The seven best left-backs in the Premier League of all time, including Arsenal legend Ashley Cole and Everton hero Leighton Baines, after 21 years of England’s top-flight.
English football was forever reborn in 1992 when the top teams broke away from the FA and the Football League. They felt the sport needed a radical restructuring that gave their league full control. It has since birthed iconic left-backs like Arsenal product and England hero Cole.
Cole was the best left-back in the world for much of his career and remains one of the finest full-backs to date. While the likes of Everton icon Baines join the Stepney-born star as one of the top seven left-backs to grace the Premier League across the division’s first 21 seasons…
1) Ashley Cole
| Clubs: | Arsenal, Chelsea |
| Appearances: | 385 |
| Goals: | 15 |
| Titles: | 3 – 2001/02, 2003/04 (Arsenal), 2009/10 (Chelsea) |
Iconic Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, described selling Cole to Chelsea in 2006 as the ‘regret of my life’. The left-back was not just one of the best players in his position in Premier League history but one of the best overall. His status as a great of the game was undisputed.
Cole provided Arsenal and later Chelsea the complete package on the left-hand side of their defences for 15 years. He also won two Premier League titles whilst at Highbury – including during the Gunners’ Invincibles campaign – and once more after moving to Stamford Bridge.
He boasted a gifted natural talent and Cole was as effective in the final third as he was in the defensive third of the pitch. The defender knew precisely where he had to be at all times to make an impact. Carlo Ancelotti even felt he was worthy of making the 2010 Ballon d’Or list.
“Everyone can see that Ashley Cole is the best left-back in the world,” Ancelotti said, via The Guardian, in October 2010. “Every year it is difficult for a defender to be on the list for the Ballon d’Or because, usually, it is just for strikers and midfielders.
“He played with extraordinary quality for us last season, both defensively and when scoring goals and making assists. And he can run for much more than 90 minutes. He is a light man, his weight is 65 kilos and his endurance is really fantastic, he is like the great Sebastian Coe.”
2) Leighton Baines
| Clubs: | Wigan Athletic, Everton |
| Appearances: | 420 |
| Goals: | 32 |
| Titles: | 0 |
Baines made his name in first-team football with Wigan Athletic and helped the Latics reach the Premier League in 2005. But, two years later, Everton would sign a future Blues legend in a bargain transfer. His move to Merseyside in August 2007 only set the club back up to £6m.
In return for a modest initial investment of £5m, Everton added one of the most reliable left-backs in Premier League history to their squad. He would even develop into a prolific threat from free-kicks. Baines had an incredible talent to strike a dead-ball with absolute precision.
His skill often drew interest from rival clubs, too, but Baines remained at Goodison Park until retirement called in 2020. The Toffees even called Manchester United’s £12m bid for an ego-free icon ‘insulting’ in August 2013. It followed his second time in the PFA’s Team of the Year.
3) Denis Irwin
| Clubs: | Manchester United, Wolves |
| Appearances: | 328 |
| Goals: | 18 |
| Titles: | 7x – 1992/93, 1993/94, 1995/96, 1996/97, 1998/99, 1999/2000, 2000/01 (Manchester United) |
Denis Irwin emerged from the youth ranks at Leeds United in 1983. Yet he made his name at the Whites’ bitter rivals, Manchester United, after joining from Oldham Athletic in 1990. The left-back left a career the second tier for the top-flight with his move to Old Trafford, as well.
Yet despite never playing a top-flight game before joining Manchester United, Irwin instantly became the Red Devils’ main man. The Irishman would also win seven Premier League titles from 1992 to 2002. He only failed to win a top-flight title in 1994/95, 1997/98 and 2001/02.
Irwin established himself as a firm fixture of Alex Ferguson’s plans at Old Trafford as the left-back gave Manchester United one of the Premier League’s quickest and smartest defenders. Ferguson even chose Irwin as the first name in his dream Manchester United XI during 2021.
“Honestly, I would say Denis Irwin would be the one certainty to get in the team,” Ferguson exclaimed, via The Sun. “I called him an eight out of 10… He was an unbelievable player.”
4) Nigel Winterburn
| Clubs: | Arsenal, West Ham United |
| Appearances: | 352 |
| Goals: | 5 |
| Titles: | 1x 1997/98 (Arsenal) |
Before Cole broke through at Highbury, Arsenal already boasted one of the best left-backs to grace the Premier League in Nigel Winterburn. Such was his immense presence in Wenger’s sides that the Gunners named the defender as their Player of the Year for the 1998/99 term.
Winterburn also won one Premier League title following on from two Division One titles. His commitment to Arsenal could only be matched by his professionalism on the pitch, too. The Gunners also retained one of the English top-flight’s most formidable backlines of his time.
Wenger’s arrival in north London also helped to turn Winterburn into a more attack-minded left-back. He was already a resolute defensive force before the Frenchman took charge after cutting his teeth as a key part of the Crazy Gang at Wimbledon throughout the mid-1980s.
5) Graeme Le Saux
| Clubs: | Chelsea (twice), Blackburn Rovers, Southampton |
| Appearances: | 327 |
| Goals: | 12 |
| Titles: | 1x 1994/95 (Blackburn Rovers) |
Chelsea coaxed Graeme Le Saux to England as a youth while plying their trade outside of the old top-flight. But the birth of the Premier League saw the left-back slip out of favour before moving to Blackburn Rovers. Yet his time at Ewood Park returned their historic 1994/95 title.
Le Saux was a key part of the Blackburn team that realised then-owner Jack Walker’s dream in Lancashire. While his return to form at Ewood Park later helped Le Saux secure a return to Chelsea, where the Jersey native would go on to further his status as a Premier League icon.
The Blues paid Rovers £5m for Le Saux’s return four years on from selling him for £650k. He would more than justify the increased price tag, though, as an early adopter of a marauding role. Le Saux also returned to the PFA’s Team of the Year in 1997/98 after his place in ‘94/95.
6) Stuart Pearce
| Clubs: | Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United, West Ham United |
| Appearances: | 202 |
| Goals: | 20 |
| Titles: | 0 |
Stuart Pearce took the hard route to the top but Psycho, eventually, proved to be one of the best left-backs in Premier League history. The England cult legend came up from non-league football before cutting his teeth at Coventry City. He then became a Nottingham Forest icon.
Pearce joined the Reds in the 1980s and remained loyal to the City Ground outfit when they endured relegation during the inaugural Premier League season in 1992/93. He also became their captain en route to an instant return while delivering a ferocious goal threat for Forest.
His left foot was a fearsome weapon but it was Pearce’s no-nonsense defending that earned the Psycho nickname. The left-back played with a brutal intensity that secured him a place in the PFA’s Team of the Year five times and Forest’s Player of the Year three times in his career.
7) Patrice Evra
| Clubs: | Manchester United, West Ham United |
| Appearances: | 278 |
| Goals: | 7 |
| Titles: | 5x 2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/09, 2010/11, 2012/13 (Manchester United) |
Manchester United finally signed Irwin’s successor when Ferguson bought Patrice Evra from AS Monaco in January 2006 for just £5m. The deal handed the Red Devils a future icon for a cheap sum as the Frenchman proved to be one of the most consistent left-backs of his era.
Evra was nearly the complete package at Manchester United with his leadership skills just as significant as his athleticism. He was also an intelligent operator from either end of the pitch and won five Premier League titles. But Evra’s efforts were often left in the shadow of Cole’s.
Yet his tenacity and technical know-how always ensured Manchester United were not worse off than their rivals in London. Evra also made the PFA’s Team of the Year three times before tasting success with Juventus. He later returned to England with a spell at West Ham United.
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