Centre Back Nominations
Colin Hendry 89 votes - 50.28%
Mike England 59 votes - 33.33%
Henning Berg 9 votes - 5.08%
Derek Fazackerley 6 votes - 3.39%
Kevin Moran 5 votes - 2.82%
Glenn Keeley 3 votes - 1.69%
Matt Woods 2 votes - 1.13%
David May 2 votes - 1.13%
Graham Hawkins 1 votes - 0.56%
Stephane Henchoz 1 votes - 0.56%
John McNamee 0 votes - 0.00%
Tony Gale 0 votes - 0.00%
The second vote:
Mike England 85 votes - 64.89%
Henning Berg 22 votes - 16.79%
Kevin Moran 12 votes - 9.16%
Derek Fazackerley 8 votes - 6.11%
Matt Woods 1 votes - 0.76%
David May 1 votes - 0.76%
Stephane Henchoz 1 votes - 0.76%
Tony Gale 1 votes - 0.76%
Glenn Keeley 0 votes - 0.00%
Graham Hawkins 0 votes - 0.00%
John McNamee 0 votes - 0.00%
Read the Centre Back 1 Thread
Read the Centre Back 2 Thread
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 Mike England and England player Geoff Hurst As a footballer, he would outshine Hendry every time. He could play anywhere - centre half, centre forward or midfield. Hendry could never have done that.
When I first saw him, he played, as an 18 year old right half, the equivalent of todays midfielder. He could have played there all his career, he was that good. The things that I remember about him were the way he used to ease across the pitch, slide into the tackle and take the ball away cleanly - sheer class. I saw him score two goals, playing centre forward at Turf Moor, against a good burnley side, playing for a relegation bound rovers team, he was superb.
He moved to centre half soon in his career. From there he really made his name as the best centre half in Britain.
Proof of how highly he was regarded, was when he was sold to Spurs for £95,000. A British record for a defender.
Hendry was never regarded that highly.
He was the regular captain of Wales. Hendry only captained Scotland on a few occassions.
As it says on the PFA legends website, Mike England was world class. Hendry wasn't that.
He went on to manage Wales.
It's difficult to get over to people who have never seen him, exactly how good he was. However, take notice of the posters on here, who HAVE seen him. They will have seen both Hendry and England, I bet they go for England every time.
Two words stick out about Mike England - "WORLD CLASS"
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dave birch - There can only be one winner here and that is Mike England.
Absolutely no question about that.
If my memory serves me correctly he was the first 100,000 pound transfer from the Rovers to Spuds. Always had a commanding presence in both boxes, good on the ground, good in the air.
Oh to have him now.....
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Alan75 - I only ever saw him play for Spurs and Wales, so I cant comment on his days at Ewood.
He could control the ball well, pass accurately and bring the ball out of defence in the days when all that was usually required of the position was to head or hoof it out of danger. His aerial ability was second to none and at that time there were some excellent, hard central defenders around. His transger fee of £95,000, when Spurs bought him from Rovers, was a record for a defender at the time.
He was skilful with the ball and also had the speed to recover should a player get away from him. His strength in the tackle was obviously another asset that put fear into the forwards he had to face, but his dominance in the air could not be doubted.
His service to the game at all levels was rewarded with the MBE in 1984 and he went on from being captain of Wales, to take over as manager when he finished playing.
However, there was a rumour that Rovers didnt want to sell him at the time he went to Spurs and he threatened to quit the game.
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philipl - Mike England was a sensational player. My first Blackburn Rovers hero as my passion for the club developed with his emergence as a world class player.
That is the rub, whilst Hendry was an all action hero, England waas probably the best centre half in the world at his peak- he was that good.
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Al - Mike England was the classiest central defender I have ever seen. I watched him start in the youth cup winning team that produced Fred Pickering, Mike and I believe Keith Newton as well.
From the start he oozed class and very quickly established himself in the first team. Brilliant in the air and with instant control with his feet he could also mix it with the hard men if required. He also scored a lot of goals, particularly against Burnley. In other words he was the complete centre half without any obvious faults.
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hanks - I saw Mike England play and although I was too young to be able to compare him to Hendry, I do remember being gutted when he left for Spurs. A quote from him at the time which went something along the lines of "wanting to play for a big city club with an opportunity to play in europe" set me up for an anti-Spurs bias for the rest of my life. Still Colin buggered off twice and while I remain a big fan of his, England would get my vote as he was widely regarded as the best centre half in britain in the mid to late sixties.
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mike - Mike England is the best centre half ever to play for the Rovers beyond any shadow of a doubt.
It is well documented and it does not diminish Colin Hendry's contribution to the Rovers one little bit. But the best centre half is Mike England.
The question of why he left was asked earlier and I am able to shed some light on that matter.
I was a big fan of Mike's and was the last young lad to get his autograph the day he left Ewood...which was devastating. I met him years later in Toronto after the Welsh team had finished playing an exhibition game and I asked him why he had left. He stated that he was very reluctant to leave as he loved the Rovers and the whole set up. However, the money that he would be paid by Spurs was outrageous compared to what he could earn at Rovers and so he made what he termed a business decision not a personal decision.one that would help him take care of his family. That made the young lad in me, who had idolized Mike, feel a whole lot better.
A world class player and a classy man.
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Kennysuperbuyer - I saw Mike England on a regular basis and I can tell you he was a class act. He was a brilliant header of the ball as well as a skilful player with his feet. He was that good he played at centre forward on one occassion against Burnley at their place and scored a hat-trick. Thats how good he was.
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mhead - My boyhood hero was Mike England and I found my scrapbook recently of his stoical efforts in Div 1 relegation season in 65/66.English football on the up and we get badly relegated! Plus the goal at Bumley when we won and he played centre-forward.Magic ..even after all these years.
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mhead - Being just over 30 I have never seen Mike England play so I decided to do a quick search on him and noticed Spurs have just done their own Greatest team of which Mike England was voted into. This suggests that he was better than the players who won the Double in 1961.
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England (Greatest Ever)
