How Kolo Toure could eclipse Cantona and Cole with a title win
He may not necessarily be the most popular defender at Anfield, but Kolo Toure is on the brink of making history with Liverpool. Should the Reds claim the Premier League trophy, Toure will become the first footballer to win a title medal with three separate clubs in the post-war era.
There are a number of players that managed to win the trophy with two different clubs, but none have managed it with a third. talkSPORT takes a look at the players Toure would eclipse, having already won the league with Arsenal (2003/04) and Manchester City (2011/12)…
Francis Lee
Man City legend Francis Lee won the First Division with the club back in 1968, only the second top flight title in City's history. Within a year of leaving Maine Road in 1974 he had won the league again, this time at Derby County, in what was also the Rams’ second league title triumph. Check out Lee having a scrap with Leeds' Norman Hunter in 1975, a few months after Derby topped Division One…
Peter Withe
Peter Withe played at over 10 different clubs through the course of his 20 year career, and at two he managed to claim English football’s biggest honour. The first came at Nottingham Forest in 1978, and the second three years later in 1981 with Aston Villa. Withe missed out on Forest's back-to-back European Cup victories in 1979 and 1980, having left the City Ground for Newcastle in 1978, but scored the winner for Villa against Bayern Munich in the 1982 European Cup final.
Ray Kennedy
Ray Kennedy scored over 50 goals for both Arsenal and Liverpool between 1968 and 1982, and at both clubs he claimed the First Division title. Kennedy played nearly every game for the Gunners as a striker in their 1971 league win, also appearing in the FA Cup final as Arsenal did the double by beating Liverpool at Wembley. Three years later he signed for Liverpool and was converted to a midfielder by Bob Paisley, in a shrewd move that helped Kennedy and the Reds claim the league championship trophy no less than five times between 1976 and 1982.
John O’Hare
Former Scotland international John O’Hare won the English league on either side of the East Midlands divide. His first came under the management of Brian Clough at Derby in 1972, while his second followed under the same manager with Nottingham Forest in 1978.
John McGovern
Like John O’Hare, McGovern also won league titles with Clough at Derby and Forest, captaining the Tricky Trees to European Cup glory in 1979 and 1980.
Archie Gemmill
A tenacious Scottish international, Gemmill played a part in both of Derby County’s First Division title wins, in 1972 and 1975, captaining the Rams in the latter, before going on to win the trophy once more with Nottingham Forest in 1978. Gemill is pictured second from left of the front row, below, along with his 1972 title-winning team-mates at the Baseball Ground, with John McGovern immediately to his left and John O'Hare on his right.
Larry Lloyd
Defender Larry Lloyd had the distinguished honour of playing a part in league wins with both Bill Shankly’s Liverpool and Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest. His first, with the Reds, came in 1973, while he helped Forest pip Liverpool to top spot in 1978.
Kevin Richardson
Like Ray Kennedy, Kevin Richardson won First Division titles on Merseyside and in London. He lifted the trophy with Everton in 1985, before going on to repeat that feat at Arsenal in 1989, although technically the Gunner's title triumph was sealed in Liverpool, as Richardson and his team-mates took top spot with a win at Anfield in the last game of the season.
John Lukic
Goaleeper John Lukic joined Arsenal from Leeds in 1983, and went on to win the First Division in dramatic style with the Gunners in 1989, as the North Londoners beat title rivals Liverpool 2-0 to clinch the league at Anfield. Manager George Graham threw his weight behind new signing David Seaman in 1990, paving the way for Lukic to return to Leeds, where he won the First Division in 1992.
Eric Cantona
Eric Cantona not only won the biggest honour in English football with two separate clubs, but he did it back-to-back. His first title came with Leeds in 1992 - the last season of the old Football League First Division – and after joining Manchester United later that year, he inspired the Red Devils to the new Premier League trophy in 1993. Cantona won another three titles in England, only missing out in 1995 when he was suspended for part of the season after kicking a fan.
Henning Berg
Norwegian defender Henning Berg won the Premier League in Blackburn’s brief, but brilliant spell at the top in 1995, before going on to do so twice more with Manchester United between 1999 and 2000, becoming the first player to win the Premier League title with two different clubs.
Nicolas Anelka
It probably comes as little surprise to learn that Nicolas Anelka is among the players to win the Premier League with two different teams, considering the number of clubs the Frenchman has played for. Notably, Anelka’s first two wins were over a decade apart. His first Premier League trophy was claimed at Arsenal in 1998, aged 19, and he had to wait until 2010 at the age of 31 to repeat that feat with Chelsea.
Ashley Cole
Like Anelka, Ashley Cole won the Premier League with the Gunners and the Blues, but the Englishman didn’t have to wait quite as long between titles. Cole won his second and last Premier League as an Arsenal player in 2004, and he would go on to lift the trophy with new club Chelsea in 2010.