Many professional footballers dream of playing and winning glories for their national teams. But not every players can amass as many caps as they wish. It can all depend on the competition, injuries and even luck.
For England, the three players with the most caps were Peter Shilton (125 caps), Wayne Rooney (120) and David Beckham (115). But with every players with a century of caps, there are many more who get to represent their countries a lot fewer times.
Chris Kirkland
(Goalkeeper, 2006)
Chris Kirkland never quite cemented his goalkeeping position at Liverpool due to the stiff competition and injuries. For his international career, he was regularly called up for the England senior squad but remained as an unused substitute until 2006, when he finally made his debut in the second half friendly match against Greece.
However, Kirkland could not gain another cap with David James, Paul Robinson and Robert Green ahead of him in pecking order.
Neil Ruddock
(Centre Back, 1994)
Tough tackling defender Neil Ruddock made his England bow at a relatively late age, at 26. By then, he was an experienced footballer who had played for Millwall, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool. In 1994, Ruddock played for England in the friendly against Nigeria.
It turned out to be his only appearance for England. His fiery attitude and sometimes reckless tackling were not particularly useful in helping him to gain more caps.
David Unsworth
(Centre Back, 1995)
Part of Everton’s FA Cup winning team in 1995, David Unsworth was rewarded for his fine form and versatility – he could play as centre back or left back – with a call up to the England team. His debut came in the 2-1 win against Japan.
Unsworth went on to play for other Premier League teams in West Ham United, Aston Villa, Everton (again) and Portsmouth, but he never played for the England senior team again.
Michael Ball
(Left Back, 2001)
After impressing at Everton, Michael Ball was called up to the England squad in 2001. In the match against Spain, he came on to play after the halftime. But that turned out to be his only appearance for England.
After that season, Ball signed for Rangers for a club record of £6.5 million transfer fee. Despite winning the league title and cup with Rangers in the 2004/05 season, Ball never had the chance to achieve another cap for his country.
Carl Jenkinson
(Right Back, 2012)
Carl Jenkinson was a young promising defender who joined Arsenal in 2011 from Charlton. A year later, at age 20, he made his debut for England by replacing Glen Johnson in the second half of a friendly match against Sweden.
Jenkinson was, however, dropped back to the England U21 team and never had the chance to make another appearance for the senior squad again.
Joey Barton
(Centre Midfielder, 2007)
Joey Barton worked his way up from the youth academy to senior team at Manchester City. However, he was known for his violent temperament – he was involved in brawls on the field and assaults of players and fans. His aggressiveness also saw him accumulated a large number of yellow and red cards.
Barton’s impressive displays for Manchester City did earn him an England cap in 2007, when he replaced Frank Lampard in the 1-0 loss to Spain. But his poor reputation prevented him from achieving more caps.
Lee Bowyer
(Centre Midfielder, 2003)
Lee Bowyer was best known for his times at Leeds United but was also well remembered for his many notorious on- and off-field incidents. His best moments came between 1999 and 2001, when Leeds United shone in the UEFA Cup and Champions League, but he also got himself into legal trouble due to an assault case.
After he was cleared by the Football Association, Bowyer finally played for England – his only cap – in a friendly against Portugal.
Steve Guppy
(Left Winger, 1999)
Flying down the left flank and putting in good crosses, many fans had hoped that Leicester City’s Steve Guppy would become England’s Ryan Giggs (or left side’s David Beckham) and solve the national team’s problematic left winger position. But it would never be the case.
Guppy could only make his one and only appearance for England in 1999 in a game against Belgium. He did, though, become the only player to have featured in England U21, England semi-pro, England B team and England senior squad.
David Dunn
(Right Winger, 2002)
David Dunn was more of an attacking midfielder than a right winger, but we will put him here as there were not many other choices. Dunn was a fans’ favourite at Blackburn Rovers. In the two stints there, he played more than 300 games and scored 50 goals. Due to his fine form, fans and media had been pushing for his inclusion in the England team, but he did not make it to the national team for the 2002 World Cup.
Dunn did appear in a game for England against Portugal, but it would turn out to be his one and only cap.
Francis Jeffers
(Forward, 2003)
Francis Jeffers was dubbed as a wonderkid and a “fox in the box” due to his acute goalscoring instinct inside the penalty area. He became one of the most expensive teenagers in football when he signed for Arsenal from Everton for £8 million in 2001.
A former top scorer for England U21, Jeffers made his debut and scored for England in a friendly against Australia in 2003. Despite promising so much, he would be only remembered as one of the few players with a one-cap-one-goal record.
Chris Sutton
(Forward, 1997)
Chris Sutton was a typical English forward, tall and physically strong. In his career, he was a prolific goalscorer for Norwich, Blackburn and Celtic. After displaying good form for Blackburn Rovers in 1997, he was called up for the England squad and made his debut against Cameroon.
However, with many good English strikers in the team, Sutton’s chances were limited and he was never selected again after falling out with the national team manager Glen Hoddle for refusing to play for the England B team.
Other notable footballers with single England caps were Ryan Shawcross (Centre Back, 2012), Seth Johnson (Defensive Midfielder, 2000), Lee Hendrie (Centre Midfielder, 1998), Alan Thompson (Centre Midfielder, 2004), David Nugent (Forward, 2007) and Kevin Davis (Forward, 2010).
Note: This article does not attempt to mock the players in any way. It is nevertheless an honour to play for the country, regardless of the number of caps.
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