Top 10 cult heroes

Every club has one. They might not be first on the manager's teamsheet, but they have their own chants and their own fan clubs. We celebrate the cult heroes...

Forget such tedium and bask in the glory of ten players who were cherished not for how good they were, but for who they were and what they represented:

10) Moritz Volz (Fulham)

Never has a foreign player thrown himself more emphatically into English life than Volz, blessed with a wonderful ability to send himself up. He would travel around London via fold-up bicycle and claimed to be an obsessive fan of David Hasselhoff. The German was also a committed performer during his time at Fulham, and involved himself in a huge amount of community charity work.

Leaving the club after five years, Fulham paid their tribute to him on their official website: "As well as his valuable contribution on the pitch, Volz played his part for Fulham in the Community. Embracing everything Fulham, he spearheaded a number of campaigns for the club's Community Sports Trust and became a cult figure at Craven Cottage."

Thankfully, Volz can still give you restaurant and music recommendations via his own website.

9) Slaven Bilic (West Ham)

"The thing I remember about Slaven from West Ham was the size of his personality," says Frank Lampard of the Croatian's time in East London. "He'd have a few fags before games. He was a smoker at the time, a couple of other players did as well, but it didn't affect his performance when he played."

There is a correlation between a footballer smoking and retaining cult hero status. 'Yes, of course I know this isn't helping my career, but have you considered that I enjoy the long draw on a French-brand cigarette more than I do kicking a ball around?' Such players appear like the cooler kids in the playground, flagrantly ignoring regulations and common sense.

"He was a cult hero, a nice fella and a top player," Lampard concluded. Never mind right foot, left foot, header - that's pretty much the footballer's perfect hat-trick.

8) Gary Doherty (Tottenham)

Honesty remains a much-cherished quality in English football, a hark back to the days when men were men, (foot)balls were hard and goalkeepers smoked pipes while diving to make saves.

Gary Doherty was as honest as they come. If you had brought him a garden implement useful for digging at any point during his Spurs career he would have called it a spade.

Doherty was also a baffling entity. Bought from Luton for £1m, supporters grew ever more fond of his quite obvious inadequacies, simply because he gave it his all. He could play in both central defence or as a striker, joining Chris Sutton, Paul Warhurst and Dion Dublin in an unlikely boyband, and joyfully didn't appear to change his style in any way to account for the nuances of these very different roles.

Doherty may never really have been good enough to excel at White Hart Lane, but to supporters he was their working-class hero, guaranteed a standing ovation when he returned to the club. There's a great deal to be said for the lost art of trying your absolute best.

7) Diego Forlan (Manchester United)

It is only a small percentage of players that are able to enjoy the genuine best wishes of supporters after leaving a club, but Diego Forlan certainly exists as one. Despite boasting a less than formidable goal record (ten Premier League goals) during his two-and-a-half years at Old Trafford, Manchester United will always hold a place in their hearts for their clumsy Uruguayan who went on to startlingly better things.

He ripped his shirt off whenever he scored as if his life had been saved by the news, he scored last-minute winners against Southampton and Chelsea and he looked completely forlorn at his shabby return in front of goal. But, most of all, he made the Scousers cry.

6) Emmanuel Eboue (Arsenal)

Eboue's initial ineptitude at Arsenal may have angered some sections of the club's support but, eventually, we've all got time for a bit of slapstick.

If there was a calamity to be had or a questionable prank to be played, Eboue-man was your answer. Whether it's dancing in front of Arsene Wenger naked in the changing room, turning up at Gilberto Silva's house dressed as a tiger to scare other guests or being part of the side that reached the Champions League final in 2006, Arsenal fans will always hold a place in their heart for the Ivorian.

"You've only come to see Eboue," Arsenal fans would chant. Worth the admission fee alone, except for those pesky category A games.

5) Juliano Belletti (Chelsea)

Belletti had already given himself a huge leg up in the eyes of Chelsea supporters by scoring the goal to consign Arsenal to defeat in the 2006 Champions League final. He used that platform to fashion out a reputation as one of the club's most unlikely cult heroes.

The full-back lacked any of the customary Brazilian flair, but made up for that with work-rate and effort by the bucketload. He remained a squad player for the most part, but remained entirely committed to both Chelsea and English football, despite having already achieved great things with Barcelona.

"England is the best of all worlds, where technique, tactics, atmosphere, infrastructure, and management combine," Belletti said after leaving for Fluminese. "It's like the highest possible level of professional football. I thank the heavens every day for letting me taste this amazing life at Chelsea." Brings a tear to the eye.

4) Dimitar Berbatov (Everyone, really)

Sometimes a player establishes themselves as a cult hero with one set of supporters for his hard work. For Berbatov, the opposite is true: He is loved by almost everyone for his languid style. Rather than a cult hero at one club, for years he enjoyed that status across the entire Premier League.

Berbatov was the epitome of footballing cool. He smoked cigars, drew caricatures of himself and teammates and reportedly learnt English through watching the Godfather trilogy. Moreover, he described his style as follows: "I read a book recently and the book started saying unless you have beauty and grace, you are powerless to win a heart. I like to play like that, with beauty and grace." Hold me, I'm melting.

And then disaster struck. Berbatov would have topped this list were it not for the message 'Keep Calm And Pass Me The Ball' he displayed on a vest after scoring for Fulham. A thousand hipsters shed a tear made not primarily of water but a rare Alaskan craft beer.

3) Shola Ameobi (Newcastle)

The Mackem Slayer, as he became fondly remembered, Ameobi never came close to realising his full potential at Newcastle. That just made Geordies love him more.

Between 1995 and 2014, through crisis, glory and madness, Shola was Newcastle's one constant. He scored just 79 goals for the club, but the seven against Sunderland put him behind only Jackie Milburn in the list of record Tyne-Wear derby goalscorers. That's how you become a hero at St. James'.

After 19 years, Ameobi finally left Newcastle in the summer - an era ended indeed.

2) Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool)

Continually described as hardworking, such an adjective is slander to the quality Kuyt actually demonstrated during his six years at Anfield. Well-behaved, respectful, committed, versatile, skilful, extraordinarily useful in front of goal and visibly prepared to run for hours, weeks and months just for the Liverpool cause. A hat-trick against Manchester United probably helped too.

When watching Kuyt, one always gets the feeling that he finds nothing in football easy, but that only makes his success all the more warming. Every pass completed, goal scored and tackle made seems to have taken a greater effort than that required by anyone around him.

Liverpool is a club around which many supporters base their entire mood, their fortunes entwined with those of their social institution. For them, Kuyt was the perfect idol. He was their everyman.

1) Shaun Goater (Manchester City)

The leader of the gang. Shaun Goater's cult hero status is so entrenched into Manchester City folklore that June 21 has now been declared as Shaun Goater Day. The David Beckham of Bermudan football is now an MBE for his services to the country's game. To City fans, he's simply The Goat.

Goater scored 103 goals in 189 to take City from the third tier to the top, despite never being technically precise or possessing great pace. When a chance needed scoring, he was there. He was always there.

His greatest achievement must surely have been the calmness of his celebration after giving City the lead in the Manchester derby. The pinnacle of all he'd ever fought for at the club, and he reacted like he'd just found out his bus was going to be on time. Majestic.

A version of this article first appeared on Football365