Beyond just his brilliant use of the bicycle kick, mesmerising fans the world over, Leônidas da Silva remains one of Brazil’s greatest attacking talents
Pioneers
A series celebrating football’s extraordinary roots and 25 of the beautiful game’s earliest heroes, by These Football Times
A staunch advocate of football remaining amateur, Nils Middelboe was one of the world’s best defenders in his time – and a lawyer and banker too
While he would sadly pass away due to illness with little to his name, José Leandro Andrade remains one of South America’s greatest footballers
A footballer well ahead of his time, utilising a short frame to weave between opponents, Hughie Gallacher’s life was a triumphant as it was tragic
It’s remarkable to this that a black pioneer like Andrew Watson, in the 1800s, would encounter less racism that some black players today
Long before a short, shy forward by the name of Messi came from afar, another diminutive figure in Paulino Alcántara blazed a trail in Barcelona
We’ll never know the truth about Sindelar’s death, but he has retained an aura of mystery, eight decades since his passing, that his life deserved
In setting his records at Celtic, some surely unbreakable, manager Willy Maley changed the face of what success meant at Parkhead
Beyond scoring over 1,000 career goals, Arthur Friedenreich’s legacy goes far deeper: he remains revered in Brazil for his role in diversifying football
Banned by the draconian big-wigs at the FA, Dick, Kerr Ladies and their superstar forward Lily Parr would, however, leave an immense legacy
One quote aptly covers the career of Spain’s greatest goalkeeper: “There are only two goalkeepers: Ricardo Zamora on Earth and St Peter in heaven”
“Britain used sports, amongst other methods, in an attempt to control a country. But, with football, they instead succeeded in setting one free”
One of the finest players of his generation, as stated by Bill Shankly, Ivan Broadis would cut his teeth flying in the war before becoming a footballer
Eduardo Galeano described Gradín as “a man who lifted people out of their seats when he erupted with speed, dominating the ball as if he were walking”
No manager on English shores did more to advance the game in the early part of the 20th century than Huddersfield and Arsenal legend Herbert Chapman
Through his staunchly Catholic beliefs, Jules Rimet conceived the idea of a football World Cup that would spread his values of integration
Nobody in the history of Turkish football has done more to further the sport – especially at Galatasaray – as Ali Sami Yen
In the history of English sport, nobody will ever match the unique accomplishments of Reginald Erskine Foster, captained the football and cricket teams