Top 10 Old Era Players

jonjoward1998
Jul 2, 2025
5 min read

Whenever I do these top 10's, pretty much all of them are about the modern era and especially the Premier League related ones I do.

Since doing these international top 10's, the lists I've done have included a few players or teams from the old era and this one is all about the old era.

When I say old era, I mean pre-1992 which is when a lot of people think football first existed as it was the year the Premier League was established.

To those people who think that, football did actually exist before 1992 and the people who were alive before then were lucky enough to watch many incredible players.

A lot of great players didn't quite make it onto my list including Kenny Dalglish, Bobby Charlton, Eusebio, Gary Lineker, and even Paolo Rossi.

Now here is the list:

Franz Beckenbauer

Pele

Diego Maradona

Johan Cruyff

Marco Van Basten

Paul Gascoigne

Lothar Matthaus

Michel Platini

George Best

Gerd Muller

George Best

A lot of Man United fans will probably be fuming when they see Best at 10 because he's one of their greatest ever players.

I've got him in at 10th because he never played in an international tournament for Northern Ireland. The reason for this because none of the players he played with for his country were on the same level as him.

He was a joy to watch when he was playing in the 60's and 70's as he was quick, skilful, agile and could score goals.

He was quite possibly the greatest player of his generation because of what he won at Man United and the goals he scored.

Paul Gascoigne

Gazza was around during the modern era as he played in the Premier League and played for England at Euro 96, where he scored that incredible goal against Scotland.

But I see him more as a player from the old era as that I when I think he had the best days of his career.

He got his big move to Lazio on the eve of the modern era after recovering from an ACL injury he picked up in the 1991 FA Cup final during that challenge on Nottingham Forest's Gary Charles.

He was part of the England squad that reached the World Cup semi finals in 1990 where lit up the show with his brilliant performances. But his tournament ended with him in tears after he was booked in the semi finals against Germany which meant that he would've been suspended for the final had England got there.

Marco Van Basten

Van Basten is one of the finest goal scorers the game has ever seen as he could score a variety of goals and and was always in the right place at the right time to score them.

He scored a number of fine goals throughout his career, including that volley he scored against the Soviet Union in the final of Euro 88.

He scored 5 goals at that tournament as Holland went all the way including that goal in the final and his hat trick against England.

His career was unfortunately cut short because of a recurring ankle injury which forced him to miss two seasons before he officially retired at the age just 28.

Gerd Muller

Muller was an exceptional goal scorer on his day and maybe the greatest of his generation as he was agile, had that quick burst of pace and was always in the right place at the right time to put the ball in the net.

He won everything on offer for both club and country including the World Cup in 1974 and Euros in 1972, the latter of which he won the golden boot by scoring 4 goals.

He also won a World Cup golden boot in 1970 with 10 goals and spent a number of years as the record World Cup goal scorer with 14 goals. But he's now 3rd in all time charts after being overtaken by Ronaldo and Miroslav Klose.

Michel Platini

Platini still holds the record for the most goals at a single Euros when he netted 9 times in 1984 as France went all the way on home soil.

Those goals took him to the top of the all-time Euros goal charts and he stayed there for a long time until he was knocked off top spot by Cristiano Ronaldo.

He was an all-round brilliant attacking player as he could score goals, create chances, and beat players with his pace and agility.

He was without a doubt one of the finest players of his generation because of the goals he scored and things he could do with the ball.

Lothar Matthaus

Matthaus was the last defensive midfielder to win the Ballon D'or until Rodri won the award last year, when he won it back in 1990.

He captained West Germany to World Cup glory that year and was an integral part of that side as well through his ability to snuff out danger and carry the ball up the pitch.

He's probably the greatest defensive midfielder of all time because of his ability to both carry the ball up the pitch and snuff out danger. He was someone who would run games in the midfield.

Franz Beckenbauer

Beckenbauer has to be the greatest defender of all time and a lot of people will agree with me on that.

He always timed his tackles well, was always in the right place at the right time to make a crucial intervention, and could also play.

He won both the World Cup and Euros with West Germany in 1974 and 1972 respectively before going on to win the World Cup with them as a manager in 1990.

Johan Cruyff

Cruyff is one of the finest players of his generation as he could do pretty much anything with the ball at his feet due to the incredible ability he had.

He was very skilful as he had many tricks up his sleeve, his first touch was first class, and he could do things that very few players could do at the time.

He was so good he even invented his own turn, which he performed at the 1974 World Cup where he was the star of the tournament. But he wasn't able to lead Holland as they were beaten in the final by Germany.

Diego Maradona

Maradona was easily the greatest player of his time because of how gifted a player he was as he could do pretty much anything with the ball at his feet.

He single handedly won Argentina the World Cup in 1986 where he scored the greatest goal ever against England, where he beat almost the entire team before putting the ball on the net.

That goal was one of two things that games was remembered for. The other as everyone knows was the goal he scored with his hand and had VAR been around back then, the goal would've been disallowed.

Pele

It was going to be Pele and Maradona in my top two and it's Pele who wins it.

He won more World Cup's than any other player with three in 1958, 1962 and 1970, and for a while scored more career goals than any other player.

He was just 17 when he won his first World Cup in 1958 where he scored 6 goals and became the first teenager to score in a World Cup final.

The 1974 World Cup was his best one though as he was named player of the tournament and was a player in the prime of his powers. That Brazil side he was part of was just incredible as it was glittered with quality players.

MY TOP 10: