City's greatest ever players

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Ric

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Back in 2009, I was asked by The Times to do a piece on the 50 greatest City players of all time (which you can view here). Obviously at the time the takeover had only just happened, so none of our current stars were included.

These lists are always subjective and you'll never get a proper consensus, but it'd be interesting to see how many of the current team people think would be on the list now. I guess you can never truly judge a player until they have left the club, but with rumours that Zabaleta and Toure could leave in the summer it feels like the natural cycle of the side that won two league titles is coming to an end.

Here's the list in full for ease of reference:

1. Colin Bell
2. Bert Trautmann
3. Peter Doherty
4. Frank Swift
5. Billy Meredith
6. Alan Oakes
7. Franny Lee
8. Eric Brook
9. Tommy Johnson
10. Neil Young
11. Mike Summerbee
12. Mike Doyle
13. Joe Corrigan
14. Ernie Toseland
15. Tommy Booth
16. Dennis Tueart
17. Joe Hayes
18. Tony Book
19. Sam Cowan
20. Horace Barnes
21. Glyn Pardoe
22. Roy Paul
23. Dave Ewing
24. Roy Clarke
25. Paul Power
26. Fred Tilson
27. Ken Barnes
28. Tommy Browell
29. Asa Hartford
30. Bobby Marshall
31. Willie Donachie
32. Peter Barnes
33. Paul Lake
34. Dave Watson
35. Shaun Wright-Phillips
36. Niall Quinn
37. Alec Herd
38. Uwe Rosler
39. Bobby Johnstone
40. Rodney Marsh
41. Johnny Crossan
42. Georgi Kinkladze
43. David White
44. Gary Owen
45. Denis Law
46. Richard Dunne
47. Shaun Goater
48. Don Revie
49. Max Woosnam
50. Kazimierz Deyna
 
Silva.
Aguero.
Toure.
Zaba.
Hart.
Kompany.

Would all be in my top 15 with the majority in the top ten.
 
Were watching Citys most successful ever team in a standard of league much greater when we were last successful. On that basis alone you could probably end up making a case for chucking around ten players into that top 50.

Silva, Aguero, Yaya, Zaba, Hart, Kompany, Tevex definitely and Dzeko, Barry would also probably eclipse the likes of David White, Richard Dunne for me.
 
That's a great peice, Ric, nice one.

Miffed not to see all the famous five on there, (Coleman appears to be missing) but 50 players throughout a lot of history. T'was always gonna be difficult not to miss anyone.

EDIT: While I agree that football is higher level these days, it's not fair to compare players from the different eras, in my opinon.

For example, I'm not of any doubt that David Silva is better than Colin Bell. Or Messi is better than Maradonnna. This is as close to fact as it gets, due to all the factors that must be considered.


The fair long and short of it... these players excelled, stood out head and shoulders above the rest of their peers, and were remembered long after they stopped playing. That's what it is to be a legend.
 
Its interesting looking at that list Ric. How do you measure "greatness" for a club like us. Is the list meant to be in greatness order as well? SHould players on this list satisfy some kind of longevity at the club?
You can't really use trophys as a guide as we didn't win any for so long and we shouldn't load the numbers with players from our current generations (post 75). So how do we judge players we've never seen in a fair context. I'm sure if we asked our centenarian from last week he might give us a fairer insight into the side that won the cup in 56 maybe even players from the 34 League winning side. Also Im aware of the exploits and brilliance of individuals like Max Woosnam (my personal favourite, an incredible man whose feats will never be replicated).
I agree that picking 50 from a 122 year history (using 1894) is a tough one but Kompany, SIlva, Aguerro and Toure and maybe Zabba should be in there but don't ask me to pick 4 or 5 to go out!.
 
Rag-hater said:
I would add Robinho and Elano to that list and Seaman and Schmeichel.
Click to expand...

The original intention was to only include players who had excelled whilst at City.

Robinho is obviously a better footballer than, say, David White but White scored 96 goals for City. Robinho only scored 16.
 
Add Yaya , David and Sergio to Colin and Bert. There is your top 5 now. Doherty and swift are a tough ones because unless you actually saw them you are relying on the word of others. I believe Peter was our best ever but how can you confirm or deny this?
I would have Ali in a heartbeat streets ahead of Gary Owen, David White and SWP. Of the others simnce you did the list you have to add Joe, Zabba, Vinnie and Carlos as well. I'd even argue a point for Gaz Baz and Nige!
 
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