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November 20, 2007

England's Centurions

President of the England 2006 World Cup Bid, Sir Bobby Charlton talks to members of the media in Kuala Lumpur May 16. England, shrugging off potential crowd problem, said football should be brought home to its birth place.— REUTERS

IAs England welcomes Croatia to Wembley on November 21, the media is debating whether David Beckham will inch a little closer to his 100th appearance and join England's elite band of centurions. There is a long list of footballers that have made a hundred or more appearances for their national teams, but there are only four Englishmen who have played in a hundred international matches.

The first Centurion

Billy Wright was the first player ever to appear in a hundred internationals, achieving that remarkable feat against Scotland in the late fifties and going on to amass 105 international caps before his retirement in 1959. Wright was known as the "Ironbridge Rocket" and he, like Beckham, married a pop-star at the height of his fame as captain of one of England's biggest football clubs, Wolverhampton Wanderers. He led them to three league titles in 1954, 1958 and 1959 and a FA Cup in 1949.

Wright captained England a record ninety times between 1946 and 1959, including three World Cup Finals tournaments in 1950, 1954 and 1958, where he scored three times and made seventy consecutive appearances for his country. He began life as a speedy winger but converted to center-half and was Footballer of the Year in 1952, playing for his only club on 541 occasions while scoring thirteen goals. He was never sent off or even cautioned and received the CBE for services to football. On his retirement, the Times said of him, "Billy Wright, the man, is a human being of exemplary character. Billy Wright, the footballer, was a national treasure." He died in 1994.

Captain

Bobby Moore is best known as the captain of England's victorious 1966 World-Cup winning team, but that final was only one of 108 appearances that he made for his country between 1962 and 1973, scoring twice and playing ninety times as captain to equal Wright's record. Moore was a center-half who played 544 times for West Ham United between 1958 and 1974, scoring twenty-four goals and spending more than a decade as captain, lifting the FA Cup in 1964 and the European Cup Winners Cup a year later. He then spent three years at Fulham before ending his career in America in 1978.

He was Footballer of the Year in 1964, a BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1966 and played in three World Cup Finals tournaments in 1962, 1966 and 1970. He was awarded the OBE in 1967. Pele called him "the greatest defender I ever played against." He died in February 1993, aged 51, and a bronze statue of him stands at the entrance to the new Wembley Stadium.

Ambassador

Sir Bobby Charlton remains famous in football today as Manchester United's global ambassador and is often portrayed as an ambassador for football itself. His mentor, Sir Matt Busby, said that, "there has never been a more popular footballer" and added, "he was as near perfection as man and player as it is possible to be."

He played 106 times for England between 1958 and 1970, scoring a national record of 49 goals and appearing in four World Cup Finals tournaments (1958, 1962, 1966 and 1970), including the famous 1966 triumph. He was awarded a CBE in 1974 and knighted in 1994.

Sir Bobby Charlton was Footballer of the Year in both England and Europe in 1966. He was captain of Manchester United from 1966 to 1973, appearing a record 754 times for the club, while scoring a record 239 goals between 1954 and 1973.

He was one of the famous "Busby Babes" who survived the Munich air disaster of 1958 and went on to lead United to European Cup glory in 1968. He also won three League titles (1957, 1965 and 1967) and an FA Cup in 1963. He later played briefly for Preston North End and the Irish club Waterford United before retiring in 1975.

Keeper

Goalkeeper Peter Shilton is the current record holder for England with 125 international appearances between 1970 and 1990, including three World Cup finals tournaments (1982, 1986 and 1990), where he played seventeen times and kept a record ten clean sheets.

He made an amazing 1,005 appearances in English football in a career stretching from 1966 to 1997, appearing for eight clubs and scoring his only goal for his first club, Leicester City. He had most success at Nottingham Forest, where he played for five years, winning two European Cups in 1979 and 1980, a League title in 1978 and two League Cups in 1978 and 1979. He was the PFA Player of the Year in 1978 and received an MBE and an OBE for services to football.

QUESTIONS

Understanding

1. What are centurions in this story?
2. How many centurions does England have?
3. Who are they?
4. Which one has played most often for England?
5. How many games did he play for England?
6. Is David Beckham a centurion?

Odd one out
Which player didn't do these things?

1. Play in only three World Cup Finals.
2. Become Footballer of the Year.
3. Win a European trophy.
4. Win a League title.
5. Play in the 1970s.
6. Win the FA Cup.

Who?
Which player or players did these things?

1. Received a knighthood.
2. Scored only once.
3. Captained England ninety times.
4. Won the World Cup in 1966.
5. Won the European Cup.
6. Played for only one club.
7. Played in the 1958 World Cup.
8. Played in the 1962 World Cup.
9. Scored for England.
10. Became European Footballer of the Year.

ANSWERS

Understanding

1. Footballers who have played in 100 international matches
2. Four
3. Billy Wright, Bobby Moore, Sir Bobby Charlton and Peter Shilton
4. Peter Shilton
5. 125
6. No, not yet.

Odd one out

1. Sir Bobby Charlton
2. Peter Shilton
3. Billy Wright
4. Bobby Moore
5. Billy Wright
6. Peter Shilton

Who?

1. Charlton
2. Peter Shilton
3. Wright and Moore
4. Moore and Charlton
5. Charlton and Shilton
6. Wright
7. Wright and Charlton
8. Moore and Charlton
9. Wright, Moore and Charlton
10. Charlton

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