfielder while there were useful cameos in other areas of the pitch, too. The Welshman was involved in all 13 of the Reds’ Premier League titles under Sir Alex Ferguson, as well as two European Cups and countless domestic trophies, and he is now assistant to Louis van Gaal, in the hope that one day he will become United’s manager. But to sum up Giggs, just watch THAT goal against Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final replay in 1999.

FRANCESCO TOTTI – Roma:

ITALIAN football has thrown up some great one-club men down the years like Giuseppe Bergomi at Inter Milan and AC Milan duo Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini but there has been no one better than Francesco Totti. The Italian has spent his entire career at Roma and is now the record appearance maker and leading goalscorer. Of course, Roma are a big club in a fabulous city, but during his 22 years in the first-team, he has won just one Serie A title and two Coppa Italias. Despite that, Totti has resisted the lure of the three giants in Northern Italy and the big clubs across Europe to remain a Roma icon.