The Oldest Football Players To Step Foot in the Premier League

Being called the oldest Premier League player is far from being considered an insult. It is a physical league and only players with the right framework, physicality and experience can do well in the league beyond a certain age. If age did all the talking, we wouldn’t have had the Zlatan’s of this world scoring goals at the age of 40.

Despite the physical conditions that a human body goes through, certain players adapt to the situation and continue to do so regardless of their advancing age. This article is a list of all those individuals that worked with time, broke the concept of age and did so in a dominant league like the Premier League.

  • John Burridge 

  • 43 years, 5 months & 11 days

John Burridge is not only a long-time record holder but a keeper of immense talent who spent a better half of his career at clubs like Sheffield United, Blackpool and Crystal Palace. He became the oldest player in 1995 when he played a game with Manchester City in a loss to long-term rivals Queen’s Park Rangers. 

While he is known as the record holder, his Premier League career was a brief one as he only managed to make four appearances in total. 

  • Alec Chamberlain

  • 42 years, 10 months & 23 days 

Watford fans will remember Alec Chamberlain, who first made his appearance in the Premier League during its run in 1999/2000. Later in 2007, he replaced keeper Ben Foster and went on to hold the record for being the second-oldest player in the history of the famous league. 

While his career ended at Watford, where he also became a coach after retirement, it began at Colchester in the 1980s. He also spent five years at Luton and has also spent a small part of his career playing for Sunderland. Throughout the years, Chamberlain was known as the player one would include in their football betting team if it did exist in the 19080s.

  • Steve Ogrizovic 

  • 42 years, 7 months & 24 days 

For a brief period, Steve Ogrizovic was the second oldest Premier League player in the history of the league before Chamberlain came and stole the title away. Ogrizovic began his career at Coventry City and went on to spend an important part of his life playing for the club.

As a long-serving goalkeeper, Ogrizovic was nicknamed ‘Oggy’. He was a part of the FA Cup-winning side in the 1980s and also holds the record for most appearances for Coventry. His playing career, which went on for a period of 4 decades, is also marked by an important representation of Shropshire at cricket. 

Hence, Steve Ogrizovic had an unforgettable career playing football.

  • Brad Friedel 

  • 42 years, 5 months & 23 days 

The oldest player for Aston Villa and Spurs, the player with a consecutive games tally of 310 and a player marking 450 Premier League appearances are some of the records held by Brad Friedel, the fourth oldest player to ever step foot in the Premier League. His time in England was marked for being one of the top goalkeepers and some of his saves made people regret the fact that they did not include him in all of their choices involving a proper betting strategy.

So Brad Friedel’s career is one on which a book about breaking records could be written about. 

  • Mark Schwarzer 

  • 42 years, 5 months & 8 days 

Mark Schwarzer’s career began at Middlesbrough and then Fulham. While he did create an impact at Middlesbrough, his time at Fulham will always be remembered as the best as he was also named the Player of the Year. 

While he did end his playing career as a backup keeper for Leicester and Chelsea, he was able to create a record in the Premier League and was also known as a reliable keeper.

Apart from that, Schwarzer’s immense talent also led him to be the all-time leader in caps for Australia, which tells you a lot about the kind of player that he was. 

  • Neville Southall 

  • 41 years, 5 months & 25 days

Southall’s career began before the Premier League was founded and it ended with him being known as an Everton Legend. He was part of the Toffees squad for years and was also their first-choice keeper. However, the record was set straight when he appeared for Bradford against Leeds in 2000. 

As a showstopper, Southwall was always known to block shots and create a frustrating evening for strikers. If activities like online betting or fantasy football existed or were famous in his prime, anyone with a little bit of sense could back him up as their first choice keeper.

  • Kevin Poole 

  • 41 years, 5 months & 11 days 

Kevin Poole has played for a number of clubs but enjoyed the best part of his footballing career at Leicester and Burton. Not only did he get lengthy stints at these clubs but he also managed to make good use of all the opportunities.

But when it came to setting records for being one of the oldest keepers, Poole looked to Boltin and played a part in one of their games. Moreover, Poole was also active with football while he was in his fifties, where he was an active part of the Burton squad.

  • Jens Lehman

  • 41 years & 5 months 

Fans of Arsenal would always remember Jens Lehman and the kind of career that he had for the Gunners. Apart from being an important player in the history of the Gunners, Lehman helped the club by putting up performances that, at times, looked unreal. 

However, he also suffered a tricky time at the club much like the setbacks and risks that we get from sports betting. But that did not prevent Lehman from calling it quits as he went on to set a record for being one of the oldest players in the league by playing for Blackpool.

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