The Premier League's streets will certainly never forget this half-century of cult heroes, who we still adore almost two decades on
20. Laurent Robert
Laurent Robert scores against Tottenham (Image credit: Getty Images)
Few mid-2000s Premier League stars can boast a more entertaining goal highlight reel than Newcastle star Laurent Robert.
The French winger had a wand of a left foot, capable of pace and power simultaneously. Robert might struggle in today’s modern game - he wasn’t a fan of defending from the front - but what a player he was at the time.
Craig Bellamy scores for Newcastle United (Image credit: Getty Images)
Bobby Robson, manager of probably the best period of Craig Bellamy’s career, described him as a “great player wrapped round an unusual and volatile character.”
It summed up the Wales manager perfectly. Often Bellamy’s off-the-field incidents overshadowed just how good he was on it. If anything he remains underrated to this day.
During his years at Newcastle and Blackburn in particular, Bellamy had frighteningly quick pace and would terrify defenders. His finishing and energy made him one of the best strikers in the league for a number of years.
18. Steed Malbranque
Steed Malbranque in action for Fulham (Image credit: Alamy)
Sometimes you can be well remembered as a scorer of great goals, rather than a great scorer of goals. This is exactly why so many football fans love Steed Malbranque, who was very much the former.
The French midfielder never got more than ten a season in England, and only once scored more than six. But those goals were often works of art, precise long-range strikes that most mere mortals could only dream of.
17. Bobby Zamora
Bobby Zamora in action for Spurs (Image credit: Getty Images)
A legend across the Premier League and EFL, Bobby Zamora’s career took off upon arriving at West Ham in 2004. The striker made 130 appearances for the Hammers over four seasons at Upton Park offering a consistent stream of goals on the way to the infamous 2005 FA Cup final defeat against Liverpool.
His form helped to facilitate a move across London to Fulham in 2008 as he led the line on the way to the UEFA Cup final alongside club heroes Zoltan Gera and Clint Dempsey, finishing the campaign as the club’s top goalscorer. He later established himself as a Queens Park Rangers hero, helping them back into the big time with a play-off final winner in 2014 before rounding off a remarkable career with one final season back with Brighton in 2016.
Rarely prolific, Zamora’s knack for scoring big goals in big moments has granted him hero status at a number of clubs as well as respect across England’s top flight.
16. Niko Kranjcar
Niko Kranjcar in action for Portsmouth (Image credit: Alamy)
Niko Kranjcar is one-half of arguably the most famous manager-player relationship of the 2000s due to his close ties with Harry Redknapp. The midfielder played under Redknapp at Portsmouth, Tottenham and Queens Park Rangers.
A technical wizard with an eye for the spectacular, Kranjcar lit up the Premier League with his remarkable goal catalogue, helping a struggling Pompey to FA Cup success in 2008 before following Redknapp to White Hart Lane. Despite an initial bright start, the Croatian eventually found minutes difficult to come by, departing for Dinamo Zagreb in 2012 before returning to Redknapp’s side at QPR a year later.
15. Juninho
Juninho while at Boro (Image credit: Getty Images)
A diminutive Brazilian arriving on Teeside was always certain to cause excitement amongst Middlesbrough as Juninho’s move from Sao Paolo was announced in 1995. Deployed as an attacking midfielder, Junionho’s influence helped Boro to a League Cup and FA Cup final in 1997, although relegation saw him depart for Atletico Madrid in 1998.
However, come the turn of the millennium, the fan favourite made an emotional return, initially on loan before re-signing permanently. His dazzling performances returned almost immediately, re-establishing himself as one of the most exciting players in the country on the way to Middlesbrough’s run to the 2004 League Cup title, the club’s only major honour so far. He was voted the club’s greatest-ever player by fans and remains a legend in Teeside to this day.
14. Mark Viduka
🇦🇺 Mark Viduka x Stereophonics#Barclaysmen pic.twitter.com/7rJRNFHuWaSeptember 10, 2024
A journeyman of the highest order, Mark Viduka’s Premier League career spans across nine years and three massive clubs. The Australian joined Leeds in 2000 from Celtic and hit the ground running immediately, netting 22 goals in each of his first two campaigns at Elland Road as the club surged to a top-four finish before financial issues sent them spiralling down the divisions.
Viduka was the marquee signing for a Middlesbrough side preparing for UEFA Cup action in 2004, joining for £4.5 million. His remarkable form continued as he quickly became a fan favourite during his three-year stay at the Riverside before departing on a free transfer to Newcastle to spend the final two years of his career.
The complete striker, Viduka’s 92 Premier League goals have cemented his place as one of the league’s greatest-ever strikers.
13. Tim Cahill
Tim Cahill x Editors#Barclaysmen pic.twitter.com/58gGro4m5qSeptember 9, 2024
Undoubtedly one of Everton’s greatest players of the Premier League era, Tim Cahill actually began his career in England at Millwall in the second division, spending six years in London before departing to Merseyside.
The Australian striker built a reputation as one of the most deadly players in the air across his eight years in the Premier League, despite his five-foot-ten frame as the Blue side of Liverpool enjoyed a consistent run of European finishes under David Moyes.
A key part of the side which reached the 2009 FA Cup final, Cahill made 226 appearances for the Toffees before departing for New York in 2012, leaving behind a lasting legacy at Goodison Park, with his trademark boxing celebration leaving corner flags worldwide in danger to this day.
The Senegalese striker partners that sent shivers down Premier League defences, Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse were once the most formidable duo in the country for a period of time. Born in 2012, the partnership exploded with Cisse’s remarkable form upon arriving at Newcastle in the January window, scoring 13 Premier League goals in just half a season.
A perfect mix of pace, power and immaculate finishing, the duo combined to fire Newcastle to a fifth-placed finish that season, featuring wins away to Chelsea and at home to Everton, with the Stamford Bridge trip resulting in Cisse scoring one of the league’s greatest-ever goals.
Demba Ba would go on to join Chelsea just 12 months after Cisse’s arrival, with neither player able to hit the same heights again, yet no one will ever forget the year they spent on top of the world in Tyneside.
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For more than a decade Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor, with stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others. He is the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team.
