As the legendary Italian shot-stopper made history yesterday by becoming the first goalkeeper ever to record 500 clean sheets in competitive football aged 44, we take a look at some of the players that refused to let father time dictate their careers.
Gianluigi Buffon
There really isn't a better example of a current-day footballer that has managed to push beyond the perceived limitations of age than Gianluigi Buffon.
While yes, I do grant you, dear reader, that as a goalkeeper Buffon may not have had his body subjected to quite the same strain that some of his outfield colleagues, it is worth noting that Buffon is in a class all his own among goalkeepers.
Unlike some of his shot-stopping contemporaries who, approaching the age of 40, are content to serve as a third-choice keeper as they enter the twilight years of their athletic careers, Buffon has actively sought out opportunities to continue getting game time.
After winning pretty much everything there is to win in the sport, last year Buffon chose not to rest on his laurels and returned to boyhood club Parma aged 43, and has been going strong ever since.
Gianluigi Buffon 2022 ► Best Defenses at 43 Years Old - Parma | HD
Teddy Sheringham
A rarity in modern English football as an outfield player that managed to extend his career into his late 30s and beyond, Teddy Sheringham enjoyed success at the highest levels of the sport for almost the entirety of his career.
After establishing himself as a youngster during the early 1980s at then-second tier Millwall, subsequent transfers, first to Nottingham Forrest and then to Tottenham would see Sheringham cement his status as one of the most prolific English forwards of his era.
However, it would prove to be a move to the all-powerful Manchester United side of the late 90s that would really enshrine Sheringham's spot in footballing folklore. After all, it was his late goal that began United's famous fightback by putting the team back on level terms in the 1999 Champions League Final against Bayern Munich.
For most footballers, earning a major honour aged 33 would be perfect justification to begin winding down their playing career's but not Teddy. Sheringham would go on to play a further 9 seasons following the Champions League triumph, playing his final league game aged 42 for Colchester United in 2008.
Colchester United 1-3 Peterborough United (5th January 2008)
John Burridge
Though perhaps the least known player to feature on this list, eccentric journeyman goalkeeper John Burridge holds the record for being the oldest player ever to feature in a Premier League game. Aged 43 years and 162 days old, Burridge played in goal for Man City as they fell to a 3-2 defeat to QPR in the final game of the 1994/95 Premier League season.
To put that incredible achievement into perspective: Burridge's footballing debut had come more than 27 years before the record-breaking day at Maine Road, which means that more time had passed between his debut and his final Premier League bow than has passed between that historic day in 1995 and today.
To make things even wilder, while his brief stint in the blue half of Manchester would prove to be his final top-flight experience in English football, it would not be his final bow in the game as a whole. In fact, Burridge would go on to represent no fewer than 11 further clubs up and down the football pyramid before finally calling time on his career at the tender age of 47.
John Burridge Warm Up
Stanley Matthews
An enduring sporting among those who were alive to see him during his pomp, it is hard to overstate just how influential Stanley Matthews was in the development of the beautiful game.
After starting his playing career in the early 1930s, Matthews would become a mainstay of the sport for more than three decades playing for Blackpool and Stoke City.
Winner of the inaugural Ballon D'or, Matthews revolutionised some of the dated training approaches common to the sport at the time and attributed his longevity in football to his approach to diet and fitness.
However, like many of the great players of his era, Matthews' may have achieved even more in the sport had he not lost some of the prime footballing years of his career due to the outbreak of the Second World War.
After an accumulation of injuries sustained throughout a 35-year career in the sport, Matthews would ultimately hang up his boots in 1965, making his final professional appearance as a footballer 5 days after his 50th birthday.
Stanley Matthews ● The best of the Legend
Surely no one could possibly top that...
Kazuyoshi Miura
Well, actually it turns out that former Japan international Kazuyoshi Miura can.
Despite retiring from international football before England star Phil Foden was even born, Miura is still kicking as he enters his 36th year as a professional footballer.
After showing promise as an athlete in his youth, Miura travelled to Brazil in 1982 to pursue a career in football. Just four years later a 19-year-old Miura would sign his first professional contract with Brazilian giants Santos, kickstarting one of the most fascinating journeys the sport has ever seen.
After returning to his native Japan in 1990, Miura would establish himself as one of the first stars of the country's burgeoning J-League. From there Miura would embark on a couple of brief spells in Europe, but ultimately always returned home.
In 2005, Miura would make the final permanent move of his career (so far), signing with Yokohama FC in the county's second tier. Despite being well into his thirties at this point, Miura has shown absolutely no signs of slowing down and is still actively playing professional football at the age of 54.
They really don't make them how they used to…
The Oldest Football Player ● Kazuyoshi Miura 三浦知良 (King Kazu) 🇯🇵
