Depends what Code of Football you might be referring to:
If Soccer/ association football, then Pele is almost universally selected by the experts. Other top footballers of history are Johan Cruyff, Diego Maradonna and George Best. A more recently highly celebrated player is Lionel Messi.
If Australian football, then Haydn Bunton Snr heads the list as the only player to have won six of any state's best and fairest awards. Other top players often chosen by experts include Leigh Matthews, Gary Ablett Snr., Laurie Nash, Wayne Carey and Jason Dunstall.
If American football: From a large panel of key coaches and players both past and present in 2010, Jerry Rice was chosen as the top player of all time; Jim Brown as second and third was defensive player, Lawrence Taylor. The NFL Network also stated that a fan vote showed Rice was again ranked first, followed by Joe Montana, Walter Payton and Barry Sanders. John Elway was another of top reckoning.
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Many people have argued about this, but the top three would be:
Emile Heskey
Dejan Lovren
Adebayo Akinfenwa