A Premier League great was reportedly blocked from becoming one of the inaugural members inducted into the Hall of Fame.
After 28 years of exciting football, the Premier League announced that an official Hall of Fame was being created to remember the best players ever to play in the competition.
In 2025, Chelsea great Eden Hazard and Manchester United legend and popular pundit Gary Neville were named as the latest players to be inducted.
Meanwhile the first inductions were Premier League top goalscorer Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry, who is widely regarded as the best Premier League player of all time, were immortalised in the Hall of Fame.
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But it has now been revealed that there was actually another player to be the first to be added into the Hall of Fame, until his nomination was 'secretly blocked' due to the player's actions off of the pitch.
According to a report from The Telegraph, the Premier League had initially planned to make Ryan Giggs one of the first Hall of Fame members alongside Shearer.
The plans had Giggs and Shearer as the first inductees, with their places set to be confirmed shortly after the Hall of Fame was announced.
However, the 2020 launch event was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and by the time it was reorganised, Giggs had been replaced by Henry.
The reason for Giggs' removal is because he faced trial for domestic abuse as his ex-girlfriend accused him of coercive or controlling behaviour.
Giggs - who always denied the charges - was later found not guilty in July 2023 after his accuser declined to give evidence in a retrial.
At the time, Chris Daw KC, who represented Giggs, told Manchester Crown Court: “The position is that he has always been innocent of these charges and there have been very many lies told about him.”
Despite this, evidence from the case has proved to be damaging for his public image.
However, pressure for Giggs to be inducted into the Hall of Fame has been mounting, with the Manchester united legend remaining the most decorated player in the competition's history whilst also holding the record of scoring in every Premier League season until he retired.
Critics believed that it is unfair that Giggs is ignored while the likes of Eric Cantona, who was convicted of assaulting a fan in 1995, and Tony Adams, who was jailed for drink driving, were inducted in 2021 and 2023 respectively.
John Terry, who was inducted in 2024 despite being banned for four matches by the Football Association for racism, and 2023 inductee Rio Ferdinand, banned for eight months for missing a drugs test, are also included.
Topics: Premier League, Ryan Giggs, Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Football
Ben McCrum