Premier League Hall of Fame: Full List of Every Inductee

There may be traditionalists on English shores concerned with what they perceive to be the “Americanisation” of the sport they adore, but the majority will agree that there’s little harm in the Premier League introducing its own Hall of Fame.

The preservation of sporting history can be dated back to the Ancient Greeks, but it’s in the United States where the ’Hall of Fame’ concept became commonplace.

For a player to be eligible for a place in the Premier League’s Hall of Fame, they must have made 250 appearances in the division since its 1992 inauguration or achieved one of the following:

Appeared in more than 200 Premier League appearances for one club
Selected to any of the Team of the Decade or 20-Year Anniversary teams
Won a Premier League Golden Boot or Golden Glove
Been voted as Premier League Player of the Season
Won three Premier League titles
Scored 100 Premier League goals, or goalkeepers who have recorded 100 Premier League clean sheets

Here is every Premier League Hall of Fame inductee.

2021

Alan Shearer

Clubs: Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United
Premier League Appearances: 441
Notable Achievements: All-time leading goalscorer (260), x1 Premier League title, x3 Golden Boots, x6 PFA Team of the Year, x2 PFA Players’ Player of the Year, x1 Premier League Player of the Season, Team of the Decade (90s)

The Premier League’s all-time leading goalscorer has just a single league title to his name, but he’ll likely remain a record-holder unless Harry Kane opts to make a comeback post-Bayern Munich. Shearer’s greatest collective success came with Blakcburn Rovers, but he’s immortalised on Tyneside.

Thierry Henry

Clubs: Arsenal
Premier League Appearances: 258
Notable Achievements: 175 goals, x2 Premier League titles, x2 PFA Players’ Player of the Year, x2 Premier League Player of the Season, x6 PFA Team of the Year, x4 Golden Boots, Team of the Decade (90s), single-season assist record (20)

The overwhelming majority will argue that Henry is the greatest Premier League player there’s been. The dazzling French forward has the collective accolades and individual achievements to supply a compelling case.

Eric Cantona

Clubs: Leeds United, Manchester United
Premier League Appearances: 156
Notable Achievements: x4 Premier League titles, x1 PFA Team of the Year, x1 PFA Players’ Player of the Year, Team of the Decade (90s)

Utterly unique. Man Utd took a flyer on Cantona at the start of the Premier League era, but the Frenchman proved to be the making of the Red Devils’ 90s dynasty. As a result of his influence between the lines, ubiquitous 4-4-2s started to evolve into 4-4-1-1s to facilitate a Cantona-like profile in attack.

Roy Keane

Clubs: Nottingham Forest, Manchester United
Premier League Appearances: 366
Notable Achievements: x7 Premier League titles, x5 PFA Team of the Year, PFA Team of the Century, Team of the Decade (90s)

Arguably the greatest captain the League’s ever seen. Keane was the beating heart of all-conquering Man Utd sides for well over a deace, having started out at Nottingham Forest. The fierce Irishman so often set the standard in the middle of the park.

Frank Lampard

Clubs: West Ham United, Chelsea, Manchester City
Premier League Appearances: 609
Notable Achievements: 177 goals, fourth-most appearances, x3 Premier League titles, x3 PFA Team of the Year, x1 Premier League Player of the Season

No midfielder has scored more goals in the competition than Lampard, who’s supreme sense of timing meant he was so often in the right place at the right time. Deadly from the penalty spot, too. The Englishman racked up over 600 Premier League appearances and lifted three league titles with Chelsea.

Dennis Bergkamp

Clubs: Arsenal
Premier League Appearances: 315
Notable Achievements: x3 Premier League titles, x1 PFA Players’ Player of the Year, x1 PFA Team of the Year

Few have epitomised the artistry of the sport like Arsenal’s non-flying Dutchman. After a forgettable spell in Italy, Bergkamp found his feet in a land that were starting to appreciate players of his ilk. Not only was he capable of the outrageous, but sustained runs of brilliance catapulted Arsenal to league titles.

David Beckham

Clubs: Manchester United
Premier League Appearances: 265
Notable Achievements: x6 Premier League titles, x1 PFA Young Player of the Year, PFA Team of the Century, x4 PFA Team of the Year, Team of the Decade (90s)

Beckham’s sparkling off-field persona and prominence post-playing career means his on-field majesty has long gone under the radar. He was the face of English football for the best part of a decade, even when he was vilified after the 1998 World Cup. A versatile midfielder who was at his best when given time and space to cross, Beckham was one of the stars of Premier League football in the 90s.

2022

Wayne Rooney

Clubs: Everton, Manchester United
Premier League Appearances: 491
Notable Achievements: 208 goals, x5 Premier League titles, x1 PFA Players’ Player of the Year, x2 PFA Young Player of the Year, x3 PFA Team of the Year, x1 Premier League Player of the Season

Wazza. Not even Micah Richards came onto the scene like Rooney, whose ascent to superstardom seemed inevitable from the outset. The bulk of his brilliance arrived at the Theatre of Dreams, where he functioned as a constant thorn in so many Premier League outfits.

Patrick Vieira

Clubs: Arsenal
Premier League Appearances: 307
Notable Achievements: x3 Premier League titles, x6 PFA Team of the Year, x1 Premier League Player of the Season, Premier League Team of the Decade (90s)

Vieira was one of the first drafted in by Arsène Wenger at Arsenal, and the gangly French midfielder proved to be a revelatory addition. A forceful but equally elegant contributor between both boxes, Vieira operated as the leader of Gunners teams that conquered the country on multiple occasions.

Sergio Agüero

Clubs: Manchester City
Premier League Appearances: 275
Notable Achievements: 184 goals, x5 Premier League titles, x1 Golden Boot, x2 PFA Team of the Year

The Argentine may well have deserved a place in the Hall for that moment and that moment alone. If you can’t gauge the reference, get that head of yours out from the under the rock you’ve been living under for the last 13 years.

Didier Drogba

Clubs: Chelsea
Premier League Appearances: 254
Notable Achievements: x4 Premier League titles, x2 Golden Boots, x2 PFA Team of the Year

Few strikers were feared during their apex like Drogba, who had a knack for delivering on the biggest occasions. The Ivorian’s 254 Premier League appearances all came for Chelsea, with whom he won four league titles.

Vicent Kompany

Vincent Kompany — Kompany captained Man City to multiple league titles. | ANDREW YATES/AFP/Getty Images

Clubs: Manchester City
Premier League Appearances: 360
Notable Achievements: x4 Premier League titles, x3 PFA Team of the Year, x1 Premier League Player of the Season

Kompany is one of the very few defenders to claim Premier League Player of the Season honours, doing so during Man City’s dramatic title success of 2011–12. The Belgian was the impressive leader of a City team that emerged in the 2010s and developed into the division’s dominant force.

Peter Schmeichel

Clubs: Manchester United, Aston Villa, Manchester City
Premier League Appearances: 310
Notable Achievements: x5 Premier League titles, x1 PFA Team of the Year, x1 Premier League Player of the Season, Premier League Save of the Decade (90s), Team of the Decade (90s), x3 Golden Gloves

Another definitive figure of the 90s, Schmeichel helped revolutionise the goalkepeer position before Manuel Neuer took things to greater extremes. Roy Keane may be among those to play down Schmeichel’s significance, but his achievements speak for themselves and United struggled to replace him at the start of the 21st century.

Paul Scholes

Clubs: Manchester United
Premier League Appearances: 501
Notable Achievements: 106 goals, x11 Premier League titles, x2 PFA Team of the Year, Team of the Decade (90s)

A one-club man. Scholes was a part of the notorious ’Class of ’92’ that functioned as the core of the dominant Man Utd teams of the 90s. The midfielder evolved from an effective box-crasher into a classy deep-lying performer as his career progressed, and so many high-profile opponents have waxed lyrical over his brilliance.

Ian Wright

Clubs: Arsenal, West Ham United
Premier League Appearances: 213
Notable Achievements: 113 goals, x1 Premier League title, x2 PFA Team of the Year

Surely the most likeable inductee there ever will be, Ian WRIGHT, WRIGHT, WRIGHT was simply born to score goals. He was once Arsenal‘s all-time record goalscorer before a certain Frenchman came to town, and he struck 113 times in the Premier League. The striker also got the title his career deserved in 1997–98

2023

Sir Alex Ferguson

Clubs: Manchester United
Premier League Games Managed: 810
Notable Achievements: x13 Premier League titles, x11 Manager of the Season, Manager of the Decade (90s)

While his arrival in Manchester pre-dated the start of the Premier League, it was when the glitz and glamour of this competition arrived that Fergie‘s Red Devils came into their own. Man Utd won the inaugural edition and never looked back. The Scot spent 26 years with the club and inspired them to 13 league titles. His already impenetrable legacy has only been emboldened by the state of United since his departure.

Arsène Wenger

Clubs: Arsenal
Premier League Games Managed: 828
Notable Achievements: x3 Premier League titles, x3 Manager of the Season

So many were skeptical of Wenger’s credentials when he arrived in north London, but it didn’t take the Frenchman long to prove himself as a revolutionary figure. His Arsenal teams, aided by a newfound emphasis on fitness and nutrition, forged a bitter rivalry with Ferguson’s United, and eventually tamed the Premier League’s supreme force. Wenger perhaps overstayed his welcome, managing a record 828 games in the competition, but he remains the only ’Invincible’ manager in Premier League history.

Tony Adams

Clubs: Arsenal
Premier League Appearances: 255
Notable Achievements: x2 Premier League titles, x3 PFA Team of the Year, Team of the Decade (90s)

Adams’s career blossomed before the competition’s inauguration, but the Arsenal defender was a constant in stout Gunners backlines throughout the 90s. The long-time captain was of the no-nonsense mold, and his stubbornness helped the north Londoners to a pair of league titles.

Petr Čech

Clubs: Chelsea, Arsenal
Premier League Appearances: 443
Notable Achievements: x4 Premier League titles, x2 PFA Team of the Year, x4 Golden Gloves, all-time clean sheets leader (202)

Čech is the only goalkeeper to record at least 200 Premier League clean sheets, and he claimed his fourth Golden Glove during the twilight of his career at Arsenal. A distinctive figure for much of his time in London due to his scrum-cap appearance, Chelsea Čech is surely the finest stop-stopper in the competition’s history.

Rio Ferdinand

Clubs: West Ham United, Leeds United, Manchester United, Queen’s Park Rangers
Premier League Appearances: 504
Notable Achievements: x6 Premier League titles, x6 PFA Team of the Year

Ferdinand was twice the British transfer record holder, with Leeds United and Man Utd willing to pay unprecedented prices to bring the centre back to Elland Road and Old Trafford, respectively. Much of Ferdinand’s success arrived with the Red Devils, as he won six league titles in 11 years. He was regarded as the archetypal modern-day defender throughout his playing career.

2024

Ashley Cole

Clubs: Arsenal, Chelsea
Premier League Appearances: 385
Notable Achievements: x3 Premier League titles, x4 PFA Team of the Year

Is Ashley Cole the best left-back... ever? An argument can certainly be made. During his Premier League career, Cole functioned as the athletic phenom with standout defensive fundamentals on the left side of defence. He was part of the unbeaten Arsenal team of 2003–04, and twice a champion with Chelsea.

Andy Cole

Clubs: Newcastle United, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Fulham, Manchester City, Portsmouth, Sunderland
Premier League Appearances: 414
Notable Achievements: 187 goals, x5 Premier League titles, x1 Golden Boot, x1 PFA Young Player of the Year, x1 PFA Team of the Year

Cole’s distinguished Premier League career spanned seven clubs, although the striker was not inducted to the Hall of Fame for his stints at Fulham, Man City, Portsmouth and Sunderland. Cole claimed the Golden Boot with Newcastle in 1993–94 before making a stunning switch to United in January 1995. At Old Trafford, he developed a devastating partnership with Dwight Yorke, won all five of his league titles, and scored the bulk of his 187 Premier League goals.

John Terry

Clubs: Chelsea
Premier League Appearances: 492
Notable Achievements: x5 Premier League titles, x1 PFA Players’ Player of the Year, x4 PFA Team of the Year, PFA Team of the Century

Terry was the linchpin of a mightily exciting time in Chelsea’s modern history. The centre back was there for all of the Blues’ Premier League triumphs, starting with José Mourinho in 2004–05 and concluding with Antonio Conte in 2016–17. No defender has scored more goals in the competition’s history than Terry (41).