5 Greatest English Footballers Of All Time

4. Stanley Matthews

Sir Stanley Matthews remains the only footballer to be knighted while still playing the game, which he did for an astonishing 35 years in total until the age of 50. A tricky, pacy winger, he spent his entire professional club career at Stoke and Blackpool (though he played for various wartime sides while serving in World War II). Sir Stanley picked up two Second Division titles with Stoke as well as an FA Cup with Blackpool, plus nine British Home Championship titles with England. He also won numerous individual awards, including the inaugural Ballon d'Or in 1956. As one of the few English players to have won this prestigious award, and as one of the most influential players to have ever played the game (he practically reinvented dribbling as an art form), Stanley Matthews rightly takes his place at fourth in this list.