One per club: Man City, Newcastle and Villa Barclaysmen in list of iconic stars for peak-era PL teams

The Barclaysmen trend is still running wild all over social media, so we have jumped on the bandwagon and taken a trip down memory lane to meet our nostalgia needs.

What is a Barclaysmen I hear you ask? Well, this new term has yet to crop up in a dictionary, but it is used to describe a footballer from the peak era of the Premier League who makes those yearning for yesteryears feel warm inside when they recall marvellous moments when the game they love was purer and less corrupted by greed.

We have already given you the ultimate Barclays XI and this list of 20 players/teams should give you a more rounded perspective of what is required to be considered a Barclaysman…

Aston Villa – John Carew
“John Carew Carew, he’s bigger than me and you, he’s gonna score one or two, John Carew Carew…”

It’s wonderful having Aston Villa regularly in contention for Europe once again as it’s been far too long since them and Everton were consistently battling it out to be the best of the rest.

Beloved striker-turned-actor Carew may not be as good at actual football as Ollie Watkins, but he’d certainly win in a fight.

Birmingham City – Nikola Zigic
Speaking of big men up front, Zigic cost a lavish £6m in 2010 before the cash provided by Birmingham City’s current American owners enabled the League One outfit to freely invest up to £20m on Jay Stansfield, which is still boggling my mind.

Their owners will be hoping that this more recent flaunt in the transfer market is a more effective cheat code as Zigic’s goals were not enough to save them from relegation in 2010/11.

Bolton – Jay-Jay Okocha
There’s perhaps no greater Barclaysmen team than Sam Allardyce’s Bolton as the pint of wine/gravy drinker remarkably put together an immense crop of players, with a twinkle-toed Okocha an odd one out who did not typically suit the old-fashioned manager. Really, he had no right to have the breath-taking show-boater in his squad.

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Blackburn Rovers – Morten Gamst Pedersen
The swept-to-the-side hair, the thunderous left foot. Unless you were a victim of one of his thunderbastards, it’s impossible not to love Pedersen. The 43-year-old went up in my estimations even further after discovering he’s still plodding along in the Norwegian second division.

Charlton Athletic – Darren Bent
Sunderland and Aston Villa have the right to consider Bent their Barclaysman, but his best spell arguably came with Charlton as his 31 goals in 68 matches earned him his big-money move to Tottenham Hotspur.

Everton – Steven Pienaar
Everton are the true kings of Barclaysmen and our Ultimate XI features two of their adored former strikers, but ex-South Africa international Pienaar makes it here.

The 42-year-old was nowhere as good at Tottenham or Sunderland as at Goodison Park, but he was sensational over two spells at Everton and recently turned to management to make us all feel old.

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Fulham – Clint Dempsey
A couple of goalkeepers may suggest otherwise, but Dempsey is perhaps the greatest American footballer to ever play in the Premier League and was part of the infamous Fulham side that beat Juventus en route to being Europa League runners-up in 2010.

Hull City – Geovanni
The former Man City midfielder’s match-winning brace against Arsenal – particularly his 25-yard worldie – was enough for the one-cap Brazil international to go down in Premier League folklore. Hull City pulled off a real coup when they signed him.

Manchester City – Elano
Man City have been spoiled in recent years and may have slightly broken FFP rules in the process but their supporters had to cope with them being sh*t for a very, very long time.

This is not to say they did not stumble upon an occasional gem and Elano’s talents fitted more into their post-2008 takeover era than their spell as a middling Premier League club.

RIP Sven.

Middlesbrough – Stewart Downing
Like several players on this list, Downing had great spells at multiple Premier League clubs. But the winger with a wand of a left foot is a Boro boy and his route to becoming an England international and sustained top-flight regular began at the Riverside,

Newcastle United – Nolberto Solano
‘Nobby’ was embraced by Newcastle supporters as one of their own while he was in the Premier League and his colourful career in football recently took another surprising turn as he lasted just three months as manager of Blyth Spartans after winning a total of zero matches. Management remains a cut-throat business…

Portsmouth – Matt Taylor
Taylor scored 29 goals during his spell at Portsmouth and I’m sure all of them were ludicrous long-range strikes. Hang his left foot in the Louvre.

Stoke City – Rory Delap
That long throw terrorised clubs up and down the Premier League and no manager despised this tactic more than Arsene Wenger as Stoke City swiftly became Arsenal’s bogey team.

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Sunderland – Seb Larsson
The Swede never made it at Arsenal, but he proved to be a really steady operator in the Premier League with Birmingham City and latterly  Sunderland. His set-pieces were a bit special, too.

Swansea City – Michu
It felt inevitable that Michu would become the greatest striker in Premier League history after him (and his iconic celebration) took the division by storm in his 22-goal debut campaign. Instead, he’s remembered among the top-flight’s best one-season wonders.

Tottenham Hotspur – David Bentley
The David Beckham wannabe never came close to matching the standards set by his hero, but his ludicrous volley in the 4-4 draw against arch-rivals Arsenal ensures he’ll never be forgotten. Neutrals would certainly take some such magic in the North London Derby on Sunday.

West Brom – Peter Odemwingie
Deadline day was way more fun when Odemwingie was around and we could have done with some of his antics when the curtain was drawn in the 2024 summer window with very little drama to report.

West Ham – Matthew Etherington
Another former Premier League star to turn to management and make football fans realise their old age, Etheringham’s best spell as a player came at West Ham after he was part of a random swap deal with Tottenham Hotspur which also included Frederic Kanoute.

Wigan Athletic – Hugo Rodallega
I’m sure this is not actually the case but looking back, it felt like Rodallega went missing all season before coming in clutch with goals to save Wigan from relegation every single year.

Wolves – George Elokobi
An absolute unit of a defender with an infectious smile to boot. Don’t get on the wrong side of Big George, he’ll hug you to death.