fbref.com data goes back to 1995/96, for before 1995/96 I only used transfermarkt.de as source which also has complete data for these 5 leagues: Ligue 1, Serie A, Premier League, LaLiga, Bundesliga in these seasons still. I went back until 1948/49. The reason is that before this the data isn't complete anymore, Ligue 1 data is missing in 1947/48 and earlier. The Bundesliga only exists since 1963/64. I also considered the DDR-Oberliga whose data is also not complete in earlier seasons, but it only concerns Ulf Kirsten anyway who was active in the last years of East Germany's existence when tm's data of this league is still complete. 1948/49 - 2025/26: Minutes Player 63272 John Hollins 61380 Martin Peters 58461 Mick Mills 56514 Paolo Maldini 56171 Steve Perryman 55923 Alan Ball 54595 Ian Callaghan 54397 Gareth Barry 54277 Sir Bobby Charlton 54041 Frank McLintock 53349 Karl-Heinz Körbel 52964 Gary Speed 52925 Javier Zanetti 52769 Manfred Kaltz 51623 Alain Giresse 51035 Cristiano Ronaldo 50904 Norman Hunter 50780 Colin Todd 50743 Claude Makélélé 50653 Bill Foulkes 50497 Sylvain Kastendeuch 50023 Emlyn Hughes 49955 Lothar Matthäus 49872 Sergio Ramos 49601 Raúl 49592 Ryan Giggs 49301 Raúl Albiol 49250 Ron Harris 49181 Patrick Battiston 48998 Des Walker 48915 Bobby Moore 48872 Frank Lampard (son) 48691 Nigel Winterburn 48641 Pietro Vierchowod 48444 Dave Watson 48383 Billy Bonds 48380 Derek Dougan 48170 Asa Hartford 48102 Klaus Fichtel 48035 Jacky Novi 47938 Alan Shearer 47836 Mark Hughes 47578 Mick Channon 47500 David O'Leary 47489 Henri Michel 47362 Jesús Navas 47076 Lionel Messi 47050 Gianni Rivera 47025 Jimmy Greaves 47019 Francesco Totti 46999 John Barnes 46560 Jimmy McIlroy 46473 Ian Rush 46264 Klaus Fischer 46210 Michael Lameck 45k: Eastham, Reuter, Hurst, Neuberger, David Armstong, Votava, Dobing, Azpilicueta, Regis, George Armstrong, Bergomi, Joaquín (Betis). 44k: Parralo, P. Ince, P. Rio, B. Robson, Hilton, K. Richardson, Bossis, Mullery, Mortimer, Tony Adams, N'Gotty, R. Mancini, Wilkins, McKinlay, Desailly, Burgnich, Parkin, F. Cannavaro, Hierro. 43k: Cottee, Sansom, D. Jakobs, Blanchflower, Mike Doyle, L. Thuram, Kohler, Sanchís, Sénac, Sol Campbell, S. Pearce, Carragher, Chorda, Broadbent, Kaelbel. 42k: Distin, L. Blanc, De Sisti, R. Ferdinand, Wörns, Thouvenel, Armand, Amisse, B. Lacombe, Facchetti, Dietz, F. Silvestre, Chapman, Parejo, Geye, K. Allofs, Häßler, Cervato. 41k: J. Terry, Tommy Smith, Giles, Billy Gray, Talbot, S. Chiesa, F. Baresi, Griezmann, H. Newton, Joaquín (Gijón), Dante, Keown, Ferrara, R. Kennedy, V. Anderson, M. Wright, Congré, A. Carboni, G. Mabbutt, M. England, D. Webb, Panucci, Lahm, Willie Morgan, Piasecki, Gerrard, Moretti, F. Worthington. 40k: Lewandowski, Milner, Solsona, Joe Royle, M. Jiménez, David Silva, T. Cherry, Sheringham, Luis Suárez (Inter), Zidane, Rustichelli, M. Sissoko, Möller, Wark, Wise, Neal, Jack Charlton, Armfield, R. Osman, Bremner, Dani Alves, Beardsley, Southgate, Labone, Tony Brown, Kirsten, Tenhagen, Bryan Edwards, Bobby Robson, J. Case, Dréossi, Brisson, McAllister, Rüssmann, Amoros, Réveillère, Sammels, McMahon. 39k: Jimmy Gabriel, Greenhoff, Wisniewski, P. Neville, Cowans, Huck, W. Carr, Gorriz, Modrić, Marche, A. Young, Pirès, Stapleton, Loren Juarros, Seedorf, Grabowski, Frank Lampard (father), Dixon, P. Gento, Balmont, Puel, X. Alonso, Koke, Pat Rice, Angus, Xavi, Gaillot, Onnis. 38k: Benzema, Domergue, T. Cummings, Diego Rodríguez, M. Trésor, Larrañaga, Altafini, M. Corso, A. Betta, T. Dunne, A. Hughes, Ujlaki, A. Hansen, Payet, G. Rix, Evra, Scoular, Paul Allen, Favalli, Dickinson, Lorimer, T. Francis, Souness, Kabile, Girard, R. Domenech, P. McGrath, Causio, Brooking, J. M. Zamora, Zewe, Jean-Jacques Marcel, J. Adamson, B. André, K. Walker, R. Kopa, Klinsmann, Zorc, G. Müller, P. Harris, Kuntz, Matuidi, Janich, Di Nallo, Heskey, R. Domingo, M. Coop, Eusebio, Carrick, Fiard, Barzagli. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- John Hollins basically played in a 42-game-league from 17 until 37 without missing all too many minutes. He played 714 games in the First Division. He didn't retire with 37, he went back to his boyhood club Chelsea and played another 30 games in the Second Division winning the league and gaining promotion with them. Jimmy Greaves is the player with the 4th most non-penalty goals in the history of these 5 leagues behind Messi, Cristiano and Lewandowski. If you are interested in this, you can check out this 2 year old post from me. Only 3 of the players above still play in one of the top 5 leagues right now. There are a few more which are at least not retired and could theoretically with a surprise return to one of these leagues still add minutes: Cristiano, Ramos, Albiol, Messi, Parejo, Griezmann, Lewandowski, Sissoko, Benzema, K. Walker. The 3 still active in a Top-5-League are Modrić, Koke, B. André. Of the 266 players with 38k minutes three played in 4 of the 5 leagues: Blanc, Panucci, Réveillère. All of them didn't play in the Bundesliga. On the other hand 58 played all their games in this period for just 1 club: Maldini, Callaghan, B. Charlton, Körbel, Zanetti, Foulkes, Giggs, R. Harris, Moore, Bonds, Michel, Totti, Madeley, Lameck, Bergomi, Adams, McKinlay, Sanchís, Carragher, Amisse, Facchetti, Reaney, Terry, T. Smith, S. Chiesa, F. Baresi, Joaquín (Gijón), Gerrard, Neal, J. Charlton, Armfield, Bremner, Labone, T. Brown, B. Edwards, Gorriz, Grabpwski, Lampard (father), Dixon, Puel, Koke, Angus, Xavi, Cummings, Larrañaga, Hansen, Dickinson, Lorimer, Kabile, Brooking, Zamora, Zewe, Adamson, Zorc, G. Müller, P. Harris, Domingo, Coop. 6 of these players are from Liverpool, 5 from Leeds, 4 from West Ham, 3 from Man Utd, Inter, Burnley, 2 from Milan, Frankfurt, Chelsea, Nantes, Arsenal, Real Sociedad, Portsmouth. The Players with the most club changes within the Top-5-Leagues: 9 Chapman; 8 Blanc, Brisson; 7 Panucci, M. Hughes; 6 Parralo, Vierchowod, Moretti, Milner, Sheringham, Möller, Wilkins, Klinsmann, Francis, Worthington, Richardson.   submitted by   /u/MERTENS_GOAT [link]   [comments]