It’s often said that there’s a dearth of top-quality centre-backs in modern football, though the nineties was a different era and a time when Premier League defenders prided themselves on the less glamorous side of the game.
The first decade of the rebranded division saw some stellar names thrive at the heart of the defence, players who combined physical and mental strength with an ability to organise a backline and deny even the Premier League‘s leading forwards.
We’ve decided to look back at the defenders to define the decade, here are five of the Premier League’s best centre-backs from the 1990s:
Tony Adams
Amongst the greatest players in Arsenal’s history and the Gunners’ most successful captain of all time, Tony Adams spent his entire career with the north Londoners to establish himself as an iconic figure of the early Premier League.
Adams came through the club’s ranks before forming part of Arsenal’s legendary back four, starring alongside Lee Dixon, Steve Bould and Nigel Winterburn in a side which became renown for their defensive strength.
He became captain of the club aged 21 and would wear the armband for 14 years before his retirement, becoming the only player in English football history to captain title-winning sides in three different decades.
After winning league titles in 1989 and 1991 he starred during the first seasons of the Premier League, Arsenal becoming the first side in history to win the domestic cup double in 1992/93 before lifting the European Cup Winners’ Cup the following season.
Adams battled well-documented addiction and personal problems but bounced back to remain a key figure in the early days of Arsene Wenger’s reign, captaining the side to a domestic double in 1997/98 before repeating the feat four seasons later.
A colossus at his best, Adams thrived in aerial duels and became one of the Premier League’s great captains, featuring 672 times in all competitions for Arsenal and earning 66 caps for England.
Paul McGrath
Paul McGrath’s career is the stuff of legend given his ability to defy all logic and perform at the very highest level, a commanding defensive presence who starred in the early seasons of the Premier League despite crippling knee issues and well-documented personal problems.
McGrath had spent seven seasons with Manchester United before signing for Aston Villa in 1989, where he would play some of the best football of his career in the Midlands, winning the club’s Player of the Season accolade in four consecutive campaigns.
Nicknamed ‘God’ by the adoring Holte End, McGrath was named as the PFA Player of the Season during the Premier League’s inaugural campaign, the centre-back recognised by his fellow peers as the best footballer in the division after helping Villa to a runners-up finish.
McGrath’s success means he is one of just three Irish players – alongside Liam Brady and Roy Keane – to win the award, whilst he was also the first of just three defenders to have won the PFA accolade with only John Terry and Virgil van Dijk since achieving the feat.
The former Republic of Ireland international was a defender ahead of his time and one whose style would perhaps have suited the modern game perfectly, a centre-back with a graceful manner whose athleticism and ability to read the game often kept him a step ahead of the opposition.
Gary Pallister
Gary Pallister had won the prestigious PFA Player of the Year award in the final pre-Premier League season, the defender having become a key figure in a Manchester United side making progress under Sir Alex Ferguson.
As the new dawn was ushered in Pallister was amongst the game’s leading lights at centre-back, starring as the Red Devils were crowned as champions for the first time in 26 years in 1992/93.
Three further league titles and two FA Cups followed as Manchester United began to dominate the decade, whilst Pallister’s performances were recognised with four inclusions in the PFA Team of the Year in just six seasons.
Pallister excelled in partnership with Steve Bruce with the duo providing a foundation on which to build, the former’s lightning pace and ability in possession complemented by the more uncompromising traits of his defensive partner.
Arguably the most accomplished centre-back in the division during the early nineties, Pallister departed Old Trafford as the club’s most decorated player before finishing his career at former side Middlesborough.
Sol Campbell
Campbell would thrive alongside Adams during Arsenal’s domestic double-winning season in 2001/02, but the first decade of the Premier League era saw the England international forge his name on the opposite side of the north London divide.
The defender came through the ranks at Tottenham and became a key figure during a period of much mediocrity for Spurs, the centre-back the shining light of a side which often struggled to compete with the division’s best.
Campbell was a hulking physical presence with speed to match even the quickest of forwards, whilst he possessed tenacity in the challenge and the intelligence to anticipate when danger presented itself.
He established himself as a regular in the England side during the nineties and captained Spurs to League Cup success in 1999, cementing his reputation as one of the most formidable centre-backs in the country.
Interest was unsurprisingly high in the player as he wound his contract down shortly after the turn of the millennium, his 2001 move to Arsenal on a free transfer remaining one of the league’s most controversial changes of allegiance.
Jaap Stam
Jaap Stam may have spent just three seasons at Manchester United and just 18 months as a Premier League player in the 90’s, but it’s enough to earn his inclusion amongst the best centre-backs of the decade.
Stam became the most expensive defender and Dutchman in history when moving to the Premier League from PSV Eindhoven in a £10.8m deal, though that fee soon proved a shrewd investment as he stepped into the centre-back role vacated by the long-serving Pallister.
The Netherlands international was imperious during a debut season that saw the Red Devils make history, winning a Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League treble during an unforgettable season of success.
Further league titles followed in each of the next two seasons as Stam led the backline superbly, the domineering Dutchman combining raw pace with unrivalled strength and exceptional positioning.
Stam’s departure for Lazio remains one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s greatest regrets following a falling out with the player, his relatively short spell in English football perhaps all that’s preventing the centre-back from being recognised amongst the division’s best ever defenders.
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