Crouch? Bellamy? Cole? Finding the ultimate Premier League journeyman
In the Premier League, there have been several players who have represented more than a handful of clubs over their careers.
In an era where a lot of money is available to essentially every big club in the world, it’s not uncommon to see players in demand from a horde of clubs, and for them to represent many of them.
We have looked into the players who have featured for the most Premier League clubs in their careers.
7. 18 players – six clubs
As many as 18 players have represented six different English top-flight clubs in their careers.
One of the standout names is Scott Sinclair, who played for Chelsea, Manchester City and Aston Villa as three of his six clubs.
Scott Carson is another well-known journeyman, playing most of his Premier League games for West Brom.
He has been at City for four years, though he’s played just once in the top flight for them, and twice overall.
Jermaine Pennant played for a lot of big clubs among his six Premier League sides, including Arsenal, Leeds, Birmingham and Liverpool.
Other names include: Steven Caulker, Nigel Quashie, Stan Collymore, David Thompson, Andros Townsend, Darren Bent, Les Ferdinand, Robbie Keane, Paul Konchesky, Louis Saha, Nicolas Anelka, Nick Barmby, Wayne Bridge and Scott Parker.
6. Tal Ben Haim – seven clubs
Ben Haim played the majority of his games in the Premier League for Bolton. The defender played 148 times in the English top flight, and 88 of those games came for the Trotters.
Afterwards, the former Israel international moved to Chelsea, Manchester City, Sunderland, Portsmouth, West Ham and QPR.
He did not play nearly as many games for any of those sides, nor did he reach the Premier League tally of some of those ahead him on the list, who played for the same number of clubs.
5. Craig Bellamy – seven clubs
Bellamy played 294 games in the Premier League, and though he played for some big clubs and won the Community Shield and the League Cup, the league title evaded him.
The winger played most of his games for Newcastle, for whom he scored 10 goals and assisted another five in the 2001/02 Premier League campaign.
His best return of top-flight goals came for Blackburn, in 2005-06, where Bellamy scored 13 times. He also had good seasons with Liverpool and Manchester City.
The other clubs he represented in the Premier League were Coventry, West Ham and Cardiff.
4. Wayne Routledge – seven clubs
Routledge ended his career with over 300 appearances for Swansea, and over 150 of those came in the Premier League. But before that time, the winger featured for a number of different clubs.
He played 297 Premier League games for seven different clubs. After Swansea, Routledge’s next-most appearances came for Crystal Palace, where he played 38 times in the top flight.
He had short spells at Tottenham, Portsmouth, Fulham, Aston Villa and Newcastle too.
3. Andy Cole – seven clubs
Cole won the Premier League five times with Manchester United. He played 195 games for them in the top flight, which makes up less than half of the striker’s 415 appearances in the competition.
Prior to United, Cole had a very explosive spell at Newcastle, where his best tally of Premier League goals was 34 in a 40-game season.
After his long stay at United, the striker moved onto Blackburn Rovers for a few years, before he spent single season apiece with Fulham, Manchester City, Portsmouth and Sunderland.
Only three players have scored more than Cole’s 187 Premier League goals, though nobody above him on the list has played for nearly as many clubs.
2. Peter Crouch – seven clubs
Crouch essentially followed Harry Redknapp around for a portion of his career, the manager signing the 6ft 7in striker wherever he went.
Of the seven Premier League clubs Crouch played for, he was managed by Redknapp at three of them.
Crouch started his 468-game Premier League career with Aston Villa, and after little success there, Redknapp signed him at Southampton.
The striker scored 12 goals in one season for the Saints, leading to his move to Liverpool in 2005.
He had a good three-year spell at Anfield before Redknapp signed him again, this time for Portsmouth. Crouch was only there for a season, and when his manager moved to Tottenham, so did he.
After two years there, Crouch moved to Stoke City, where he played the most games and scored the most goals of his career.
Right at the back end of his career, the striker added a seventh Premier League side, Burnley, where he retired after six games.
1. Marcus Bent – eight clubs
While he did not have the same length of career as some below him on the list, Bent managed to play for more Premier League clubs than anybody else, making 214 appearances for eight separate sides.
He played more times in the Premier League for Everton than he did for any other side, but scored just seven goals in 55 top-flight games for them.
Bent represented them midway through his career, having already played for Ipswich, Leicester, Blackburn and Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
He then represented Charlton, Wigan, Wolves, and was in a Premier League squad for Birmingham, but never actually got on the field.
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