Where does Lewis Dunk rank among our club legends?

As club captain Lewis Dunk celebrates his 400th appearances for the Albion, we ask: Where does the skipper rank among other legends of the club? 

According to some experts, the answer has to be in the top five or even higher. Who are these experts? They include Roberto De Zerbi, Graham Potter and Dunky’s teammates. 

“I think he is one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League,” Albion head coach De Zerbi said this week. “I know well his potential, the standard of his performances,” earlier calling him “a perfect captain. And I like that Dunk is my player.”

Former Albion head coach Potter said, “He’s our best player, it’s as simple as that. He’s the captain, his technical ability is amazing when you consider his defensive and physical attributes.” 

And Potter’s team, remember, achieved the highest finish in the club’s history. The best player in the best-ever Albion squad must logically be a slam-dunk to be among our GOATs [greatest of all time].

As for Dunk’s teammates, he has been such a regular winner of the annual players’ player of the season award that he jokingly referred to it as ‘the Lewis Dunk award’ when handing it over to Marc Cucurella last season.

Albion’s number five shirt has often been worn by what you might call a traditional centre-half – good in the air and strong in the tackle but less adept with the ball at his feet. Dunk, though, has redefined the role. His technical ability is evident not just in his comfort on the ball and those long, attack-starting diagonal passes that have become a trademark, but also in the remarkable fact that he leads all Premier League players – not just defenders – in successful passes since the arrival of De Zerbi as head coach last September.

The defensive and physical attributes we all know about, particularly the fearless manner in which he throws himself in front of shots in his efforts to keep the ball out of Albion’s net.

None of this just happens, of course. When he was still at the club, former Albion defender Ben White recalled watching Dunk in first-team training while still in the youth ranks.  "He used to be the best trainer every day,” he said. “I would come over from the under-23s and I was almost speechless at how good he was, how big he was and the size of him.

“When I play next to him and see some of the things he does, it is mind-blowing. For me I think he is one of the best in the Premier League. I don't think he gets as much credit as he should. If I was the manager (England) he would be straight in for me but I think he has been amazing and deserves another call-up."

To put his achievements in historical perspective, he has played more games than all but nine other players. He has captained the team in more top flight matches than either Brian Horton or Steve Foster, both undisputed club legends. He has played for six different Albion managers and with a series of centre-back partners, from experienced internationals such as Matthew Upson and Joel Veltman to the promising Levi Colwill and Connor Goldson.  

He has played in a back four, in a back three, on the right of a pair, on the left and in the centre. He has protected goalkeepers including Casper Ankergren, Tomasz Kuszczak, David Stockdale, Maty Ryan and now Robert Sanchez. 

Dunky and Big Bob have an excellent understanding, of course, never more evident than in the calm chest pass back to the goalkeeper as a cross arced into a crowded Amex penalty area during a 2-0 victory over Leeds in May 2021. He even took the keeper’s jersey after Rob’s red card late in a match at home to Newcastle.  And needless to say, he was the first to console and encourage his goalkeeper after a rare slip at Palace this season.

A boyhood Chelsea fan despite his upbringing in north Brighton, Dunk joined Wimbledon’s youth system before their move to Milton Keynes forced them to release all their under-14s. Albion youth boss Martin Hinshelwood snapped him up – “He was dominant in his position. Even then he had good feet, good touch,” he said - and there was a symmetry in the fact that he made his first-team debut at 18 in a goalless League One match away to MK Dons. 

Since then there have been a few ups and downs. Finishing the club’s disappointing 2014-5 season as top scorer with seven goals in all competitions and putting the team ahead in the play-off semi-final second leg against Sheffield Wednesday in 2016 probably count on both sides of the ledger. 

But the highlights are more numerous: the diving headed winner at Fulham in the promotion season; his first Premier League goal in a vital 2-1 home victory over Arsenal; the nerveless penalty in the shootout at Millwall that took Albion to Wembley in 2019; a clever free kick rolled in at Anfield; and the moment that Bruno passed him the armband as he left the field at the end of his playing career in May 2019.

El Capitan had no doubts that he had a worthy successor as skipper. “Dunky is the perfect person to do it,” he said. “It's not just about playing the games and wearing the armband, it's about every single day, how you behave, how you train and how you help your team-mates. 

“Being a captain is being a leader. You need to help other players improve. It's a tough job but I know Dunky is the right man. As a player and a human being.”

And so say all of us. And that is why, when Albion fans of the future putting together an all-time top five debate the relative merits of Peter Ward, Tommy Cook, Alexis Mac Allister, Steve Foster, Bobby Zamora, Jimmy Case and Glenn Murray, the name of Lewis Dunk will be an essential part of the conversation.