The 20 Most Loyal Footballers In Europe
Andy Greeves summed up present-day football’s predicament perfectly when he wrote in “modern footballers are holding clubs and fans hostage“:
Football doesn’t want to admit it, but its players have become bigger than the teams they play for. Bigger than the leagues they ply their trade in and bigger than even the national teams they are selected for. Even the biggest clubs and nations have gone soft to unreasonable demands and behaviour as they strive for success.
Player power is here to stay and just like their clubs, fans have been forced into positions where they have to just grin and bear it.
In these times it is refreshing, counter-intuitive and quite surprising to find footballers who live the best part of their footballing careers (if not all of them) playing for just one club.
Here are 20 of the most loyal footballers in Europe – 20 players who have spent the most time playing for just one club (stats courtesy of IMScouting.com). Some of them are virtual household names, others unheard of, but all are role models for the younger players at their clubs and for footballers everywhere:
| 20 Most Loyal Footballers In Europe | |||
| Player | Team | Years | |
| Paolo Maldini | AC Milan | 25 | |
| Sander Boschker | FC Twente Enschede | 19 | |
| Roar Strand | Rosenborg BK | 19 | |
| Ryan Giggs | Manchester United | 19 | |
| Jean-francois Douence | FC Libourne St Seurin | 18 | |
| Alon Harazi | Maccabi Haifa | 18 | |
| Ladislav Pecko | Slovan Bratislava | 18 | |
| Francesco Totti | AS Roma | 17 | |
| Pedro Roma | Academica de Coimbra | 17 | |
| Toni Huttunen | MyPa Anjalankoski | 17 | |
| Gary Neville | Manchester United | 17 | |
| Paul Scholes | Manchester United | 17 | |
| Pavel Verbir | FK Teplice | 17 | |
| Kim Daugaard | Brøndby IF | 16 | |
| Steve Harper | Newcastle United | 16 | |
| Oliver Glasner | SV Ried | 16 | |
| Jussi Kuoppala | Tampere United | 16 | |
| Pedro | Paços de Ferreira | 16 | |
| Vladimir Maminov | Lokomotiv Moskva | 16 | |
| Alessandro Del Piero | Juventus FC Torino | 16 | |
All data provided by IMScouting.com (read our IMScouting review).
Topics: AC Milan, English Premier League, Europe, Juventus, Lists, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Roma, Serie A
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25 Years at a club. He should get a gold Watch or something for stuff like that.
November 3rd, 2008 @ 17:39Maybe he should send a list of his achievements to the new wave of footballers who are of the opinion that the highest bidder for their services is the best choice!
November 3rd, 2008 @ 17:54Maldini family belong to AC Milan!! His son is now in the academy of AC Milan. Great Servant!
November 3rd, 2008 @ 18:12that rule where players can buy themselves out of a contract with 2 years left is ridiculous
November 3rd, 2008 @ 21:16I think Harper oughta get a little more credit because he’s good enough to start a many of the clubs in the prem (not the best ones, but certainly many of the others) and yet he goes about his business. Toys stay in the pram. He just has a great attitude.
November 3rd, 2008 @ 21:34Maldini is the greatest servent of the game, always professional always gives 100%. the role model the game has to offer, pitty he retired from international football though
November 3rd, 2008 @ 23:30No Franco Baresi?! He spent 20 years at Milan if I recall correctly.
November 4th, 2008 @ 04:50Baresi retired a decade ago. The rest are still active, as far as I can tell.
DEL PIERO….c’e’ solo un capitano.
November 4th, 2008 @ 05:54Hello what about Kaka?? He’s got tons of offers from Chelsea and Real in the past and continues to get them but stays faithful to Milan.
November 4th, 2008 @ 09:47GT – we’re looking at number of years spent at one club. Kaka has some way to go…
November 4th, 2008 @ 10:09shows how much Andy Greeves knows as a futbal pundit.
javier zanetti – inter (one of the best players in history, conistent world class displays week in week out for inter milan)
raul – real madrid (obvious. if you are going to make a list of the 20 most loyal footballer in europe, he there)
xavi,puyol – barca
jose exterberiea(spelling is wrong i know) – at. bibao. (so divoted is he that on the final year of his playing career he wont accept money from the club he spent 15 years in.
john terry – chelsea through and through.
del pierro – juventino through and through.
steven gerrard and jamie carrager – liverpool. (still some time left in their legs but still deserves a mention).
November 4th, 2008 @ 13:57hey ajay………stevie g had put in 2 transfer requests(the news is from liverpool fc website)….and moreover the list is based on the number of years the player has served under the club…..look at the no.of man u players….all of them are pure quality ….yet there is’nt a single instance of contract stalemate….etc….maldini giggs scholes nev piero and totti are the real gems….stevie g was after a lucrative contract put down by chelski…..he nearly quit loserpool ….for ur knowledge i quote stevie g has less experience than wes brown, wes became professional in 1996 whereas stevie g in 1997 , moreover wes opted to stay at manutd rebuking more solid offers and playing time from villa and newcastle…..o’shea in the sense is more of a legend than stevie g…..
November 4th, 2008 @ 14:16its amazing that Raul Gonzalez of Real MADRID Is not on this list i think he has spent almost 2 decades if not more as a loyal servant of the spanish champions.
November 4th, 2008 @ 14:51probably 15 or 16, just outside the list, but yea, he will be in this list in a couple of years.
November 4th, 2008 @ 14:56and ajay – the list is based on the 20 players who have spent the most years at one club. Zanetti et al are just outside the top 20 but they’re obviously there.
November 4th, 2008 @ 15:01Maldini deserves to be on the top! BUT WHERE IS JOHN TERRY!!!
November 4th, 2008 @ 17:50Ahmed Bilal i am aware zanetti played for more than one club. but it is loayalty that is in question. just because you started yur career at one club, played there for some time, and then the rest (almost ten yrs at inter) at another does not mean you are not loyal. zanetti recieved offer from dozens of top clubs such as real mardid and barca who were wining titles, but opted to stay at inter where he is a club legend and honoured even by rival fans and players.
and for your info. good old giggs started his career at man city. and then moved to man utd. as a kid.
john terry also played for another team. although as a teen (for ipswich i think), its loyalty that is in question, loyalty.
and red devil i very much aware of stevei g’s transfer request, but look at the guy. he did it coz he wanted 2 win titles. he livrpool through and through. liverpool are nothin wid out him, and he just is’nt the same without a liverpool jersey on. he is the heart of the team, fans love him, he loves the fans, and will probably retire there
November 5th, 2008 @ 00:53ajay, loyalty is the number of years a player stayed in the club…. That’s loyalty.
November 5th, 2008 @ 15:22how long did trezequet stayed at juve, just asking not cos i am arguing that he should be in the list. Any one?
November 5th, 2008 @ 17:57The nicest way of showing gratitude to Paolo would be to award him with something like a you know 1-2 million Euros or a car, a diamond watch or throw a huge bash for him by and from the players and management.
But only knowing AC Milan too well im sure they’ll definitely do something anyone would or else they would just be As–les.
November 6th, 2008 @ 04:33hey ajay……can’t understand ur point…..u call stevie g loyal even after putting in those transfer requests…..man utd never hailed CR7 as their great…..this shows what scousers are made of….he was treading to chelsea for large money and not only for titles…..for ur kind info giggs was offered double the amount he recieved at man utd by inter milan….who were tracking him from 1997…..he could have easily left….why did he opt to stay, at that time Premiership was less glamourous than serie A which had Zizou nedved maldini etc and where duly represented in the later stages of CL every year….why did he opt to stay?….do you know that giggs scholes and neville bros don’t have agents…most of man utd orginals dont have agents….a player like fletcher , if he had moved to everton , would surely be a star there….why did he opt to stay at utd(50000pounds per week, everton offered the same)….
November 7th, 2008 @ 10:27what about smudgedgreat of UCH United- He was a striker, he scored 25 goals in 22 games and had a serious knee injury, then he turned a goalkeeper fro the same clus and gave a man of the match performance in the next match.
November 21st, 2008 @ 22:40TONY ADAMS WAS AT ARSENAL FOR OVER 22 YEARS
August 22nd, 2009 @ 19:36Sorry to say but John Terry is overated and gets away with things doesnt deserve to be ENGLAND captain. He isnt a leader he is a LOSER, anyway most loyal i would say Norman John Trollope Swindon Town…………….
January 15th, 2010 @ 12:40so the list is on active players?
i was just thinking of Baresi, Bergomi and Tony Adams…
May 6th, 2010 @ 10:49