The best British midfielders ever

It’s a good question: who are the best British midfielders ever to grace the pitch?

Well, we’ve had a good go at answering it, picking out the midfield crème de la crème from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – ranging from old-school half-backs to modern-day attacking threats.

So, like a no-nonsense tackle in the middle of the park, let’s get stuck in…

Norman Whiteside was forced to retire due to injury aged only 26, but the 80s wonderkid left quite a mark during his short career.

An attack-minded midfielder who was also hugely effective up front, Whiteside – a two-time FA Cup winner with Manchester United – became the youngest player in World Cup history in 1982, featuring against hosts Spain just 41 days after his 17th birthday.

Proud owner of one of football’s greatest moustaches of the 70s, Terry Yorath played an integral role in Leeds’ 1973/74 First Division title success.

The first Welshman to appear in the European Cup final as Leeds controversially lost to Bayern Munich that same season, Yorath earned the majority of his 59 international caps as captain and also wore the armband for Coventry.

One of the game’s ultimate gentlemen, West Ham legend Trevor Brooking helped his boyhood club to two FA Cup triumphs – the latter, in 1980, while the Hammers were still a Second Division side.

A composed passer adept with both feet, Brooking represented England on 47 occasions, playing at Euro 1980 and the 1982 World Cup.

Right up there with the finest players in Manchester City’s history, Colin Bell was a brilliantly free-scoring midfielder and the standout member of the iconic Bell-Lee-Summerbee trio (completed by Francis Lee and Mike Summerbee).

A First and Second Division champion and FA Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup winner with City, Bell featured at the 1970 World Cup.

An exceptional defensive midfielder who would have hit even greater heights if not for injuries plaguing his career, Owen Hargreaves was named 2006 England Player of the Year.

Having been born in Canada and started out at Bayern Munich, Hargreaves became just the second player to be capped by the Three Lions before playing in English club football – which he later did most notably for Manchester United.

A major trophy winner in England, Italy and Scotland, Aaron Ramsey starred prominently in Wales’ historic run to the semi-finals of Euro 2016 – where he finished as leading assist provider.

Versatile enough to operate as a box-to-box midfielder or on either flank, the two-time Arsenal Player of the Season also represented his nation at the 2022 World Cup – their first in 64 years.

Among the top midfielders of the Premier League’s first decade, Paul Ince made a major contribution to Manchester United’s first two title victories under Alex Ferguson.

Known for his indefatigable work rate in the middle of the park, Ince – who later turned out for Inter and Liverpool, among others – won 53 caps for England and was the first black player to captain the Three Lions.

A league champion on both sides of the border, with Hearts then Spurs, Dave Mackay was among the toughest midfielders of the 50s and 60s.

Once described by the great Goerge Best as “certainly the bravest” opponent he had ever faced, Mackay won 26 caps for Scotland and featured in their 1962/63 British Home Championship triumph.

Scorer of the goal which gave England the lead for the first time in the 1966 World Cup final, Martin Peters was a wonderfully well-rounded midfielder and a Three Lions regular for the best part of a decade.

A Cup Winners’ Cup winner with West Ham – where he played in every position, including goalkeeper on one occasion – Peters went on to help Tottenham to League Cup and UEFA Cup glory.

Capped 84 times by his country between 1976 and 1986, Ray Wilkins calmly kept things ticking along at the base of midfield, helping the Three Lions to the

Having begun his career at Chelsea, Wilkins went on to win major trophies with Manchester United and Rangers – either side of stints in Italy and France with Milan and PSG respectively.

Voted 1989/90 PFA Players’ Player of the Year after his first of successive 20-goal campaigns for Aston Villa, David Platt was among England’s biggest stars of his era.

His impressive performances en route to the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup earned him a move to host nation Italy – where he won the UEFA Cup with Juventus and Coppa Italia with Sampdoria, before returning home to help Arsenal to the 1997/98 double.

An aggressive and technically gifted right-sided midfielder, Gordon Strachan was still playing at the highest level aged 40.

A key member of the Aberdeen team who beat Real Madrid to win the 1982/83 Cup Winners’ Cup under Alex Ferguson, the 50-cap Scotland international lifted the FA Cup at Manchester United and starred as Leeds claimed the last English title of the pre-Premier League era.

Playmaking, goalscoring ‘Maestro’ Johnny Haynes is widely regarded as Fulham’s best player ever and was the first footballer to earn £100 a week.

In 1961, he placed third in the voting for the Ballon d’Or and was expected to be England’s talisman at the 1966 World Cup – only to break both feet in a 1962 road accident and never add to his 56 caps.

The youngest member of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning side at 21, Alan Ball was an offensively minded and immensely committed operator in the middle of the park.

He scored more than 200 goals across a career which included notable spells with Everton – where he won the title in 1969/70 – and Arsenal, moving between the two for a British-record £220,000 in 1971.

One of the very best midfield destroyers of his day, Nobby Stiles got his hands on the biggest honours with club and country.

Crucial to England’s 1966 World Cup success – which he celebrated by doing that dance on the Wembley turf – Stiles spent the vast majority of his career with hometown club Manchester United, starring as they became the first English side to win the European Cup in 1968.

Pep Guardiola called Michael Carrick “one of the best holding midfielders I’ve ever seen” – yet the former Manchester United skipper goes down as one of the most underrated Premier League players of all time.

His relative lack of international caps probably didn’t help – he was a touch unfortunate that England were so stacked with top midfield talent – but Carrick was a world-class metronomic presence in the middle of the park.

Jude Bellingham has shown more than enough in his short career to date to give us absolute confidence in ranking him so highly here.

A generational talent capable of doing absolutely everything you’d want a midfielder to do, the former Birmingham City youngster was an England mainstay by 18 and had won his first Champions League with Real Madrid by 20.

Teammate Bobby Charlton called Duncan Edwards’ death as a result of injuries sustained in the Munich air disaster, aged just 21, “the biggest tragedy ever to happen to Manchester United and English football”.

An astonishingly talented left-half (a defensive midfielder in modern money), Edwards would surely have been at the forefront of his nation’s 1966 World Cup triumph had he survived.

“The game is about glory,” Danny Blanchflower famously said – and he would know, leading Tottenham to the 1960/61 double as skipper and retaining the FA Cup the following season.

Capped 56 times by Northern Ireland, the tempo-setting right-half tasted further success with Spurs in 1963, captaining them to the Cup Winners’ Cup – their first European trophy – by way of a 5-1 thrashing of Atletico Madrid in the final.

Manchester United and England’s ‘Captain Marvel’ for much of the 80s, Bryan Robson was a firm fan favourite at club and international level alike.

A complete box-to-box midfielder with a knack for finding the net – he did so more than 150 times throughout his career – Robson made six PFA First Division Teams of the Year and won the Premier League title, FA Cup, League Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup at United.

Boasting skill and creativity in abundance, Glenn Hoddle was an absolute joy to watch, delighting Tottenham and England supporters alike.

Sometimes regarded as a more ‘continental’ type of midfielder, Hoddle played an important role in Monaco’s 1987/88 Ligue 1 title triumph – having previously won two FA Cups and a UEFA Cup with Spurs.

Another enormously entertaining Tottenham and England star, Chris Waddle established himself among the finest attacking midfield talents in Europe towards the end of the 80s.

After four years at Spurs and helping England to the 1986 World Cup quarter-finals, the mullet-sporting maestro moved on to Marseille and starred in three consecutive title-winning seasons, before scooping 1992/93 FWA Footballer of the Year at Sheffield Wednesday.

Mercurial but magical, Paul Gascoigne produced numerous special moments for his country during the 90s.

At the heart of England’s runs to the last four of the 1990 World Cup and Euro 96, Gazza was once dubbed by TV legend Terry Wogan as “probably the most popular man in Britain today” (well, maybe not in Scotland after scoring that goal (pictured) against them at the aforementioned Euros…).

Captain of both Liverpool and the Scottish national team, Graeme Souness was one of the finest midfielders of the 70s and 80s.

A serial trophy winner at Anfield, Souness was a classic no-nonsense tackler with a decent eye for goal, finishing as joint top scorer in the 1980/81 European Cup as he won the competition for the second of three times with the Reds.

Silky and efficient in equal measure, Jim Baxter was one of Scotland’s very best players of the mid-20th century, representing his nation 34 times overall.

A three-time Scottish champion with Rangers, the talismanic left-half – who had a memorable spell south of the border at Sunderland – earned a nomination for the 1965 Ballon d’Or.

Set-piece specialist extraordinaire and very much the face of English football around the turn of the 21st century, David Beckham is unquestionably one of the greats.

An important member of Manchester United’s 1998/99 treble-winning side, Becks captained his country at two World Cups and ended his Premier League career with a record 18 free-kick goals in the competition.

Revered at Leeds – where his numerous honours included two top-flight titles – Billy Bremner was a notorious midfield hardman of tremendous technical ability, complementing pinpoint passing accuracy with elite-level tackling.

Winner of the 1970 FWA Footballer of the Year award, the 54-cap Scotland international wore the captain’s armband at the 1974 World Cup.

Were he playing today, a time largely devoid of 4-4-2s, Ryan Giggs might be classed as a forward – but he makes this list as one of Britain’s finest midfielders, because that’s what he was for most of his career.

A traditional left-sided midfielder who established himself among the world’s best at his peak and later excelled centrally, the 64-cap Wales international won it all with Manchester United – including a record 13 Premier League titles.

Dubbed the ‘Ginger Pele’ by his adoring Old Trafford public, Paul Scholes graduated from Manchester United’s famed Class of 92 and went on to become of the very best midfielders in world football.

A playmaker of supreme ability whether deployed in a deep or more advanced role, the 1998/99 treble winner loved few things more than a goal from outside the box – as he proved on countless occasions throughout his long and glorious Premier League career.

You’d put him in the bracket of box-to-box midfielder, but Frank Lampard placed particular emphasis on one box: that of the opposition.

Finding the net almost 300 times for club and country in all, the Chelsea and England great – who won it all with the Blues – enjoyed five consecutive campaigns of 20+ goals between 2005/06 and 2009/10 and once scored four in a game.

Liverpool’s extraordinarily influential 2004/05 Champions League-winning skipper, Steven Gerrard was one of his club and country’s main men for well over a decade.

An undeniably world-class box-to-box midfielder who scored more than 200 career goals, the passion with which he played the game made him as eminently watchable as his amazing all-round ability.

England’s greatest-ever player and one of the very best on the planet in his prime, Bobby Charlton regularly ran the show from his customary attacking midfield role.

At the forefront of his nation’s 1966 World Cup victory – after which he was bestowed with the ultimate individual honour of the Ballon d’Or – Charlton amassed 249 goals across 17 seasons at Manchester United, winning all of the biggest trophies and becoming something more akin to a god than a ‘mere’ legend.