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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:

Here is every Premier League Hall of Fame inductee.

Alan Shearer

Shearer is the Premier League’s all-time record goalscorer. / Ross Kinnaird/ALLSPORT

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

Henry is arguably the Premier League’s greatest. / Ian Walton/Getty Images

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

Cantona set the standard in Manchester. / Mark Thompson/Allsport

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

Keane captained Man Utd to glory countless times. / Shaun Botterill/ALLSPORT

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

Lampard is the League’s highest-scoring midfielder. / Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

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

A master of the art. / Ben Radford/Getty Images

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

Beckham was one of the early faces of the Premier League. / Michael Steele /Allsport

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.

Wayne Rooney

Rooney was dominant for more than a decade with the Red Devils. / Jamie McDonald/Getty Images

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

Vieira was a midfield powerhouse. / Allsport UK/Allsport

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

Agüero delivered the most iconic moment in Premier League history. / Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

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

Drogba was a fearsome striker in his apex. / Etsuo Hara/Getty Images

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

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

Schmeichel is one of the great modern-day goalkeepers. / Ross Kinnaird/Allsport

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

Scholes spent the entirety of his Premier League career at Old Trafford. / Clive Mason/Allsport

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

Wright was once Arsenal’s record goalscorer. / Shaun Botterill/Allsport

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

Sir Alex Ferguson

No manager has enjoyed more success in the Premier League than Sir Alex. / ANDREW YATES/AFP/Getty Images

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

Wenger helped revolutionise the Premier League. / Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

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

"That sums it all up." / Allsport

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

Čech was the second goalkeeper inducted. / Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar/Getty Images

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

Ferdinand was the archetypal modern-day centre-half. / Jamie McDonald/Getty Images

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.

Ashley Cole

Cole won the Premier League with two different teams. / Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

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

Cole was a prolific marksman throughout the 90s. / Ross Kinnaird/Allsport

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

Terry skippered Chelsea to Premier League titles under various managers. / ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

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).

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