Can you name the 17 Leicester City footballers who have played for England?

[fazzyfox]

Lineker should have been capped much earlier than he was even despite the amount of competition around in those days. I was lucky enough to spend a couple of hours with him when he accepted my invite to come to my School for Christmas dinner. I told him he should be in the England team and asked him why he wasn't, to which he gave the token model pro response of "I just need to keep playing well and scoring goals and hopefully they'll notice me and it will happen." It's one reason Rooney has overtaken him in terms of England goals, he was capped earlier in his career. In Linekers time Turkey and Luxembourg were the minnows, imagine what he and Bobby Charlton would have done against the Dog & Duck teams around now.

[Miss E Twisk]

Did guppy play at full international? I thought Keegan refused to play him and stuck him in with the u21s? (Or does u21s count?)

[Freesolo]

yes

[onekeithweller]

A bit of international trivia. My hero Keith Weller (though at Millwall at the time) also played for the FA XI during their 1969 tour including a match against Thailand in which he scored twice. Was Vichai there as a kid?

1969 TOUR OF TAHITI, NEW ZEALAND, SINGAPORE, HONG KONG, AND THAILAND BY THE (ENGLISH) FAPlayer/Manager: Jimmy Armfield (Blackpool)Trainer: Jack JenningsLiaison Officer: Keith de MausOfficials:Isaac Robinson (FA Vice-President)Andrew Stephen (FA Council Chairman)Jack Bowers (FA Council member)Players:Jimmy Armfield (Blackpool) [c]John Charles (Leytonstone)Colin Dobson (Huddersfield Town)George E. Eastham Jr (Stoke City)Keith Eddy (Watford)Chris Gedney (Alvechurch)Tony Hateley (Coventry City)Graham Hawkins (Preston North End)Alan Hodgkinson (Sheffield United)Ken Knighton (Preston North End)Don Megson (Sheffield Wednesday)Ian Morgan (Queen's Park Rangers)David Payne (Crystal Palace)Norman Piper (Plymouth Argyle)Bruce Rioch (Luton Town)Jim Shippey (Oxford City)Keith Weller (Millwall)

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Jimmy Armfield

FA Tour of Tahiti, New Zealand and Far East

33-year-old Jimmy Armfield took charge of a 17-man FA squad that toured New Zealand for the first time since 1961, following a Polynesian stop-over and followed by three games in the Far East before the long journey home. They were joined by the trainer to the England amateur team, Jack Jennings, who must have treated Armfield for the hairline fracture in his left ankle, that kept him on the sidelines for the first three weeks of the tour. There were two other former internationals in the party, one future international (Keith Weller) and even a future Scottish international, Bruce Rioch, who scored against England, at Wembley, six years later.

270 21 May 1969 - Tahiti 1 England 4 [NK]
Stade Hamuta, Pape'ete (4,600) NK
Hateley (3), Knighton AW

With Armfield out injured, Don Megson captained the side in the first match of the month-long, eleven-match tour. The two other former internationals, plus the future England international, were in the team that beat what was, effectively, French Polynesia, represented by the largest island of the territory. Tony Hateley, whose son, Mark was to win 32 full England caps, scored a hat-trick on this historic first visit to the South Pacific.

271 25 May 1969 - Auckland 1 England 8 [NK]
Carlaw Park, Auckland Guildea
Eastham (5), Payne (2), Weller AW

The tourists travelled over two thousand miles to begin their New Zealand tour, four days later, though they'd only actually had a three-day break, due to them crossing the International Date Line. George Eastham (one of the two former internationals in the side) found goals easy to come by and the future cap (Weller) also got on the scoresheet. The side was unchanged, but the future Scottish international (Rioch) came on as a substitute.

272 28 May 1969 - Canterbury 2 England 6 [NK]
English Park, Christchurch Griffiths, Madrussan
Rioch (3), Piper, Eastham, Hateley AW

England made three changes for their first match on the South Island, with Rioch (the future Scottish cap) making an impressive first start. Eastham was the only former international in the team, though future cap, Weller also played.

273 31 May 1969 - Otago and Southland 0 England 11[NK]
Caledonian Ground, Dunedin Weller (3), Hateley (3), Rioch (2), Morgan, Knighton, Eastham AW

The visitors returned to the Caledonian Ground, exactly eight years to the day since their last visit, and they scored one more goal. They were unchanged from the game in Christchurch.

274 2 June 1969 - New Zealand 1 England 7 [0-3]
Basin Reserve, Wellington (6,000) Mears
Hateley (4), Rioch, Weller, Piper AW

England were back on the North Island and made two changes for this unofficial international (for both countries). Goalkeeper, Alan Hodgkinson returned and brought the former international contingent back up to two, alongside both future internationals, though Weller was substituted during the game.

x

 

 

FA Tour of New Zealand and Far East 276 4 June 1969 - Central League 2 England 3 [NK]
Palmerston North Showgrounds, Manawatu-Wanganui Francis, Bruce
Rioch, Hateley, Morgan AW

After nineteen FA tour games (amateur and professional) in New Zealand where none of the hosts had gotten within four goals of their opponents, England found themselves twice behind against the representative league team of the lower North Island. The visitors made only one change from two days earlier; in goal, leaving Eastham, once again, as the only former international in the side.

277 7 June 1969 - New Zealand 0 England 5 [0-3]
Seddon Park, Hamilton, Waikato (5,000) Eastham (3), Hateley, Weller AW

England played a New Zealand squad eleven in another unofficial international on their first visit to Hamilton. The hosts kept five players from their defeat in Wellington, five days earlier, whilst the tourists brought back Hodgkinson in goal, thus reverting back to the side that had won in Wellington.

278 11 June 1969 - New Zealand 0 England 5 [0-3]
Newmarket Park, Auckland (5,000) Weller (2), Hateley (3) AW

The New Zealand leg of the tour ended back in Auckland, with a game against the full-strength national team, though there were only three changes to the side that they had beaten in Hamilton, four days earlier. England were a settled side. They were unchanged and the result was the same. Jimmy Armfield replaced Rioch at half-time to make his first appearance of the tour, so they were able to field all three of their former internationals for the second half. Nine years later, an official England B squad toured New Zealand; details, of which, can be found here.

279 14 June 1969 - Singapore 0 England 9 [0-3]
Jalan Besar Stadium, Kallang (8,000) Hateley (4), Weller (2), Piper (2), Eastham AW

The squad moved on to Singapore and repeated the scoreline of their last visit, in the same stadium, eight years earlier. They were unchanged again, with Armfield, this time, replacing Weller at half-time.

280 16 June 1969 - Hong Kong 0 England 6 [0-1]
Happy Valley Sports Ground, Wan Chai District(20,647) Hateley, Morgan (2), Eddy (pen), Piper (2) AW

England made one change from the game in Singapore, just two days earlier, but the player left out, Norman Piper, came on at half-time and rounded off the victory with two goals in the last five minutes. Armfield also came on at half-time, again replacing Weller. The home crowd turned hostile towards the end, lighting fires on the terraces and riot police escorted the players off the pitch (which was in the middle of a racecourse) after the final whistle.

281 20 June 1969 - Thailand 0 England 4 [0-1]
Supachalasai Stadium, Bangkok (40,000) Hateley, Weller (2), Piper AW

The Football Association squad ended the tour with a first trip to Thailand. They made one change again, to bring Piper back into the side. Hateley opened the scoring with his 22nd goal in eleven matches, only failing to score in one game, and Armfield made his customary half-time appearance, for the fourth game in succession, this time at the expense of Rioch.

Dennis Rofe and frank Worthington also played in a 9-0 win over Gibralter in 1973 but it wasn't recognised as a full international. Dennis, like Graham Cross, was unlucky never to get a full cap.