Which player did you first love watching

[WhoNose 2]

(This doesn't necessarily mean the best btw)

It's a bit different with FIFA games nowadays and social media but the first time I ever saw a game of football was when I was dragged by my Dad to see Cardiff City v QPR and I knew nothing about the game.

Over that season however there was one player that always caught my eye and made me want to come back the next week.

That man was Paul Parry. This man was the symbol of football to me. He scored goals, he tracked back, he ran up and down non-stop, played LB, CM, LW, RW, ST all over the pitch. I think he joint topped the scorers one year.

You can say Ronaldo or Zidane or Zlatan or Gerrard, but Paul Parry made me fall in love with football.

[Stan 10,785]

Probably Ronaldo (the Brazilian, not the Portuguese). And then maybe Thierry Henry or Ronaldinho. I loved the flair, class, skill and just pure showmanship on the pitch. 

[SirBalon 2,607]

Maradona!  I was already initiated into the world of football but my first ever game in a stadium in Spain was watching Barcelona and I saw a very young Maradona do wonders with the sphere.  From that moment on I was hooked and he made me see football in a different manner...  He made me demand an only way of playing football.

[Panna King 891]

Dennis Bergkamp

[Dan 1,380]

Very hard to say for Leicester really. When I first started going it was during the O'Neill years but I was too young to really appreciate what was happening at the time.

I liked Iain Hume for us. He gets a bit of a ridiculing from a lot of our fans these days but my memory of him was that he was full of energy, scored goals, some pretty good ones to boot, I get that it's a signal of the level we were at but I always found him a bit of a gem mixed into a pretty awful era.

My first real favourite footballer though was Ronaldinho. He pretty much single handedly made me fall in love with the art of dribbling a ball and I reckon that's stuck with me, hence my liking for the likes of Mahrez & Knockaert all along.

But he was a wizard. He was just a joy to watch. It's a shame he didn't spent that long at the very top because he could've done.

[carefreeluke 595]

Shearer and Zola.

[Steve Bruce Almighty 2,934]

Peter Beardsley.

 

[LFCMike 1,764]

Robbie Fowler

[Eco 2,117]

Seeing Adriano score an extra time header to beat AC, and being in the stadium when that happened, is still one of the coolest memories I have.

 

[HK85 267]

Duncan Ferguson. 

[Takyon 18]

Stuart Elliott, when my Dad first started taking me to Hull City games I didn't really care for football much but Stuart Elliott really captivated me. He was our main goalscorer when I first started watching Hull and was incredibly prolific in 2004/05 when he scored 27 goals from the wing some of which were absolute belters and he used to do a little acrobatic celebration after every goal too which I found great as a kid. Here's an awful quality video of some of his best goals in a Hull shirt:

 

In terms of more globally recognised players Kaka and Ronaldinho were players I really loved growing up as well, still makes me sad that neither could stay on top of their game for a long time. 

[Machado 1,270]

Pablo Aimar and Ronaldinho. Pure magic.

[Toinho 1,430]

As a youngster I was convinced I was a striker when I played (isn't everyone at like under 8's?). I was a huge Alan Shearer and Andy Cole fan. I also got excited by Blomqvist and Gronkjaer back in the day. Maybe because they're attractive.

[The Palace Fan 1,848]

Ian Wright for me in the season of 1995/96. Always full of energy, enthusiasm and scoring goals. I loved it.

[SirBalon 2,607]

Dennis Bergkamp is another.

[The Palace Fan 1,848]

23 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

Dennis Bergkamp is another.

I think Bergkamp is somebody who you don't recognise when you're younger how good he actually is. 

[Devil-Dick Willie 1,681]

Claudio Pizzaro, Johan Micoud, Drogba and fat Ronaldo

[SirBalon 2,607]

40 minutes ago, Aaroncpfc said:

I think Bergkamp is somebody who you don't recognise when you're younger how good he actually is. 

I was always into that graceful type footballer when I was a kid and when Bergkamp arrived at Arsenal I remember many times my eyes just following him around at the ground even off the ball.

But you're right in that there are types of players that when you are young you sometimes don't appreciate as much because it's more the impact player that catches your eye.

[Harry 1,217]

In my earlier years I felt unique love for Tub-tub Ronaldo, Owen, Gerrard, Riquelme, and Ronaldinho.

[Rab 894]

Zidane.

[Panna King 891]

22 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

I was always into that graceful type footballer when I was a kid and when Bergkamp arrived at Arsenal I remember many times my eyes just following him around at the ground even off the ball.

But you're right in that there are types of players that when you are young you sometimes don't appreciate as much because it's more the impact player that catches your eye.

A player like Dennis has left a big void in football since he has retired. So many players speak of the respect for him, greats like, Henry, Van Basten, Kluivert, Wright.

[Storts 1,930]

Klinsmann - or probably Ginola as I was a bit older.

[Berserker 1,313]

Fernando Cavenaghi,

[SirBalon 2,607]

1 hour ago, Storts said:

Klinsmann - or probably Ginola as I was a bit older.

There was nothing to watch with Klinsmann because he was a striker (a clinical one).  But with Ginola, he was brilliant and another in the Bergkamp mould.  Very graceful and with a wonderful touch on the ball.

[Storts 1,930]

8 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

There was nothing to watch with Klinsmann because he was a striker (a clinical one).  But with Ginola, he was brilliant and another in the Bergkamp mould.  Very graceful and with a wonderful touch on the ball.

Speak for yourself, I bloody loved Klinsmann, was a bit young during his first spell, but the second where he kept us up and that 4 goals away at Wimbledon. Fell in love.

Ginola was brilliant as you say, a real shining light in an otherwise dreary period for the club.

[Dalmore 91]

Adriano, Recoba, Zanetti and Deki are some of the players that made me enjoy watching Inter and also traveled to Milano to have a sit at Meazza and watch them all together.

[Panna King 891]

Glen Helder

[DeadLinesman 3,404]

Dennis Bergkamp. Genius.

[Cicero 3,838]

Ronaldo

[...Dan 649]

Yeah, Dennis Bergkamp as well. He was at the club from when I was five to when I was sixteen. I grew up with him, and he was magical.