Premier League turns 25: All-time best XI
With the Premier League set to celebrate its silver jubilee, football fans can summon memories of the celebrated clubs and star players that have dotted the English top flight over the last quarter century.
Since its inception in 1992, the division has played host to some of the world's best footballers. With that in mind, here's a subjective, less-than-scientific look at the Premier League's all-time best XI, with a poll below where dissenters can have their say:
Peter Schmeichel - The towering Danish shot-stopper plied his trade with Manchester United before one-season spells at Aston Villa and Manchester City, but it's his eight-year run with the Red Devils that cements Schmeichel's spot.
The four-time UEFA Goalkeeper of the Year (and Kasper's dad) anchored a decorated United side under Sir Alex Ferguson that won the league five times to go with four domestic cups and the 1998-99 Champions League title.
Gary Neville - Right-back is easily the shallowest position in the Premier League's 25 years, so United standout Neville is heads and shoulders above the rest, and for good reason.
Equal parts aggressive and tenacious with a stellar work rate, Neville was part of a decorated Red Devils side. The 85-time capped England international won the league on eight occasions, paired with five domestic cup crowns and two Champions League conquests, in a one-club, 20-year career.
Tony Adams - More than just a captain for club and country, the Arsenal centre-back personified a quickly evolving Premier League. Once a tough-tackling, no-nonsense player who survived on a diet of pints and pies, Adams modified his game in the same way that Gunners boss Arsene Wenger forever altered the English top flight.
A one-club player with 19 years in north London under his belt, Adams is a member of the PFA Team of the Century and a English Football Hall of Fame inductee (2004) with four league titles, three FA Cups, two League Cups, and the 1994 European Cup Winners Cup.
Ashley Cole - With seven seasons at Chelsea preceded by six at Arsenal, left-back Cole is an automatic pick for this list courtesy of a slew of individual and club honours. He tasted defeat in an astoundingly scant 14.8 percent of 385 Premier League matches played.
With three league triumphs split between the two London rivals to go with a record seven FA Cup victories and two continental crowns, Cole is one of two players to win the double twice with two clubs (joining Nicolas Anelka). He was named to the PFA Premier League Team of the Year on four occasions and the UEFA equivalent twice.
John Terry - An aerial force with a penchant for perfect positioning, Chelsea legend Terry may not be a saintly character to canonise and take home to mum, but if there's room in the trophy case, few can fill it like the current Aston Villa defender.
Five times a Premier League winner to go with eight domestic cups, a Champions League, and the 2012-13 Europa League, Terry was thrice named UEFA Club Defender of the Year and twice Chelsea Player of the Year to go along with 2004-05 PFA Players' Player of the Year honours. He's also a member of the PFA Team of the Century.
Cristiano Ronaldo - The least-tenured player on this list, Ronaldo gets the nod for six stunning campaigns with Manchester United that flipped the English top flight on its head thanks to a combination of power and panache.
Three times a league winner to go with a trio of domestic cups, Ronaldo's 2007-08 campaign was one of the Premier League's best ever. The stately Portuguese attacker snatched the Golden Boot by bagging 42 goals in all competitions, earning his first Ballon d'Or, a second Premier League Player of the Year award, and FIFA World Player of the Year honours among a litany of other individual accolades - and the Champions League title.
Frank Lampard - The midfield presents the toughest choices in this collection of the Premier League's best, but Lampard edges the likes of Steven Gerrard and Paul Scholes because of his unparalleled goal-scoring standard.
Chelsea's all-time leading scorer with an astounding 211 goals in all competitions, Lampard is fourth on the Premier League's goal-scoring charts (177) and the only midfielder to bag more than 150 tallies. His 164 consecutive appearances are a league record for an outfield player. The three-time club Player of the Year picked up three league-winner's medals, six domestic cups, and the Europa League, and captained the Blues to the 2011-12 Champions League title for good measure.
Patrick Vieira - Former Chelsea star Claude Makelele is often credited with changing the profile of a central midfielder in England's top flight, but it's World Cup winner Vieira who altered the role of the box-to-box, middle-of-the-park stalwart with a combination of physical and technical attributes.
Three times a Premier League winner with the Gunners - including the famed Invincibles run of 2003-04 - to go with a trio of FA Cup titles, Vieira made the PFA Team of the Year on six occasions, was the league Player of the Year in 2000-01, and was twice named a member of the Team of the Decade. Considering Vieira rivalled Roy Keane as the Premier League's hardest man, it's mind-boggling that the rangy runner was also one of the division's most technically astute players.
Ryan Giggs - With more Premier League appearances than any player (632) and a trophy case that is second to none, the Welsh winger is an automatic inclusion on this list. Giggs also boasts the most assists in league history with 167, a whopping 60 more than second-place Cesc Fabregas.
In 24 seasons with the Red Devils, Giggs managed to win the league a record 13 times paired with four FA Cups, three League Cups, and two Champions League titles. He was PFA Young Player of the Year on two occasions, won the Player of the Year award once, and was named to the PFA Team of the Century. Next.
Alan Shearer - After playing a pivotal role in Blackburn's shock 1994-95 Premier League title run, Shearer spent a decade with Newcastle and set just about every goal-scoring record in England's top flight.
The striker's 260 Premier League goals are tops all time (Wayne Rooney is second on 198) and the 31 he tallied during 1995-96 are joint-best with Luis Suarez and Ronaldo for most in a 38-match campaign. Shearer's five goals against Sheffield Wednesday in September 1999 represent another joint record, as do his 11 hat tricks. The PFA Team of the Century honouree was twice named league Player of the Year and earned a Hall of Fame nod in 2004.
Thierry Henry - A gazelle-like runner who combined breakneck pace with elite finishing skills, if Shearer was an industrious goal machine, Arsenal legend Henry was an irrepressible force. Arguably the fastest player to ply his trade in England's top tier, Henry was a lethal combination of every asset consistent with world-class footballers.
His 0.68 goals per game is the standard among footballers with 100 league goals or more, and he was twice named PFA Player of the Year, five times a member of UEFA's Team of the Year, and won the Premier League Golden Boot on four occasions. That's just a small sample of the individual honours for a player who twice won the Premier League, including Arsenal's stunning unbeaten run in 2003-04.
Bench - Petr Cech; Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic; Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes; Dennis Bergkamp, Wayne Rooney
(Photos courtesy: Action Images)