Cult footballers from the Premier League Era
Top 5 Cult Figures in Premier League History
Cult Figure – A public figure who is greatly admired by a relatively small audience or is influential despite limited commercial success.
The movie The Shawshank Redemption performed badly at the box office but became a cult film years after its release and truly one of the greatest films of all time.
After dropping in how much I love The Shawshank Redemption, we can now begin my list of the top five cult players in Premier League history.
5. Jay-Jay Okocha (Bolton Wanderers)
“Jay-Jay, so good they named him twice”.
I mean, come on you know I had to start off with that famous quote if I’m going to be talking about Jay-Jay Okocha.
Okocha arrived at Bolton Wanderers in 2002 as a free agent after leaving PSG in the summer. PSG had spent £14 million on the Nigerian 1998, making him the most expensive African player ever at the time of his move.
Okocha’s skill and creativity endeared him to the Bolton Wanderers faithful who came up with the line that begun my piece on Okocha.
The playmaker played a huge part in staving off relegation for Bolton and led them to their first domestic cup final in nine years the following season.
His later years were marred by the captaincy being stripped off him and he later admitteded that he felt his time at the club was a waste of time due to the lack of investment and improvement after his arrival.
His other-worldly talent that was watched week in, week out in Bolton, Greater Manchester cements Jay-Jay Okocha’s cult figure status in Premier League history.
4. Michu (Swansea City)
The rise and fall of Michu was a swift one but let’s focus on the rise for now.
In his debut season in La Liga, Michu netted 15 goals in 37 appearances, an impressive season that saw him earn a move to Swansea City in 2012.
The Spaniard made an instant impact scoring twice on his debut in the opening game of the Premier League season.
Michu continued to impress and surprise throughout the season as a player who had played just one year of the top-flight season was able to comfortably adapt to, in my opinion, the best league in the world.
Michu ended the season with 18 Premier League goals and led Swansea City to a first League Cup triumph in their history as they demolished minnows Bradford City 5-0.
It was a season of Michu’s wildest dreams, he became a star in the Premier League and got his team silverware.
Michu’s success in Wales was short-lived however, as injury meant he played just 17 games in his sophomore season, netting just twice.
He was eventually released by the club in November but the story of Michu lives on in Swansea.
3. Paolo Di Canio (Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham United, Charlton Athletic)
He played for some of the biggest clubs in the world; Lazio, Juventus, Napoli, AC Milan and Celtic, however, Paolo Di Canio is most remembered for his seven-year tenure in the Premier League with stints at Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton Athletic and West Ham United.
Di Canio arrived in the Premier League in 1997 with Sheffield Wednesday and led the team in scoring in his debut season.
With Di Canio, you had to accept that with his incredible talent, there was constant controversy surrounding the Italian.
Di Canio ended up being banned for 11 games in his second season at Sheffield Wednesday after pushing a referee, a decision that led Wednesday to sell Di Canio in the following January transfer window to fellow Premier League club West Ham United.
And it was at West Ham, that Di Canio found his spiritual home and played the best football of his career.
The forward’s stand-out season in East London came in the 99/00 season where he netted a career-high 16 league goals in 30 appearances.
His refusal to leave West Ham after interest from Manchester United endeared himself even more to West Ham fans after Di Canio said he couldn’t leave the club who gave him a chance after his 11-game suspension.
Whether it be his spectacular goals or shocking outbursts, Di Canio is an individual the game was lucky to have, and remains a piece of Premier League history.
2. Nicklas Bendtner (Arsenal, Sunderland)
I really should have prefaced his introduction with ‘Lord Bendtner’.
Nicklas Bendtner internet popularity skyrocketed during his time at Arsenal. The Danish striker’s outlandish statements about his ability created the ‘Lord Bendtner’ tag that became viral all over the internet.
Bendtner’s first Premier League goal came against rivals Tottenham, in what was the winner in a 2-1 victory. Bendtner’s goal became the fastest ever scored by a substitute in Premier League, scoring just 1.8 seconds after coming off the bench.
19 years old, you just score the winner against your bitter rivals and you come from a family who insisted you manifest the idea that you are special, are we really surprised with some of Bendtner’s actions and statements?
Whilst struggling for game time at Arsenal, Bendtner said he needed to go to a club where he’d get regular game time and when asked what clubs that would be, he answered “Real Madrid or Barcelona”.
That’s one of many very real stories of Nicklas Bendtner and his unrelenting, bordering on delusional belief in himself.
After leaving Arsenal in 2014, Bendtner bounced around clubs and now finds himself in the Danish Superliga fourth division with Tarnby (M+32) and while he didn’t fulfil the potential that first brought him to Arsenal in 2014, he remains one of the more interesting figures to grace the Premier League.
Eric Cantona (Leeds, Manchester United)
The most enigmatic man in Premier League history, yeah, I said it.
Eric Cantona should be in the newly formed Premier League Hall of Fame just for playing with his kit collar up.
Cantona’s career was a tumultuous one and his arrival in Leeds in 1992 set off a chain of events that led to one of the greatest dynasties in sport history… let’s begin.
Cantona made the move to Elland Road in January 1992 and won the title in his debut season despite not holding a regular place in the starting line-up. The Frenchman was up to speed the following season, having a strong start to the season before the harmony was rocked.
Cantona was dropped against Arsenal and in retaliation, the forward put forth a transfer request for the upcoming transfer window; Leeds agreed and sold him to bitter rivals Manchester United.
That turned out to be somewhat of a mistake.
Cantona revitalised the struggling United who ended up winning the Premier League by ten points within five months of Cantona’s Manchester United career.
Cantona went on to win three more league titles with United as well as two FA Cups.
Cantona’s personality, swagger and confidence was a much-needed boost for Manchester United - and I think we all remember his iconic goal celebrations!
Pressure rolled off Cantona’s back and United needed not only a player of the Frenchman’s quality but that personality in the dressing room.
Of course, it would be remiss of me to not mention the infamous ‘Kung Fu incident’ where Cantona kicked and punched a Crystal Palace fan who shouted abuse to him.
Cantona was banned from football for eight months and while the incident was a bad one, it’s a moment etched in Premier League history and enamours you to a player who could actually do something like that.
A great player, a great actor too and number one on my list of top five cult figures in Premier League history.
