Aston Villa have two players in the England team ahead of this summer’s European Championships – Tyrone Mings and Jack Grealish. Ollie Watkins was nearly the third representative after making the provisional 33-man squad, but he was cut when the squad was trimmed to 26 players.
Not only is it rare that a Villa player makes the England squad for an international tournament, it’s been a while since a Villa player actually featured, so Read Aston Villa looked into the last time a Villan made an appearance in the World Cup or Euros.
James Milner and Emile Heskey were playing for the Midlands outfit when they were named in the England squad ahead of the 2010 World Cup and both featured in England’s opening group game against the USMNT.
The Three Lions infamously drew 1-1 in front of more than 38,000 supporters at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium. Milner made three appearances in the tournament and joined Man City after the Euros while Heskey made four appearances and stayed at Villa until 2012.
Mings is likely to be cover in defence for Harry Maguire and John Stones, but Grealish has a good chance of playing for England in the Euros, so he might end the 11-year wait.
In other news, it’s been nearly 10 years since Gerard Houllier stepped down from Aston Villa
