The term “hall of famer” is common in US sports, with the National Baseball Hall of Fame being the oldest, dating back to 1936. The phrase is used in various songs, and there is even a film from 2012, Hall of Fame. It has taken a long time, but the concept reached British shores eventually and in 2020, the idea of having a Premier League Hall of Fame was announced.
2021 saw the first inductees to what the official Premier League website calls “the home of the greats” and “a place for celebration, admiration and nostalgia”. We now have a good number of Premier League legends who can claim to be Hall of Famers, and the full list really does read like a who’s who of English football in the modern era.
To be eligible for Premier League Hall of Fame (HoF) recognition, a player must have made at least 250 appearances in the competition. However, they can sidestep this longevity requirement through one of the following alternative criteria:
- Made 200+ Premier League appearances for a single club
- Won the Golden Boot or Golden Glove
- Won the Player of the Season award
- Won three or more PL titles
- Scored 100+ goals
- Kept 100+ clean sheets
- Made a PL Team of the Decade
It should also be noted that this honour is based solely on performances in the Premier League. The other major criterion is that only players who have retired before the start of the awarding season will be considered.
2025 Nominations Announced
Home of the greats.
Two more players will be voted into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2025…
— Premier League (@premierleague) September 7, 2025
The exact process for induction, or the number of nominees, or the number of inductees has changed every season the HoF has been going. In 2025, there are 15 nominees, and just two of those will get the nod via a fan vote. Such a mechanism is always open to criticism and means that players from “bigger” clubs – those with the most fans – will tend to be favoured. It can also turn the award into a popularity contest, where ability and achievement are somewhat secondary to how a player was perceived.
Nonetheless, that is the system for 2025, with the vote live via the official Premier League site and open only to logged-in users. The vote will run for just a week, from the 8th of September, when the nominations were announced, through to the 15th. The successful players and the unlucky 13 not to get picked will be announced in the first half of November, meaning there’s plenty of time to get a Golden Bet in on who will be the winner.
15 Nominees for 2025
Many of the 15 players have been nominated unsuccessfully before. Whether they will be lucky second, third, fourth or even fifth time around remains to be seen.
Sol Campbell
Former Spurs, Arsenal, and England centre-back colossus Campbell has been nominated every year thus far. Will 2025 be his time at last? We wouldn’t bet on it. Though with over 500 appearances, 153 clean sheets and two titles, he undoubtedly deserves a seat at this famous table.
Michael Carrick
Midfielder Carrick was one of those players who was probably a little underrated by fans but loved by his teammates. Carrick made 481 appearances and won five titles with Man United, and was described as a Rolls-Royce by teammate Paul Scholes, while Pep Guardiola called him “one of the best holding midfielders I’ve seen in my life”.
Jermain Defoe
Defoe played for many different clubs, including West Ham, Portsmouth, Spurs, Sunderland and Rangers. He linked up with Harry Redknapp numerous times throughout his career, with the former West Ham (among many others) boss calling Defoe “a tremendous professional”. Defoe played in the PL almost 500 times, netting 162 goals, including a competition record 24 from the bench.
Patrice Evra
Evra was a brilliant defender who could also get forward. Absolutely loved by former boss Sir Alex Ferguson, the Frenchman won five titles with the Red Devils and made 278 PL appearances.
Cesc Fabregas
The Spanish midfielder Fabregas excelled with both Arsenal and Chelsea (and Barcelona) and played 110 times for Spain in an era when their midfield was overflowing with legends. Won the title twice with the Blues and is third on the all-time PL assists chart.
Les Ferdinand
Ferdinand was unlucky not to win more England caps at a time when the country was blessed with top-quality number nines. Even so, his 198 goal involvements (149 goals, 49 assists) from 351 appearances show how good he was. Sensational in the air, he was a brilliant all-round striker, with pace, power, skill and more.
Robbie Fowler
Much of what we said about Ferdinand applies to Fowler, though the Scouser and Liverpool icon was a more natural finisher. Like Ferdinand, he never won the PL title but did deliver 163 goals and 39 assists from his 379 competition appearances.
Eden Hazard
Hazard is one of the younger inductees, and while it was sad how his career tailed off after his move to Real Madrid, at his peak, he was among the best players in the world. His sensational balance, close control and mazy dribbling brought him 85 goals in 245 games and two PL titles with Chelsea.
Gary Neville
A serial nominee, pundit Neville won it all with United, including a whopping eight Premier League crowns. He kept 148 clean sheets in his 400 appearances.
Michael Owen
Owen was a world-beater in his teens and won the Ballon d’Or when he was 22. His 326 appearances yielded 150 goals, two Golden Boots and one Premier League title – the latter with Man United!
Teddy Sheringham
Sheringham was an intelligent foil for Alan Shearer and the many strikers he played alongside throughout his long career. He won three titles with Man United but won the PL Golden Boot in 1992/93 with Spurs. He remains the oldest player to score in the competition at 40 years and 268 days!
David Silva
Silva only retired in 2023, but was popular everywhere he played. A Man City legend, he helped the club win four PL titles during a decade-long stay. He contributed 93 assists from 309 matches.
Yaya Toure
From one Man City legend to another, Toure was a very different midfielder to Silva, but just as good. The powerful box-to-box Ivorian bagged 20 league goals in 2013/14 and won the title three times with City, for whom he played 230 times (62 goals, 32 assists).
Edwin van der Sar
The sole goalkeeper nominee in 2025, Dutch stopper Van Der Sar was unfussy and unflappable. How United could use him now! He earned 313 appearances, 132 clean sheets and four titles, with Peter Schmeichel and Ederson the only keepers to have won the Premier League more times.
Nemanja Vidic
Vidic won five PL titles with Man United, and his partnership with Rio Ferdinand was one of the greatest this competition has ever seen. The Serbian “only” played 211 times for United, but did more than enough to earn legend status.