World Record Transfers - 1973-1986

1973

 Johan Cruyff, Ajax to Barcelona

£922,000

Today's Price (Adjusted for Inflation) - £10.2m

Today's post starts off with an absolute worldie. Not many names in the beautiful game come as big as this one. After Pele won his last of three World Cups in 1970, the honour of being the world's greatest player was up for grabs, and many believe that Johann Cruyff was that player. Between 1964 and his transfer to Barca in '73, Cruyff had scored 190 goals in 240 games for his hometown club, Ajax, and was instrumental in the famous Dutch side winning three European Cups in a row in '71,'72, and '73. His legacy there is such that Ajax's current stadium is named The Johann Cruijff Arena (to use the Dutch spelling). It was on the strength of these phenomenal achievements that Barcelona decided to break a transfer record that had stood since Pietro Anastasi's £500k move to Juventus in 1968. Barcelona almost doubled the standing record, and were just £77k shy of making Johan Cruyff the first £1m player. Of course, the deal would have been paid in Spanish Pasetas, or Dutch Guilders, so whether or not they reached a million of a random currency was of no concern to the two clubs. Cruyff played for Barca for 5 seasons and won La Liga once and the Copa del Rey once. His Barcelona legacy was confirmed later as a manager, when he led Barcelona to their first ever European Cup success, in 1992.

1975

 Guiseppe Savoldi, Bologna to Napoli

£1,200,000

Today - £9.2m

A lesser known name became the world's first £1m pound player. Many fans will remember Trevor Francis as the first million pound player, when he moved from Birmingham to Nottingham Forest for £1.15m in 1979. Savoldi came 4 years earlier though, but as the transfer was paid in Italian Lira, there could be an argument that Francis really was the first player bought for a million pounds or more. Either way, Guiseppe Savoldi is the name you need to remember for pub quizzes or appearances on Pointless, he was the first transfer worth £1m or more. This was the second time Napoli had broken the transfer record and Savoldi hepled the club win the Coppa Italia in his first season. It would take there 3rd and final record transfer to clinch their first Serie A though; a certain Argentine in a decade or so time... stay tuned.

1976

 Paolo Rossi, Juventus to Vicenza

£1,750,000

Today - £11.6m

Paolo Rossi is probably best remembered for leading Italy to the 1982 World Cup title, in which he won the Golden Boot with 6 goals. Six years earlier though, he shot to prominence by becoming the world's most expensive footballer having played just 6 league games before his move to Vicenza. Rossi came through the ranks at Juventus but failed to make an appearance, he was loaned out to Como where he played six times without scoring a goal. Vicenza initially took Rossi on loan, and he impressed in his first season by scoring 21 goals and leading Vicenza to promotion to Serie A. This led to co-ownership of Rossi by both Juventus and Vicenza. When the two clubs were called to settle the property by way of a silent auction, Vicenza offered the massive sum of 2.6 billion lire, making Rossi the most expensive player in history at that point. 

1982

 Diego Maradona, Boca Juniors to Barcelona

£3,000,000

Today - £9.7m

Ah, Diego. As a 16 year old, Diego Maradona had started his career at Argentinos Juniors, here he managed 117 goals in 167 appearances. Still only 21 he moved to Boca for $4m USD, which would have been just shy of the £1.75m that Rossi had moved for in 1976. Aged 22 he moved again, to Barcelona, for a world record fee. Maradona spent two injury-hit years at Barcelona, but still managed to score 38 goals in 58 games in all competitions. He suffered a broken ankle against Athletic Bilbao after a poorly-timed tackle from Andoni Goikoetxea. When the two met again in the Copa del Rey Final of 1984, Maradona was taunted by the Bilbao fans, was on the receiving end of another rough tackle from Goikoetxea which wounded his leg, and Barcelona lost the game 1-0. At full-time Maradona lost it, Joey Barton-style, and squared up to Goikoetxea. When the Bilbao player made a xenophobic gesture, Maradona headbutted him and elbowed another Bilbao player, causing a mass brawl which left 60 people injured. This entire episode had been played out in front of Spain's King Juan Carlos and effectively secured Diego Maradona's transfer out of the club. Amazing footage of the brawl can be seen below.

                                       

1984

 Diego Maradona, Barcelona to Napoli

£5,000,000

Today - £14.7m

Following the brawl of a century, Napoli moved in quick to seal Maradona's signature. This transfer made Maradona the only player in history to have broken his own world transfer record. Two other players have been the world's most expensive player on two separate occasions, Original Ronaldo, and David Jack, but Diego is the only player to have done it consecutively. Whilst his ability was never in doubt, many clubs were wary of associating themselves with a player who could turn the Copa del Rey Final into a Gladiator-style fight to the death, in front of the King. The risk paid off for Napoli though, as Maradona led the club to their first ever Serie A title in 1986-87, the season following his remarkable exploits at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. Maradona scored 81 goals in 188 appearances for Napoli, and is widely remembered as the greatest player ever to play the game, in particular during these halcyon days of the mid-80s. To balance the video I offered above of his gruesome side, here's a compilation of Maradona's graceful side whilst at Napoli:

• Next up I'll be looking at the record transfers from 1987 to 1992.

World Record Transfers - Post WW2 to 1968

1949
 Johnny Morris, Manchester United to Derby County
£24,000
Today's price (adjusted for inflation) - £780k

Fresh from the victory of WW2, Britain also took back its world record for a football transfer from Argentina's River Plate. This transfer marks the only time that Man Utd sold a player for a record fee, and their purchase of Paul Pogba in 2016 is the only time they broke the record for a signing. Derby County had won the first FA Cup after the war in 1946, and used that cachet to land United's inside-forward. Morris managed 44 goals in 130 appearances for County before moving on to Leicester.

1949
 Eddie Quigley, Sheffield Wednesday to Preston North End
£26,500
Today - £860k

Post-war euphoria was high, as was the transfer fees in Britain, with 1949 seeing the record broken twice. Eddie Quigley joined a Preston side that featured the great Bill Shankly. Preston were the winners of the first two league championships ever in 1889 and 1890, but couldn't quite match that feat with their new world record signing as they finished runners-up in 52/53.

1950
 Trevor Ford, Aston Villa to Sunderland
£30,000
Today - £940k

Sunderland broke the world transfer record for the third and last time to sign Welsh striker TrevorFord. He was the first of two Welshmen to hold the record, with Gareth Bale's 2013 move to Madrid making up the other one. Sunderland were one of the big-hitters in pre-war English football, having won the league title 6 times, but their big spending couldn't help them to a post-war title. Ford netted 67 times in 108 appearanes before moving back home to Cardiff in 1953.



1951
 Jackie Sewell, Notts County to Sheffield Wednesday
£34,500
Today - £995k

Having sold Eddie Quigley in 1949 for a record fee, Sheff Wed decided to re-invest the cash on a record transfer of their own. In came forward Jackie Sewell from Notts County. Jackie's 87 goals in 164 appearances wasn't enough to rouse Wednesday, who haven't won a major honour since 1935.

1952
 Hasse Jeppson, Atalanta to Napoli
£52,000
Today - £1.37m

Up until now its been all Britain, with only one Argentine exception. But Hans Jeppson's £52k move to Napoli began a period of almost total transfer domination for Italian football that lasted into the millenium. Forget Zlatan, Hasse Jeppson is the only Swedish player to hold the record transfer. Jeppson had moved from Djurgarden in Sweden to England initially, where he joined Charlton Athletic. After a short stay of 9 goals in 11 games, he moved to Italy, first with Atalanta and then the record transfer to Napoli. The Napolese side will feature again in this list twice more, so look forward to that with baited breath. Jeppson is pictured (right) just before his death in 2013.

1954
 Juan Schiaffino, Penarol to AC Milan
£72,000
Today - £1.8m

Schiaffino became the second South-American to hold the record and the first and only Uruguayan. This transfer saw the first time that a European side broke the world record to sign a player from a South-American club, something we will see a few more times in this list. Perhaps the growing popularity of the World Cup was showing just how good the South-Americans were, or perhaps improved air travel was allowing European clubs the chance to scout on foreign lands. Schiaffino helped AC Milan to dominate Italian football in the late 50s, during his stay they won Serie A three times.

1957
 Enrique Omar Sivori, River Plate to Juventus
£93,000
Today - £2.05m

I must admit that Sivori is the first name in the list that I recognise, and even so its a faint recognition.  Another to move from South America to Italy, this time to Turin-giants Juventus. Sivori became the second Argentine to break the world record after Bernabe Ferreyra in 1932. Only two Argentines have held the record since, the might Diego Maradona and the not-so-mighty-but-still-very-good Hernan Crespo. Sivori is a bonafide legend at Juventus, having scored 135 goals in 215 appearances and winning 3 Serie A titles and 3 Coppa Italias.

1961
 Luis Suarez, Barcelona to Internazionale
£152,000
Today - £3.1m

Here's another familiar name, but it's not Barcelona's current Uruguayan maestro. Nicknamed 'El Arcitecto', the original Luis Suarez is considered one of Spain's greatest ever players, and won the Ballon d'Or in 1960. More of an attacking midfielder than an out-and-out striker, he was famed for his perceptive passing and explosive shot. Suarez's move to Inter helped them to become a dominant force in Italy and Europe in the 1960s. During Suarez's years of 1961 to 1970, Inter won the Serie A 3 times,and the European Cup twice.


1963
 Angelo Sormani, Mantova to Roma
£250'000
Today - £4.8m

With Italian football dominating the world transfer record at this time, it is surprising that Sormani became the first Italian player to become the record transfer. Sormani was, however, born in Brazil and began his career at Santos but went on to represent Italy. In attempt to compete with the stunning teams in Milan at the time, Roma splashed out a quarter of a million pounds to land Sormani, as well as agreeing to send 3 players to Mantova as part of the deal. The transfer was a failure though, with Sormani scoring just 6 times in his one season at the club, he moved to Sampdoria the following year. Sormani would later join AC Milan, where he won many many trophies. Angelo Sormani is the first player on the list who is still alive today, he is 78 years old.

1967
 Harald Nielsen, Bologna to Internazionale
£300'000
Today - £5m

Nielsen became the first and only Danish player to hold the record after impressing at Bologna as a forward with 81 goals in 157 appearances. Inter were arguably the best team in the world in the 1960s and Nielsen unfortunately didn't make the grade, scoring only twice in 8 games before moving on to Napoli. A back injury kept him on the sidelines and ultimately forced him to retire in 1970, aged 29. Harald is still alive and well and was instrumental in the professionalisation of the Danish game after his early retirement.



1968
 Pietro Anastasi, Varese to Juventus
£500'000
Today - £7.95m

The first half-a-million-pound player, Anastasi became the second Italian record-breaking signing. His huge fee is made even larger when considering the fact he was only 20 when Juventus signed him. Anastasi had a decent career at Juventus, where he scored 78 times in 205 appearances. During that time Juve won the Serie A 3 times.




That wraps up from WW2 to 1968. This period saw a shift from the footballing financial dominance of Britain over to Italy, a dominance that will continue in my next post. Join me next time as I go through the record transfers from 1973-1986. You'll need to bring your space hoppers and Wham records with you.

World Record Transfers - Pre WW2

The Early Years

Pre WW2

1893

 Willie Groves, West Brom to Aston Villa

£100

Today's Price (Adjusted for Inflation) - £10k

Let's start at the beginning. Before the Willie Groves transfer, records are sketchy at best. Players were certainly transferred between clubs, but often as trades for other players or sometimes for services and goods. Groves' transfer between the Black Country rivals is known as being the first transfer to ever exceed £100. As with most world transfer record-holders, Willie Groves was a striker, born in Glasgow and came through the ranks at Hibs. What is interesting about this transfer is that Aston Villa were actually forced to pay West Brom the £100 fee after they were found guilty of poaching Groves and another player, Jack Reynolds, from WBA. The two helped the Villains to the 1984 league championship that season.

1903

 Ben Green, Barnsley to Small Heath.

£500 

Today - £49k

If you've never heard of Small Heath, don't worry, neither had I until researching this article. The Peaky Blinders fans amongst you might though, as Small Heath is where most of the TV show is set. Small Heath became known as Birmingham in 1905, and finally Birmingham City in 1943. It took a decade for Big Willie's £100 transfer to be broken, and along came another Midlands club to smash it, paying 5 times the amount for the inside forward. That 400% increase remains the highest percentage between record transfer fees to this day. 'Benny' is famous for scoring the club's first goal at their new ground St. Andrews, 3 days after it's official opening on 29 December, 1906. The club rewarded Benny with a piano for that goal. Class. Benny was tragically killed in action in France in the first world war, aged just 34.

1904

 Andy McCombie, Sunderland to Newcastle United.

£700

Today - £69k

Up to the North-East we go. Two themes developing; transfers in this period tend to be between teams that are geographically close, and English clubs think Scottish players are worth breaking the transfer record for. Contrary to developing themes, though, is that McCombie was a right-back, making this the first world record breaking transfer for a non striker. McCombie won the football league championship with both Newcastle and Sunderland, as well as being an FA Cup runner-up whilst representing both sides.

1905

Alf Common, Sunderland to Middlesbrough
£1000

Today - £98.5k

Sunderland were swimming in cash in the early 1900s, with their local rivals spending big money to pick apart the dominant Sunderland side that had won 4 league championships between 1892 and 1902. Forward Alf Common had previously moved from Sunderland to Sheffield United in 1901 for £325, but returned to Sunderland in 1904 for £520. Sunderland nearly doubled their money just one year on when a different North-East rival, Middlesbrough, became the first club in history to spend 4 figures on a player. It turned out to be a decent bit of business, as Common scored 58 goals in 168 appearances for Boro. 

1913

 Daniel Shea, West Ham to Blackburn Rovers

£2000

Today - £180k

London, being Britain's financial capital, is conspicuous in its absence from early football transfer records. Perhaps this points to the fact that football has its roots in working-clas areas like the North-East and the Midlands, which have featured in all transfers so far. Daniel Shea's move in 1913 is the first to feature a club from the nation's capital, but tellingly Shea left the bright lights of London for humble Lancashire. Shea was an excellent signing, and helped Blackburn win the 13/14 league championship in his first season. He scored 61 goals in 97 appearances for Rovers, but his spell was interrupted by the First World War and he returned to West Ham in 1920.

1914

 Percy Dawson, Hearts to Blackburn Rovers

£2500

Today - £220k

Dawson was signed during the 13/14 season in which Blackburn won the league championship. The club had shelled out £4500 for Daniel Shea and Percy Dawson to lead their title-winning attack. This was to be Blackburn's last league title until they won the Premier League in 1995, with another expensive but top quality strike-force in Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton. Dawson's transfer is noteworthy because it is the first world record fee to involve a club outside of England, in the shape of Edinburgh-based Heart of Midlothian. Hearts sold their star striker to fund much needed improvements to Tynecastle Stadium.

1920
 David Jack, Plymouth Argyle to Bolton Wanderers
£3500
Today - £129k

Born in Bolton, inside-forward David Jack began his career at Plymouth as a result of being stationed there during WW1. He moved to his hometown club in 1920 and famously became the first player to score at Wembley Stadium, during the 1923 FA Cup Final, which saw Bolton beat West Ham 2-0, with King George V in attendance. Jack scored an impressive 144 goals for Wanderers in 295 games, and his goals helped them win 2 FA Cups; the aforementioned '23 Cup, and again in 1926 where he scored the only goal against Man City.

1922
 Syd Puddefoot, West Ham to Falkirk
£5000
Today - £250k

Falkirk became the first club outside of England to break the world record transfer for a player. Remember that, it might make you a pub-quiz hero one day. Falkirk had been Scottish league runner-up twice in the 1900s and in their push to become champions opted for the excellently-named Puddefoot, who had already scored over 100 goals for West Ham. Falkirk would ultimately not win a league title with Syd, and have still to this day never been Scottish champions. They are, however, the only Scottish team in history to break the world record fee for a footballer. This transfer is also the second time that West Ham to featured as the selling club, suggesting that West Ham have always had a world-class youth development system at the club.

1922
 Warney Cresswell, South Shields to Sunderland
£5500
Today - £275k

This one features another side who have since changed their name. South Shields changed their name in 1930 to Gateshead after relocating the club in the 1920s because of financial problems. Hard to imagine how they had such financial difficulty after they sold their full-back, Warney Cresswell, for a world-record fee. Similar to when Leeds sold Rio Ferdinand for £30m but still managed to descend into administration. This transfer strengthens the fact that the North-East really ruled football in the early 20th century. Cresswell played 182 times for Sunderland but never scored a goal. A 1920s version of Rob Jones.

1925
 Bob Kelly, Burnley to Sunderland
£6500
Today - £340k

In the 1900s, Sunderland were a selling team, but by the 1920s they were soending big. They broke their own world record to sign inside-forward Bob Kelly after he had scored 88 goals in 277 appearances for Burnley. Sunderland are one of only two teams in history to break their own world record to sign a player, with Real Madrid doing it much more recently (Another one for you pub-quiz aficionados). Sunderland's big spending didn't pay off, however, and they had to wait until 1935/36 to win the last of their 6 English league titles, with Cresswell and Kelly both long gone by then.

1928
 David Jack - Bolton to Arsenal
£10'890
Today - £600k

Jack is back! Having held the world record in 1920 when he moved to Bolton, David Jack became thefirst player in history to hold it on two separate occasions. He is one of only three players in history to do so, with illustrious company in Diego Maradona and Original Ronaldo also doing the same. He was also the first ever player to go for 5 figures. This guy is just a pub-quiz dream, and he's got two first names. This transfer is also pub-quiz-worthy in that it is surprisingly the only time in history that a London-based club broke the world record. Arsenal would go on to win their first league championship in 1929/30 as well as the FA Cup the same year to complete the double. That sparked a period of dominance for the Gunners as they won the league again in '33, '34, '35, and '38. David Jack provided 113 goals in 181 appearances for Arsenal between 1928 and 1934. I think it's safe to say that this was one record transfer that paid off big-time.

1932
 Bernabe Ferreyra, Tigres to River Plate
£23'000
Today - £1.46m

The last time the record was broken before the outbreak of WW2 was done so by Argentine giantsRiver Plate. This transfer is the one and only time that a club outside of Europe broke the record. What a signing it was though, as Ferreyra scored 187 times in 185 appearances fro 1932 to 1939, and who knows how many more would have followed if old Adolf hadn't started to play silly buggers in '39.


That wraps it up for Pre-War, join me next time for post-war euphoria. Down with Adolf, up with the transfer value of association football players.