With Jack Grealish opting to stick to his home country rather than pursue the path of football titans such as John Aldridge and Sean St Ledger; the rest of the country can now buy into Grealish’s ability that is constantly on display at Villa Park each week. However, with this in mind, it’s worth a ponder of what kind of Villa greats he will be joining when he eventually puts on the Three Lions shirt.
From the first ever international match between England and Scotland to last year’s FIFA world cup, the ties between Villa and the national team run deep. And with a whopping 73 players to choose from, more than any other club, it’s difficult to whittle down to just five. Nonetheless, here are the top five Villa England Internationals.
5. Steve Hodge
Brian Clough’s favorite at Forest would have to wait a long while for any recognition internationally, and it was during his time at Villa Park where he eventually got the international debut he deserved. Once his England career got going he never looked back; having his moment in the sun when he was a part of the watershed Italia 90 squad. With the likes of Gascoigne, Lineker and Platt (more on him later).
Hodge went on to become the heartbeat of a team that came close to picking up the Holy Grail once again, had it not been for an agonising penalty miss (more on them later).
4. Gareth Barry
Whilst he has never been the main man in terms of England, Barry managed to shoehorn his way into a midfield consisting of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, David Beckham and Paul Scholes. His 53 caps are a major testament to how hard Barry has worked throughout his career.
Originally selected at left-back in the turbulent days of Kevin Keegan, Barry quickly found himself on the fringes of the squad thanks to the emergence of Ashley Cole and Wayne Bridge. His switch to a defensive midfield. though, gave him a new lease of life for the national team when finally recalled by Steve McClaren.
Barry went on to become a major influence in the road to South Africa in 2010 and Poland-Ukraine in 2012, before eventually calling time on his career after the penalty loss to Italy to focus on prolonging his time at Manchester City.
3. Gareth Southgate
Think of Gareth Southgate in an England shirt and you’ll probably think of that penalty miss against Germany in Euro 96, but there was a whole lot more to Gareth’s England career than that. Before that infamous save Southgate had competed in every minute of the competition, including a marvelous group stage display against Scotland and the demolition of the Netherlands. Another clean sheet followed against Spain before it all came crashing down with that spot kick.
Southgate never really recovered from that moment, and the Pizza Hut Adverts didn’t help, but his dedication to earn 50 caps and manage the England u21s means there is always a soft spot for him in terms of the Three Lions; now if only that penalty went in.
2. David Platt
Another stalwart of the Italia 90 team. Platt was brought in by Villa during the dark times of second division football. Platt’s influence on the Villa team got the Villans back into the first division.
In terms of internationals, though, Platt, like Hodge, is another member of the oh so close clique of 1990. Platt’s box to box work rate was the perfect complement to Hodge; plus his volley against Belgium will go down as one of the most important goals in England history. The man himself even described it as “one of life’s rare, perfect moments”.
After the goal, Platt would go on to replace Bobby Robson for the game against Cameroon, and keep his place for the semi-final against Germany. He would also go on to feature in Euro 92 and 96, a tournament that lives in the memory as the closest England ever got to winning an international competition since 1966.
1. Billy Walker
No list of top five Villa internationals would be complete without the greatest man to grace Villa Park. Walker was a titan of 1920’s football both domestically and on the international stage. In a Villa shirt, the forward netted 244 goals in 531 appearances. For England however, his record seems rather modest with 9 goals in 18 games. In context though it’s marvelous, with no competitions other than the Home Championships Walker represents a by-gone age of the “test” football match. It’s a shame because a footballer so ahead of his time could have powered England on to international honours had they existed.
