I think htat the most loyal players are the ones that stay with their club for at least 90% of their carrer, they are loyal to their fans and understan their grief and their ecstasy when they win or lose, I can understand if they move to a bigger club when they are youmg, but then they area able to stick with that team throughout their carrer, and not be sucked into another club by more money. In my opinion theese are the most loyal players in recent years: (not in any particular order) 1: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool academy) 2: Ryan Giggs (Manchester academy) 3: Raul Gonzalez (Whole carrer) 4: Lionel Messi (Since he is 11) 5: Wayne Rooney (still young, but attached to club) 6: Oliver Khan (Forever at Bayern Munich) 7: Juninho pernambucambo* (Long spell at Lyon, he could of been at a bigger club) *not sure of spelling 8: Paolo Maldini (Years and Years at AC Milan) 9: John Terry (Long time at Chelsea) 10:Michael Carrick (been at united for a long time)
What do you think of my list, opinions, and other names are welcome Whats you list?
Sorry I missed some, they were just the ones I could think of while I was writing this post, I myself can't believe I missed out carragher and neville, who I now would like to add to my list, and I would like to get rid of carrick from my list, I was mistaken, I thought he was from the academy when actually he wasnt
Good list I agree with gerrard at the top for me he was the first player I thought of. Messi I don't doubt is loyal but I question just because he was there from 11 means he should be 4th on the list? Carrick hasnt been at Manu for that long maybe three seasons and I could see him leaving if he wasnt playing first team
Carrick? He started off at West Ham. Won the FA youth cup there. Then went to Spurs where he played for about 3 seasons. I would add Ledley King to the list as well as Tim Cahill. Another player would be Mathew LeTissier who played for Southhampton. He was known as Le God and man could he play. An absolute freak! Spurs tried to sign him up a few times and he almost went there as Spurs was his childhood club. Unfortunately for Spurs he never went and remained loyal to relegation battles and Southhampton
Cahill is very loyal to Everton. After he joined Everton from Millwall he said that this will be his last club, and when asked IF Liverpool wants him, he said "Never ever in his life". He said he will never betray the Everton fans to join their rival clubs.
But those are just plain talking only, but Cahill had showed by action he has been in Everton for 5 years
Maldini Every Time. The man played till he was almost 40. Known to be one of the greatest center backs the world has ever seen, and possibly milans best ever player
I have to say that the loyalty shown by Buffon, Del Piero, Camoranesi, Trezeguet and others has no equal. They wanted to stay at Juventus even though their club was relegated in Serie be in 2006 after the football scandal, while others (Cannavaro, Thuram, Vieira, Zambrotta, Ibrahimovic....) asked to go away. So they played one year in Serie be. See, it's easy to stay 15 years in a club that any season plays at the highest level. It's much harder to put you career at risk by accepting Serie be just for loyalty. I admire them a lot.
Btw Sergio, Paolo Maldini played at AC Milan from 1985 to 2009 (24 years), till the age of 41. And he never really seemed to get old meanwhile. He is like a human being version 2. 0, absolutely unbelievable. A monster
Del Piero, Trezeguet, Camoranesi and Buffon are truly loyal (they are all internationals who had offers from other clubs). They agreed to play one year in Serie be after the referee scandal. I do not think many players would have accepted it
Yeah totti has been there for a long time, sorry I forgot it, but the reason he stayed there is that his mom won't let him go and play for any of romas rivals, so he obeys her. This is true by the way, I heard it this morning
I think he doesn't want to go because he is deitified(sp?)(made a god) in Rome. Where else can he go in the world that love him so much? This is his city
Yeah but here we are talking about the players You are right though they have spent along time with there club, unlike at chelsea when they change coach every half season
Watching todays hull city v stoke game, there was an amazing statistic. The lad dawson of hull has played in all 4 divisions for hull, now that's loyalty. Some achievement
I think loyalty can be looked at in a few different ways. Wayne Rooney was not loyal to Everton when he left there just weeks after wearing a "Once a Blue, always a Blue" vest under his shirt. Gerrard didn't show great loyalty when he was on the verge of a move to Chelsea but the deal didn't go through due to pay demands.
Messi is certainly not showing any signs of leaving Barca but that may be due to the fact that he owes them. They were, after all, the ones that paid for his growth hormone treatment in his adolescence. Without that he wouldn't be a footballer. Iniesta, on the other hand has grown up at the club and emobdies everything that the current side stand for. He never wants to play anywhere else and I doubt that he'll ever leave.
The Juve players that stayed on despite the relegation showed true loyalty. They had something to lose by remaining at the club despite receiving offers from some of the biggest clubs in Europe. Players like Neville, Scholes and Giggs could also have let United to join any of world football's giant clubs but stayed at United even throughout a few lean years at Old Trafford a while back. That also shows affection for a club and it's fans. The same can be said of Maldini. That was a man that nobody in football could ever aim any form of criticism at. Totti, also. But a lot of these names have already been mentioned.
The most fiercely loyal man I've ever had the joy to behold with my own eyes was Matt Le Tissier. That man could have gone anywhere in Europe in the mid-1990's and nobody would have been surprised. But this level of commitment is different to that of any of the superstars that have been mentioned so far. Most of the aforementioned players of Manchester United, Liverpool, Milan, Barca, Real Madrid, etc knew that their clubs would be amongst the honours again one day. He decided to stay at a club the size of Southampton. This is a club that never got anywhere near winning a major trophy. Le Tiss (or Le God as Matt may refer to him!) was an amazing talent and allowed his love for Southampton to come before his national team ambtions and personal hopes for glory. A sublime talent that missed out on two World Cups and countless honours with any of the big sides that courted him.
Watch this highlight reel and tell me that this man couldn't have left Southampton for any club that he chose:
I miss Matt Le Tissier. Despite the number of beautiful goals he got against the Villa
Tony Adams at Arsenal was another example of a loyal player but also one of a club standing by a player. Throughout all his personal problems (fighting, drink-driving, prison, alcohol abuse) Arsenal kept hi on the books and he repaid them time and time again. His was a story that really brought a smile to my face and his autobiography is well worth a look if you can get hold of a copy
Steven Gerrard obviously, Rual Gonzalez, Lionel Messi(came to Barcelona for treatment for his growth problem and has remained loyal ever since) Del Piero, Buffon(both remained at Juve after the scandal) Totti, Cambiasso, Puyol, Xavi, Carragher, Clint Dempsey could be at Fulham for a long time I think, Of course Giggs and Scholes, Yoann Gourcuff of Bordeaux although he could move away soon, Fabregas has made it clear he would like to be at Arsenal for a long time, Van Persie has been there for quite some time. Also Dennis Bergkamp after leaving Ajax for Arsenal, he was a true gunner