One-Club Men

As Steven Gerrard calls time on his Liverpool FC footballing career, I would like to explore and suggest my list of greatest ever single-club footballers in Europe. This list certainly features a few who may not be considered as true greats of the game, but in respect to their clubs, these players will go down in folklore – and so in no particular order:

Gary Neville for Manchester United

Neville is the quintessential one-club player. His rise and progression through the Manchester United youth system and first-team squad was meteoric – from captaining the club’s youth team, Neville assumed the reins upon Roy Keane’s departure in 2005.

Over the course of his career, Gary Neville claimed twenty major honors with his beloved team, including eight Premier League titles, three FA Cup trophies, two Champions League winners’ medals, and a FIFA Club World Cup trophy.

Paulo Maldini for AC Milan

Paulo Maldini’s synonymous association with AC Milan began as early as 1978, when he was just ten years old. As with a number of the greats on this list, Maldini went on to captain both the youth team and senior first team later in an auspicious career.

He would also receive two nominations for the Ballon d’Or crown, one in 1994 and the other in 2003. While he failed to win either, he was the only defender to come so close to winning the title until Fabio Cannivaro claimed it in 2006.

Jamie Carragher for Liverpool FC

Born and raised as a fan of the Blue half of Merseyside, Jamie Carragher doesn’t fit the traditional mould for a one-club man, but his 17 years of loyal service to Liverpool FC casts doubt over any prior allegiances to any other football club.

He served as vice captain of The Reds for ten years, and is second only to Ian Callaghan (from the notorious Bill Shankly era) in terms of first team appearances. However, Carra does boast the Liverpool record for the highest number of European appearances for the club.

While his defensive record contains a few blips, Carragher is the epitome of a no-nonsense defender, and his absence from the current team is surely being felt given Liverpool’s defensive woes this season.

Paul Scholes for Manchester United

Current and triple Ballon d’Or holder, Christiano Ronaldo once said: “When we were in training, I used to do a lot of tricks which hardly any other player at the club could do. Once I was showing my skills to Scholesy and when I finished he took a ball and pointed towards a tree which was about 50m away from where we were standing and said 'I'll hit that in one shot. He clipped the ball and hit the tree in one go. He asked me to do the same, I tried about 10 times but got nowhere near. Scholesy just smiled and left."

His importance to Alex Ferguson’s multiple title-winning team/s could hardly be understated. His range of passing, presence of mind and deadly right foot helped guide United to 25 pieces of silverware, including two Champions League crowns, three FA Cup wins, and eleven Premier League trophies.