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Sir Stanley Mathews
The first recipient of the Balon d'Or, Sir Stanley Matthew was born on the February 1, 1915 in Hanley and started his footballing journey at the Stoke City Academy. The forward made his first-team debut in 1932 and went on to make 289 appearances and score 57 goals for the Potters in his first stint with the club.
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Sir Stanley Mathews was deprived of official football matches during the World War II, missing the pitch during between a forward's peak age 24 and 30 before rejoining the Potters for two seasons.
The Balon d'Or winner joined Blackpool in 1947 and spent 15 seasons with the club making a total of 428 appearances and scoring 18 goals winning the FA Cup during his time with the club.
Sir Stanley Matthews then joined Stoke City in 1961 for a second stint with the club making a total of 66 appearances and scoring 5 goals. The forward won the Second Division title twice with the Potters.
The 1956 Balon d'Or winner made 783 appearances and scored 80 goals in a 33-year long career that saw him playing 50 times for the Three Lions and scoring 11 goals in the process.
Sadly Sir Stanley Matthews passed away on the February 23, 2000.
Sir Geoff Hurst
The man who scored the winning goal for England in the 1966 World Cup Final, Sir Geoff Hurst was born on the December 8, 1941 in Ashton-under-Lyne and started his footballing career in the West Ham United Youth Academy.
The forward turned professional in 1959 and made his debut for West Ham in 1960. The forward went on to make 500 appearances and score 242 goals in 13 seasons with the Hammers before moving onto Stoke City at the end of 1971/72 season.
After 4 seasons with the Potters, making 130 appearances and 39 goals, Sir Geoff Hurst went on to join Cape Town City on loan in the NFL, South African League, in 1972/73 season before moving onto join West Bromwich Albion 1975/76 season, Cork City in the same season before finally ending his career at Seattle Sounders in 1976 in NASL.
One of the greatest English forwards of all time, Sir Geoff Hurst made 674 appearances and scored 299 goals in a career that span 18 seasons. Sir Geoff Hurst won 1 FA Cup and a UEFA Cup Winner's Cup during his club career.
Sir Geoff Hurst made 49 appearances for the Three Lions and scored 24 goals. The crowning moment of the forwards career was the hattrick he scored against West Germany in the 1966 World Cup Final, the only ever player to do so tillSir
Kenny Dalglish
The latest inductee to be bestowed upon with the Knighthood, Kenny Dalglish was born on the March 4, 1951 in Glasgow and started his footballing career at the Celtic Youth Academy.
Kenny Dalglish signed his first professional contract in 1967 and made his debut for Celtic in 1968 against Hamilton Academical. The forward went on to make 322 appearances and score 167 goals in 9 seasons for the Scottish giants, winning the Scottish Division One 4 times, Scottish Cup 4 times and Scottish League Cup once before moving onto Liverpool in 1978.
King Kenny as he was fondly called by the Liverpool faithful made 502 appearances and scored 169 goals for the Merseysiders in a 13 season stay with the club that saw the Scott winning the English First Division 6 times, the Football League Cup 4 times, European Cup 3 times, FA Cup once and the European Super Cup once.
King Kenny made 824 appearances and scored 336 goals during his club football career.
The Scottish international made 102 appearances for Scotland, the only Scott to have more a 100 appearance, and 30 international goals to his name, the most goals scored for Scotland along with Denis Law.
Sir Kenny Dalglish was appointed as the Player/Manager in 1985 and managed the Merseysiders for 6 seasons in his first stint between 1985 and 1991 in before returning back for 1 and half season between January 2011 and May 2012 winning 3 English First Division titles, 2 FA Cups, 1 League Cup and 1 League Super Cup.
The Scott went onto manage Blackburn, Newcastle and Celtic in between two Liverpool stints in a 27-year long managerial career. Kenny Dalglish won the Premier League and the Scottish League Cup during coaching stints with the clubs other than Liverpool.
