Steven Gerrard

Steven Gerrard is one of a dwindling band of footballers who have spent their entire careers at one club. He signed professional forms for Liverpool at the age of 17 and has proved an inspirational asset both as player and captain. The high point of the Whiston-born midfielder’s career came in 2005 when he skippered the Reds to a dramatic triumph in the European Champions League final against AC Milan in Istanbul, where they overturned a 3-0 half-time deficit in one of the most remarkable comebacks the competition has seen. He has now collected almost every club medal during his 13 years in the first team, a Premier League title being the only piece of silverware to elude him. In 2001 he was instrumental in Liverpool completing a unique treble of Worthington Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup and was voted as the PFA Player of the Year, an honour which he won again after the Champions League triumph which completed a season in which he scored 23 goals in 53 appearances. He took over the captain’s armband from Sami Hyypia in the 2003-04 season and has also captained England. He played in his first World Cup in 2006 – he was also in the 2010 squad – and was awarded the MBE in the New Year’s honours of 2007. Regarded as the complete box-to-box midfielder, with power, pace and deftness in equal measure, Gerrard is one of only 16 Anfield legends to have scored a century of goals for the club. Injury forced him to miss the start of the 2011-12 campaign.