Best 11 That Never Played For The England Senior Team

   

Some of England’s best domestic players have never pulled on an England shirt whilst players such as Carlton Palmer and Francis Jeffers earned caps for the Three Lions. 

The Sports Lowdown take a look at 11 players that maybe should have won at least 1 England cap for the senior team but instead won none.

Goalkeeper – Steve Ogrizovic
Best known as the FA Cup winning goalkeeper of Coventry City in 1987. He continued to play for The Sky Blues until 2000.
Ogrizovic was a fantastic goalkeeper always putting his body on the line if it meant keeping a clean sheet.

Defender 1 – Alan Wright
The former Blackburn and Aston Villa defender was a fantastic defender but was behind key players in the England squad like Sol Campbell.
Wright did play for England Under 21’s twice and was called up top the senior team in 1996 but never played.

Defender 2 – Steve Bruce
Maybe the most obvious defender that should have won at least a handful of caps for his country.
Bruce was a rock in defence for Manchester United as he captain them to winning  the Premier League and the FA Cup in 1993/94 season.

Defender 3 – Billy Bonds
Bonds played 660 times for West Ham in 70’s and 80’s despite proving his worth for the Hammers. Also had a spell as manager of the club before Harry Redknapp took the reins at Upton Park.

Defender 4 – Chris Perry
A great player in the heart of the Wimbledon defence from 1991 -1999 and later shone for Tottenham Hotspur in the early 2000’s but did not get a chance to prove himself for England.

Midfielder 1 – Jimmy Case
Case was part of the Liverpool team that dominated english football in 1970’s and early 80’s.
Jimmy was part of the team that won 4 league titles and 3 european cups.

Midfielder 2 – Howard Kendall
Part of the Everton team that won the league title in 1970.
Howard played along side Alan Ball and Colin Harvey who both won caps for England.

Midfielder 3 – Ruel Fox
England missed out on Ruel Fox  who made over 100 apperances for Norwich City and Tottenham Hotspur.
Ruel represented England B team twice but failed to break into England senior team and so decided to play for Montserrat, an international team he was elegible for.

Midefielder 4 – Jermaine Pennant
Jermaine had his problems off the field but on the field he was a player with real flair, a skill that every team needs.
Jermaine looked promising at Arsenal and even Birmingham but off the field problems stopped him from fulfilling his full potential.Pennant was capped for England Under 21’s.

Striker 1 – Kevin Campbell
In 1990/91 season Kevin played alongside Ian Wright to help Arsenal win both the league title and the FA Cup.
Campbell later moved to Nottingham Forest and Everton and continued to score goals.
Maybe in another era Campbell would have played for England, he was behind Shearer, Fowler, Sheringham, Ferdinand and more in the pecking order.

Striker 2 – Matt Jansen
Matt had a great time at Crystal Palace and Blackburn Rovers scoring regually.
Jansen was unlucky as he was called up to the England Senior team in 2002 and was told he would start a friendly against paraguay by then boss Sven-Goran Eriksson but had to pull out due to a stomach virus.
Matt was tipped to be part of Svens 2002 world cup squad but instead Sven chose and extra defender in Martin Keown.