nice list, many unknown names for me

it's hard to comment of course given how little footage there is

 

Great list.

I think that adding the decade they played and their countries, will help the comparison between players.

For example Woodward could be praised as the best footballer at the 1900s, even being an amateur. Also was highly praised GO.Smith, and looks a huge gap between them and their countryman Bloomer who is a contemporary.

At first look, one of the weakest choices is argentinian Pedro Ochoa, an idol at Racing in the 1920s, but more as a showman, a player for entertainment of the crowd.

 

Thanks for the great comments. I added the countries and years, but obviously I need to learn how to format.

I didn't realize Woodward was in the same echelon as Bloomer. I'm glad to hear Smith is too, I'm actually a huge fan of Smith. Now that you mention it, a large percentage of Ochoa's Wiki biography is devoted to tangos that he inspired rather than his athletic feats.

 

Good one Marcus

 

Some thoughts about bonderline players:

Zizinho was equally great in the 40s and 50s, but more decorated in the 40s (titles and goalscoring seasons).

O.Varela and Ben Barek had their peak years in the 1950s, but were in their thirties by then with a solid career already, so the 1950s seasons could be considered as a plus, IMO. The same could be said about Matthews.

In the case of Bobek, I think his best years were in the 50s with two good WCs and a silver medal at Olympics, also a goalscoring title and three cups at Partizan. Of course he had some honours in the 1940s, but more at local level, while in the 1950s had more international recognition.

 

Great list. I do not miss any name. However, I think that it is almost impossible to rank players before 1950 for 2 basic reasons: there is no footage from them and international competitions did not really exist, at least in Europe (except for the Mitropa Cup and WC). Also, we do not really know when England was surpassed by other countries (Hungary, Argentina...). I guess that before 1920-1930, the best players in the world were british, but it is hard to find data about this.

 

17. Steve Bloomer roud:

To this day an absolute legend at Derby. Almost some sort of mythical figure as there's (probably) no one alive that saw him play. our club anthem is called Steve Bloomers Watching and there's a bronze statue of him next to the home dugout at pride park that looks out on the pitch.

For a player with such a great record, he never won a major club honour as a player, runner up one in the first division and three times in the fa cup with Derby.

The only major trophy he ever won was the copa del rey as manager of Real Union.

 

I like that list :thumbsup:

most of my favs are on it

 

Thanks for the feedback guys. I did mess up with the 1940s/50s cutoff.

 

I think that uruguayans Romano, Gradín, Cea & S.Varela are in the same class.
Gradín arguably with the best peak but short and the others having a better consistency and overall career.

I miss Roberto Porta in the list, the better uruguayan player of his generation and the brain of the Nacional of the "Quinquenio de Oro".

Maybe Porta instead of S.Varela or Ochoa or Bobek.

 

Thanks for all the great comments. I redid the list, trying to take all comments into account. I removed most or all of the 40s/50s borderline players so the focus can be on prewar footballers, replaced those empty slots and added ten honorable mentions (my attempt at the next ten names).

Primary Decade
1. Giuseppe Meazza ITA 1930s
2. José Manuel Moreno ARG 1940s
3. Matthias Sindelar AUS 1930s
4. Leônidas da Silva BRA 1930s
5. Hector Scarone URU 1920s
6. José Leandro Andrade URU 1920s
7. Valentino Mazzola ITA 1940s
8. György Sárosi HUN 1930s
9. Adolfo Pedernera ARG 1940s
10. Imre Schlosser HUN 1910s
11. Jose Nasazzi URU 1920s
12. Arsenio Erico PAR 1930s
13. Josef Bican AUS/CZE 1930s/40s
14. Ricardo Zamora SPA 1920s/30s
15. Steve Bloomer ENG 1890s/1900s
16. Silvio Piola ITA 1930s
17. Dixie Dean ENG 1920s
18. Luis Monti ARG/ITA 1920s/30s
19. József Takács HUN 1920s
20, G.O. Smith ENG 1890s/1900s
21. Vivian Woodward ENG 1900s
22. Pedro Petrone URU 1920s
23. Arthur Friedenreich BRA 1910s
24. Telmo Zarra SPA 1940s
25. Alberto Ohaco ARG 1910s
26. György Orth HUN 1920s
27. Karel Pesek-Kada CZE 1920s
28. Jacinto Quincoces SPA 1930s
29. Raimundo Orsi ARG/ITA 1920/30s
30. Alfréd Schaffer HUN 1910s
31. Antonio Sastre ARG 1930s
32. František Plánička CZE 1930s
33. Manual Seoane ARG 1920s
34. Billy Meredith WAL 1900s
35. Jimmy McGrory SCO 1920s/30s
36. Domingos da Guia BRA 1930s
37. Ernst Wilimowski POL 1930s
38. Franz Binder AUS 1930s
39. Angel Romano URU 1910s
40. José Piendibene URU 1910s
41. Felix Loustau ARG 1940s
42. Kalman Konrad HUN 1910s
43. Isabelino Gradin URU 1910s
44. Pedero Cea URU 1920s
45. Severino Varela URU 1930s
46. Adolfo Baloncieri ITA 1920s
47. Fritz Szepan GER 1930s
48. Alex James ENG 1920s/30s
49. Paul Janes GER 1930s
50. Angel Labruna ARG 1940s
51. Karl Zischek AUS 1930s
52. Carlos Peucelle ARG 1930s
53. Gianpiero Combi ITA 1930s
54. Eddie Hapgood ENG 1930s
55. Bob Crompton ENG 1900s/10s
56. Bernabe Ferreya ARG 1930s
57. Josef Smistik AUS 1930s
58. Alan Morton SCO 1920s
59. Ernest Needham ENG 1900s
60. Anton Schall AUS 1930s
61. Virginio Rosetta ITA 1920s/30s
62. Ademir De Menezes BRA 1940s
63. Ferenc Deak HUN 1940s
64. Nils Middelboe DEN 1910s
65. Raymond Braine BEL 1920s/30s
66. Antonin Puč CZE 1930s
67. Michele Andreolo ITA 1930s
68. Enrique Garcia ARG 1930s
69. Renzo De Vecchi ITA 1910s
70. Gyula Zsengellér HUN 1930s
71. Patsy Gallagher IRE 1910s
72. Josep Samitier SPA 1920s
73. Fernando Peyroteo POR 1940s
74. George Camsell ENG 1920s/30s
75. Hughie Gallagher SCO 1920s
76. Pietro Rava ITA 1940s
77. Ernst Kuzorra GER 1930s
78. Umberto Caligaris ITA 1920s/30s
79. Sven Rydell SWE 1920s
80. René Petit FRA 1910s
81. Neil Franklin ENG 1940s
82. Harry Denis NED 1920s
83. Oldřich Nejedlý CZE 1930s
84. Pichichi SPA 1910s
85. Richard Hofmann GER 1920s/30s
86. Jimmy Quinn SCO 1900s
87. Isidro Lángara SPA 1930s
88. Angelo Schiavio ITA 1920s/30s
89. José María Belauste SPA 1910s
90. Manuel Fleitas Solich PAR 1920s
91. Aleksandar Tirnanić YUG 1930s
92. Atilio García ARG/URU 1940s
93. Roberto Porta URU 1930s/40s
94. Josef Blum AUS 1920s
95. Heinrich Stuhlfauth GER 1920s
96. Agustin Gainza SPA 1940s
97. Istvan Alvar HUN 1920s
98. Paulino Alcántara SPA 1920s
99. Karoly Fogl** HUN 1920s
100. Jan da Natris NED 1920s

Honorable Mentions
Louis Van Hege BEL 1910s
Lorenzo Fernandez URU 1920s
Carlos Sosa ARG 1940s
Alexis Swartenbroeks BEL 1910s/20s
Rudi Hiden AUS 1930s
Domingo Tarasconi ARG 1920s
John Campbell SCO 1890s
Ernst Lehner* GER 1930s
Americo Tesoriere ARG 1920s
David Meiklejohn SCO 1920s

Omitted 40s/50s Players Due to Cut-off:
Di Stefano
Puskas
Matthews
Zizinho
Benbarek
Bobek
O. Varela

Omitted to Excess Tango:
Pedro Ochoa ARG 1920s

Added:
Roberto Porta URU 1930s/40s
Josef Blum AUS 1920s
Heinrich Stuhlfauth GER 1920s
Agustin Gainza SPA 1920s
Istvan Alvar HUN 1920s
Karoly Fogl** HUN 1920s
10 Honorable Mentions

 

1. Giuseppe Meazza ITA 1930s
7. Valentino Mazzola ITA 1940s
16. Silvio Piola ITA 1930s
18. Luis Monti ARG/ITA 1920s/30s
29. Raimundo Orsi ARG/ITA 1920/30s
46. Adolfo Baloncieri ITA 1920s
53. Gianpiero Combi ITA 1930s
61. Virginio Rosetta ITA 1920s/30s
67. Michele Andreolo ITA 1930s
69. Renzo De Vecchi ITA 1910s
76. Pietro Rava ITA 1940s
78. Umberto Caligaris ITA 1920s/30s
88. Angelo Schiavio ITA 1920s/30s

I would add:

Giovanni Ferrari ITA 1930s
Fulvio Bernardini ITA 1920s/30s
Julio Libonatti ARG/ITA 1920/30s

 

I'm going to throw some names:

For Paraguay, the 2nd best after Erico, would be Aurelio Gonzalez, the great captain, leader of the dominant Olimpia, also goalscorer in the Copa America 1929, his prime was cut due to Chaco War.

A similar case, is peruvian Lolo Fernandez, dominant in domestic league and highly rated in Copa America history, goalscorer, champion and best player in CA 1939 and the 3rd alltime goalscorer.

It's important to highlight that in prewar era there weren't superleagues and the gap between 1st, 2nd and 3rd tiers nations weren't so huge, at least since 1920s/1930s, especially when the best players remained in their native leagues.

 

I haven't analysed the entire list and I also don't have a list of my own so I may miss other names , but first that pops into my head is Bobby Walker who is a must.
Charlie Thomson dubbed him "The Best Player in Europe" and his style of football, involving brilliant footwork and sublime passing was known as "Walkerism". Also The Football Encyclopaedia from 1934, edited by Frank Johnston, referred to him simply as "Bobby Walker, the greatest natural footballer who ever played."

 

Lee Wai Tong of South China AA (actually Hong Kong, but representing Rep of China)
Beb Bakhuys of the Netherlands
Puck van Heel of the Netherlands
Gerrit Keizer of the Netherlands
Bernard Voorhoof of Belgium
Heleno de Freitas of Brazil

 

how about Guillermo Stábile?

I agree with Giovanni Ferrari.
Maybe de Vecchi higher

 

A couple of names:

Rinaldo Martino ARG 1940s
Rene Pontoni ARG 1940s


Also, Copa America alltime topscorer, Norberto Mendez, but is a bonderline case.

 

Some South American real contenders in my opinion:

GK Fernando Bello ARG 1930's/40's
GK Sergio Livingstone CHI 1940's
GK Aníbal Paz URU 1940's
GK Américo Tesoriere ARG 1920's
FB José Salomón ARG 1940's
CH Modesto Bria PAR 1940's
CH Segundo Castillo PER 1930's/40's
CH Danilo Alvim BRA 1940's
CH Ernesto Lazzatti ARG 1930's/40's
CH José María Minella ARG 1930's/40's
CH Ángel Perucca ARG 1940's
WH Schubert Gambetta URU 1940's
WH Álvaro Gestido URU 1930's
WH Carlos Sosa ARG 1940's
IF Delfín Benítez Cáceres PAR 1930's
IF Héctor Castro URU 1920's/30's
IF Roberto Cherro ARG 1920's/30's
IF Aníbal Ciocca URU 1930's/40's
IF Vicente de la Mata ARG 1930's/40's
IF Manuel Ferreira ARG 1920's/30's
IF Jair (da Rosa Pinto) BRA 1940's
IF Rinaldo Martino ARG/ITA 1940's
IF Norberto Méndez ARG 1940's
IF Roberto Porta URU 1930's/40's
IF Tim BRA 1930's/40's
IF Francisco Varallo ARG 1930's
OF Mario Boyé ARG 1940's
OF Enrique Guaita ARG/ITA 1930's
OF Manuel Pelegrina ARG 1940's
OF Tesourinha BRA 1940's
CF Jorge Alcalde PER 1930's/40's
CF Teodoro Fernández PER 1930's/40's
CF Aurelio González PAR 1920's/30's
CF Heleno de Freitas BRA 1940's
CF Julio Libonatti ARG/ITA 1920's/30's
CF Herminio Masantonio ARG 1930's
CF René Pontoni ARG 1940's
CF Guillermo Stábile ARG 1920's/30's
CF Raúl Toro CHI 1930's/40's
CF Alejandro Villanueva PER 1920's/30's

 

Chile

1).- Raúl Toro Julio
1).- Sergio Livingstone
3).- David Arellano (I make the mistake of underestimating it when it is significantly a great of football.)
4).- Ulises Poirier

1° José Manuel Moreno >>> 2° Giuseppe Meazza

 

Good post Glavisted

 

Alex James

The British writer Brian Glanville, who is old enough to remember a lot of the players on this list, published his pick of the all-time top 100 players in The Times around the turn of the millennium. He put Alex James of Scotland and Arsenal at number 9 -higher than Meazza or any other player from before WW2.

 

A cardinal sin to leave Tommy Lawton off there, one of England's greatest ever centre forwards.

 

This is a great list, well done. I have done a research and updated wikipedia with Top scorers on many international competitions up to before or early 1950s. I m gonna post a list of accomplished players, starting with the best Nordic forwards:

*Pauli Jørgensen (DEN: 44 goals in 47 games), Boldklubben Frem 1920s, 1930s: all-time top scorer of the Nordic Football Championship with 27 goals

*Jørgen Juve (NOR: 33 goals in 45 games), Lyn and Basel (SWI) 1930s: second all-time top scorer of the Nordic Football Championship with 20 goals

*Sven Rydell (SWE: 49 goals in 43 games), Orgryte 1920s, 1930s: top scorer of the Nordic Football Championship 1924-28 with 15 goals. Bronze medal in Olympics 1924, scoring 5 goals

*Gunnar Nordahl (SWE: 43 goals in 33 games, last game in 1948 due to Milan transfer): Degerfors, Norkoping 1940s: Olympic gold medal in 1948, Olympics 1948 topscorer with 7 goals, 4x Sweden league topscorer in 1940s, 4 Swedish titles and 1937-1947 Nordic Football Championship topscorer with 7 goals.

*Poul Nielsen (DEN: 52 goals in 38 games, still a record), Kjøbenhavns Boldklub, Montréal Canadian National Railways (CAN) 1910s, 1920s: he scored officially 276 goals in 201 for his club, winning 6 titles. Silver medal in Olympics 1912

*Sophus Nielsen (DEN: 16 goals in 20 games), Frem, Holsten Kiel (GER) 1900s, 1910s, 1920s: all-time topscorer in the Olympics with 14 goals, 2 Olympic silver medals in 1908 and 1912.

 

Sophus Nielsen? Oh yeah, the guy who scored 10 goals against France at the 1908 Olympics...

 

I will continue with a few of the Balkan players:

*Iuliu Bodola (ROM: 30 in 44 games, HUN: 4 goals in 13 games), Oradea, Venus, MTK 1930s, 1940s: all-time topscorer of the Balkan Cup with 15 goals

*Aleksandar Živković (YUG: 15 goals in 15 games, CRO: 0 in 1 game), Concordia Zagreb, Racing Paris (FRA), Sochaux (FRA) 1930s: topscorer in the 1932 Balkan Cup

*Zeki Rıza Sporel (TUR: 15 goals in 16 games), Fenerbahce 1910s, 1920s, 1930s: he scored 470 in 352 official games for his club

 

Some of the Central Europe best players:

*Ferenc Deak (HUN: 29 goals in 20 games, last game in 1949), Ferencvaros 1940s: he scored 420 goals in 210 games just in the 1940s, topscorer of the 1947 Balkan Cup (won by Hungary), 3 times Hungarian League topscorer

*István Avar (HUN: 24 goals in 21 games, ROM: 3 in 2 games), Uijpest, Rapid Bucharest 1920s 1930s: he won the 1930 Coupe de Nations and the 1929 Mitropa Cup. 1931-32 Central European International Cup topscorer, played in the 1934 World Cup, 5th all-time Mitropa topscorer

*Imre Schlosser (HUN: 59 goals in 68 games), Ferencvaros, Wiener (AUT), MTK 1900s 1910s 1920s: he scored 417 in 320 league games, 4 goals in 1912 Olympics. 4 times Top scorer in Europe, 7 times topscorer in Hungarian League which he won 13 times!

*József Takács (HUN: 26 goals in 32 games), Vasas, Ferencvaros 1920s, 1930s: he started played for Vasas at the age of 13! Topscorer in 1928 Mitropa Cup (which he also won), 5 times topscorer in Hungarian League and also played in the 1924 Olympics.

*György Sárosi (HUN: 42 goals in 62 games), Ferencvaros 1930s 1940s: 60th European Player of the Century in the IFFHS Century Elections. He won the Hungarian League 5 times, 1938 World Cup runner-up, he won the 1937 Mitropa Cup, he scored 6 goals in World Cups. 2 times Mitropa topscorer, all-time Mitropa topscorer with 50 goals, 2 times Central European International Cup topscorer, all-time Central European International Cup topscorer

*Gyula Zsengellér (HUN: 33 goals in 39 games), Uipest, Roma (ITA), Ancona (ITA), Deportivo Samarios (COL) 1930s 1940s 1950s: 1938 World Cup runner-up, 1939 Mitropa topscorer, 5 times Hungarian League topscorer. He won 4 Hungarian titles and the 1947 Balcan Cup. third all-time Mitropa scorer with 24 goals

*František Svoboda (CZE: 22 in 43 games for Czechoslovakia), Slavia Prague 1930s: he won the 1938 Mitropa Cup, third all-time Central European International Cup topscorer, 1934 World Cup runner-up. 1 time Czechoslovakia League topscorer, 8 Czechoslovakia League titles

*František Planicka (CZE: 73 caps), Slavia Prague 1920s 1930s: in 1999, the IFFHS elected him the sixth best Goalkeeper in Europe and the ninth best in the world. 1934 World Cup runner-up and best goalkeeper, he won the 1932 Mitropa and the Czechoslovakia league 8 times.

*Josef Bican (AUT: 14 goals in 19 games, CZE: 12 in 14, Bohemia: 6 in 2 games), Rapid Wien, Admira Wien, Slavia Prague, Dynamo Prague) 1930s 1940s 1950s: Probably the topscorer of all-times with 1468 goals (possibly more). 1938 Mitropa topscorer (and also won it), 10 times Czechoslovakia league top scorer, 1934 Austrian league topscorer. He won 5 Czechoslovakia titles, 3 Austria league titles and played in the 1934 WC with Austria (4th place).

 

I will give it a go and compare the two greats Meazza and Sindelar according to their achievements. Noted that Sindelar probably deserved to play in the 1934 World Cup final but Italy made it instead of Austria with Benito Musolini watching the game....

*Matthias Sindelar (AUT: 26 goals in 43 games), Austria Wien 1920s 1930s: he won the 1932 Central European International Cup with Austria, the 1933 and 1936 Mitropa Cups with Austria Wien, 1 Austria League and 5 times the Austria Cup. IFFHS ranked him as the world's 22nd best of all time in 1999. Fourth all-time Mitropa Cup topscorer with 24 goals

*Giuseppe Meazza (ITA: 33 goals in 53 games), Inter, Milan, Juventus, Varese, Atalanta 1930s 1940s: IFFHS ranked him as the world's 21nd best of all time in 1999. He was 3 times Serie A topscorer, 3 times Mitropa topscorer, mvp of the 1934 World Cup, won 2 World Cups, 2 Central European International Cup (1930, 1935). Second all-time Mitropa Cup topscorer with 29 goals

 

Here are some great British players:

*Steve Bloomer (ENG: 28 goals in 23 matches), Derby, Middlesboro 1890s 1900s 1910s: he won the British Home Championship 8 times and he is the all-time topscorer with 22 goals. He played in 3 FA Cup finals but lost all of them.

*Hugh Gallacher (SCO: 24 goals in 20 games), Queen of South, Airdreionians, Chelsea (ENG), Newcastle (ENG), Notts County (ENG), Derby (ENG), 1920s 1930s: second all-time topscorer of British Home Championship with 21 goals, he won 1 English title and 1 Scottish cup.

*Robert Hamilton (SCO: 15 in 11 games), Queens Park, Rangers, Fulham (ENG), Hearts, Dundee 1890s 1900s 1910s: he won 4 Scottish titles and 2 Scot Cups. He is fourth all-time topscorer of British Home Championship with 15 goals and won 2 of those trophies

*Vivian Woodward (ENG: 29 in 23 games, ENG Amateurs: 57 in 49 games), Chelmsford, Tottenham, Chelsea 1890, 1900s, 1910s: he won 7 British Home Championships, 2 gold Olympic medals in 1912 and 1908 with Great Britain and 1 Cup with the Spurs. A very decorated player on an international level.

*Billy Meredith (WAL: 11 goals in 48 games), Chirk, Man.City (ENG), Man.Utd (ENG) 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s: he won 1 Welsh Cup, 2 English titles, 2 FA Cups and 2 British Home Championships (1907, 1920) against giants teams like England and Scotland. He retired at the age of 50! A Man.City legend.

*Dixie Dean (ENG: 18 in 16 games), Tranmere, Everton, Notts County 1920s 1930s: 2 English titles, 1 Cup. He played in 2 British Home Championships, he was the topscorer in 1927 tournament. An Everton legend and boyhood supporter.

*Harold Walden (ENG Amateur: 11 in 3 games, 1912 Olympics), Arsenal, Bradford 1900s 1910s. He won the gold medal, one of the best English Amateurs who at the time were on a high level.