England B national football team
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England B is a secondary football team run occasionally as support for the England national football team. At times they have played other nation's full teams; they have also played matches against 'B' teams from other football associations. Since the team's first use in 1947, there have been 53 official [1] and 3 unofficial [2] B team matches.
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[edit] History
Walter Winterbottom first proposed B team matches as a way of bring players up into the national side (the Under 21 team, the current stepping stone to the national team, did not exist until 1976 [3]). [1] He organised the first recorded game held under the name of 'England B', which was played in Geneva on February 21, 1947 against Switzerland B team.[2] The match finished 0-0. The games proved useful as an introduction to the national team and the first official England B team game came in 1949 in a 4-0 victory over Finland [1]
The frequency of the games depends almost entirely upon the head coach of the England squad. [1] For example, there were no B team internationals under Sir Alf Ramsey or Don Revie; indeed there were none between 1957 and 1978. Ron Greenwood reintroduced them [1] and Sir Bobby Robson used them regularly - there were nine B team internationals in 1989 and 1990. This period saw the likes of Paul Gascoigne enter the England team via the B squad [1]
Sven-Göran Eriksson arranged just one B team match during his time in charge, held on May 25, 2006 against Belarus as a World Cup warm-up game. England lost 2-1, with a goal from Jermaine Jenas. Theo Walcott debuted for England B as the youngest player for them.
[edit] Attendance
Attendances and opponents have varied widely, with some games against first teams (the last of which was in 2006 against Belarus), Olympics teams and other B team squads. The most recent game against Belarus had an attendance of 22,032 at the Madejski Stadium.[4] Prior to that, the previous time that the B team had played in front of more than 20,000 people was in 1978 in a match in Singapore (against that country's national team), when 40,000 people attended. [2]
The highest attendances for England B games were in a series of matches against the Netherlands and Netherlands B in the 1950s, when the Olympisch Stadion in Amsterdam saw three matches with an attendance of 60,000. [2] The highest attendance at home for the B team was 43,068 at St James' Park, Newcastle, again against the Netherlands on February 22, 1950. [2]
[edit] Popularity and use
The games are generally seen as being a way of bringing younger or more inexperienced players into the national team set up, without giving them a full cap. [5] They may often be held before World Cups or other tournaments to give second choice players, injured players or possible choices an opportunity to have a full game to either keep their fitness or play their way into the first team.[1]
However, some fans and footballers see the games as slightly pointless, as indicated by the low attendances of the games during the 1980s and 1990s, when as few as 4,000 fans would watch home games. When Chris Sutton was picked for England B before the 1998 FIFA World Cup, he refused to play for the team, claiming that it was a waste of time and that he should have been picked for the first team [6]. This boycott, however, ended Sutton's chances of ever playing for the full national team again. Furthermore, Matt Le Tissier, who scored a hat-trick for the England B team against Russia B in that match failed to make the 1998 FIFA World Cup squad. [5] On the other hand, Darren Anderton made the leap from the B team to full team squad in 1998, whilst other players such as Paul Gascoigne have been brought to the full team via the Bs. [1]
In 2006, the England B team game was seen as being useful for giving a glimpse of potential future England players. [7] In paticular, it proved useful for Aaron Lennon and Peter Crouch to stake their claims for places in the 2006 FIFA World Cup squad. [7] Furthermore, it provided match pracitce for Michael Owen and Sol Campbell, who were both returning from injury. Overall, 12 players from the 2006 B team squad [8] eventually made it to the final World Cup squad. [9] That said, an injury picked up in the game prevented goalkeeper Robert Green from playing at the World Cup [10] and of the twelve players in both squads, only seven were not esatablished players with over 25 caps.
[edit] Statistics
[edit] Historical Statistics
- Highest attendance - 60 000 v Netherlands and Netherlands B (3 times) at Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam
- Highest home attendance - 43 608 v Netherlands at St James' Park, Newcastle, February 22, 1950
- Biggest victory - 8-0 v Singapore, June 18, 1978 at National Stadium, Singapore
- Heaviest defeat - 1-7 v France espoirs, May 22, 1952, Le Havre
Overall match record:
- Played 56, Won 36, Drawn 10, Lost 9, Abandoned 1
- Versus national teams: P18 W14 D2 L2
- Versus national B teams: P26 W22 D8 L7 A1
- Versus others: P2 W1 D0 L1
[edit] Recent results
England B 1 - 2 
Belarus at Madejski Stadium, Reading, Berkshire, May 25, 2006
- England B 4 - 1
Russia B at Loftus Road, London, April 21, 1998
- England B 1 - 2
Chile B at The Hawthorns, West Bromwich, February 10, 1998
[edit] Fixtures
N/A
[edit] Most Recent Squad
The most recent England B team squad was selected for a game against Belarus on 25 May 2006. The squad, with the players' number of full England caps and clubs as on the date of the game, consisted of: [11]
- Goalkeepers
| Name | DOB | Club | Caps (goals) | Match involvement | 2006 World Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David James | August 1, 1970 | Portsmouth |
34 (0) | Started | Squad member |
| Robert Green | January 18, 1980 | West Ham United |
1 (0) | Used sub | Not in squad |
| Scott Carson | September 3, 1985 | Liverpool |
0 (0) | Used sub | Squad member |
- Defenders
| Name | DOB | Club | Caps (goals) | Match involvement | 2006 World Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sol Campbell | September 18, 1974 | Portsmouth |
66 (1) | Started | 1 appearance |
| Phil Neville | January 21, 1977 | Everton |
52 (0) | Unused sub | Not in squad |
| Ashley Cole | September 20, 1980 | Chelsea |
43 (0) | Started | 5 appearances |
| Jamie Carragher | January 28, 1978 | Liverpool |
23 (0) | Started | 4 appearances |
| Wayne Bridge | August 5, 1980 | Chelsea |
22 (1) | Unused sub | Squad member |
| Michael Dawson | November 18, 1983 | Tottenham Hotspur |
0 (0) | Used sub | Not in squad |
- Midfielders
| Name | DOB | Club | Caps (goals) | Match involvement | 2006 World Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Cole | November 8, 1981 | Chelsea |
30 (5) | Used sub | 5 appearances |
| Owen Hargreaves | January 20, 1981 |  Bayern Munich |
29 (0) | Started | 4 appearances |
| Jermaine Jenas | February 18, 1983 | Tottenham Hotspur |
15 (0) | Started | Squad member |
| Michael Carrick | July 28, 1981 | Manchester United |
5 (0) | Started | 1 appearance |
| Stewart Downing | July 22, 1984 | Middlesbrough |
1 (0) | Started | 3 appearances |
| Aaron Lennon | April 16, 1987 | Tottenham Hotspur |
0 (0) | Started | 3 appearances |
- Strikers
| Name | DOB | Club | Caps (goals) | Match involvement | 2006 World Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Owen (C) | December 14, 1979 | Newcastle United |
75 (35) | Started | 3 appearances |
| Peter Crouch | January 30, 1981 | Liverpool |
5 (1) | Started | 4 appearances |
| Andrew Johnson | February 10, 1981 | Everton |
2 (0) | Unused sub | Not in squad |
| Theo Walcott | March 16, 1989 | Arsenal |
0 (0) | Used sub | Squad member |
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h 'B' International at Reading Football Association; 06 April 2006; Accessed 14 February 2007
- ^ a b c d e England's B Team Matches englandfootballonline.com; 26 May 2006; Accessed 26 May 2006
- ^ England's Under 21 Matches englandfootballonline.com; 8 October 2006; Accessed 14 February 2007
- ^ England B 1-2 Belarus BBC Sport; 25 May 2006; accessed 26 May 2006
- ^ a b Taylor wants return of B team BBC Sport; 10 November 2006; Accessed 14 February 2007
- ^ Chris Sutton biography ex-canaries.co.uk; Whitlam, Steve; 12 October 2006; Accessed 16 May 2006
- ^ a b World Cup scouting for England BBC Sport; McKenzie, Andrew; 26 May 2006; Accessed 14 February 2007
- ^ Skipper Owen to start for England BBC Sport; 24 May 2006; Accessed 14 February 2007
- ^ England's World Cup Squad The FA; 2006; Accessed 14 February 2007
- ^ Keeper Green set to miss finals BBC Sport; 25 May 2006; Accessed 14 February 2007
- ^ England B 1-2 Belarus England Pre-Match englandfootballonline.com; 25 May 2006; Accessed 14 February 2007
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