Former Preston North End, Fulham, Stoke City and Hull City stars join Brazilian and Italian legends among the greatest players to have never won a major trophy.
Brazil captain Socrates looks on during a flight during the Copa de Ora tournament held in Uruguay in January 1981
The number of trophies won is often cited as an important factor in deciding the greatness of a player, but it ought to be remembered that Anderson won four Premier League titles whilst Steven Gerrard won none, and Gigi Buffon is still yet to lift the Champions League, whilst Djimi Traore sits happily at home with his winners medal around his neck.
Therefore, you can be a great player without being a successful player. Some players on this list were punished for their loyalty, some were punished by unfair contracts or agents and some were just downright unlucky.
In the interest of clarity, it is worth stating what we mean by ‘major trophy’. Any domestic top flight title, primary domestic cup competition or European trophy such as the European Cup, Champions League or Europa League all count, as do the major international trophies such as the World Cup, European Championships and Copa America. Here are seven of the greatest players to never get their hands on a major trophy:
7. Antonio Di Natale
Antonio Di Natale in action for Udinese
Serie A legend Antonio Di Natale spent his entire career with Empoli and Udinese, barring a trio of loan moves, the forward is best remembered for his time with Udinese, where he is the club’s all-time leading Serie A appearance and goal scoring leader. Di Natale came closest in 2012, when he reached the final of Euro 2012 with Italy, but the Italians lost to Spain. He has reached two Coppa Italia semi-finals and one Europa League quarter-final, but retired in 2016 as a trophy-less two-time Serie A top scorer.
6. Len Shackleton
Former Newcastle United captain Joe Harvey once stated, “Newcastle would never win anything with him [Shackleton] in the team,” and it was true, partly as he departed for Sunderland shortly after those comments were made. A showman, a maverick and an entertainer, Shack – as he was known – became a hero at Roker Park. Renowned for his antics on the pitch, Shackleton won just 5 caps for England and never won a trophy, but those who saw him play consider him an all-time great.
5. Giuseppe Signori
9 Sep 2001: Guiseppe Signori of Bologna looks to take the ball past Moro of Chievo
The second Italian on this list, Giuseppe Signori was a prolific player with a fine technique. He scored 188 goals in 344 games in Serie A, making him one of the top 10 all-time goal scorers in the league, and he achieved that despite often playing as a left winger or second striker. Signori won two trophies, Serie B and the Intertoto Cup, none of which we consider a major trophy, coming closest to that feat when Italy reached a World Cup final in 1994.
4. Johnny Haynes
The first £100 a week footballer, Johnny Haynes spent almost his entire career at Fulham, where he spent 18 years and played just shy of 600 league games. An outstanding player for the Cottagers throughout his career, Haynes was particularly special prior to the injuries he sustained in a car crash in 1962. Described by Pele as the best passer of a ball he’d ever seen, Haynes came closest to winning a trophy in 1958 and 1962, as Fulham reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup twice.
3. Neil Franklin
8th July 1950: England footballer and ex Stoke City centre-half Neil Franklin returning from Bogota, Colombia
Quite possibly the greatest defender to ever don the famous white shirt of England, Neil Franklin represented a new breed of centre-halves, who weren’t merely stoppers or hoofers, he was a commanding centre-half with all the grace and ball-playing abilities of an international inside-forward.
Franklin was undroppable for England and the captain of Stoke City when, in 1950, he turned down England duty for the 1950 World Cup and departed for the rogue league of Colombia. He returned within months, setting a world record fee for a defender when he joined Hull City, but never regained his place in the national team.
2. Socrates
It’s hard to believe but Brazilian great Socrates’ luckless time continued at club level as well as international. A cult hero and icon globally following the 1982 World Cup, in which Brazil were a joy to watch but only finished fifth, Socrates was a footballer of extraordinary intelligence, as well as having a doctorate in medicine off the pitch.
He won state-level and minor trophies in Brazil with Botafogo, Corinthians and Flamengo, but never a major trophy, as a losing finalist at the 1983 Copa America and a losing semi-finalist at the 1979 Copa America.
1. Sir Tom Finney
16th May 1948: Tom Finney scoring England’s fourth goal during a match against Italy in Turin
Sir Tom Finney is the greatest player in history to have never won a major trophy. Not only was Sir Tom one of the best players in Europe at his peak, but he also spent a long time at the top, spending 14 years with Preston North End, 12 of which were spent in the First Division and winning 76 caps over 12 years for England.
A right winger for Preston but a left winger for England due to the great Stanley Matthews, Finney scored 210 goals in 473 games for Preston. Twice named the FWA Footballer of the Year, Finney came closest to glory on three occasions, notably reaching an FA Cup final in 1954 and finishing as First Division runners-up in 1953 and 1958.
Honourable Mentions
A handful of other great players to have never won a major trophy include Matt Le Tissier, Stuart Pearce, George Camsell, Jermain Defoe and Robin Friday.
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