St George slew a dragon, so the legend goes.
That is a level beyond what your average England footballer does when they step out onto the pitch when they represent their country - George himself was from somewhere roughly in modern-day Turkey of Syrian origin - but they are heroes in their own way.
This all-time England team have a staggering total of 1,181 international caps between them…
GK - Peter Shilton
England Career: 1970 - 1990
England Caps: 125
Peter Shilton’s England career was so long that he could count 1966 World Cup winners and players who went on to play at Euro 2000 among his international teammates.
However, questions continue to be asked about lapses in key moments, including against Poland that cost England a place in the 1974 World Cup, being beaten to the ball by a leaping Diego Maradona in 1986 and flapping at a deflected free-kick against West Germany in 1990.
RB – Gary Neville
England Career: 1995 - 2007
England Caps: 85
Gary Neville was the first of his Manchester United ‘Class of ‘92’ colleagues to make a senior international breakthrough with England and was part of the squad at Euro ’96.
Neville, who was infamously a key figure in the threats for England players to go on strike before a Euro 2004 qualifier against Turkey over the treatment of Rio Ferdinand by the FA, could have hit 100 international caps had injury not curtailed his career.
CB – Bobby Moore
England Career: 1962-1973
England Caps: 108
The enduring image of the late Bobby Moore is the former England skipper sitting on his teammates’ shoulders in 1966, lifting the World Cup trophy high. The West Ham club legend has also been immortalised in statue form outside Wembley Stadium.
Moore was only 23 when he was made England captain in 1964 and his tally of 108 caps remained a national record for an outfield player until as late as 2009.
CB – Billy Wright
England Career: 1946 - 1959
England Caps: 105
Three Lions captain from 1948 to 1959, Billy Wright was the first footballer anywhere in the world to play 100 games at international level. It is a testament to his longevity that no other players from his era are among England’s 20 most capped players of all time.
The Wolves legend, for whom a stand is named after at Molineux, went to England’s first three World Cup tournaments in 1950, 1954 and 1958.
LB – Ashley Cole
England Career: 2001 - 2014
England Caps: 107
Ashley Cole was arguably the best left-back in the world for a period in the mid to late 2000s. He had come into his own at international level as an emerging youngster at the 2002 World Cup and remained a more or less undisputed starter until 2012.
Cole had only been a regular first-team player for Arsenal for a matter of weeks when he was handed an England debut by Sven Goran Eriksson in March 2001.
MF – David Beckham
England Career: 1996 - 2009
England Caps: 115
David Beckham made 58 of 115 England appearances as captain, overcoming a costly red card at the 1998 World Cup that made him a tabloid hate figure to become a national hero.
Beckham’s defining moment in an England shirt came during that World Cup qualifier against Greece in 2001. Not only did he score the stoppage-time free-kick that secured an automatic place at the 2002 finals, he carried the team on his back as skipper all game.
MF - Bryan Robson
England Career: 1980 - 1991
England Caps: 90
Captain of both club and country during the 1980s, Bryan Robson saw two World Cup dreams end because of injury, with fitness troubles limiting his role in both 1986 and 1990.
Robson was handed the England captaincy in 1982 within a few months of namesake Bobby Robson being appointed manager, keeping it until his international career ended in 1991. Aside from three World Cups, he also went to the 1988 European Championship.
MF – Steven Gerrard
England Career: 2000 - 2014
England Caps: 114
Steven Gerrard was named in England’s final squad for Euro 2000 the day after his senior international debut, although it wasn’t until the arrival of Sven Goran Eriksson as manager the following year that he returned to the senior setup.
Gerrard later had to miss the 2002 World Cup through injury, although he became an automatic selection thereafter and eventually inherited the captaincy in 2012.
MF – Frank Lampard
England Career: 1999 - 2014
England Caps: 106
Although Frank Lampard first played for England in 1999 during his West Ham days, managing an assist on his debut in a win over Belgium, it was 2003 before his he played in a competitive senior international for the first time – a Euro 2004 qualifier against Slovakia.
Lampard ultimately later benefitted from the early international retirement of Paul Scholes and he remains joint 10th on England’s list of all-time top goalscorer on 29.
FW – Bobby Charlton
England Career: 1958 - 1970
England Caps: 106
Bobby Charlton perhaps never realised his final international appearance would be just that, substituted with England leading West Germany 2-0 in the 1970 World Cup quarter-finals. England lost the game and Charlton retired from international football on the flight home.
He was England’s leading world-class player throughout the 1960s and was both his country’s most capped player and top goalscorer when he withdrew from selection.
FW – Wayne Rooney
England Career: 2003 - 2018
England Caps: 120
It was Wayne Rooney who finally broke Bobby Charlton’s England goals record that had stood for 45 years by the time the Manchester United star reached his 50th international strike.
Rooney was only 17 when he was handed a senior international debut by Sven Goran Eriksson and lit up Euro 2004 before a foot injury ended his tournament prematurely and contributed to England’s exit. He struggled to show his best on the World Cup stage.
Manager – Walter Winterbottom
Walter Winterbottom became the first-ever full-time England manager upon his appointment in 1946 and took charge of more games (139) than any of his predecessors have in the six decades since he left the job in 1962.
Prior to Winterbottom, the FA took a direct role in managing the national team. However, even after his appointment, an FA committee continued to preside over player selection, leading many to suggest successor Alf Ramsey was actually the first ‘proper’ England manager.
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Source : 90min