No One Cares About the Premier League Hall of Fame

It all sounds very American, doesn’t it? Self congratulatory, brash, unnecessary – very un-British.

And yet, a Hall of Fame for the Premier League isn’t an awful idea on paper. So how come no one cares about it?

The Premier League Hall of Fame was created in 2020 to honour the greatest players in Premier League history and further engage the fanbase. However, the fanbase couldn’t be less engaged if they tried. Most people don’t even know the Hall of Fame exists, and those who do rarely talk about it.

It has hit the headlines every year, but the main story is usually about why Ryan Giggs has been snubbed once again.

The players themselves seem quite keen on it according to reporters who witness the induction ceremonies, but again, there is no fan involvement at this stage.

So why does no one care about the Premier League Hall of Fame, does it have any real purpose, and will it be able to win people over as time goes on?

Why Aren’t Fans Interested?

Lots of fans have accused the Premier League of using the Hall of Fame to further stake their claim over football as a whole. The English game did not begin in 1992, there was over a century of organised professional football before that, but this new venture ignores all of that.

To some, it feels like another attempt to set the Premier League apart from the rest of the sport. What kind of English footballing Hall of Fame would not include the 1966 World Cup Winners, for example?

It also came out of nowhere and without much pomp or ceremony, leading people to question its value.

There is a strange ‘private members club’ feel to it too. Players who are inducted get a medal with their name and year of induction engraved on it, and attend a ceremony alongside friends, peers, and other hall of fame members. In short, it doesn’t feel like it’s for the fans, it feels like they are actively excluded.

For me though, the three biggest issues with it are as follows.

A Hall of Fame Already Exists

National Football Museum

The National Football Museum opened in 2001, and a year later they began their own Hall of Fame. However, it includes players from the early days of English football right up until today.

There were 190+ players on the list as of 2024, all either legends of the game or people who had a measurable impact on the game. I’m talking about the likes of Arthur Wharton, the first black professional footballer in England, Justin Fashanu, the game’s first openly gay player, as well as high achievers like Peter Shilton, Dixie Dean, and Stanley Mathews.

This list gives people something to learn about, an appreciation of football’s history and the players who made the game great. There is loads to absorb. Why do we need another Hall of Fame specifically for Premier League players? What does it add?

It’s Inconsistent

Ryan Giggs

Despite being the most decorated Premier League player of all time, and one of the few midfielders to net over 100 league goals, Ryan Giggs is not in the Premier League Hall of Fame. In fact, he has never even been shortlisted.

Why? Well, they haven’t said as much, but it’s because he got in trouble in his personal life. He shagged his brother’s wife and was accused of being violent and controlling to his partner, although he was acquitted of that.

Giggsy was the Premier League, so his omission is unfathomable otherwise.

Yet, one man who is on the list, is John Terry, who was found guilty of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand on the pitch during a Premier League game. He was an epic force in the league and no mistake, but if Giggs is unworthy due to doing the dirty on his brother in private, surely the same rules should apply to Terry who brought the league into disrepute in front of millions of viewers?

Yet, in their own words:

“The Premier League Hall of Fame celebrates individuals who have made significant on-pitch contributions to the Premier League only.”

So it’s about on-pitch achievements, apparently. Unless you are Ryan Giggs…

Steven Gerrard is on there too, the only inductee to have never won a league title. While Matt Le Tissier stopped being nominated after going a bit weird and conspiratorial on social media. So what are the criteria? What are the rules? Why is the Hall of Fame worth a damn if they won’t include the league’s most successful player? It’s supposed to be about footballing achievements, not being an angel off the pitch.

It’s Just a Webpage

Premier League Hall of Fame
Feel the nostalgia…

Unlike the National Football Museum’s Hall of Fame, the Premier League one doesn’t actually exist. Not in any tangible way.

It’s just a webpage on the Premier League site with names and pictures on it. Big whoop.

To be fair, each player has their own profile with a 5 minute video explaining their career, highlights, plus thoughts on their careers from other players, but it’s all a bit flat.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in America is a destination you can visit with memorabilia and installations and things. The NFL Hall of Fame has the Pro Football Museum. Baseball’s Hall of Fame in Cooperstown also serves as a monument to the sport and 250,000 people visit it each year.

The Premier League Hall of Fame has a website. And no one visits it…

Current Inductees

Premier League Hall of Fame INductees

Here is the list of people inducted into the Hall of Fame so far:

Year Inductee Clubs Played For
2021 Alan Shearer Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United
2021 Thierry Henry Arsenal
2021 Eric Cantona Leeds United, Manchester United
2021 Roy Keane Nottingham Forest, Manchester United
2021 Frank Lampard West Ham United, Chelsea, Manchester City
2021 Dennis Bergkamp Arsenal
2021 David Beckham Manchester United
2021 Steven Gerrard Liverpool
2022 Wayne Rooney Everton, Manchester United
2022 Patrick Vieira Arsenal, Manchester City
2022 Ian Wright Arsenal
2022 Peter Schmeichel Manchester United, Aston Villa, Manchester City
2022 Paul Scholes Manchester United
2022 Didier Drogba Chelsea
2022 Vincent Kompany Manchester City
2022 Sergio Agüero Manchester City
2023 Sir Alex Ferguson Manager: Manchester United
2023 Arsène Wenger Manager: Arsenal
2023 Rio Ferdinand West Ham United, Leeds United, Manchester United, Queens Park Rangers
2023 Petr Čech Chelsea, Arsenal
2023 Tony Adams Arsenal
2024 Ashley Cole Arsenal, Chelsea
2024 Andrew Cole Newcastle United, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Fulham, Manchester City
2024 John Terry Chelsea

See what I mean?

Nothing surprises me about these names, they all deserve to be on there, but what’s the point? What is this adding to the conversation? There’s not a single football fan who would argue that any of these players weren’t legends of the league. We already know. Writing them down on a ‘so obvious its meaningless’ list doesn’t increase engagement.

It’s like a football commentator saying:

“He’s kicked it towards the goal there hoping it would go past the keeper. That would have been a goal. However, the keeper got in front of the ball and stopped it going in, and no goal was scored. So the score is unchanged because it wasn’t a goal. If he manages to get it past the keeper later on in the game, then another goal will be added to his team’s tally.”

It’s all true, but it’s boring. It adds no value, no insight. It’s stating the bleeding obvious. So there is no point saying it.

Without a physical location or something to interest football fans further and draw them in, it just feels a bit bland and sterile.

Will it Ever Catch On?

Will Premier League Hall of Fame Catch On

It might. These things tend to take time to gather momentum. You can’t just invent an award and expect it to be immediately prestigious. There’s a reason winning the FA Cup means so much – it was first played in 1871.

Plus, in another 30 years there will have been an awful lot more players deserving of a place, and perhaps that will lead to more interesting conversations about who to include. Fan debates, campaigns for inclusion, that sort of thing.

In other words, it might start to mean something given time.

Time alone won’t do it though, I still think the concept needs more to stop it fading away into nothing. They need to tie the award ceremony in with a big match at the start of the season or something, give the fans to access to it. Inductees could do a short speech, introduce the Community Shield, be given their award by an old adversary, be given the award at their old team’s stadium. I don’t know. Something.

I hate to say it, but to make it work, I think the Premier League needs to take some tips from America.