Ranking football's greatest one-club men

Every year at San Mames, the iconic home of Athletic Club in Bilbao, local fans pause to recognise and celebrate players not from their own club, but those who share a unique value with the Basque outfit - loyalty.

Athletic Club - famous for only fielding players born or raised in the region - introduced the One-Club Award in 2015, honouring those who dedicated their entire professional career to a single team.

"We wanted to create an award that recognised most kids growing up dream of playing for one club," explains Dan Parry from the La Liga side's communications department.

"On the other side, we wanted to show despite all the big-money transfers in modern-day football, there are top players all over the world who want to become one-club players.

NewsAngels: One bright spot in a struggling starting rotationThe Los Angeles Angels' starting rotation has not been great to begin the season, but it has received a stellar performance from right-hander Jose Soriano.Open →

"It's an individual award, but it's also an award that celebrates the union between the football team, fans and the player."

Keeping those values in mind, then, this week I'm ranking football's top 10 one-club men - you can have your say below, too.

Spending your entire career with one club is a curious phenomenon - in 20-plus years at the top you're likely to outlast several managers, and how often do the player or club's paths take different trajectories?

It's not solely the player's decision to stay, either - the club has to want them. And you have to forge a strong bond with the fans - from Tony Hibbert to Ledley King, and even aptly named Celtic stalwart Paul McStay, many become cult heroes or club legends.

Athletic Club could field teams of one-club players past and present, but they only give the award to retired players from other clubs.

"We look for players we feel embody the values of their club or fanbase," adds Parry.

"Maybe the player isn't necessarily the big superstar or most talented to have ever come from that club, but generally they tend to be a big fan favourite.

"The fans saw that player as a reflection of themselves on the pitch and quite often the players saw themselves as a reflection of the fan base as well."

To kick things off, it only feels right to include an Athletic star - the only current player on the list embodies the club's values and also has his own remarkable story.

Inaki Williams would not be a legend in Bilbao if it wasn't for the sacrifices made by his parents, who left Ghana in search of a better future while his mother, Maria, was pregnant, crossing part of the Sahara barefoot to settle in northern Spain.

"We had to suffer a lot," Williams told me before helping Athletic to a first Copa del Rey triumph in 40 years. "Thanks to God we are all here together now, living a really good life."

Growing up an Athletic fan, Williams was the first black player to score for the club and helped his brother Nico break through, too.

"Inaki Williams always says, 'my dream is to be able to say I spent my entire career playing for my boyhood club'," adds Parry.

At 31 and with more than 500 appearances for Athletic, including a La Liga record 251 in a row, the forward looks good to deliver on that dream.

• Two brothers, one club and a 40-year wait

There are plenty of worthy shouts for an older generation of stars - Jack Charlton at Leeds United, and Bolton Wanderers' Nat Lofthouse among them - but with the commercialisation and globalisation of modern football making one-club wonders feel increasingly rare, we've not strayed too far into the past.

Apart from, that is, to include Lev Yashin - the Ballon d'Or-winning goalkeeper who spent his entire career between 1950 and 1970 with Dynamo Moscow (he also played ice hockey for them).

Yashin, at number nine, is also the only goalkeeper on this list, although honorable mentions go to 39-year-old Igor Akinfeev - into his 23rd season with CSKA Moscow - and Brazilian Rogerio Ceni, who played more than 1,000 times for Sao Paulo and remarkably scored 129 goals.

• Ranking the 10 most exciting wide men in the world
• Football's great entertainers - ranking the biggest showboaters
• Haaland? Kane? R9? Ranking the best centre-forwards this century

Giuseppe Bergomi sweeps in at eight, making his Inter debut shortly after turning 16 in 1980 and remaining the club's youngest-ever player. Only Javier Zanetti has more appearances than the versatile Italian defender's 519 for the Nerazzurri.

From San Siro to Southampton, where Matthew le Tissier spent his time sauntering around The Dell scoring worldies and tormenting goalkeepers from the penalty spot - Mark Crossley the only man to stop him from 48 attempts.

Le Tissier could have moved on to bigger pastures - Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham among those keen - but then he wouldn't have made this list, or kept Saints in the top flight for so long.

There are players who have stood on the brink of one-clubmanship only to prolong their careers elsewhere - think Thomas Muller at Vancouver, Steven Gerrard in LA, John Terry in the Midlands.

But at number six is someone who committed themselves entirely to Merseyside.

When Jamie Carragher was invited to receive the One-Club Man award at San Mames, he said: "After winning the Champions League, being a one-club man is the biggest achievement of my career."

Despite all their team silverware, players value the prize as a huge honour.

"They think their status as a one-club player is something that's been undersung throughout their careers," says Parry. "One thing that also strikes me is how humble they've been, which perhaps is quite telling considering the values of the award."

Carragher played under six managers during his 16-year career at Anfield, while Carles Puyol - coming it at number five - played under eight at Barcelona, who accepted an offer to sell the defender before he had even made his debut.

Puyol refused to leave, and then won the lot.

"It's rare and a difficult achievement to be a one-club player at any club, not just a top club," explains Parry. "Clubs are constantly pushing to improve and transfer strategies are a huge part of that.

"Carragher and Puyol mentioned they know different managers signed different players to try and replace them. It was a huge challenge they had to overcome.

"Maintaining the level required to play in a top-division football team over a sustained period comes with a lot of pressure and competition."

Tony Adams, at number four, was part of a transition from George Graham's discipline to the progressive approach of Arsene Wenger - captaining Arsenal to league titles in three different decades.

Adams, meanwhile, had to overcome alcoholism - serving four months in prison in 1990 for drink-driving before founding the Sporting Chance Clinic in 2000.

The Romford-born centre-back made 672 appearances in a Gunners shirt - his defining moment striding on to, of all people, Steve Bould's pass to score against Everton and put the icing on Arsenal's title cake in 1998.

Ryan Giggs, at three, is unique in that 940 of his 963 games - and all of his 168 goals - for Manchester United came under one manager, Sir Alex Ferguson.

The Welshman won 13 Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues in a career that spanned 24 seasons and during which he evolved from marauding down the wing to central midfield and eventually the dugout during a brief stint as interim boss.

No-one, however, comes close to the top two.

No name is more synonymous with AC Milan than 'Maldini'. Not just a one-club man, this is a line of succession.

Cesare played more than 400 games and later managed the Rossoneri, his grandson Daniel came through the ranks before moving on.

But Paolo Maldini? A Milan thoroughbred. Making his debut 16 years after being born in the city, he played in black and red until just shy of his 41st birthday.

Winning Scudetti and European Cups in three different decades, making more than 900 appearances, a legend at San Siro and beyond

Yet it's one thing being among the world's greatest defenders at one of Europe's biggest clubs during a golden age of Italian football. That's a natural fit.

It's another to resist the lure of guaranteed success and riches to instead drag your boyhood side to glory.

A seventh-generation Roman, Francesco Totti dreamed of sporting the same carmine red and gold as the heroes plastered across his childhood bedroom wall.

Rejecting advances from Italian giants when he was still an academy kid, turning down an unrelenting Florentino Perez, huge salary and Real Madrid's number 10 shirt after becoming one of the globe's greatest - the die-hard Roma fan grew up to become the club's top goalscorer and record appearance maker.

Totti's Roma career is a love story that peaked with only the club's third-ever Scudetto, and first in 18 years, in 2001. Stadio Olimpico welcomed Totti as a 16-year-old debutant in 1993 and worshipped him until a tearful goodbye aged 40.

"Damned time," Totti professed to his adoring faithful afterwards. A true one-club hero, a worthy number one on this list.

• Follow your club with BBC Sport
• Listen to the latest Football Daily podcast
• Get football news sent straight to your phone

Liverpool tipped to move for surprise manager

Although Alonso’s appointment seems almost inevitable to some, there are certainly other options available to the Reds.

Speaking to TEAMtalk, commentator Jim Proudfoot has now claimed that supporters shouldn’t write off the possibility of Liverpool appointing Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola to replace Slot.

Proudfoot insisted that he doesn’t have the inside track, but that he believes the club will likely continue to back Slot until the end of the season.

If the Reds do move on from the Dutchman, Iraola could be an option.

“Richard Hughes, Liverpool’s technical director, is a massive admirer [of Iraola]. Brought him in at Bournemouth, he’s done nothing at Bournemouth that would mean his stock has dropped in any way.”

Iraola is out of contract on the south coast in the summer, and Proudfoot wouldn’t be surprised if Liverpool show an interest in bringing him to Merseyside.

Since his arrival in the Premier League, the Spaniard has been repeatedly linked with a move to several sides competing in European competition and his good relationship with Richard Hughes could see him rise up Liverpool’s shortlist.

To come close to matching the romance of Rory McIlroy's magical Masters then surely the Green Jacket in 2026 has to go to the man beaten in the play-off 12 months ago.

While McIlroy's relief and joy at finally landing the one major to elude him came pouring out on the 18th green, Justin Rose watched on - wondering what might have been.

"Augusta was painful, but at the same time I was proud at how I played," the 45-year-old Englishman told BBC Sport.

Rose had played some of the best final day golf ever seen at Augusta National; 10 birdies, six of them on an inspired back nine. He came home in 32, birdieing the last for a sparkling 66 to tie the low total of the week at 11 under par.

It was the second time he had suffered play-off heartbreak at the hands of a European Ryder Cup team-mate, having lost to Sergio Garcia in 2017. "I learned a lot from the Sergio play-off and put it into practice, but it wasn't to be," said Rose.

In the field for this week's 90th Masters there will be no player seeking a first Augusta crown with a better pedigree. He would be the second oldest winner after Jack Nicklaus - who 40 years ago extended his own records with a sixth win and 18th major - if the wait for a Green Jacket finally ends this Sunday.

'My game good enough to compete with best'

And why not? Despite his age, Rose remains a top-10 player who statistically played the best golf of anyone in helping Europe to a first away win since 2012 in last year's Ryder Cup.

He beat a top class field and defeated US Open champion JJ Spaun in a play-off in the first of the PGA Tour's end-of-season play-off events in Memphis last August. Then, in February, romped to victory by seven shots at Torrey Pines.

"Getting back in the winners circle in big events on the PGA Tour is testament that my game is still good enough to compete with the best players," Rose said.

"And just knowing that gives me the motivation to continue to work hard and to keep believing in myself."

Rose suffered two missed cuts in the wake of his San Diego victory in February but then performed well to finish in a share of 13th at last month's prestigious Players Championship. Nothing spectacular, but solid golf in a very demanding environment.

And that is textbook Rose. The 2013 US Open champion is tougher than most and despite his longevity still relishes the fight for the biggest titles, the ones that are hardest to win.

"I'm pretty good at gearing up for the weeks I want to play well and I think having that sort of experience to do that," he said.

Leading into the Masters, Rose made a schedule switch, dropping his original plan to play last week's Texas Open to concentrate on readying himself for the demands of Augusta.

"I'd love to find a way to play well every single week," he said. "But if I can find a way to hone in on the weeks that I really want to play well, that would be enough for me to chase down some of the goals I have left in my career."

'Ten birdies on a Sunday at Augusta was seriously amazing'

Having posted runner-up finishes in each of the past two seasons - he was second to Xander Schauffele at the 2024 Open at Royal Troon before falling to McIlroy's play-off birdie in the Masters a year ago - the majors are his priority.

There's an Open at Royal Birkdale in July, the venue where he announced himself by chipping in at the last to finish fourth as a 17-year-old amateur in 1998. But the Masters has extra resonance given his remarkable record there.

He has been runner-up three times, having shared second place with Phil Mickelson behind Jordan Spieth in 2015.

A record five times, including last year, he has held the first-round lead and on nine occasions has led or jointly led the game's most glamorous tournament.

No golfer is owed anything by any venue or any tournament, but Rose is as entitled as anyone to call in some Augusta favours. Last year it was a three over par third round that proved his undoing.

He partnered Bryson DeChambeau, who played himself into the final pairing with McIlroy while Rose went backwards after holding the halfway lead with opening rounds of 65 and 71.

"I actually played way better than Bryson that day, but his short game was great," Rose told me. "He turned a 75 into 69 and I turned 69 into 75.

"It was one of those days when you come off and realise you've given away too many cheap ones. I did live to rue that for sure.

"I had to pick myself up. I had to change my mindset coming into Sunday, reframe everything and not make it about the tournament, just make it about Augusta National.

"I had to remember how special Sunday is there no matter what position you are in. I played with a lot of gratitude on that Sunday which put me in a nice free mindset which obviously led to some great golf."

While McIlroy was travelling on one of golf's most dramatic rollercoaster rides, Rose slotted putt after putt, especially on the inward half. "Ten birdies on a Sunday at Augusta was seriously amazing golf," said Rose.

"Holing that birdie putt on 18 to give myself a chance and then two great swings in the play-off."

He was inches from making birdie in the shootout, unlucky that his ball did not tumble down the slope to the hole-side in the same way as McIlroy's approach managed to do.

"That will provide good memories for me and a positive experience as much as it stings," Rose said.

Ultimately the moment belonged to McIlroy, but Rose won plaudits not just for his golf but his gracious sportsmanship, embracing the victor despite the huge disappointment of yet another near miss.

"People were really kind to me after that," Rose said. "I was just voicing how I felt.

"I had learned a lot from the 2017 play-off. I controlled what I felt like I could control. I made good swings. I executed under the pressure and sometimes you can't make the ball do exactly what you want it to do.

"But you know if you've done a good job or not. So I think because of that I was able to be happy for Rory in the moment. And obviously to witness history, separate yourself from your emotions for a moment, it was a cool arena to be in."

This will be Rose's 21st attempt at Augusta. How fitting it would be this Sunday if he were he to find a way to come of age as a Masters champion.

Enzo Fernandez and Chelsea could yet agree a new contract, according to reports from TeamTalk over the weekend.

If you enjoy Chelsea News coverage and want to see more of it, add us as a preferred source on Google to make us a favourite and see more of our content.

After a big win on Saturday it was a quiet Sunday at Chelsea – but there was some big news around Enzo Fernandez.

TeamTalk published a story from their top transfer man Graeme Bailey which claimed that Chelsea are still willing to hand their wantaway midfielder a new contract despite recent tensions.

Talks have “reached a standstill”, and seemed to break down over the level of wage improvement the Argentine wants. But there’s still plenty of opportunity to get things back on track. Chelsea will be desperate to secure the midfielder’s long term future, not only to keep their £100m asset on the books, but also to show the rest of the squad that this project is going somewhere.

Enzo and Chelsea may have to make uncomfortable compromise

We certainly haven’t ruled out Enzo signing a new deal and staying, and his bridges haven’t been totally burned. A lot will depend on what happens in the summer – if there is a lack of interest from top teams in buying him, he will have to accept that a raise is the best he’ll get.

In other news…

After the win on Saturday, Liam Rosenior praised Cole Palmer’s performance, in particular his work ethic.

Post-game, Rosenior tried to calm things around the trip to Wembley, pointing out that it was just business as usual for Chelsea – or at least should be.

DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL CHELSEA NEWS APP FOR ALL THE LATEST UPDATES – STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE! ON THE APP STORE

Check out the latest edition of Simon Phillips’ SPTC podcast here: