---
title: "Two Aston Villa players make their only England cap 70 years apart"
canonical: "https://readastonvilla.com/2021/05/17/two-aston-villa-players-make-their-only-england-cap-70-years-apart/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Crippy Cooke"
section: "Aston Villa News"
published: "2021-05-17T22:24:15Z"
modified: "2021-05-17T22:24:16Z"
---

# Two Aston Villa players make their only England cap 70 years apart

On this day (May 17) in 1924, George Blackburn picked up his [only England cap](https://readastonvilla.com/or%20a%20match%20against%20Scotland%20in%20the%201923%E2%80%9324%20British%20Home%20Championship). The former Aston Villa left-half was called up to the national team in April ahead of a British Home Championship match against Scotland, but he didn’t feature for another month. Blackburn’s only outing for the England team came in a 3-1 defeat to France at the Stade Pershing.

And on this day (May 17) in 1994, Kevin Richardson picked up his [only England cap](https://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamPlyrsBios/PlayersR/BioRichardsonK.html). The former Villa midfielder got the nod on account of fine form at club level and ended up featuring in a 5-0 friendly win over Greece. Richardson never added to his tally, however, so he was another of Villa’s one-cap wonders.

![](https://media.readastonvilla.com/readastonvilla/2021/05/20210517_225141-1024x388.jpg)

From Brian Beard’s ‘Aston Villa On This Day – History, Facts & Figures from Every Day of the Year’

Blackburn made more than 130 appearances in all competitions at Villa (1920 – 1926) while Richardson made more than 140 appearances across the board (1991 – 1995). The pair peaked at Villa and earned their only cap while playing for the Midlands outfit, but they failed to reach such heights after the fact.

***[In other news, it’s been 24 years and a day since Aston Villa signed Stan Collymore for a club-record fee](https://readastonvilla.com/2021/05/17/a-year-and-a-day-since-aston-villa-signed-stan-collymore-record-fee/)***