In the world of football, there are some players who are very loyal to their clubs. They spent decades of their career playing in hundreds of matches only for one club. No wonder then if footballers of this type are greatly admired by fans of the club, in fact, they are often considered legendary players.
In this article, I created a list of 15 greatest one-club football players in the history. In this list, I only included players who joined one club throughout their career. Therefore, I did not include the name of Javier Zanetti or Francisco Gento, although they spent decades playing for Inter Milan and Real Madrid. I also could not include some great names such as Klaus Augenthaler, Bill Foulkes, Nat Lofthouse, Giuseppe Bergomi, Manuel Sanchis and many other players; because in terms of individual skills or team achievements, they are still less than the names in this list.
15. Sepp Maier (Bayern Munich, 1965-1980)
Sepp Maier is a legendary German and Bayern Munich goalkeeper. He helped both teams dominate the football world in the 1970s. Together with remarkable players like Gerd Muller and Franz Beckenbauer, Maier led Bayern Munich win three consecutive Champions Cups. Not only that, Muller also created an outstanding record of 442 consecutive Bundesliga appearances, from 1966 to 1979.
14. Rogério Ceni (Sao Paulo, 1992-present)
Rogerio Ceni is often regarded as one of South America's best goalkeepers. Not only possessing good reflexes and agility, he also made a record as a goalkeeper who scored most goals in the history of football. All the goals that were netted by Rogerio Ceni were created from free-kicks or penalty-kicks. During his career at Sao Paulo, Ceni won three Brazilian League titles, two Copa Libertadores, two Intercontinental Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup. He was also elected twice as Brazilian Footballer of the Year.
13. Sandro Mazzola (Inter Milan, 1961-1977)
Sandro Mazzola is the most prominent players of La Grande Inter, the team that is considered the best generation of Inter Milan. Playing as a striker, Mazzola helped his team obtain four Serie A titles, two League Cups, and two Intercontinental Cups. In addition to prolific in scoring goals, Mazzola also had incredible vision, creativity, and incredible; making him often played as an attacking midfielder.
12. Tony Adams (Arsenal, 1983-2002)
Tony Adams spent 19 years of his career as a professional footballer playing for Arsenal. He is not only known as a strong central defender, but also a player with exceptional leadership qualities. He was the captain of Arsenal during the heyday of the club in the late 1990s. At the Gunners, Adams won three Premier League titles, three FA Cups and one Winners' Cup. He was also named the PFA Young Player of the Year in 1987.
11. Fritz Walter ( FC Kaiserslautern, 1937-1959)
Due to his great contribution for the club, Fritz Walter's name is used as the name of Kaiserslautern's stadium. The legendary striker playing for the club for 22 years, presenting two German league titles. Not only that, he also helped his country win the 1954 World Cup tournament. During his career at Kaiserslautern, Fritz Walter made a very impressive goal scoring record, which is 380 goals in 411 matches.
9. Carles Puyol (Barcelona, 1999-2014)
The figure Carles Puyol at Barcelona's defense played a major role in helping the club win many titles. Indeed, his name was often overlooked because Barcelona has a lot of players with flashy playing styles, such as Messi, Ronaldinho and Iniesta. However, when the enemy starts to launch an attack, all players in the club rely on Puyol.
He is indeed a perfect example of a defender. Puyol was very fast, powerful, but also agile. His outstanding leadership qualities earned him the captain's armband for several years.
7. Francesco Totti (AS Roma, 1992-present)
Although the number of trophies won by Totti is less than most of the players on this list, he cannot simply be ignored whenever we talk about the greatest one-club players in football. The Italian striker made his debut at the age of 16 years, and at the age of 18 years he started to perform regularly as a starter. Because of his loyalty and contribution, Totti was dubbed by fans as "the prince of Rome." Throughout the 22 years of his career at Roma, Totti has won one Serie A title and two Coppa Italia. He was also elected five times as Italian Footballer of the Year and became the top scorer of Serie A in the 2006-07 season.
6. Lev Yashin (Dynamo Moscow, 1949-1971)
Lev Yashin, the name of who is often regarded as the best goalkeeper in football history, was also a very loyal player. He spent 22 years of his career at Dynamo Moscow, winning four Soviet Top League titles and three Soviet Cup trophies. He also noted a special achievement when winning the Ballon d'or in 1963. Throughout his career, Yashin played in over 800 games, made 270 clean sheets, and saved approximately 150 penalty-kicks.
5. Xavi (Barcelona, 1998-2015)
In terms of loyalty, Xavi is the most loyal playmaker in the history of Barcelona. Since his debut in 1998, Xavi has continued to show consistent forms. Slowly but surely, he began to earn a place in the Barcelona first team. During 16-year career at Barca, Xavi has won many titles, including seven La Liga, three Champions League trophies, and two FIFA Club World Cups.
4. Paul Scholes (Manchester United, 1994-2013)
Scholes is one of England midfielders with the most consistent performances. He could attack and defend equally well, could act as a playmaker and often scored important goals. Being raised directly from Manchester United's youth academy under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson, Scholes was one of the biggest keys to the success of Manchester United in the last two decades. He helped his club win many titles, including 11 Premier League titles, three FA Cups and two Champions League trophies.
3. Franco Baresi (AC Milan, 1977-1997)
Franco Baresi was an incredibly talented defender. He possessed small, short posture; but he was very prominent in defending. His strong points were his speed and his ability to predict the opponent's attack. During his career AC Milan, Baresi presented five Serie A titles, three Champions League trophies, and two Intercontinental Cups. Due to his outstanding contribution, Baresi was awarded the title as Milan's Player of the Century in a vote held in 1999.
2. Ryan Giggs (Manchester United, 1990-2014)
Ryan Giggs is a legendary player who gave great contributions to Manchester United. Playing as a left winger, Giggs was widely praised for his perfect dribbling, creativity, and vision. Not only that, he also holds the record as the player with the highest number of assists in the history of Premier League, with a total of 271 assists. Before retiring in 2014, Giggs presented many titles to Manchester United, among them are 13 Premier League titles, four FA Cups, two Champions League trophies, and one FIFA Club World Cup.
1. Paolo Maldini (AC Milan, 1984-2009)
Talking about loyalty, Paolo Maldini is the number one in the history of football. He spent 25 years of his career joining AC Milan. Not only that, he also became the captain of the club for 15 years. In addition to his loyalty and leadership qualities, Maldini was also praised for his defending skills. He was very tough, smart, and possessed perfect abilities in tackling, marking and heading. Maldini gave remarkable contributions in making Milan become one of the biggest clubs in the world. He presented seven Serie A titles, five Champions League trophies, and two Intercontinental Cups for the club.
