England Footballers with 100 Caps
Billy Wright, Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore, Peter Shilton All Played
Four players have made more than one hundred appearances for England's soccer team: Wright, Charlton, Moore and Shilton. David Beckham is only one game away from 100.
Four players have appeared for England on more than 100 occasions. David Beckham, with ninety nine caps is waiting to join that elite group and his opportunity may come in the friendly international against Switzerland at Wembley in manager Fabio Capello’s first game in charge.
Billy Wright (105 appearances)
Billy Wright was the first player in the world to make 100 international appearances. The defender who played for the successful Wolverhampton Wanderers team, was the ‘David Beckham’ of the 1950s. He was captain of England, was married to a pop star and advertised hair products.
Wright made his England debut in a Home International game against Northern Ireland at Windsor Park, Belfast which England won 7-2. Throughout his career he played calmly and strongly at the centre of the defence. At that time England matches were restricted to games against the home nations and friendly matches but with England competing in the 1950 World Cup, Wright then captained them through three competitions.
In total he made 105 international appearances for England, his final match being against USA and a 8-1 victory.
Bobby Charlton (106 appearances)
Bobby Charlton was the next England player to make 100 appearances. The Manchester United midfield player finished with 106 caps, one ahead of Wright – a new world record, having made his debut in April, 1958 against Scotland, scoring a goal in the 4-0 success.
Charlton still holds the record for goals scored for England, 49, and was a member of the England World Cup winning team of 1966, scoring both goals in the semi-final win over Portugal. He is remembered for stunning long range shots and he scored two hat-tricks in his England career, against USA and Mexico.
His final England appearance was in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico against West Germany. England had taken a two goal lead in the quarter-final game and manager Sir Alf Ramsey decided to take off Charlton in preparation for the next match. West Germany then staged a remarkable comeback to win in extra-time.
Bobby Moore (108 appearances)
Bobby Moore captained England to World Cup glory in 1966. He was the perfect defender – he read the game well and played calmly and with poise at all times. He made his debut in May, 1962 in a friendly in Peru with a 4-0 victory and became the lynchpin in the centre of the defence in Alf Ramsey’s team, playing alongside Jack Charlton. He was a calming influence under pressure and equalled Billy Wright’s record of captaining his country on 90 occasions.
His final appearance which established a new England record, 108 caps, was in a friendly against Italy at Wembley in November, 1973, a single goal defeat.
Peter Shilton (125 appearances)
The current record holder is goalkeeper, Peter Shilton whose England career spanned twenty years and 125 appearances. First capped in November, 1970 against East Germany at Wembley, a 3-1 success, he shared the goalkeeping role with another England great, Ray Clemence who made 61 appearances.
Shilton was one of the world’s greatest goalkeepers and was totally dedicated to improving his game. He commanded his area with authority and was excellent at all aspects of the goalkeeper’s role. His manager at Nottingham Forest, Brian Clough, credited Shilton with gaining an extra fifteen points for his team through his inspired performances.
His retirement came after the 1990 World Cup in Italy where England had their most successful competition since 1966, losing in the 3rd/4th place play-off to Italy.
Apart from Beckham, of the players in the current England team, only Michael Owen with 88 appearances is approaching the century but his recent career has been blighted with injury.
