So many incredible players have graced the England shirt over the years and also some not-so-incredible players and it’s the latter that we’re going to be focussing on today.
When some stars make their Three Lions debuts, it’s easy to predict that you’re going to see plenty more from them on the international stage and that often turns out to be the case.
However, there are also many that show enough form at club level to get into the England international set-up and make their promising bow, before falling off the face of the Earth.
But equally, you know with many England international debutants that this could well be the only time you see them with three lions on the shirt, whilst you wonder how the hell they got into the team.
So with Gareth Southgate’s men’s 1000th international match against Montenegro at Wembley on Thursday 14 November fast approaching, we’re going to look at 20 one-cap wonders you forgot ever had an England call-up…
Michael Ball
Like many on this list, former Manchester City left-back Michael Ball was called up by and received his one and only England cap under Sven-Goran Eriksson.
Ball’s big night came in an impressive 3-0 friendly victory over Spain at Villa Park in late February 2001 but he was clearly not cut out for the regular international stage and finished his career with Leicester City in 2012.
David Dunn
What? David Dunn played for England? That bloke who used to play in central midfield for Blackburn Rovers? Yes, Eriksson strikes again.
This time he was looking to shake up the squad following crashing out of the quarter-finals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup and Dunn’s only minutes with the three lions on his chest at senior level would come in the second half of a friendly draw with Portugal in September 2002.
Jon Flanagan
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If you would have told a young Jon Flanagan when he made his England debut in the run-up to the 2014 World Cup that just five years later he would be struggling for game time in the Scottish Premiership and swamped in off-field controversy, he probably wouldn’t have believed you.
But his career has spiralled downwards after what appears likely to be his only ever Three Lions appearance and he’s got a lot of work to do if he wants to shake off the dreaded one-cap wonder tag.
Chris Kirkland
If ex-goalkeeper Chris Kirkland wasn’t good enough for Liverpool, he was never going to be good enough for the Three Lions and so it proved.
But this didn’t stop the former Wigan Athletic and Sheffield Wednesday shot-stopper from winning at least one cap, replacing Paul Robinson at half-time in the summer 2006 home friendly thrashing of Greece.
Matt Jarvis
Ex-winger Matt Jarvis is a one-cap wonder in every sense of the word and one of the many examples of players on this list who failed to live up to their potential.
The current 33-year-old free agent struggled after a big move from Wolverhampton Wanderers to West Ham United in 2012, just over a year after his Three Lions berth in a Wembley friendly against Ghana, and amid injuries faded away.
Carl Jenkinson
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As Carl Jenkinson once again fights injuries at his new club Nottingham Forest in the Sky Bet Championship, the time he was considered the future of England’s right-back position seems like a very distant memory.
The Arsenal academy product was given 15 minutes by Roy Hodgson in a friendly defeat at Sweden in November 2012, replacing Glen Johnson in a match that’s remembered by most for Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s mesmerising 30-yard overhead kick.
John Ruddy
Perhaps bad luck is to blame for John Ruddy going down in the history books as an England one-cap wonder, after all, he was due to be in the squad for EURO 2012 before a broken finger ruled him out of the tournament.
His only taste of senior Three Lions football arrived a couple of months later in a friendly with Italy in Switzerland, keeping out the Italians for the whole second period.
Although, he could never fight his way back onto the pitch at international level amid of strong crop of shot-stoppers coming through the ranks at that time.
Ryan Shawcross
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If you asked the percentage of football fans, we’re sure they’d claim Ryan Shawcross should never have been anywhere the England squad and some wouldn’t even remember that he ever was.
But the long-time Stoke City centre-back was too given his one and only international cap at the opening of the Friends Arena in Stockholm seven years ago, replacing another member of this list Steven Caulker in the 75th minute.
Jay Rodriguez
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Jay Rodriguez’s tale is similar to that of Ruddy, oh how different his international career could have been had he not picked up an injury just before an international tournament he could have played in and just after his debut against Chile.
The then Southampton hitman was poised for Hodgson’s squad for Brazil 2014 before doing his ACL in the spring and hasn’t been able to return to the fold since and likely never will currently struggling for minutes at Burnley. There’s little to suggest he would have made it big on the international stage anyway though.
Jay Bothroyd
It’s hard to remember the fact that current Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo striker Jay Bothroyd ever played at the top level in England, let alone for the Three Lions – that’s Fabio Capello selection for you.
The 37-year-old spent most of his career either abroad or in the Football League and to be still playing in Japan at his age is some achievement but his England career was something of a flash in the pan, limited to a cameo at home to France in winter 2010.