10 Greatest Cult Heroes in Football History [Ranked]

Cult heroes – pretty much every football club have had their share over the years, but what exactly are they? Well, a cult hero could be a great goal-scorer, or a player who hardly ever scores at all, but one trait they all share is that special place in fans’ hearts they all occupy. They can be enigmatic, endearing, or perhaps have qualities as a player, or lack of, that makes them relatable to fans. All of them tend to make an impact in one way or another. So, even though there’s no clear metric in which to measure what constitutes a cult player, here is an attempt at ranking the 10 greatest cult heroes in football history.

Ranking Factors

• Level of Affection – it’s not about being the best player at the club, but it is about how strongly fans feel about them.
• Impact at their clubs – what significance did they have on results or a club’s immediate fortunes?
• Legacy – how are they remembered after their careers or spell at the club they were thought of as a cult hero?

10 Greatest Cult Heroes in Football History [Ranked]
Rank	Player	Club (Nation)	Career as Cult Hero
1.	Divock Origi	Liverpool (Belgium)	2014-2022
2.	Shaun Goater	Man City (Bermudan)	1998-2003
3.	Jan Molby	Liverpool (Danish)	1984-1996
4.	Emile Heskey	Liverpool (English)	2000-2004
5.	Francis Benali	Southampton (English)	1988-2004
6.	Marc Albrighton	Leicester (English)	2014-2014
7.	Tony Hibbert	Everton (English)	1998-2016
8.	Perry Groves	Arsenal (English)	1986-1991
9.	Lee Trundle	Swansea (English)	2003-2007
10.	John de Wolf	Wolves (Dutch)	1994–1996

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10 John De Wolf

Wolves: 1994 to 1996

Looking more like a roadie for rock group Nickelback than a centre-half who won a handful of caps for the Netherlands during the late 1980s and early 1990s, John de Wolf stood out from the crowd. Brought to England by then Wolves manager, the late Graham Taylor, for £600k, de Wolf quickly won fans over at Molineux for his mixture of steel and grace. Not to mention he got a Wolves hat-trick against Port Vale. You could certainly label de Wolf’s time at Wolves as enigmatic. With Taylor sacked at the end of the season, new gaffer Mark McGee wanted his Dutch centre-back to play for the reserves as he made his comeback from injury, but de Wolf was having none of it. After 33 appearances and five goals, de Wolf was off.

Career Highlights
Nation	Netherlands
Notable clubs	Feyenoord & Wolves
Games	343
Goals	21
Honours	Eredivisie (x1), Dutch Cup (x3)

9 Lee Trundle

Swansea City: 2003 to 2007

Despite looking somewhat big-boned and perhaps even slow, only a fool would have taken it lightly against Lee Trundle while he was a player at Swansea City. Blessed with wonderful feet, he was the kind of player one would have assumed would have surely gone on to play at a much higher level, had he been something more of an athlete. But who needs athleticism when Trundle had such sublime skill and a wonderful back catalogue of goals. Free-kicks, Cruyff turns followed by neat finishes, or long-range pile drivers, Trundle thrilled Swansea fans with his flicks and tricks.

Career Highlights
Nation	England
Notable clubs	Swansea & Bristol City
Games	486
Goals	199
Honours	Football League Trophy (x1)

8 Perry Groves

Arsenal: 1986 to 1992

There have been at times much guffawing at the ability of Perry Groves, but he’s done something the current Arsenal squad would love to do – win the English title. Groves did it twice with the Gunners. There’s no denying, he probably wasn’t as talented as some of his teammates at Highbury at the time, like David Rocastle and Michael Thomas, but very few were. In the absence of that kind of ability, Groves was full of running and endeavor and was always able to pop up with a few goals. It was his run at Wembley that created one of Arsenal’s goals in their 1987 League Cup Final win over Liverpool.

Career Highlights
Nation	England
Notable clubs	Swansea & Bristol City
Games	196
Goals	24
Honours	First Division title (x2), League Cup (1)

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7 Tony Hibbert

Everton: 1998 to 2016

Despite playing his entire career in the Premier League, Everton full-back was remarkably un-flashy during his 18 years at Goodison Park. Not one to attempt something as garish as a step over, Hibbert always looked and tended to play like a player from a bygone era, when the ball was there to be leathered forward. That is not to say Hibbert was not an accomplished player who was comfortable on the ball, but it was normal-ness and ever presence that seemed to resonant with Everton fans, as it did managers like David Moyes, who more often than not would pick Hibbert to start matches. Hibbert spent 16 seasons at Everton, never scored a goal and never came close to being discussed for an England call-up, yet also never let the team down. There’s something to be said for consistency.

Career Highlights
Nation	England
Notable clubs	Everton
Games	339
Goals	0
Honours	FA Cup runner-up

6 Marc Albrighton

Leicester City: 2014 to 2024

Although not a superstar, Marc Albrighton will go down in Leicester City history as one of the players to have won the Premier League title and FA Cup. Despite the success, Albrighton never let it go to his head, always putting in a shift in midfield while providing a level of crossing ability that has become undervalued in the modern game. Close friends with Jamie Vardy, Albrighton will be remembered as a Leicester legend after hanging up his boots at the end of last season, following a campaign in which he helped the Foxes seal their return to the Premier League.

Career Highlights
Nation	England
Notable clubs	Aston Villa & Leicester City
Games	464
Goals	35
Honours	Premier League (x1), FA Cup (x1)

5 Francis Benali

Southampton: 1988 to 2004

A scorer of a hat trick for England schoolboys as a then centre-forward, as Benali got older, he got moved further back on the pitch. By the time he was a professional, he was vying for a full-back slot at his hometown club of Southampton. It was there that he fought tooth and nail to keep his place in the team – over the course of 16 years and seven managers, he had to prove himself again and again. Although known as a nice guy off of the field, and far from the biggest, he was notorious for on-pitch aggression – getting his marching orders 11 times in his career. There was just one goal to his name during his time at Saints, with many fans who witnessed it wearing t-shirts to claim they were there on that momentous occasion.

Career Highlights
Nation	England
Notable clubs	Southampton
Games	364
Goals	1
Honours	Full Members Cup runner-up

4 Emile Heskey

England and Various Clubs: 1994 to 2016

Something of a teen sensation when he burst onto the scene with Leicester City and then an England regular under Sven-Goran Eriksson, Emile Heskey went onto be something of a journeyman footballer, as well as something of a cult hero. A centre forward who worked incredibly hard for his team without scoring a stack load of goals, Heskey was big and powerful. He was sometimes mocked by fans of opposing teams for his lack of goal-scoring prowess, but they often chose to ignore his selfless play, bringing others into the gae and doing the all round dirty work. For club and country he forged an impressive partnership with Michael Owen which helped make Liverpool’s boy wonder the 2001 Ballon d’Or winner.

Career Highlights
Nation	England
Notable clubs	Liverpool, Aston Villa & Leicester City
Games	742
Goals	154
Honours	UEFA Cup (x1), FA Cup (x1),League Cup (x2)

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3 Jan Molby

Liverpool: 1984 to 1996

Jan Molby was a fine player. Which is just as well because he certainly wasn’t an athlete – but who needs bread when you have wine. He could be described as an enigmatic force; Molby had a wonderful range of passing and could strike a ball with accuracy and power like few others. Although the big Dane played for one of his era’s most successful sides, he is still very much a cult figure, given the way he’s strolled around the park and delivered some memorable moments in a Liverpool shirt.

Career Highlights
Nation	England
Notable clubs	Liverpool & Ajax
Games	355
Goals	69
Honours	Eridivisie (x1), First Division title (x3), FA Cup (x2)

2 Shaun Goater

Manchester City: 1998 to 2003

‘Feed the goat and he will score’ were the lyrics sung by jubilant Manchester City fans about their Bermudan striker. Goater began life at fierce local rivals Manchester United, but he never broke into the first team there, building his career away from Old Trafford at Rotherham and Bristol City. Prolific in helping City climb out of the third tier, Goater continued banging in the goals by the bagful as they achieved their second successive promotion, giving the striker the opportunity to play in the Premier League, where he scored his hundredth goal for the club against city rivals Manchester United.

Career Highlights
Nation	England
Notable clubs	Manchester City
Games	355
Goals	152
Honours	Double promotion with Manchester City

1 Divock Origi

Liverpool: 2014 to 2022

Rarely a starter, Origi came on off of the bench and delivered in some of the biggest and most important matches and moments of the Jurgen Klopp era at Liverpool. This included the second goal in the 2019 Champions League final which, making the score 2-0versus Spurs, essentially sealed the famous trophy for Liverpool. Then there was the bizarre goal against local rival Everton, when Origi chased what seemed a lost cause after Virgil van Dijk had sliced a cross, but when the ball rebounded off the crossbar, Origi was there to touch in. And perhaps most spectacularly of all, his efforts in that mythic Champions League second leg, when Liverpool overturned a 3-0 first leg against Barcelona, and Origi stroked home that fourth goal to send Liverpool to the final. There were large parts of Origi’s Liverpool career in which he barely made the bench – but when the Reds needed him most, he always seemed to come through for them.

Career Highlights
Nation	Belgium
Notable clubs	Liverpool & AC Milan
Games	360
Goals	68
Honours	Premier League (x1), FA Cup (x1), Champions League (x1)

Stats via Transfermarkt. Correct as of 07/10/24

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