Premier League Hall of Fame: Steven Gerrard

Steven Gerrard, the heartbeat of the Liverpool team for almost two decades, was inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021.

Steven Gerrad Profile

Name	Steven Gerrard
Date of Birth	30/05/1980
Place of Birth	Whiston, Merseyside
Position	Midfielder
Premier League club(s)	Liverpool
Premier League appearances	504
Premier League goals	120
Premier League assists	92
Premier League titles	0
PFA Players' Player of the Year awards	1

One-club man and Anfield great

A Steven Gerrard highlights reel would be a spectacular affair, packed with raking passes, bone-shuddering challenges, stunning long-range strikes and trophies being held aloft.

A generational legend in the red half of Merseyside, Gerrard lit up Anfield and grounds around the world for the best part of 20 years, making headlines and winning a plethora of trophies, including the FA Cup twice, the League Cup three times and, of course, most famously of all, the Champions League in 2005.

A one-club man, he made 504 Premier League appearances for Liverpool - only Ryan Giggs and Gerrard's team-mate Jamie Carragher have clocked up more matches for one club in the modern era.

He captained his club, his country, and achieved everything in the game - well almost.

The only piece of silverware missing from Gerrard's collection is a Premier League winner's medal, yet to judge him on that one omission would be to misunderstand what he meant to Liverpool and overlook his stature at a club where he is rightly hailed as a legend.

The beginnings of a great career

Born in Liverpool, schooled in Liverpool, spotted by Liverpool at the age of nine, there was only one club Steven George Gerrard was ever going to play for.

He was 17 when he signed his first professional contract at Anfield, and he made his Premier League debut a year later, coming on as a substitute against Blackburn Rovers to replace Jamie Redknapp.

He slotted into central midfield and, despite early flirtations with right midfield and playing off the front men, it was at the heart of the engine room where Gerrard would establish himself as a true great of the game.

In less than three years he had won a League Cup, an FA Cup and scored in the UEFA Cup final as the Reds downed Alaves. 

The following season, Gerrard played his part in guiding Liverpool to second place in the Premier League, the first time the club had finished in the top two since 1989/90, and that meant a return to the Champions League for the first time since 1984/85.

Rafa and the rise of Gerrard

Gerrard, though a key squad member under Gerard Houllier, wasn't a nailed-on starter and even toyed with a move to Chelsea.

It was Rafa Benitez's arrival at Anfield that both galvanised and transformed Gerrard, elevating him to another level and making him the ticking heart of everything the club did.

Under Benitez Liverpool won four trophies, including the 2005 Champions League and the 2006 FA Cup - the famous final when the man they call ''Stevie G'' struck twice against West Ham to become the only player to have found the net in the finals of the FA Cup, League Cup, Champions League and UEFA Cup.

"He might not get the attention of Messi and Ronaldo, but yes I think he might just be," said World Cup winner Zinedine Zidane when asked if Gerrard was the best player in the world in 2009. Praise doesn't come much higher than that.

Liverpool without Gerrard seemed unthinkable, but inevitably that day had to come and maybe the famous slip, when the Reds skipper's error gifted Demba Ba and Chelsea victory in 2014 when Liverpool had the Premier League title at their mercy, was a deciding factor.

Six months later, aged 34, he announced his retirement, saying he would bid farewell at the end of the 2014/15 season, signing off with a shock 6-1 defeat at Stoke City. 

Style of play

Gerrard was a versatile player who played in a variety of positions but was never happier - or better - than when he was dictating the game from the base of central midfield.

He boasted a wand of a right foot, shown at its best making long, raking passes, while he was also a superb reader of a game.

A fierce tackler and natural leader, he was also famous for timing his forward runs to the edge of an opponents' box and his sledgehammer of a shot which saw him score so many stunning goals.

Life after football

Gerrard may no longer have been playing for Liverpool, but with the club remaining in his heart it's perhaps no surprise his first coaching role was at the Anfield academy.

When he left it was for Rangers, then Aston Villa and most recently Saudi side Al-Ettifaq, though it would shock no one if one day he returned to Liverpool, this time as the club's head coach.

Did you know?

Steven Gerrard appeared in a film Will, starring Damian Lewis, about a young orphaned Liverpool fan who hitch-hiked to Istanbul to watch the 2005 Champions League final.