England Team

Disclaimer: If you would like a custom team caricature of your particular team, please realize they cost hundreds of dollars. If you have the money, I take commissions. If you can't afford it, please convert, see the light and support England.

I've spent the last couple of weeks doing this picture that has been bought by SHOOT magazine in the UK. It was published in issue 17 for the week 22nd to 28th of April, so you have one more day if you would like to pick one up.

The English national football team represents England in international football and is controlled by The Football Association, the governing body for football in England. Although most national teams worldwide represent a sovereign state, the four "Home Nations" making up the United Kingdom are each represented separately in most international tournaments.
England won the FIFA World Cup in 1966, when they hosted the event and only reached the semi-final once, in 1990. However, they are the least successful past World Champions, having only been in 2 top-four finishes - a wide margin from the other 6 champions (Brazil, Italy, Germany, Argentina, Uruguay and France have been to at least 4). England also reached the semi-final of the UEFA European Championship in 1968 and 1996. They were the most successful of the "home nations", in the British Home Championship with 54 wins (including 20 shared wins) before the competition was discontinued in 1984.

Traditionally, England's greatest rivals have been Scotland, who were their opponents in the first-ever international football match in 1872. Since regular fixtures against Scotland came to an end in the late 1980s, other rivalries have become more prominent. Matches with Argentina and Germany have produced particularly eventful encounters. England's home ground is Wembley Stadium in London.

The England national football team is the oldest in the world, alongside Scotland. England played their first international match against Scotland, and at Scotland's invitation, at Hamilton Crescent in Scotland on 30 November 1872.[3] Over the next forty years, England played exclusively with the other three "Home Nations" - Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The games were made competitive with the British Home Championship from 1883 to 1984.

Before Wembley was opened, England had no permanent home ground. England joined FIFA in 1906, playing its first ever game outside the British Isles in 1908. However, the relationship between the two were strained, resulting in the British nations' departure from FIFA in 1928, before rejoining in 1946. As a result, England did not compete in a World Cup until 1950, in which they were beaten in a 1-0 defeat against the United States, failing to get past the first round. A 6-3 loss in 1953 to Hungary was England's first ever defeat to a non-British team at Wembley.

Although Walter Winterbottom was appointed as the first ever full time manager in 1946, the team was still picked by a committee until Alf Ramsey took over in 1963. Under Ramsey, England experienced its greatest ever success, winning the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final against West Germany 4-2 after extra time. Geoff Hurst famously scored a hat-trick in the final. The 1966 World Cup was also held in England. Though England lost again to the Auld Enemy Scotland only a year later with a famous 3-2 for the Scots at Wembley. England qualified for the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico as reigning cup holders. They reached the Quarter-finals but were knocked out by West Germany. England had been 2 - 0 up but were eventually beaten 3-2 after extra time. For the 1974 and 1978 World Cups, England failed to qualify. In 1982, England under Ron Greenwood qualified for 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain after a 12-year absence and were eliminated from the second round without losing a match. The team under Bobby Robson fared better as England reached the quarter finals of the 1986 FIFA World Cup and finished fourth in the tournament four years later, which was the best performance in the World Cup since 1966.

Graham Taylor's short reign as Robson's successor ended after his England failed to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, but then the 1996 European Championships were held in England, and under new coach Terry Venables the team had its best performance at a European Championship, reaching the semi-final. The England team of the 1990s and 2000s has been consistently in football's top twenty countries, but hasn't progressed beyond the quarter finals of any international tournament apart from Italia 90 and Euro 96. Sven-Göran Eriksson took charge of the team between 2001 and 2006 and was the first non-English manager of England.
Steve McClaren was appointed as the head coach following the 2006 World Cup. The reign was marked with little success, with England failing to qualify for the 2008 European Championships. McClaren left on 22 November 2007, after only 16 months in charge and making him the shortest tenured full time England manager ever since the inauguration of the post in 1946. He was replaced by the former Real Madrid and AC Milan manager Fabio Capello. The Italian is the second foreign manager to coach England, after Eriksson, and took charge of his first game on 6 February 2008.

For the first 50 years of its existence, England played its home matches all around the country; for the first few years it used cricket grounds, before later moving on to football clubs' stadiums. England played their first match at Wembley Stadium in 1924 against Scotland, but for the next 27 years only used Wembley as a venue for Scotland matches.
The Wembley Stadium is a stadium in Wembley, located in the London Borough of Brent in London, England. It is owned by The Football Association (FA) via its subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Limited, and its primary use is for home games of the England national football team, and the main English domestic football finals.

England home matches (both qualifiers and friendlies) are shown live on BBC One. Live coverage of away matches is sold by the home team (ie. England's opposition who are at home) for both qualifiers and friendlies, although it tends be either the BBC and especially Sky Sports that purchase the rights to these matches. From the 2008/09 season, England's home qualifiers will be shown live on ITV with away qualifiers and home friendlies being shown live on Setanta Sports. Away friendlies will again be sold by the home team.
All matches are broadcast with full commentary on BBC Radio Five Live.

England have always worn white as their home colours, except for one game, against Turkey in 1991, where it was dappled blue. The traditional England away colour is red, but at the very beginning they wore white as their away colours as well as at home. From 1945 to 1952, England wore a blue away kit. The away shirts remained red until 1992, when England wore light blue with the three lions in dark blue from the right shoulder diagonally downwards, as well as light blue shorts, for two matches against Czechoslovakia and Spain. In 1996, England went blue again, with light blue and medium blue striped shirt and shorts. This kit was worn against Bulgaria, Germany and Georgia. Since then, the kit has remained red.

England have occaissionaly had a third kit as well. In 1959 this was blue with white shorts, worn against Peru. At the 1970 World Cup England wore a third kit with light blue shirt, shorts and socks against Czechoslovakia. They had a strip similar to Brazil's kit, with a yellow shirt and blue shorts in 1973, worn against Czechoslovakia, Poland and Italy. At the 1986 World Cup, England had an unused third kit, light blue, but wore the white shirt for every game. However, against Argentina, they wore the light blue shorts from this kit. Another unused third kit is from the 1990 World Cup, which was a dappled blue kit with the inscription "FIFA WORLD CUP ITALIA 90". This was England's last third kit.

England squad

England squad to face France
The following players made it to the finalised squad to face France on March 26, 2008.

Goalkeepers

Paul Robinson October 15, 1979 (age 28) Tottenham Hotspur 41 (0) v Australia, 13 December 2003

David James August 1, 1970 (age 37) Portsmouth 37 (0) v Mexico, 29 March 1997
Robert Green January 18, 1980 (age 28) West Ham United 1 (0) v Colombia, 31 May 2005

Defenders

Rio Ferdinand November 7, 1978 (age 29) Manchester United 66 (2) v Cameroon, 15 November 1997

Ashley Cole December 20, 1980 (age 27) Chelsea 63 (0) v Albania, 28 March 2001

John Terry December 7, 1980 (age 27) Chelsea 43 (3) v Serbia & Montenegro, 3 June 2003

Wayne Bridge August 5, 1980 (age 27) Chelsea 28 (1) v Netherlands, 13 February 2002

Jonathan Woodgate January 22, 1980 (age 28) Tottenham Hotspur 6 (0) v Bulgaria, 9 June 1999

Glen Johnson August 23, 1984 (age 23) Portsmouth 6 (0) v Denmark, November 2003

Joleon Lescott August 16, 1982 (age 25) Everton 5 (0) v Estonia, 13 October 2007

Wes Brown October 13, 1979 (age 28) Manchester United 16 (0) v Hungary, 28 April 1999

Midfielders

David Beckham May 2, 1975 (age 32) LA Galaxy 100 (17) v Moldova, 1 September 1996

Steven Gerrard May 30, 1980 (age 27) Liverpool 65 (12) v Ukraine, 31 May 2000

Frank Lampard June 20, 1978 (age 29) Chelsea 60 (14) v Belgium, October 10, 1999

Joe Cole November 8, 1981 (age 26) Chelsea 49 (7) v Mexico, 25 May 2001

Owen Hargreaves January 20, 1981 (age 27) Manchester United 41 (0) v Netherlands, 15 August 2001

Gareth Barry February 23, 1981 (age 27) Aston Villa 18 (0) v Ukraine, 31 May 2000

Stewart Downing July 22, 1984 (age 23) Middlesbrough 17 (0) v Netherlands, 9 February 2005

David Bentley August 27, 1984 (age 23) Blackburn Rovers 4 (0) v Israel, 8 September 2007

Strikers

Michael Owen December 14, 1979 (age 28) Newcastle United 89 (40) v Chile, February 11, 1998

Wayne Rooney October 24, 1985 (age 22) Manchester United 42 (14) v Australia, 12 February 2003

Peter Crouch January 30, 1981 (age 27) Liverpool 25 (14) v Colombia, 31 May 2005

Theo Walcott March 16, 1989 (age 19) Arsenal 1 (0) v Hungary, 30 May 2006

Recent callups

The following players have also been called up to the England squad within the last twelve months:

Goalkeepers

Scott Carson September 3, 1985 (age 22) Aston Villa (on loan from Liverpool) 2 (0) v Austria,
16 November 2007 v France,
March 2008

Chris Kirkland May 2, 1981 (age 26) Wigan Athletic 1 (0) v Greece,
16 August 2006 v France,
March 2008

Defenders

Sol Campbell September 18, 1974 (age 33) Portsmouth 73 (1) v Hungary,
18 May 1996 v Croatia,
21 November 2007

Phil Neville January 21, 1977 (age 31) Everton 59(0) v China,
23 May 1996 v Estonia,
13 October 2007

Jamie Carragher January 28, 1978 (age 30) Liverpool 34 (0) v Hungary,
28 April 1999 v Brazil,
1 June 2007

Ledley King October 12, 1980 (age 27) Tottenham Hotspur 19 (1) v Italy,
27 March 2002 v Estonia,
6 June 2007

Micah Richards June 24, 1988 (age 19) Manchester City 11 (1) v Netherlands,
15 November 2006 Croatia,
21 November 2007

Nicky Shorey February 19, 1981 (age 26) Reading 2(0) v Brazil,
1 June 2007 v Germany,
22 August 2007

Michael Dawson November 19, 1983 (age 24) Tottenham Hotspur 0 (0) N/A v Brazil / Estonia,
May 2007

Steven Taylor January 23, 1986 (age 22) Newcastle United 0 (0) N/A v Germany,
August 2007

David Wheater February 14, 1987 (age 21) Middlesbrough 0 (0) N/A v France,
March 2008

Midfielders

Kieron Dyer December 29, 1978 (age 29) West Ham United 33 (0) v Luxembourg,
4 September 1999 v Germany,
22 August 2007

Shaun Wright-Phillips October 25, 1981 (age 26) Chelsea 19 (4) v Ukraine,
18 August 2004 v Switzerland,
6 February 2008

Jermaine Jenas 18 February 1983 (age 24) Tottenham Hotspur 18 (1) v Australia,
12 Feb 2003 v Switzerland,
6 February 2008

Michael Carrick July 28, 1981 (age 26) Manchester United 14 (0) v Mexico,
25 May 2001 v Germany,
22 August 2007

Aaron Lennon April 16, 1987 (age 20) Tottenham Hotspur 9 (0) v Jamaica,
3 June 2006 v Brazil / Estonia,
May 2007

Ashley Young July 9, 1985 (age 22) Aston Villa 2 (0) v Estonia,
6 June 2007 v Switzerland,
6 February 2008

Strikers

Emile Heskey January 11, 1978 (age 29) Wigan Athletic 45 (5) v Hungary,
28 April 1999 v Russia,
12 September 2007

Jermain Defoe October 7, 1982 (age 25) Portsmouth 26 (3) v Sweden,
31 March 2004 v Switzerland,
6 February 2008

Alan Smith October 28, 1980 (age 27) Newcastle United 19 (1) v Mexico,
25 May 2001 v Austria,
16 November 2007

Andrew Johnson February 10, 1981 (age 27) Everton 8 (0) v Netherlands,
9 February 2005 v Israel / Russia,
September 2007

Darren Bent February 6, 1984 (age 24) Tottenham Hotspur 3 (0) v Uruguay,
1 March 2006 v Croatia,
21 November 2007

Gabriel Agbonlahor October 13, 1986 (age 21) Aston Villa 0 (0) N/A v Switzerland,
6 February 2008

Coaching staff
Manager Fabio Capello
General Manager Franco Baldini
Assistant Manager Italo Galbiati
Coach Stuart Pearce
Coach Ray Clemence
Fitness Coach Massimo Neri
Goalkeeping Coach Franco Tancredi
Physiotherapist Gary Lewin
Team Doctor Dr. Leif Swärd
Backroom Staff Chris Neville
Roger Narbett
Rod Thornley

Competition history

FIFA World Cup record
Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA
1930 Did Not Enter - - - - - - -
1934 Did Not Enter - - - - - - -
1938 Did Not Enter - - - - - - -
1950 Round 1 11 3 1 0 2 2 2
1954 Quarter-finals 6 3 1 1 1 8 8
1958 Round 1 11 4 0 3 1 4 5
1962 Quarter-finals 8 4 1 1 2 5 6
1966 Champions 1 6 5 1 0 11 3
1970 Quarter-finals 8 4 2 0 2 4 4
1974 Did not Qualify - - - - - - -
1978 Did not Qualify - - - - - - -
1982 Group Round 2 6 5 3 2 0 6 1
1986 Quarter-Finals 8 5 2 1 2 7 3
1990 Semi-Finals 4 7 3 3 1 8 6
1994 Did not Qualify - - - - - - -
1998 Round 2 9 4 2 1 1 7 4
2002 Quarter-finals 6 5 2 2 1 6 3
2006 Quarter-finals 7 5 3 2 0 6 2
Total 12/18 1 Title 55 25 17 13 74 47
*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

European Championship record

Year Round GP W D* L GS GA
1960 Did not enter - - - - - -
1964 Did not Qualify - - - - - -
1968 Third Place 2 1 0 1 2 1
1972 Did not Qualify - - - - - -
1976 Did not Qualify - - - - - -
1980 Round 1 3 1 1 1 3 3
1984 Did not Qualify - - - - - -
1988 Round 1 3 0 0 3 2 7
1992 Round 1 3 0 2 1 1 2
1996 Semi Finals 5 2 3 0 8 3
2000 Round 1 3 1 0 2 5 6
2004 Quarter-finals 4 2 1 1 10 6
2008 Did not Qualify - - - - - -
Total 7/13 23 7 7 9 31 28
*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
**Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won. Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Minor tournaments
Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA
1964 Taça de Nações Group Stage 3rd 3 0 1 2 2 7
1976 U.S.A. Bicentennial Cup Tournament Group Stage 2nd 3 2 0 1 6 4
1985 Rous Cup 1 Match 2nd 1 0 0 1 0 1
1985 Ciudad de México Cup Tournament Group Stage 3rd 2 0 0 2 1 3
1985 Azteca 2000 Tournament Group Stage 2nd 2 1 0 1 3 1
1986 Rous Cup Champions 1 Match 1st 1 1 0 0 2 1
1987 Rous Cup Group Stage 2nd 2 0 2 0 1 1
1988 Rous Cup Champions Group Stage 1st 2 1 1 0 2 1
1989 Rous Cup Champions Group Stage 1st 2 1 1 0 2 0
1991 The England Challenge Cup Champions Group Stage 1st 2 1 1 0 5 3
1993 U.S. Cup Group Stage 4th 3 0 1 2 2 5
1995 Umbro Cup Group Stage 2nd 3 1 1 1 6 7
1997 Tournoi de France Champions Group Stage 1st 3 2 0 1 3 1
1998 King Hassan II International Cup Tournament Group Stage 2nd 2 1 1 0 1 0
2004 FA Summer Tournament Champions Group Stage 1st 2 1 1 0 7 2
Total 6 Titles 55 25 17 13 74 47
*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Notable past players

Tony Adams 1987-2000
Darren Anderton 1994-2001
Viv Anderson 1978-1988
Jimmy Armfield 1959-1966
Alan Ball 1965-1975
Gordon Banks 1963-1972
John Barnes 1983-1995
Cliff Bastin 1931-1938
Peter Beardsley 1986-1996
Colin Bell 1968-1975
Steve Bloomer 1895-1907
Eric Brook 1929-1939
Trevor Brooking 1974-1982
Terry Butcher 1980-1990
Raich Carter 1934-1947
Mick Channon 1972-1977
Bobby Charlton 1958-1970
Jack Charlton 1965-1970
Allan Clarke 1970-1976
Ray Clemence 1972-1983
George Cohen 1964-1967
Terry Cooper 1969-1975
Steve Coppell 1976-1983
Tony Currie 1972-1979
Dixie Dean 1927-1932
Jimmy Dickinson 1949-1956
Duncan Edwards 1955-1957
Tom Finney 1946-1958
Ron Flowers 1955-1966
Trevor Francis 1977-1986
Paul Gascoigne 1988-1998
Jimmy Greaves 1959-1967
Eddie Hapgood 1933-1939
Sam Hardy 1907-1920
Johnny Haynes 1954-1962
Glenn Hoddle 1979-1988
Emlyn Hughes 1969-1980
Roger Hunt 1962-1969
Norman Hunter 1961-1976
Geoff Hurst 1966-1972
Paul Ince 1992-2000
Kevin Keegan 1972-1982
Tommy Lawton 1938-1948
Gary Lineker 1984-1992
Nat Lofthouse 1950-1958
Paul Madeley 1971-1977
Paul Mariner 1977-1984
Stanley Matthews 1934-1957
Bobby Moore 1962-1973
Stan Mortensen 1947-1953
Jimmy Mullen 1947-1954
Phil Neal 1976-1983
Stuart Pearce 1987-1999
Martin Peters 1966-1974
David Platt 1989-1996
Alf Ramsey 1948-1953
Bryan Robson 1980-1991
Kenny Sansom 1979-1988
Paul Scholes 1997-2004
David Seaman 1988-2002
Alan Shearer 1992-2000
Teddy Sheringham 1993-2002
Peter Shilton 1970-1990
Ron Springett 1959-1966
Gareth Southgate 1995-2004
Trevor Steven 1985-1992
Gary Stevens 1985-1992
Nobby Stiles 1965-1970
Frank Swift 1946-1949
Phil Thompson 1976-1982
Chris Waddle 1985-1991
Des Walker 1988-1993
Dave Watson 1974-1982
Ray Wilkins 1976-1986
Ray Wilson 1960-1968
Tony Woodcock 1978-1986
Chris Woods 1985-1993
Vivian Woodward 1903-1911
Billy Wright 1946-1959
Ian Wright 1991-1998
Mark Wright 1984-1996

Most capped England players

Main article: List of England international footballers
As of 26 March 2008, the players with the most caps for England are:
# Name Career Caps Goals Goals per game
1 Peter Shilton 1970 - 1990 125 0 0
2 Bobby Moore 1962 - 1973 108 2 0.0185
3 Bobby Charlton 1958 - 1970 106 49 0.4623
4 Billy Wright 1946 - 1959 105 3 0.0286
5 David Beckham[5] 1996 - 100 17 0.1700
6 Bryan Robson 1980 - 1991 90 26 0.2889
7 Michael Owen[5] 1998 - 89 40 0.4494
8 Kenny Sansom 1979 - 1988 86 1 0.0116
9 Gary Neville[5] 1995 - 85 0 0
10 Ray Wilkins 1976 - 1986 84 3 0.0357

Top England goalscorers

Main article: England national football team records
# Player Career Goals per game
1 Bobby Charlton 1958 - 1970 49 (106) 0.4623
2 Gary Lineker 1984 - 1992 48 (80) 0.6000
3 Jimmy Greaves 1959 - 1967 44 (57) 0.7719
4 Michael Owen[5] 1998 - 40 (88) 0.4545
5 Tom Finney 1946 - 1958 30 (76) 0.3947
6 Nat Lofthouse 1950 - 1958 30 (33) 0.9091
7 Alan Shearer 1992 - 2000 30 (63) 0.4762
8 Viv Woodward 1903 - 1911 29 (23) 1.2609
9 Steve Bloomer 1895 - 1907 28 (23) 1.2174
10 David Platt 1989 - 1996 27 (62) 0.4355

England managers

Main article: England national football team managers
Manager England career Played Won Drawn Lost Win %
Walter Winterbottom 1946 - 1962 139 78 33 28 56.1
Alf Ramsey 1963 - 1974 113 69 27 17 61.1
Joe Mercer (caretaker) 1974 7 3 3 1 42.9
Don Revie 1974 - 1977 29 14 8 7 48.3
Ron Greenwood 1977 - 1982 55 33 12 10 60.0
Bobby Robson 1982 - 1990 95 47 30 18 49.5
Graham Taylor 1990 - 1993 38 18 13 7 47.4
Terry Venables 1994 - 1996 23 11 11 1 47.8
Glenn Hoddle 1996 - 1999 28 17 6 5 60.7
Kevin Keegan 1999 - 2000 18 7 7 4 38.9
Sven-Göran Eriksson 2001 - 2006 67 40 17 10 59.7
Steve McClaren 2006 - 2007 18 9 4 5 50.0

Fabio Capello 2008 - 2 1 0 1 50.0

England fans' Player of the Year

2003 - David Beckham
2004 - Frank Lampard
2005 - Frank Lampard
2006 - Owen Hargreaves
2007 - Steven Gerrard