Your club's greatest ever player REVEALED: Fulham's generational pass master, Leicester's title-winning talisman... and Liverpool's knight who could 'lose his marker in a phone box' as Mail Sport readers have their say

Tens of thousands of Mail Sport readers have voted over the summer to choose the greatest ever player at every current Premier League club.

Thank you to everyone who participated either through our online poll or by email.

With the 2024-25 top-flight season beginning on Friday, August 16, we are revealing all the winners this week.

Here are your selections for Fulham, Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Liverpool. 

Fulham

1. Johnny Haynes 45.4 per cent 

2. Clint Dempsey 15.6 per cent 

3. Gordon Davies 8.3 per cent

WINNER: JOHNNY HAYNES (1952-70) Games 658, Goals 158 

Despite Fulham boasting a World Cup winner and European finalists, the runaway winner was Johnny Haynes, the greatest midfield passer of his generation and the first player to earn £100-a-week after the abolition of the maximum wage.

Haynes served Fulham for 18 years, establishing them as a First Division club in the 1960s, becoming an England regular and helping the club reach two FA Cup semi-finals.

Any current visitor to Craven Cottage will be fully aware of his importance. There is a stand named after him – and a statue outside the picturesque ground.

Haynes hailed from north London, natural Arsenal and Tottenham territory, but thrived in the west with Fulham and won the first of his 56 England caps in 1954, less than two years after making his club debut.

A major trophy proved elusive – his Fulham team beaten in an FA Cup semi-final replay by Manchester United in 1958 when Sir Matt Busby’s team were riding a national wave of emotion following the Munich air disaster.

When football’s maximum wage of £20-a-week was abolished in 1961, Fulham’s showbiz chairman Tommy Trinder moved fast to offer multiply Haynes’ salary by five times, aware that clubs in Italy wanted to sign him.

His former team-mate Sir Bobby Robson said of Haynes: ‘He was a wonderful passer of the ball. I've seen a lot of great players but in that sense he was unsurpassed.’

Mail Sport voter Inside the gates from Frinton-on-Sea wrote: ‘Johnny Haynes a clear winner. Nobody else is even close.’

Texan Clint Dempsey represented Roy Hodgson’s 2010 Europa League finalists by finishing runner-up to Haynes. In a close battle for third, club record scorer Gordon Davies pipped George Cohen, one of England’s heroes of ’66.

Ipswich Town 

1. John Wark 53.4 per cent 

2. Arnold Muhren 18.6 per cent

3. Kevin Beattie 6.3 per cent

WINNER: JOHN WARK (1975-84 & 88-90 & 91-97) Games 634, Goals 181

With three spells at Ipswich spanning the great Sir Bobby Robson era to the 1990s Premier League, John Wark was a landslide winner among Tractor Boys fans, collecting more than half the votes.

The Scot’s first stint at Portman Road saw him win the FA Cup and UEFA Cup. He scored 14 goals in the club’s successful European campaign in 1980/81, part of an overall tally of 36 for the season despite playing as the team’s deepest-lying midfielder.

Wark also famously appeared in the film Escape to Victory alongside Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine and Pele though he was disappointed to discover at the Premiere that his line had been dubbed in case American audiences wouldn’t understand his accent.

Also part of Scotland’s 1982 World Cup side, Wark had an uncanny ability to arrive late in the box to grab goals and was an expert penalty-taker.

Though he left Ipswich for Liverpool in 1984 a couple of months before the Merseysiders won a fourth European Cup in eight seasons, he returned to Suffolk twice more later in his career, further establishing his hero’s status.

Ipswich also came close to winning the championship and FA Cup in 1981 with Wark voted PFA Player of the Season.

Blues fans across the world adore Warky with Mail Sport voter Java Joe from Hamilton in Canada putting it simply: ‘Johnny Wark. All day.’

Leicester City 

1. Jamie Vardy 34.0 per cent

2. Gordon Banks 31.4 per cent

3. Gary Lineker 8.8 per cent

WINNER: JAMIE VARDY (2012- ) Games 464, Goals 194 

Jamie Vardy is having a party after collecting more votes than global legends Gordon Banks and Gary Lineker to be your choice as Leicester’s greatest player.

The striker’s fairytale journey from non-league to sensational Premier League champion in 2016 captured the public imagination and eight years later he’s still part of the Foxes fabric and will be important to new manager Steve Cooper as they return to the top flight this season.

He signed a new contract this summer saying: ‘Age is just a number. My legs feel fine so that’s why I carry on.’

Vardy came to symbolise Leicester’s historic title win. His remarkable appetite to run and chase every ball was perfect for Claudio Ranieri’s system and he scored in 11 consecutive games as they became champions.

Now 37, he’s become far more than one-season wonder however. He’s twice helped Leicester win promotion, was part of their first FA Cup success and played in the Champions League. He also won the Premier League Golden Boot in 2020.

Vardy voter Wolfman80 from Cambridge said: ‘The greatest achievements with the club, and for that reason has to be the greatest for most of us.’

City’s rich history was well-represented in the poll. Gordon Banks, who won the 1966 World Cup with England whilst at Filbert Street, ran Vardy close and Gary Lineker third, beginning his illustrious career with his hometown club.

Liverpool  

1. Kenny Dalglish 39.4 per cent 

2. Steven Gerrard 16.7 per cent 

3. Graeme Souness 8.3 per cent

WINNER: KENNY DALGLISH (1977-90) Games 515, Goals 172 

King Kenny was signed to replace European Cup-winning superstar Kevin Keegan in 1977 and did the impossible by outstripping even Keegan’s achievements by a fair distance.

In addition to the vast amounts of goals, assists and trophies, the dignified and compassionate way Dalglish handled the aftermath of the Hillsborough tragedy as player-manager saw him become much more than just a footballer to the club and city.

He has been part of the families fight for justice ever since but older fans will also remember him as a world-class player whose vision and skill saw him statistically contribute seven more assists than he did goals.

Now knighted to become Sir Kenny, he ended his debut season by scoring the winner in the European Cup final against Bruges at Wembley.

He went on to win two more European Cups and in 1986 having also been appointed manager, scored the goal that won the championship at Chelsea – the first half of Liverpool’s first and so far only League and FA Cup Double.

When the Kenny Dalglish Stand was unveiled at Anfield in 2017, Champions League hero Steven Gerrard – a who came second in the poll – said: ‘Kenny Dalglish is a hero to me and my family, a role model who I have always looked up to and tried to follow.’

On his pure footballing ability, Mike from Whitwell, Derbyshire summed it up best, messaging us: ‘He could lose his marker in a phone box.’

Gerrard was a worthy runner-up winning Liverpool trophies almost single-handed in the Noughties. Dalglish’s 1980s tea-mates had a strong battle for third with Graeme Souness narrowly edging out Ian Rush and Alan Hansen.