HERE WE GO:10 Strongest Players in British Football History [Ranked]

10 Strongest Players in British Football History [Ranked].Strength, both physical and mental, are important assets for all sports people, especially football. Being the strongest doesn’t necessarily mean being considered one of the hardest players in football history. Although there are certainly some parallels. For a striker, strength might mean the ability to play with your back to goal and have the confidence and power to hold off the defender and hold the ball up.

Irrespective of the nature of a player’s strength, it is a much-needed quality that can hugely benefit their team. It can help relieve pressure, lead a team and score goals, as well as prevent them. Over the years, there have been a wealth of strong players gracing British shores. Football itself has long been built upon principles such as physicality and raw power, so here are the 10 strongest players in British football history.

Duncan Ferguson and Roy Keane
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11 Hardest Players in Football History [Ranked]
15Wayne Rooney burst onto the scene as a teenager with Everton in the Premier League. Even then he showed strength beyond his years to hold players off. This was one quality which helped him become one of the most complete players in British football history.

Although not the tallest in the world, Rooney went toe to toe physically with an array of powerfully built and much bigger defenders. Rooney was, of course, equipped with great skill and vision. Aided by his great strength, he was a strong competitor over the course of a long and very successful career for Manchester United and England.

10 Strongest Players in British Football History [Ranked]
Adebayo Akinfenwa
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By
Mark Sanderson
15 minutes ago
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Adebayo Akinfenwa (Wycombe Wanderers), Duncan Ferguson (Scotland), Mark Hughes (Man Utd)
Strength, both physical and mental, are important assets for all sports people, especially football. Being the strongest doesn’t necessarily mean being considered one of the hardest players in football history. Although there are certainly some parallels. For a striker, strength might mean the ability to play with your back to goal and have the confidence and power to hold off the defender and hold the ball up.

Irrespective of the nature of a player’s strength, it is a much-needed quality that can hugely benefit their team. It can help relieve pressure, lead a team and score goals, as well as prevent them. Over the years, there have been a wealth of strong players gracing British shores. Football itself has long been built upon principles such as physicality and raw power, so here are the 10 strongest players in British football history.

Duncan Ferguson and Roy Keane
Related
11 Hardest Players in Football History [Ranked]
15
10
Wayne Rooney
England
Wayne Rooney and Zinedine Zidane
Wayne Rooney burst onto the scene as a teenager with Everton in the Premier League. Even then he showed strength beyond his years to hold players off. This was one quality which helped him become one of the most complete players in British football history.

Although not the tallest in the world, Rooney went toe to toe physically with an array of powerfully built and much bigger defenders. Rooney was, of course, equipped with great skill and vision. Aided by his great strength, he was a strong competitor over the course of a long and very successful career for Manchester United and England.

9
Terry Butcher
England
Terry Butcher
Terry Butcher was very much in the old-school form of what a British defender should be. Big and combative, Butcher once famously played on with a head injury. Starting the game in a white England jersey, by the final whistle it was doused mostly red with his own blood.

The nil-nil draw in Sweden was enough to guarantee England a place at the 1990 World Cup in Italy. He was also part of the famous Ipswich Town side that won the 1981 UEFA Cup. He moved to Glasgow Rangers, where he enjoyed great success, winning three Scottish League titles, using his physical prowess to command the back line.

8
Emile Heskey
England
Emile Heskey celebrates
Emile Heskey was a very well-regarded and hard-working striker. In many ways, he was one of the most disrespected players in football history. This was because his strike rate was deemed low. In a long career, which saw him make 748 appearances, the big striker scored 156 goals throughout his career.

He was highly rated by his strike partners and other teammates for how he would hold the ball up and begin attacks. Steven Gerrard often spoke well of his former Liverpool and England teammate, especially in relation to his unselfish play. After a 3-1 England win over Belarus, Gerrard once said:

“The players appreciate his work-rate, his presence and his size – what he did for Wayne’s first goal was absolutely magic.”

MixCollage-11-Sep-2024-03-51-PM-3159
Known as the gentle giant, John Charles is widely regarded as one of the most versatile players in British football history. This was due to Charles’s ability to play equally well at either centre-half or striker. Although big and strong, he wasn’t a player who needed to throw his weight around. Such was his ability and strength, he didn’t need to foul opponents.

He didn’t need to do so, he was that good. Yet he still showed his strength throughout his career. He was particularly successful in Italy, where he played for Juventus, who he scored more than 100 goals for, not to mention a few Serie A titles.

6
John Terry
England
Chelsea John Terry
John Terry was a hugely successful captain for Chelsea, lifting the Premier League title on five occasions. Such was his stature as a defender, that the great Ronaldinho named Terry as one of the toughest opponents he faced.

He was a towering presence in the air, while being a player who relished a tackle. Just as importantly, he was always there for Chelsea to lead the line in defence. It was his drive and determination, a strength in itself, that led the club to so many honours. In total, he won 15 major honours for the blues, during Chelsea’s most successful era ever.