As it’s known worldwide, football is probably the world’s most popular team sport, and its players usually develop large fan followings. Professional football careers only last for around eight years, with the average age of retirement being 35 years old. Some players far exceeded the average career length and kept playing well into their 40s. Some are still active and continue being the oldest premier league player ever for many years.
Edwin van der Sar
The legendary goalkeeper Edwin Var Der Sar started his career in the golden generation of Ajax Amsterdam, which won the Uefa Champions League in 1995. Van Der Sar is Nederland’s most capped player in history, having successful spells in Juventus and Fulham before joining the Red Devils in the early years of the twenty-first century. Van Der Sar experienced the most successful years of his career while being in Old Trafford and was also the key player for Manchester United in the final years under Alex Ferguson.
He won many domestic titles and reached the UEFA Champions League finals twice (2009 and 2011), both of which they lost to Barcelona. Despite those two losses, he had his greatest success in football in 2008 as Manchester United won the UCL after beating Chelsea in the penalty shoot-out.
In 2012, he decided to retire from football. He played his last game for Manchester United. He later came out of retirement for a brief period and famously saved a crucial penalty in his first game.
Teddy Sheringham
Though Teddy Sheringham played professional football at the highest level for 24 years, he is most famous for scoring his injury-time equalizer against Bayern Munchen in the 1999 UCL final. Sheringham spent his entire career in football, mostly the premier league. He played a total of 755 games for eight clubs, scoring 288 goals. He scored Nottingham Forest‘s first goal in premier league history. Sheringham is one of the oldest Premier League player in the history of football.
He played his last game in December 2006 in west ham 1-0 defeat against Manchester City. He scored 361 goals in 926 games for ten clubs in four different divisions of football throughout his career. His most successful years were from 1998 to 2002, in which he won three premier league and one UEFA Champions League title.
Jens Lehmann
Jens Lehmann spent most of his career years outside the premier league, yet his most successful years were from 2003 to 2008, in which he won one historic premier league title and was runners-up in the 2005-2006 champion league. Arsenal lost by 2-1 after Lehmann was sent off in the first half time. He was one of Arsenal players, which won the premier league without a single defeat in the 2003-2004 season.
Lehmann played a total of 145 games in the premier league, all of which he played for Arsenal. He left Arsenal in 2008 and came back three years later but for only six weeks. He played one game for his old club during this time, but that game was a 3-1 win against Blackpool, which was enough for Jens Lehmann to write his name in the history of football as one of the oldest Premier League players.
Kevin Poole
Kevin Poole has played 431 games for nine football clubs, including Aston Villa, Middlesborough, Leicester City, and Birmingham City in the premier league. He began his career in 1981 for Aston Villa. He later became one of the oldest Premier League players in football history to join a professional football club at the age of 50.
He had his most successful years at Leicester City, where he played 161 times and helped the foxes win the Football League Cup in the 1996-1997 season. He played his last game in the premier league for Bolton.
Neville Southall
Neville Southall began his career at Bury in 1980, but he moved to Everton after one year. He spent seventeen years at the Goodison Park and won almost every possible trophy along the way. He signed for 14 different clubs only in the final four years of his career but didn’t play a single game for 9 of them. He is the record holder in the history of Everton for most league appearances (578), most FA Cup appearances (70), most League Cup appearances (65), and most clean sheets (269). He played a total of 900 games in his career, and his last Premier League game was for Bradford City in 2000, which was enough for him to be listed amongst one of the oldest Premier League players in the history of football.
Brad Friedel
Initially, Bran Friedel had a difficult spell at Liverpool, but he later moved to Blackburn and established himself as one of the premier league’s best players. Friedel continued to be in his form in Aston villa and Tottenham and became the only player in EPL’s history, having 310 consecutive appearances.
He played 557 games in his career, out of which 450 of in the Premier League. In 2012, he broke an 80-years-old Record and became the oldest premier league player in Tottenham’s history to be in a game. Nicknamed “Human Wall” by his fans, Friedel played his last game for Tottenham in 2013.
Steve Ogrizovic
Steve Ogrizovic played a total of 611 games in his 23-years career. Five hundred seven of which he played in the 16 years that he spent at Coventry City. In 1977, he played 16 games for Chesterfield, following which he joined Liverpool later the same year. He struggled to establish himself at Anfield. After two years at Shrewsbury Town, he moved to Coventry City, where he had his most successful years.
In 1987, he won the FA Cup with the Sky Blues and somehow even managed to score a goal from open play. In October 1986, he scored an equalizer in the 2-2 draw with Sheffield. His last game in May 2000 was also against Sheffield. He was one of the few football players who also played another sport at the professional level. He played few games of cricket for clubs like Shropshire and Minor Counties.
Conclusion
Though football nowadays is considered a sport more for the youth, there have been players who kept shining on the field even in the half age of their lives, being the oldest premier league players. While it’s obvious for youth to be excited, it’s rather pleasing to see aging legends continue to perform in a young man‘s game in the field.
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