The Football League 100 Legends is a list of 100 great association football players who played part or all of their professional career in English Football League and Premier League football. [1] The players were selected in 1998 by a panel of journalists, including veteran reporter Bryon Butler, and the list was intended to reflect the League's history by including players from throughout the preceding 99 seasons. The Football League also announced plans for a gala dinner later in the season at which surviving legends would receive a specially commissioned award.
The list includes 34 players who began their playing careers before the Second World War, 37 who began their careers between the end of the war and 1980, and 29 whose professional careers began after that date. At the time of the list's publication, six of the legends were still active, all playing in the Premier League. The last of the players to play professionally was Ryan Giggs, who retired at the end of the 2013–14 season. All 100 of the legends played in The Football League with the exception of Dennis Bergkamp, who did not begin playing in England until after the Premier League replaced the Football League as the highest level of the English football league system in 1992.
At the time of its announcement, the Football League chief executive Richard Scudamore stated that the list was "almost impossible to better"; [1] however, contributors to the BBC News website thought differently, providing many alternative suggestions. [2] [lower-alpha 1]
Alan Shearer CBE DL is an English football pundit and retired football player and manager who played as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest players in Premier League history, he is the Premier League's record goalscorer. He was named Football Writers' Association Player of the Year in 1994 and won the PFA Player of the Year award in 1995. In 1996, he came third in both Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards. In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players. Shearer was one of the first two players inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021.
Ian Edward Wright is an English former professional footballer, and television and radio personality. He is currently a pundit for BBC Sport and ITV Sport.
Ian James Rush is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward. At club level Rush played for Liverpool from 1980–1987 and 1988–1996. He is the club's all-time leading goalscorer, having scored a total of 346 goals in all competitions at the club. At international level, Rush made 73 appearances for the Wales national football team and remained the record goalscorer for his country until 2018, with 28 goals between 1980 and 1996.
Peter Bolesław Schmeichel is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is best known for his most successful years at English club Manchester United, whom he captained to victory in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final to complete the Treble. He also won the UEFA Euro 1992 with his country Denmark.
Ryan Joseph Giggs is a Welsh football coach and former player. He was most recently the manager of the Wales national team. He is also a co-owner of Salford City. Giggs played his entire professional career for Manchester United and briefly served as the club's interim manager after the sacking of David Moyes in April 2014. Giggs is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation.
Paul Scholes is an English football coach, pundit, former player, and co-owner of Salford City. He spent his entire professional playing career with Manchester United, for whom he scored over 150 goals in more than 700 appearances between 1993 and 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders of his generation and one of the greatest Manchester United players of all time.
Stephen Roger Bruce is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. He is currently the manager of EFL Championship club West Bromwich Albion.
Alan James Ball was an English professional football player and manager. He was the youngest member of England's 1966 World Cup winning team and played as a midfielder for various clubs, scoring more than 180 league goals in a career spanning 22 years. His playing career also included a then national record £220,000 transfer from Everton to Arsenal at the end of 1971. After retiring as a player, he had a 15-year career as a manager which included spells in the top flight of English football with Portsmouth, Southampton, and Manchester City.
Emlyn Walter Hughes was an English footballer. He started his career in 1964 at Blackpool before moving to Liverpool in 1967. He made 665 appearances for Liverpool, and captained the side to four league titles and an FA Cup victory in the 1970s. Added to these domestic honours were two European Cups, including Liverpool's first in 1977; and two UEFA Cup titles. Hughes won the Football Writers' Player of the Year in 1977. Hughes completed a full set of English football domestic honours by winning the League Cup with Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1980. In addition to Wolves, he later played for Rotherham United, Hull City, Mansfield Town and Swansea City. Hughes earned 62 caps for the England national team, which he also captained.
Leslie Mark Hughes, OBE is a Welsh football coach and former player who is the manager of Bradford City.
Brian John McClair is a Scottish football coach and former professional footballer.
Mark Wright is a former England international football player and English football manager. As a player, he had spells with Liverpool, Derby County, Southampton and Oxford United during the 1980s and 1990s. He made 45 appearances for the English national football team, and was a member of the team which reached the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup in 1990. At club level, the central defender won the 1992 FA Cup final as captain of Liverpool.
The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum in Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and managers who have become significant figures in the history of the English game. New members are added each year, with an induction ceremony held in the autumn, formerly at varying locations, but exclusively at the Museum itself following its move to Manchester's Urbis building in 2012.
UNSW-Eastern Suburbs Bulldogs is an Australian rules football club competing in the Sydney AFL competition. They are based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, and affiliated with the University of New South Wales.
Mark Rosslyn Bowen is a Welsh football manager and former professional footballer.
Timothy Alexander Pickup was an Australian Rugby League footballer for the North Sydney Bears, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, New South Wales and Australian national side in the 1970s. He played Rugby Union for the Manly Rugby Club as a teenage prodigy for three seasons in the late 1960s. In retirement Pickup was involved in boxing at famed Newtown PCYC and was Jeff Harding's manager when he won the WBC World Light-Heavyweight title in 1989. He was the foundation CEO of the Adelaide Rams franchise of the Australian Super League in 1995. In 2000 he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for services to Australian sport. Pickup was named in the North Sydney Bears Team of the Century in 2006 and was a finalist for both the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 70th Anniversary team as well as Manly Rugby Union's Team of the Century.
John Alexander Beck is an English former footballer and manager. As a player, he made nearly 500 Football League appearances for five clubs between 1972 and 1989.
Terence David John Boyle is a Welsh former professional footballer. During his career, he made over 500 appearances in the Football League and made two appearances for the Wales national team in 1981. A centre-half, he was highly regarded by supporters for his strong tackling and uncompromising style.