Gareth Southgate is deliberating over his England team to face Wales on Tuesday, but he has nobody in his squad on this list. Yet. Though some might put James Maddison on there before too long.
The following all have at least 15 caps but never appeared at a World Cup or European Championships for England.
10) Malcolm Macdonald
One of seven players to be named the top scorer in an English first-tier season for two separate clubs, Malcolm Macdonald was the first to achieve the feat post-war. His is not a name that springs immediately to mind when considering overlooked England internationals but the former Newcastle and Arsenal striker was a victim of an unusually barren decade for his country.
England reached the World Cup quarter-finals as defending champions in 1970 but failed to qualify for the tournament in 1974 and 1978. They also missed out on the European Championships in 1972 and 1976, with Macdonald’s entire career spanning from 1968 to his retirement aged 29 in 1979. He remains the only player to score five times in a single competitive international for England, netting all five goals in a World Cup qualifier against Cyprus in April 1975. Macdonald was only given five more caps by Don Revie before a knee injury caused a premature end to his time as a player.
9) Martin Chivers
Gerd Muller was the only player to outscore Martin Chivers in qualification for Euro 1972, which made it particularly unfortunate that England managed to draw West Germany in a quarter-final to reach the tournament. The Tottenham legend’s only other goals for his country all came in friendlies, although a record 13 in 24 games is a ratio that stands up for comparison with most England players before or since.
His last England cap perhaps summed up the conundrum best: Chivers started in the disastrous 1-1 World Cup qualifying draw with Poland in October 1973 and was the only player substituted by Alf Ramsay as the champions of seven years prior failed to even make the field in West Germany. The striker was just 28 at the time of his last international appearance but was phased out along with a handful of others – including the manager – as England stumbled into an uncomfortable unknown.
8) Lee Dixon
Gary Stevens and Paul Parker were given the nod ahead of Lee Dixon at the 1990 World Cup, before injury sidelined the Arsenal defender at Euro ’92. By Euro ’96 he was barely a consideration behind Gary Neville and wing-back option Darren Anderton. Four years…
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