After the huge response we received on myspace, we’ve decided to display the results of our recent poll ‘Greatest English League XI’ on our homepage, as well as here on Golden Years. Bear-in-mind these results reflect, not only the opinions of those who voted, but our EFP panel of writers and researchers also. Decisions were based on; skill and finesse over Brut strength, vision over vigour, grace over greed, personal triumphs over trophies, and courage over mere competence. 

Explained 

When choosing the best team of all time, it’s important we identify the premise with which we picked the players and what constitutes a truly great player. I’m sure our team raised more than a few eyebrows, causing much ambivalence (that is always the intention with these things). What about Finney? Charlton? Ball? I hear you ask. Well the answer is simple; we could only pick 11 players on the day, and some, for one reason or another were left out one in favour of another. Our final decision took into consideration the opinions of polls aired prodominately on myspace, the EFP Writers too, and also anyone who has come in contact with us over the past couple of months! 

A panel of judges sat down and sorted through (an extremely long) shortlist, and we argued it out until the early hours of the morning. We decided that players were not included on merit alone, trophies won, or highest earnings. But instead, we considered skill, innovation, personal triumphs and strength of character. We went for the glorious and the sublime over those who were merely exceptional players.

There’s been much debate down the years on how you go about comparing modern players against their forefathers and who is greater than whom? It’s quite simple really: it’s he who stands out most from his compatriots. Did they name a cup final after Matthews because he was the second best player? Or would a club as illustrious as Liverpool, habitually sing about a player (Dalglish) who was merely world-class? And Georgie Best; has there ever been more accolades for a man whose career effectively came to an end at the age of 30?

Great players are like great musicians. No matter how long ago their songs were written, they still retain their brilliance, progressively getting better with time. They ease the pain, as we are forced to endure the latest manufactured cover band, which is popular music today. Perennial trends like ‘Shakespeare’s Sister’, ‘2 unlimited’, ‘Razorlight’ and ‘Kaiser Chiefs’ will inevitably fade and vanish, as we spend our entire adulthood denying we ever owned their albums (I’ll make this clear, Iv never even bought a single of any of the above!). Trends come and go, but quality shines perpetually through eternity, untouched by the burden of time. 

Some things remain timeless like Shakespeare & Hendrix, Whitman & Melville, Morecambe & Wise, Beehan, Dylan & Joyce. And of course, everyone loves a bad boy! Fallen stars make legends – it’s as simple as that. Tragedy conjures up huge intrigue and those great underachievers always generate massive popularity. Take Garrincha, Lennon, Maradona, Ali and Jimmy Dean.  Oh, and you’ll notice that none of the players we’ve selected have made great strides in management (Explaining our exclusion of Keane who may do just do that). Strange that. Well let’s face it, Cloughie aside, ’Great Players’ make shite managers.  

Tim Killeen – The Editor

Click Here for reasons behind our selection.

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