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Quiz Monkey |
| Sport |
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| Five Goals in a PL Game |
| World Cup Winners ... |
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For managers, administrators, etc., see Football: People, and Football: Internationals.
| 1994/5 | 3 March 1995 | Manchester United | 9–0 | Ipswich Town |
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Andy Cole |
| 1999/2000 | 19 September 1999 | Newcastle United | 8–0 | Sheffield Wednesday |
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Alan Shearer |
| 2009/10 | 22 November 1999 | Tottenham Hotspur | 9–1 | Wigan Athletic |
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Jermain Defoe |
| 2010/11 | 27 November 2010 | Manchester United | 7–1 | Blackburn Rovers |
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Dimitar Berbatov |
| 2015/16 | 3 October 2015 | Manchester City | 6–1 | Newcastle United |
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Sergio Aguero |
In the above table, the named player was (obviously) on the home side on each occasion.
| Country | As Player | As Manager | |||
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Brazil |
1958, 1962 | 1970 |
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Mário Zagallo |
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Germany |
1974 | 1990 |
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Franz Beckenbauer |
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France |
1998 | 2018 |
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Didier Deschamps |
The first of these three also won the World Cup as Assistant Manager in 1994. The other two were captains of the World Cup winning teams that they played in.
| Captained Arsenal to two League and two Premiership titles – 1989, 1991, 1998, 2002 |
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Tony Adams |
First player to represent England having been born after the 1966 World Cup win (eventually won 66 caps)
 | ||
| Last England player to score at the old Wembley Stadium (v. Ukraine, May 2000) | ||
| Played more games than anyone else (60) at the original Wembley stadium | ||
| Autobiography Addicted, 1998 | ||
| Scorer of the 20,000th Premier League goal (December 2011 – Aston Villa winger; transferred to Leicester City in 2014) |
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Marc Albrighton |
| Taker of the first saved penalty in an FA Cup Final (1988 – see Dave Beasant) |
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John Aldridge |
| Scorer of the 2,000th goal in World Cup finals, for Sweden v. England in 2006 |
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Marcus Allback |
| Son of a member of Tottenham Hotspur's double–winning team of 1960–1: played for seven different London clubs, between 1978 and 1995, and for Manchester City 1989–91; scored 49 goals for Tottenham in 1986–7 (33 in the League) |
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Clive Allen |
| First black player to win a full England cap (v. Czechoslovakia at Wembley, November 1978) |
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Viv Anderson |
| Holds the record for number of appearances for Blackpool (1954–71); made his 569th and last League appearance in their last game in the old First Division (and their last in the top flight until 2010) |
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Jimmy Armfield |
| First to score in finals of the FA Cup and League Cup (1968 and 1970 respectively) |
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Jeff Astle |
| 20–year–old Man of the Match in the 1968 European Cup Final; transferred to Luton Town in 1972 after breaking his leg |
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John Aston |
| Fiorentina captain and former Italy international (11 caps), suffered a fatal heart attack in his sleep in his hotel room on the day of a League match in March 2018 – causing all Serie A and B matches that day to be postponed |
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Davide Astori |
| Youngest member of England's 1966 World Cup winning team, but the second to die (after Bobby Moore) – in 2007, of a heart attack, aged 61, following a fire at his home |
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Alan Ball |
| Paid almost £10,000 in parking fines and had his Maserati impounded 27 times, while playing in the Premier League for Manchester City |
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Mario Balotelli |
| Scored England's first goals under both Glenn Hoddle and Sven–Goran Eriksson |
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Nick Barmby |
| Broke Ryan Giggs's record of 632 Premier League appearances, in September 2017 |
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Gareth Barry |
| Sentenced to 6 months imprisonment in 2008 for common assault and affray, followed by 4 months for assault and ABH
on his Manchester City team–mate Ousmane Dabo, in a training ground incident that occurred in 2007; sacked by Rangers in 2016 following
a training ground incident with team–mate Andy Halliday; banned for 18 months by the FA in 2017 over his betting history |
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Joey Barton |
| 42 England caps, 1991–9: injured his Achilles tendon when he was run over by his toddler on a tricycle |
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David Batty |
| Made the first FA Cup Final penalty save (1988 – see John Aldridge); ruled himself out for eight weeks in 1993 when he dropped a bottle of salad cream and tried to catch it on his foot, severing the tendon in his big toe |
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Dave Beasant |
| The only player to score for England in three separate World Cup Finals tournaments
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David Beckham |
| The only actual footballer to play in Monty Python's Philosophers' Football Match (in which Greece played Germany) |
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Franz Beckenbauer |
| Scored a controversial goal for Sunderland against Liverpool, Oct 2009, after his shot hit a beach ball (thrown onto the pitch by a Liverpool supporter) |
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Darren Bent |
| Winner of the Ballon d'Or in 2022 – ending 14 years of domination by Messi and Ronaldo (interrupted only by Modrić in 2018) |
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Karim Benzema |
| Scored Germany's golden goal against Czech Republic in the final of Euro 96 |
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Oliver Bierhof |
| Scored the first golden goal in a World Cup finals tournament (for France against Paraguay, in the Round of 16 in 1998); nicknamed 'Le President' while at Marseilles in recognition of his leadership skills, he played 48 Premier League games, and 24 in Europe, for Manchester United at the end of his career (2001–3) |
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Laurent Blanc |
| Captain of Tottenham Hotspur in their double–winning season |
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Danny Blanchflower |
| Member of England's World Cup squads of 1966 and 1970, as understudy to Gordon Banks: won 7 caps in total, one of which was in the 1970 World Cup quarter–final against West Germany, when Banks was ill; died in 2020, aged 78 |
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Peter Bonetti |
| Played 731 games for Chelsea (602 in the League), between 1960 and 1979 | ||
| Scorer of Senegal's goal in the 1–0 defeat of holders France, in the opening game of the 2002 World Cup; later played for Fulham and Portsmouth |
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Papa Bouba Diop |
| Sent off and banned for 8 games for fighting with Kevin Keegan in the 1974 FA Charity Shield match |
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Billy Bremner |
| Scorer of the first goal at the new Wembley Stadium (for the Geoff Thomas Charity Foundation XI against Wembley Sponsors Allstars, 17 March 2007) |
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Mark Bright |
| First English winner of the UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award (2019); first English winner of the Best FIFA Women's Player Award (2020), and the first defender to win |
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Lucy Bronze |
| Rejoined Manchester City in 2020, three years after leaving them to play for Olympique Lyonnais Féminin, where she won three UEFA Champions League winners' medals | ||
| Only player to lift both the FA Cup and Scottish FA Cup as winning captain |
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Martin Buchan |
| Italian goalkeeper: in 2014, became only the third footballer to appear in five World Cup finals tournaments |
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Gianluigi Buffon |
| The most expensive Scottish footballer ever – moving from Nottingham Forest to Red Bull Leipzig for £13 million, in August 2016, aged 19 (born in Kirkcaldy, Fife) |
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Oliver Burke |
| Born in 1958 in Singapore, where his father was serving with the Royal Navy; played 352 games for Ipswich Town and 167 for Rangers; won 77 caps for England; managed Coventry City, Motherwell, Inverness CT, Hibernian and the Philippines (among others) |
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Terry Butcher |
| Best remembered for England's 1989 World Cup qualifier against Sweden, most of which he spent covered in blood after sustaining a head injury | ||
| Spain goalkeeper, missed the 2002 World Cup after accidentally shattering a bottle of aftershave in his hotel sink. A piece of glass fell on his foot, severing a tendon in his big toe |
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Santiago Canizares |
| Scorer of the first hat–trick in the English Premier League (for Leeds United v. Tottenham Hotspur, 25
August 1992)
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Eric Cantona |
| First Players' Player of the Year not from Britain or Ireland (1993/4); first overseas player to lift the FA Cup as captain (Man U, 1996) | ||
| Found guilty of assault, banned for eight months, and sentenced to 120 hours of community service (originally 14 days in jail), in 1995, after attacking Crystal Palace fan Matthew Simmons (who allegedly told him to "f*** off back to France", and was found guilty of threatening language and behaviour) – Capital Gold commentator Jonathan Pearce said he "should be thrown out of the game" | ||
| Scored the only goal of the game, when Italy beat England at Wembley for the first time (1973) |
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Fabio Capello |
| Member of England squads at the 1958, 1962, 1966 and 1970 World Cups |
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Bobby Charlton |
| First British player to score twice in a European Cup Final (1968) | ||
| First referred to Old Trafford Stadium and Manchester United's fans as "a Theatre of Dreams" (1978) | ||
| First substitute to appear in an FA Cup final (WBA, 1968) |
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Dennis Clarke |
| Scored 5 goals for Middlesbrough, in their biggest ever win – a 9–0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion in 1958 |
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Brian Clough |
| First to score 4 goals in a Premiership game (5 in Man U 9 Ipswich 0, March 1995) |
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Andrew Cole |
| The only two people (brothers) to receive FA Cup winners' medals and play cricket for the championship–winning county, in the same year (Arsenal and Middlesex) |
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Compton (Denis and Leslie) |
| Played 60 (official, i.e. non–wartime) games for Arsenal as well as 78 Tests for England, 1936–50 |
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Denis Compton |
| Denis Compton's elder brother – also played for Arsenal and Middlesex, but represented England at football and not cricket |
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Leslie Compton |
| Resigned after 33 days as Manchester City manager, October 1996 |
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Steve Coppell |
| First to score in all four divisions of the Football League |
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Alan Cork |
| Winner of the Ballon d'Or (world player of the year) in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017 |
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Cristiano Ronaldo |
| First to score in five World Cup Finals tournaments – four in 2018, and one each in 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2022 – total 8 | ||
| Made the second FA Cup Final penalty save (1991 – see Gary Lineker) |
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Mark Crossley |
| Most headed goals in the Premier League (51 – 5 more than Shearer): said to be England's tallest ever player (22 goals in 42 games); went on to become a popular broadcaster, podcastor and author after retirement in 2019 |
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Peter Crouch |
| European Player of the Year 1971, 1973, 1974 |
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Johann Cruyff |
| First black player to represent England (Under–21s, April 1977); one of West Bromwich Albion's 'Three Degrees', along with Cyrille Regis and Brendan Batson; first Englishman to play for Real Madrid (1979); played against Liverpool in the 1981 European Cup Final; died in a car crash in Madrid in 1989, aged 33, while playing for Rayo Vallecano |
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Laurie Cunningham |
| First to score 100 goals for a Scottish club and an English club |
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Kenny Dalglish |
| First goal in the FA Premier League (for Sheff U. v. Man U, after 5 minutes) |
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Brian Deane |
| Set a post–war record by scoring in 10 consecutive games for Bournemouth, while on loan from West Ham, 2000–1 |
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Jermain Defoe |
| 764 games for Portsmouth, 1946–65 – a Football League record, until broken by John Trollope in 1980 |
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Jimmy Dickinson |
| Scored 61 goals in 62 games for Sheffield Wednesday, 1950–3, including 46 in 1951–2; career ended when he lost a leg to amputation aged 23. Later served in a variety of roles for Sheffield United, becoming chairman in 1999; died in 2008 aged 78 |
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Derek Dooley |
| Most goals in a Division 1 game (scored all seven in Arsenal 7 Villa 1, 1935) |
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Ted Drake |
| Managed Chelsea to their only Football League Championship (prior to the formation of the Premier League) in 1956 | ||
| Scored 169 goals in 173 League games for Sheffield United, 1926–34, including 41 in the 1930–1 season; in 1931–2 he scored in 12 consecutive games – still a record for the English top flight (see Jamie Vardy) |
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Jimmy Dunne |
| Manchester City striker, and captain of Bosnia & Herzegovina: scorer of the first Premier League goal to be confirmed by goal–line technology (January 2014) |
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Edin Džeko |
| Only player to score hat–tricks in all of the top four divisions in England, the FA Cup, the League Cup, and international football |
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Robert Earnshaw |
| First to score four goals in a Premier League match (Norwich City striker – 1993) |
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Efan Ekoku |
| Became the youngest Premier League player, at 16 years and 30 days, as an 88th–minute substitute for Fulham
v. Wolverhampton Wanderers on 4 May 2019; signed for Liverpool 63 days later
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Harvey Elliott |
| Former Tottenham player who suffered a cardiac arrest while playing for Denmark at Euro 2020 (in June 2021, while playing for Internazionale of Milan); Inter cancelled his contract in December 2021, and he signed for Brentford in January 2022 |
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Christian Eriksen |
| First winner of the Golden Boot (for Europe's highest scorer), 1968 |
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Eusebio |
| Dubbed 'the Birdman of Barlinnie' in the media, while serving a three–month prison sentence in 1995
for headbutting an opponent (while playing for Rangers); another sobriquet is a play on words based on his name and the phrase "drunk
& disorderly"
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Duncan Ferguson |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder: scored penalties in each of England's first two matches of the 1962 World Cup – the only England player to score in his first two World Cup finals matches, until Harry Kane did it in 2018 |
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Ron Flowers |
| Scored a record 13 goals for France in the 1958 World Cup finals tournament – a career record at the time, broken by Gerd Müller in 1974 |
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Just Fontaine |
| Goalkeeper who played 299 League games for Sheffield United, 1894–1905, and won one cap for England (1897): said to have been 6'4" tall, and rumoured to have weighed 24 stone by the end of his career |
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William 'Fatty' Foulke |
| The only survivor of the Munich air disaster, apart from Bobby Charlton, who played in the 1968 European Cup final (a centre half, he scored the winning goal in the semi–final) |
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Bill Foulkes |
| Scorer of the Premiership's fastest ever hat trick (4 minutes 33 seconds, for Liverpool v. Arsenal, 1994) |
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Robbie Fowler |
| First £1,000,000 transfer between British clubs – moving from Birmingham City to Nottingham Forest in
1979
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Trevor Francis |
| Spanish player with a record six European Cup winner's medals – the only one to play in all eight of
Real Madrid's six finals 1956–66 – captain in 1966; died in 2022, aged 88
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Francisco 'Paco' Gento |
| Former Arsenal Cup Final hero, cut off his finger with a lawn mower in 1980 (while playing for Southampton) |
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Charlie George |
| Born in Cardiff, the son of two Welsh parents; his father was rugby player Danny Wilson (Cardiff RUFC, Swinton RLFC), whose father was from Sierra Leone and who scored a record 5 drop goals in a match for Swinton v. Hunslet in 1983; scored his 163rd Premier League goal in the 90th minute of his 900th appearance for Manchester United, in February 2012 |
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Ryan Giggs |
| Played 227 League games for Arsenal, 1966–72; also managed the club from 1986 to 1995 |
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George Graham |
| PFA Footballer of the Year and Young Player of the Year in the same season |
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Andy Gray |
| Brothers who played for Leeds United in 1975 |
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Eddie & Frank Gray |
| Chelsea 1957–61, AC Milan 1961 (10 games, 9 goals), Tottenham 1961–70, West Ham 1970–1: record goalscorer in the English top flight (357); Spurs club record of 266 goals in 397 matches, in all competitions (not including the Charity Shield) overtaken by Harry Kane in 2022–3 | |
Jimmy Greaves |
| First England goalkeeper to be sent off (in a World Cup qualifier v, Ukraine, 2009) |
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Robert Green |
| Scorer of the last goal at the original Wembley Stadium (7 October 2000, World Cup qualifier: Germany 1 England 0 – Liverpool player) |
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Dietmar Hamann |
| Made 620 appearances for Liverpool, after signing from Partick Thistle (his only other club) in 1977, aged 22, for a fee of £110,000; retired in 1991 |
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Alan Hansen |
| Hard–tackling Chelsea defender – 655 League games, 1961–80: nicknamed 'Chopper' (see Norman Hunter, Tommy Smith) |
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Ron Harris |
| High–profile transfer from West Bromwich Albion to Don Revie's Leeds United, in 1971, fell through due to the discovery of a heart condition; went on to play 185 League games for Manchester City (1974–9); signed for Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest in 1979, but was sold on to Everton (at a loss) after only three games; also player–manager for Bolton Wanderers (1985–7) and Stockport County (1987–9) |
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Asa Hartford |
| The first footballer to earn £100 a week (following the abolition of the £20 maximum in 1961); described by Pele as "the best passer of the ball I've ever seen"; died in 2005 aged 71 |
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Johnny Haynes |
| Scored the fastest ever hat–trick in the Football League – 140 seconds – for Bournemouth v. Wrexham, in February 2004 (after coming on as an 84th minute substitute – Bournemouth were already 3–0 up) |
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James Hayter |
| Goalkeeper who kept a record 9 consecutive clean sheets for Stockport County, Jan–March 2007 (while on loan from Wolves) |
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Wayne Hennessey |
| Appeared in two competitive matches, on 11 November 1987: first for Wales against Czechoslovakia in Prague in a Euro 88 qualifier, then as a substitute for Bayern Munich in a cup replay against Borussia Mönchengladbach |
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Mark Hughes |
| Colombian goalkeeper famous for his scorpion kick (as demonstrated against England in 1995); branded "El Loco" in his own country, after giving away a goal against Cameroon that resulted in Colombia's elimination from the 1990 World Cup |
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Rene Higuita |
| Hard–tackling Leeds United defender – 540 League games, 1962–76: according to a banner seen at the 1972 FA Cup Final, he "bit your legs" (see Ron Harris, Tommy Smith) |
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Norman Hunter |
| Member of England's world cup winning team, who also played first–class cricket
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Geoff Hurst |
| First player ever to score four goals in a game against England (Sweden, 2012 – Steven Gerrard's 100th international) |
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Zlatan Ibrahimovich |
| England's first black captain (1993) |
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Paul Ince |
| London–born Turkish international, played 260 League games for Leicester City 1996–2004: had four Zs
in the ten–letter name by which he was commonly known
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Muzzy Izzet |
| Scorer of the first goal at Wembley Stadium – in the 1923 FA Cup final (after 2 minutes) |
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David Jack |
| Tottenham goalkeeper, scored in the 1967 FA Charity Shield game against Manchester United (see Alex Stepney); first player to appear in 1,000 Football League games (1983) |
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Pat Jennings |
| First black player to appear in an FA Cup Final (for Leeds United, v. Liverpool, 1965) |
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Albert Johanneson |
| Former Middlesbrough and Liverpool player, Australian (born South Africa), designed and created the prototype for the Adidas Predator boot |
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Craig Johnston |
| First catholic to play for Rangers (1989) |
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Maurice (Mo) Johnstone |
| The 'hard man' in Wimbledon's 'Crazy Gang': won 9 caps for Wales, although English–born; arguably best remembered for a photograph that captured him squeezing Paul Gascoigne's private parts; took up acting on retirement, and by 2020 had appeared in over 80 films |
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Vinnie Jones |
| Germany's goalkeeper in the 2002 World Cup Finals: won the Golden Ball as the best player (as well as Best Goalkeeper); won 86 caps in total, 1995–2006 |
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Oliver Kahn |
| Only player to have scored in Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow derbies |
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Andrei Kanchelskis |
| First English player to be sent off at Wembley (1974 FA Charity Shield – see Billy Bremner) |
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Kevin Keegan |
| English player on the losing side in the final, when Nottingham Forest won their second European Cup (1980) | ||
| US international goalkeeper, knocked out his front teeth while pulling his golf clubs out of the boot of his car |
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Kasey Keller |
| Goalkeeping brothers who played on opposite sides, Preston v. Bury, 1990 |
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Kelly (Alan and Gary) |
| Scorer of the 110th–minute winning goal, for England against Germany, in the final of the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 tournament |
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Chloe Kelly |
| First substitute to score in an FA Cup final (Arsenal, 1981) |
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Eddie Kelly |
| Scored in the European Cup Final on his nineteenth birthday (1968) |
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Brian Kidd |
| Pioneered the "diving" goal celebration on the opening day of the 1994–5 Premiership season, after scoring against Sheffield Wednesday on his Tottenham debut – after gaining a reputation for diving in the World Cup that summer (reportedly it was Teddy Sheringham's idea) |
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Jurgen Klinsmann |
| Footballer of the Year, 1995 – only the second winner from outside the British Isles, and the second German (after Bert Trautmann) | ||
| Scored 71 goals for Germany, in 137 matches 2001–14, including 16 in World Cup Finals tournaments (5 in 2002, 5 in 2006, 4 in 2010, 2 in 2014) – beating Ronaldo's record; won the Golden Boot as top scorer in 2006 |
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Miroslav Klose |
| First substitute to score in the Football League (for Barrow against Wrexham, in Division 4 – on 21 August 1965, the first day that substitutes were allowed) |
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Bobby Knox |
| Scorer of the only goal (a late winner) in Sam Allardyce's only game as England manager (away to Slovakia, on 4 September 2016); it was his first international goal |
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Adam Lallana |
| First £100,000 signing by a British club (on joining Manchester United from Torino, 1962); scored six goals in an abandoned FA Cup tie for Man City v. Luton, 1961; also scored in the replay, when City lost 1–3 |
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Denis Law |
| The first Scot to win European Footballer of the Year – and the only one, up to and including 2019 (1964) | ||
| Arsenal goalkeeper (2003–8): kept a record ten consecutive clean sheets in the Champions League, but in 2006 he became the first player to be sent off in the final of the European Cup or Champions League (for a professional foul on Samuel Eto'o of Barcelona) |
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Jens Lehmann |
| First British player to be top scorer in a World Cup finals tournament
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Gary Lineker |
| Taker of the second saved penalty in an FA Cup Final (see Mark Crossley) | ||
| Leeds United, 1962–79 and 1983–5 – 618 + 80 appearances, 219 + 22 goals; their youngest ever player; at the time of his death in 2021 (aged 74) he was the club's leading goalscorer of all time; an attacking midfielder, his powerful shot earned him the nicknames Hotshot and Thunderboots; 21 caps for Scotland, 1969–76 |
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Peter Lorimer |
| Scored all five goals for England v. Cyprus in 1975 |
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Malcolm Macdonald |
| Senegalese player: scored the fastest ever Premier League hat–trick (2 minutes 56 seconds) for Southampton v. Aston Villa, May 2015; joined Liverpool in June 2016 |
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Sadio Mané |
| Former Everton defender: scored Italy's equaliser in the 2006 World Cup final, and was later sensationally head–butted by Zinedine Zidane |
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Marco Materazzi |
| Germany's most–capped player (83 for West Germany, 67 for Germany – total 150, 1980–2000); substituted 2 minutes from the end of the 1999 Champions' League final (with Munich winning) |
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Lothar Matthäus |
| First European Footballer of the Year, 1956; first Football Writers' Association (English) Player of the Year, 1947–8; first professional footballer to be knighted |
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Stanley Matthews |
| Second teenager, after Pelé, to score in a World Cup Final (2018); second player (after Geoff Hurst) to score a hat–trick in a World Cup Final (2022) |
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Kylian Mbappé mbappe |
| 163 League appearances for Manchester United, 1982–9; 252 for Aston Villa, 1989–96; 83 caps for Republic of Ireland, 1985–97; PFA Player of the Year in the first ever Premiership season (1992–3) |
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Paul McGrath |
| Captain of Celtic's European Cup–winning team of 1967, and as such the first British player to lift the trophy; died in 2019, aged 79 |
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Billy McNeill |
| Seven–time winner of the Ballon d'Or, 2009–21 – 2009–12, 2015, 2019 and 2021; runner–up to Cristiano Ronaldo in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017 (Modric won in 2018; not awarded in 2020!) |
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Lionel Messi |
| Newcastle United, 1943–57: 353 League appearances, 177 goals; also scored 10 goals in 13 appearances for England; nicknamed "Wor Jackie" by the Geordie fans; four of his cousins also played professional football, and their sister was the mother of Jack and Bobby Charlton |
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Jackie Milburn |
| Oldest scorer in a World Cup finals tournament (Cameroon, 1994 – allegedly aged 42) |
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Roger Milla |
| Played a record 45 games for England Under–21s, 2004–9, scoring 9 goals; full debut 2009 |
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James Milner |
| Last to gain full England caps at both football (Arsenal 1951–5, 1 cap 1951) and cricket (Gloucestershire 1948–74, 6 caps 1958–9); died in 2007, aged 79 |
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Arthur Milton |
| Winner of the Ballon d'Or in 2018 – the only interruption to 14 years of domination by Messi and Ronaldo (2008–21) |
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Luka Modrić |
| Argentinian defender: first player to be sent off in a FIFA World Cup Final (1990, for a tackle on Jürgen Klinsmann) |
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Pedro Monzón monzon |
| Arrested in Colombia, in the build–up to the 1970 World Cup finals tournament, accused of stealing a bracelet from the hotel jewellery shop |
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Bobby Moore |
| First player sent off in an FA Cup Final (for Man U, v Everton, 1985) |
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Kevin Moran |
| Manchester United player and Munich survivor, died in 2012 aged 73 |
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Kenny Morgans |
| Arsenal and Northern Ireland midfielder, broke his collarbone after falling off the shoulders of Tony Adams while celebrating the 1993 League Cup final win against Sheffield Wednesday |
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Steve Morrow |
| Scorer of the only FA Cup Final hat–trick of the 20th century (Blackpool, 1953) |
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Stanley Mortensen |
| Scored 68 goals in 62 games for Germany, 1966–74, including 14 in World Cup finals tournaments (4 in 1970, 10 in 1974) – a record at the time, beating Just Fontaine's 13 (all in 1958) and beaten by Ronaldo in 2006 |
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Gerd Müller |
| German player: winner of the Best Young Player award at the 2006 World Cup finals (Germany), and Golden Boot as the top goalscorer in 2010 (South Africa) |
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Thomas Müller |
| First to be sent off while playing for England (v Yugoslavia, in the 1968 Euro semi–final); missed the 1964 tour of South America after injuring his back while brushing his teeth |
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Alan Mullery |
| Former Spurs player, beat David Seaman from near the half way line with the last kick of extra time to win the 1995 Cup Winners' Cup final for Real Zaragosa |
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Nayim |
| The only player to feature in all four of Liverpool's European Cup triumphs (1977, 1978, 1981 and 1984)
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Phil Neal |
| Youngest ever player in the Football League (Barnsley, September 2008 – 15 yrs 45 days) |
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Reuben Noble–Lazarus |
| FA Cup winners' medals in 1979 and 1993 |
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David O'Leary |
| Scored a hat–trick in England's 5–1 victory over Germany in 2002 |
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Michael Owen |
| Czech midfielder (59 caps, 1973–82): gave his name to a penalty that is chipped high into the middle of the goal, so that the goalkeeper cannot save it if he dives either way – after he did it to West Germany's Sepp Maier in the shoot–out of the 1976 European Championships final |
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Antonin Panenka |
| Scorer of the first competitive goal at the new Wembley Stadium, fastest ever goal at Wembley (28 seconds), first hat–trick at the new Wembley Stadium (all in the same match! – for Italy U–21 v. England, 24 March 2007) |
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Giampaolo Pazzini |
| First substitute in the Football League (Charlton Athletic, 21 August 1965) |
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Keith Peacock |
| Played in three World Cup winning teams (1958, 1962, 1970) |
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Pelé |
| Member of Italy's 2006 World Cup winning team, born in Ashton–under–Lyne |
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Simone Perotta |
| Scorer of England's second goal in the 1966 World Cup final (in the 78th minute); also the only player, from either side, to be booked |
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Martin Peters |
| The only English player to win the Golden Shoe (often referred to as the Golden Boot) as Europe's top scorer – with 30 goals for Sunderland in 1999–2000 |
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Kevin Phillips |
| French player, born 1955: played for Nancy 1972–9 (213 games, 127 goals), Saint–Étienne 1979–82 (145 / 82), Juventus 1982–7 (222 / 103); first to be European Player of the Year in three consecutive years (1983–5); scored the penalty by which Juventus beat Liverpool in the 1985 European Cup final, following the Heysel Stadium disaster |
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Michel Platini |
| Scorer of Sunderland's winning goal, in the 1973 FA Cup Final against Leeds |
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Ian Porterfield |
| Youngest ever FA Cup finalist, before Curtis Weston (Millwall, 2004) – Clapham Rovers, 1897 (17 years 245 days); also the youngest ever England international (17 years 252 days), before Wayne Rooney (2003 – 17 years 111 days). (Strangely, and in contrast to Rooney, this was his only cap.) |
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James Prinsep |
| The only player to score for two different countries in FIFA World Cup finals tournaments (Yugoslavia 1990, Croatia 1998 and 2002) |
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Robert Prosinecki |
| Scored a world record 84 goals in 89 games for Hungary, 1945–56 (a record broken in 2003 by Ali Daei of Iran); FIFA's annual award for the most aesthetically significant, or "most beautiful" goal of the year (inaugurated in 2009) was named in his honour |
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Ferenc Puskás puskas |
| Played 201 League games for Leeds United, after joining from Kaizer Chiefs of Soweto in 1994; retired in 2005 |
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Lucas Radebe |
| Winner of the Golden Boot (leading goalscorer) and Golden Ball (best player) at the 2019 Women's World Cup; scored the first of the two goals by which the USA beat the Netherlands in the final (a penalty) |
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Megan Rapinoe |
| Argentine captain sent off against England, in the 1966 World Cup quarter–final |
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Antonio Rattin |
| Born in French Guiana in 1958, and grew up in west London: the third black player to win a full England cap (after Viv Anderson and Laurie Cunningham); played 614 League games, mainly for West Bromwich Abion (1977–84) and Coventry City (1984–91), scoring 158 goals; died of a heart attack in 2018, aged 59 |
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Cyrille Regis |
| 328 games for Ajax, 1980–7 and 1993–5; 201 games for AC Milan, 1988–93; 73 caps for the Netherlands; managed Barcelona, 2003–8 (succeeded by Pep Guardiola); nicknamed Llama by the German press after a spitting incident involving Rudi Voller in the 1990 World Cup |
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Frank Rijkaard |
| Brazil playmaker, fined for clutching his face and falling to the ground after being hit in the thigh by a ball kicked by a Turkey player, in the 2002 World Cup |
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Rivaldo |
| First non–European winner of the Ballon d'Or (European Player of the Year), in 1997 – the year it was opened to non–European players (he was playing for Internazionale) |
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Ronaldo |
| Won Best Player in the 1998 World Cup finals (despite a below–par performance in the final after he suffered a convulsive fit hours before the match) and the Golden Boot as top scorer in 2002 | ||
| Scored 15 goals for Brazil in World Cup finals tournaments (4 in 1998, 8 in 2002, 3 in 2006) – beating Gerd Müller's record; record broken by Klose in 2014 | ||
| Scotland's goalkeeper in the 1974 and 1978 World Cup finals tournaments |
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Alan Rough |
| Most goals in a Football League career (434) |
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Arthur Rowley |
| Scored 80 goals in 113 League games for Motherwell, and 95 in 336 for Liverpool – all between 1956 and 1971 |
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Ian St. John |
| Donated his ponytail to the National Football Museum in 2014 |
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Robbie Savage |
| The second father and son to play in Premiership–winning teams (after Ian Wright and Shaun Wright–Phillips) |
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Peter and Kasper Schmeichel |
| Former Arsenal and England player (140 caps, 2004–17): subsequent media career includes Football Focus, BBC Olympic coverage in 2021, and the daytime quiz show The Tournament |
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Alex Scott |
| Scored a 155–second hat trick in Newcastle's 13–0 defeat of Newport, on his debut; said afterwards "Newport were lucky to get nil". Died 2000 |
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Len Shackleton |
| Scored a hat–trick on his Premiership debut – for Southampton, in a 4–2 win against Arsenal at The Dell in 1988, aged 17 yrs 240 days – becoming the youngest ever player to score a hat–trick in the English top flight; first to score 200 goals in the FA Premier League; retired in 2006, having scored 260 Premiership goals (including 58 penalties) – still a record in 2020 |
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Alan Shearer |
| Leading goal scorer in the inaugural season of the Premier League
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Teddy Sheringham |
| The Premier League's oldest outfield player, and oldest goal scorer (40 in April 2006) | ||
| Scored Man U's 89th–minute equaliser in the 1999 Champions' League final | ||
| Captain of Blackburn Rovers in their Premiership–winning season, 1994–5 |
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Tim Sherwood |
| England's (and Britain's) most capped player (125); first to make 1,000 appearances in the Football League (1966–96); beaten by Diego Maradona's infamous "hand of God" goal in the 1986 World Cup finals tournament |
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Peter Shilton |
| Got David Beckham sent off in the 1998 World Cup, by provoking him into kicking him in retaliation (Argentine) |
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Diego Simeone |
| Croatian player shown three yellow cards by Graham Poll (2006 World Cup) |
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Josip Simunic |
| Former UK Under–14 BMX champion; played for Leeds and Manchester United |
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Alan Smith |
| Hard–tackling Liverpool defender – 467 League games, 1962–78: according to Bill Shankly, he "wasn't born – he was quarried" (see Ron Harris, Norman Hunter) |
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Tommy Smith |
| Scored Man U's last minute winner in the 1999 Champions' League final |
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Ole–Gunnar Solskjaer |
| Played 578 top flight games for Everton, 1981–98; his record of 92 caps for Wales was broken in 2018 by full–back Chris Gunter (of Reading – previously Nottingham Forest) |
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Neville Southall |
| Manchester Utd goalkeeper in the 1967 FA Charity Shield game (see Pat Jennings); dislocated his jaw while shouting at his defenders, during a match against Birmingham City in 1975 |
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Alex Stepney |
| Winning goal for Southampton v Man U, F.A. Cup Final 1976 |
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Bobby Stokes |
| Bit Otman Bakal in 2010, Branislav Ivanovic in 2013, and Giorgio Chiellini in 2014 |
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Luis Suarez |
| Wimbledon goalkeeper beaten from the half way line by David Beckham on the opening day of the 1996–7 Premier League season |
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Neil Sullivan |
| Father and son who both played for Manchester City, 1965–75 and 1994–7 – both signed from Swindon Town |
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Mike and Nicky Summerbee |
| First goalkeeper since Alexander Morten in 1873 to captain England (v. Italy in Turin, 1948); played for Manchester City; killed in the Munich air crash (reported on United's game against Red Star Belgrade for the News of the World) |
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Frank Swift |
| Scored a famous last–minute goal at Anfield in the final game of the 1988–9 season, giving Arsenal the League title instead of Liverpool; went on to play over 100 League games for Liverpool, and scored for them in the FA Cup final |
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Michael Thomas |
| Former prisoner of war (turned down an offer of repatriation after the war): first Footballer of the Year not from Britain or Ireland, 1956 |
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Bert Trautmann |
| Most appearances for one club (770 for Swindon Town, 1960–80) – breaking Jimmy Dickinson's record |
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John Trollope |
| Three–time winner of the Ballon d'Or (European player of the year) 1988, 1989 and 1992; scored a hat–trick against England in Euro '88 (the only one ever scored against Peter Shilton in an international) |
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Marco van Basten |
| Scored (for Manchester United) in 10 consecutive Premier League games, in 2003 (8 in the 2002–3 season, 2 in 2003–4) – a record, until beaten by Jamie Vardy in 2015 |
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Ruud van Nistelrooy |
| Broke van Nistelrooy's record by scoring (for Leicester City) in 11 consecutive Premier League games, in 2015 (2015–16 season) – the 11th against Manchester United; see Jimmy Dunne |
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Jamie Vardy |
| Aston Villa striker, missed several games after drilling through his toenail with a home power drill in an effort to relieve the pressure on a swollen toe |
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Darius Vassell |
| First to represent England at all international levels (schoolboy, youth, amateur, U–23, full; only 2 full caps, 1964) |
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Terry Venables |
| 'Busby Babe' who scored 178 goals in 294 games for Manchester United, and survived the Munich air disaster, but was surprisingly sold to Stoke City for £25,000 in 1962, aged 28; died of cancer in 1999, aged 65 |
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Dennis Viollet |
| England's youngest international (2006, in a 3–1 friendly victory over Hungary): aged 17 years 75 days – beating Wayne Rooney's record, set in February 2003, by 36 days |
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Theo Walcott |
| England playmaker, player of the match in the Euro 2022 final: moved from Manchester City to Barcelona in Summer 2022, for a world record fee of £400,000 |
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Keira Walsh |
| FIFA World Player of the Year in 1995 – the only African player (up to and including 2017) to
receive this title; elected President of Liberia (in a second round of voting) on 26 December 2017, taking office on 22 January 2018
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George Weah |
| Youngest player to take part in a World Cup finals tournament (with Northern Ireland in 1982), youngest to score in a League Cup final, and youngest to score in an FA Cup final (both 1983); retired aged 26 after persistent knee problems |
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Norman Whiteside |
| First England captain to be sent off while playing for England |
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Ray Wilkins |
| Captain of the England team that won UEFA Women's Euro 2022; missed the 2023 World Cup due to an ACL injury |
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Leah Williamson |
| Injury–prone England international (8 caps, 1999–2008): signed for Real Madrid in August 2004, made his debut in September 2005; scored an own goal and was sent off for a second yellow card |
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Jonathan Woodgate |
| Played 846 League games and scored 267 goals (1966–92), for 24 different League, non–League and overseas clubs including Huddersfield Town 1966–72, Leicester City 1972–7, and Bolton Wanderers 1977–9; won eight caps for England, all in 1974; known for his playboy lifestyle |
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Frank Worthington |
| Diminutive (5' 4") former Aston Villa full–back, bought a Rover 416 after straining his knee when stretching to reach the accelerator in his new Ferrari |
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Alan Wright |
| England captain v Hungary 1953; first to win 100 caps; set a world record by not missing an international for seven years |
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Billy Wright |
| Soviet Union goalkeeper in four world cups, 1958–70 – widely regarded as the best goalkeeper of all time; the only goalkeeper to win the award now known as the Ballon d'Or (1963) |
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Lev Yashin |
| Last footballer ever to represent England, alphabetically by surname: 2 caps, August 2010 and November 2011 |
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Bobby Zamora |
| Legendary Italian goalkeeper (112 caps, 1968–83): the oldest player ever to receive a World Cup winner's medal (also picked up the trophy as captain) – 1982, aged 40 |
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Dino Zoff |
© Haydn Thompson 2017–23