The best Premier League players of the 90s
In 1992, football changed forever: the Premier League kicked off, propelling the English â and world â game into a bold new era.
By the end of the 90s, this fledgling competition was well on its way to becoming the best league in the world â with the help of an all-star cast of talent from England and beyond.
Here, FourFourTwo counts down the best Premier League players of the 90s…
32. Graeme Le Saux
(Image credit: Getty Images)Englandâs go-to left-back in the latter half of the 90s, Jersey-born Graeme Le Saux won the 1994/95 Premier League title with Blackburn Rovers.
Named in two PFA Teams of the Year during the decade, Le Saux became the most expensive defender in English football history when he left Blackburn to re-join Chelsea for ÂŁ5m in 1997.
31. Chris Sutton
(Image credit: Getty Images)Another key member of Blacburnâs title-winning team, Chris Sutton formed the deadly âSASâ strike partnership with Alan Shearer, scoring 15 Premier League goals in 1994/95 â having banged in 25 for Norwich City the previous season.
In 1997/98, Sutton shared the Golden Boot in a three-way tie with Dion Dublin and a young Michael Owen.
30. Gary Speed
(Image credit: Getty Images)Having helped Leeds to be crowned champions of England in the final season of the old First Division, the legendary Gary Speed stayed with them through the first four years of the Premier League era.
Highly dependable in the middle of the park, the Welshman â who finished the 90s with spells at Everton and Newcastle â made the inaugural PFA Premier League Team of the Year in 1992/93.
29. Gary Neville
(Image credit: Getty Images)The first of many members of Manchester Unitedâs iconic âClass of â92â who youâre going to see on this list, Gary Neville had made the Red Devilsâ right-back spot his own by 1995.
Between then and the end of the decade, Neville helped himself to three Premier League winnerâs medals â most notably one as part of Unitedâs famous 1998/99 treble â and was included in three PFA Teams of the Year.
28. Ruud Gullit
(Image credit: Getty Images)Ruud Gullit was past his peak as one of the best midfielders in the world when he arrived at Chelsea in 1995, but the supremely versatile Dutchman still brought immense class to the Premier League.
Named in the 1995/96 PFA Team of the Year, Gullit only made 48 league appearances for the Blues â but he more than made his mark, taking over as player-manager just 12 months after joining.
27. Marc Overmars
(Image credit: Getty Images)Another Dutch great to grace Englandâs top flight in the 90s, Marc Overmars swapped Ajax for Arsenal in the summer of 1997. âWith my speed and quality, I think it will be good for me here,â he modestly said.
And, to be fair, he was right: the enormously gifted winger played an integral role in the Gunnersâ 1997/98 Premier League title triumph, scoring 12 goals and providing five assists.
26. Steve McManaman
(Image credit: Getty Images)Among English footballâs greatest ever exports, Steve McManaman left Liverpool for Real Madrid in 1999 â but before that, he had established himself as one of the most electric wingers in the Premier League.
A local lad, McManaman featured 240 times for the Reds in the competition, notching 41 goals and helping his boyhood club to two third-placed finishes.
25. Dwight Yorke
(Image credit: Getty Images)Surely the greatest Caribbean footballer of all time, Dwight Yorke was well-established with Aston Villa by the dawn of the Premier League.
A haul of 46 league goals between 1995 and 1998 earned the Trinidad and Tobago icon a massive move to Manchester United â where he continued to bang them in, winning the Golden Boot and Premier League Player of the Season in his first campaign (and doing the treble, of course).
24. Paul Ince
(Image credit: Getty Images)One of Manchester Unitedâs standout players of the early 90s, Paul Ince played a key role in the Red Devilsâ back-to-back title victories at the start of the Premier League era â as well as making it into the first three PFA Premier League Teams of the Year.
Tirelessly hard-working in his defensive midfield capacity, âThe Guvnorâ left the English top flight for Inter Milan in 1995 but returned two years later to join Liverpool.
23. Peter Beardsley
(Image credit: Getty Images)The Newcastle legend with a penchant for dribbling, Peter Beardsley was one of the main men in Kevin Keeganâs âEntertainersâ side who lit up the Premier League in the mid-90s, pushing Man United all the way in 1995/96.
Included in the 1993/94 PFA Team of the Year after a 21-goal campaign, Beardsley netted 47 times in the competition for Newcastle â before finishing his Premier League career with Bolton Wanderers in 1997/98.
22. Denis Irwin
(Image credit: Getty Images)So underrated that he didnât even select himself in his best Manchester United 11, Denis Irwin was the epitome of reliability at left-back (or, when called upon, right-back).
A rare truly two-footed player, the Republic of Ireland great joined United from Oldham Athletic in 1990 and spent the remainder of the decade at Old Trafford, winning five Premier League titles and scoring his fair share of penalties.
21. Steve Bruce
(Image credit: Getty Images)With Bryan Robson hampered by injury, Steve Bruce (above left) captained Man United for most of the inaugural Premier League season, jointly lifting the trophy with Robson as Sir Alex Fergusonâs men were crowned champions.
One of the best players never to be capped by England, Bruce formed a formidable centre-back partnership with Gary Pallister.
20. Gary Pallister
(Image credit: Getty Images)Steve Bruceâs imperious central defensive colleague, Gary Pallister made the PFA Team of the Year in the Premier Leagueâs first four seasons â and again in 1997/98, his ninth and final campaign with Manchester United.
Capped 22 times by England, Pallister won four titles before finishing his career back at Middlesbrough, the club where it all began for him.
19. Teddy Sheringham
(Image credit: Getty Images)The very first Premier League Golden Boot winner â with 22 goals (one for Nottingham Forest, 21 for Tottenham) in 1992/93 â Teddy Sheringham certainly knew where the net was.
By the end of the 90s, he had moved on to Manchester United â starring in their 1998/99 treble triumph â and was closing in on 100 Premier League goals.
18. Les Ferdinand
(Image credit: Getty Images)Holder of the record for the most Premier League goals without ever scoring a penalty (111), Les Ferdinand found the net for fun during spells with QPR and Newcastle, reaching the 20-goal mark in a single campaign on three occasions.
âSir Lesâ never got his hands on the Golden Boot (blame Alan Shearer), but his brilliance was recognised with the 1995/96 PFA Playersâ Player of the Year award.
17. Patrick Vieira
(Image credit: Getty Images)Easily one of the finest midfielders in Premier League history, Patrick Vieira joined Arsenal shortly before his French compatriot Arsene Wengerâs appointment in the summer of 1996.
Credited with making âdream passesâ by teammate Ian Wright, Vieira quickly proved his world-class midfield credentials, proving absolutely crucial to the Gunnersâ 1997/98 title win.
16. Michael Owen
(Image credit: Getty Images)Prodigious. Thatâs the first word that comes to mind when we think of 90s Michael Owen â who well and truly exploded onto the scene with Liverpool as a 17-year-old.
In his first full professional season, 1997/98 Owen bagged 18 Premier League goals to share the Golden Boot with Dion Dublin and Chris Sutton. He also scooped that yearâs PFA Young Player of the Year and Premier League Player of the Season awards â not a bad start!
15. David Seaman
(Image credit: Getty Images)David Seaman was at the peak of his powers during the 90s, providing a safe pair of hands between the sticks for Arsenal through thick and thin.
The moustachioed (and later ponytailed) England number one kept 23 clean sheets in 53 Premier League appearances across the 1996/97 and 1997/98 campaigns, making the PFA Team of the Year in the former.
14. Paul McGrath
(Image credit: Getty Images)One of the best defenders in world football during the late 80s and early 90s, Paul McGrath excelled in the Premier League for Aston Villa, winning 1993 PFA Playersâ Player of the Year.
An ever-present in 1992/93 despite chronic knee pain, the Irishman was simply immense at the back, helping Villa finish in that inaugural Premier League campaign â and making 242 appearances for them in the competition overall.
13. Tony Adams
(Image credit: Getty Images)Arsenalâs first Premier League-winning captain, Tony Adams was undoubtedly one of the Gunnersâ most invaluable contributors throughout the first decade of Englandâs revamped top flight.
Included in the PFAâs 1993/94, 1995/96 and 1996/97 Teams of the Year, and their Team of the Century, the towering centre-half is rightly regarded as an all-time great in (one half of) North London.
12. David Ginola
(Image credit: Getty Images)Manchester United may have dominated the 1998/99 season â but it belonged to David Ginola on a personal level, as he took the Premier League by the scruff of the neck during a dazzling campaign for Tottenham, doing the PFA Playersâ Player of the Year and FWA (Footballer Writersâ Association) Footballer of the Year double.
That was the French wing wizardâs high point in England â but he was more than useful either side of it, starring for Newcastle and Spurs.
11. Ian Wright
(Image credit: Getty Images)Not only an Arsenal legend but one of the most popular figures in the English game, Ian Wright banged in 104 goals in the first six seasons of the Premier League, ending his Gunners career on a real high by helping them lift the title.
A naturally clinical finisher, Wright was on target 23 times in each of the 1993/94 and 1996/97 Premier League campaigns.
10. Paul Scholes
(Image credit: Getty Images)By the late 90s, Paul Scholes was establishing himself as of the best all-round midfielders in the game â and had already got his hands on three Premier League winnerâs medals with Manchester United.
Handed his top-flight debut in September 1994, shortly before his 20th birthday, the 66-cap England international partnered Roy Keane in an elite midfield duo.
9. Matt Le Tissier
(Image credit: Getty Images)Up there with the most gifted footballers of his generation, Matt Le Tissier should have won more England caps than the eight he did â but the Guernsey-born attacking midfield genius more than proved his brilliance in a Southampton shirt.
The Premier Leagueâs leading provider with 15 assists in 1994/95, he also scores some of its greatest goals â none more notable than this sublime brace against Newcastle in 1993.
8. Roy Keane
(Image credit: Getty Images)The ultimate Premier League hardman, Roy Keane joined Manchester United off the back of an impressive debut campaign in the competition for Nottingham Forest; by the end of the 90s, the iconic Irish midfielder was a four-time Premier League champion.
Notoriously uncompromising, Keaneâs no-nonsense approach didnât win him too many friends among his opponents â but do we really think he cares? His silverware record speaks for itself.
7. David Beckham
(Image credit: Getty Images)You know where weâre going to begin with our assessment of David Beckham in the 90s: yep, that arrival-announcing goal against Wimbledon on the opening day of the 1996/97 season.
In that moment, the Premier League knew it had a special talent on its hands, and Becks remained a dazzling presence on the Manchester United right throughout the decade, winning 1996/97 PFA Young Player of the Year and three Premier League titles.
6. Ryan Giggs
(Image credit: Getty Images)A member of all 13 of Sir Alex Fergusonâs title-winning teams at Man United, Ryan Giggs was already a five-time Premier League champion come 1999 â when he starred alongside Scholes, Keane et all in the Red Devilsâ historic treble triumph.
The Welsh wing wizard burst onto the scene at the start of the decade, picking up 1992/93 PFA Young Player of the Year â and he only went from strength to strength, scoring in every league campaign of the 90s.
5. Andy Cole
(Image credit: Getty Images)One of the deadliest finishers of his generation, Andy Cole racked up more than 100 Premier League goals during the 90s â having only been promoted to the top flight with Newcastle in 1993.
Few players have marked their maiden Premier League campaign in such style as Cole, whose Golden Boot-winning haul of 34 goals in 1993/94 remained a competition record for almost 30 years.
Cole the Goalâs prolific form convinced Man United to cough up a British-record ÂŁ7m in January 1995 â and he kept banging them in.
4. Dennis Bergkamp
(Image credit: Getty Images)Among the most technically gifted players ever to grace a Premier League pitch, all-time Arsenal great Dennis Bergkamp produced jaw-dropping moment of brilliance after jaw-dropping moment of brilliance.
The inimitable Dutchman was voted the Gunnersâ 1996/97 Player of the Season, before playing a pivotal role in their maiden Premier League title win the following season.
Named 1997/98 PFA Playersâ Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year, perhaps his finest performance came in August 1997, when he scored probably the greatest Premier League hat-trick against Leicester.
3. Peter Schmeichel
(Image credit: Getty Images)Called the âbargain of the centuryâ by Sir Alex Ferguson â who brought him to Manchester United from Brondby for ÂŁ505,000 in 1991 â the gigantic Dane led the Premier League for clean sheets in 1994/95, 1995/96 and 1997/98, winning five titles.
Quite possibly the best goalkeeper in all of Premier League history, Peter Schmeichel was easily the divisionâs standout custodian of the 90s â and one of the finest in world football, for that matter.
2. Alan Shearer
(Image credit: Getty Images)The ultimate Premier League goalscorer, only one player even comes within 50 goals of Alan Shearerâs record of 260.
Englandâs Euro â96 top-scoring striker got the vast majority of that 260 for Newcastle â where he enjoys godlike status â having previously fired Blackburn to the 1994/95 title as one half of the âSASâ partnership with Chris Sutton.
PFA Playersâ Player of the Year in 1994/95 and 1996/97, Shearer won three straight Golden Boots between those two seasons.
1. Eric Cantona
(Image credit: Getty Images)Few players have ever influenced the Premier League so profoundly as Eric Cantona, the competitionâs first foreign superstar and Manchester Unitedâs greatest overseas import of all time.
Having arrived in the English top flight with Leeds, the famously enigmatic Frenchman joined their arch-rivals, United, in 1992 â and proceeded to play a talismanic role in four Premier League title wins, including as captain in 1996/97.
Voted 1993/94 PFA Playersâ Player of the Year and 1995/96 FWA Footballer of the Year, Cantona scored 64 goals â among them that chip against Sunderland â and provided 56 assists in 143 Prem games.
