England N-Team will never score in the Alphabet World Cup | OneFootball

N isn’t for Norway and their notorious number nine, it’s for Nevilles, never-ending defenders and north London legends. The England N-Team is here.

And weirdly, there really aren’t many England footballers beginning with N.

Goalkeeper: Stuart Naylor

Not a single N goalkeeper has ever won a senior England cap even though there have been plenty in the Football League, going all the way back to Harry Nutter in the 1920s, who sounds like he would’ve been a perfect number one for Mike Bassett.

A couple of them appeared at youth level for the Three Lions but long-serving West Brom ‘keeper Stuart Naylor takes the spot with three B caps in the late eighties.

If you fancy a goalkeeper challenge, try naming the former Manchester City stopper who played for the club in the Cityzens’ last season at Maine Road.

Right-back: Phil Neal

Only 13 out of 1300 England internationals are eligible for the N-Team and most of them are defenders, so they’ll need to sit back, soak up the pressure and depend on set-pieces in pursuit of victory.

With that in mind, not many are used to winning as much as Phil Neal and he’s pretty handy from the spot too. Neal won eight First Division titles with Liverpool and also helped the Reds to four European Cup victories, scoring a penalty in the final of 1977 as well as finding the net in the famous final of ’84 against Roma.

Left-back: David Nish

Having quickly became a firm favourite at Filbert Street following a goalscoring debut, David Nish became the youngest captain in FA Cup history when he led Leicester City to final of 1969 at the age of just 21, before moving to Derby County and winning the First Division in ’75.

He played in Alf Ramsey’s final game as England boss, before keeping his spot under caretaker manager Joe Mercer. But new Three Lions coach Don Revie chose in favour of familiarity in his maiden match, picking Leeds United’s Paul Madeley, meaning Nish’s international career was over in the middle of his title-winning season with the Rams.

Centre-back: Gary Neville

He may well be the right-back of the ‘Golden Generation’ but Gary Neville will have to shift across to start at centre-back thanks to the presence of Neal. By far the most-capped player in this side, Neville played for England 85 times and if he stayed injury-free he would’ve likely made the exclusive 100 club.

Despite only playing 19 times for Manchester United in the Premier League, England boss Terry Venables handed the 20-year old an international debut in the summer of 1995 and from there he became the Three Lions’ first-choice number two for the next decade.

Centre-back: Maurice Norman

A colossal figure for Tottenham Hotspur in the club’s annus mirabilis of 1961, Maurice Norman’s dominance at the back helped the club become the first side to complete the domestic double in the 20th century. A non-playing member of the England squad that travelled to Sweden for the World Cup in ’58, Norman’s heroics for Spurs made him first choice for his country four years later as Walter Winterbottom’s men reached the quarter-finals, going out to eventual champions Brazil.

A career-ending injury just eight months before the Three Lions won the tournament on home soil ruled him out of becoming one of the stars of ’66.

Central midfield: Bill Nicholson

Norman’s boss in ’61 and the man behind bringing the double to White Hart Lane was the iconic Bill Nicholson, who managed the club after a long playing career in north London came to an end. Nicholson was part of the first Spurs side to win the First Division, beating Matt Busby’s Manchester United to the title by four points in 1951. He won his first and only England cap the same year, scoring 30 seconds into his debut on the way to helping the Three Lions put five past Portugal.

Central midfield: Ernest Needham

Captain of Sheffield United during the Blades’ golden era in the late Victorian period, Needham led the South Yorkshire club to their one and only First Division title as well as two FA Cup triumphs. Needham was an England regular for eight years and was the first player to score a penalty for the Three Lions, converting from the spot in a 6-0 win over Wales in 1901, a game that also saw him named as skipper for his country for the first time.

Central midfield: Phil Neville

Completing perhaps the most defensive-looking midfield of all the alphabet sides is England ladder legend Phil Neville. The younger Neville finds himself in the shade of his older brother once again as the second most-capped player in this XI, appearing for his country 59 times. He made his international debut alongside Gary in a friendly win over China shortly before Euro’96 and was the youngest player selected by Terry Venables for the tournament.

After the international careers of Stuart Pearce and Graeme Le Saux came to end, he made the Three Lions left-back slot his own under Kevin Keegan but the emergence of Ashley Cole saw him fall back down the pecking order.

Winger: Keith Newton

With a lack of attacking options, Keith Newton will have to move away from his favoured full-back position to start further up the field. The Blackburn Rovers legend became famous for his overlapping runs forward, so he should be more than comfortable on the wing.

For England, Newton looked certain to be the hero of the 1970 World Cup quarter-final clash with West Germany, setting up memorable goals for Martin Peters and Alan Mullery to give the Three Lions a 2-0 lead. Unfortunately, a fightback from the legendary trio of Beckenbauer, Seeler and Muller left Newton’s contribution in the Mexican shade as the holders crashed out.

Winger: Rio Ngumoha

Thankfully for the N-Team the newest edition to the men who’ve played for the senior England side is one their own and his attacking instincts make him a rare commodity in this XI.

The talented Liverpool star made his debut in June after travelling with the World Cup group as a supplementary training squad member and playing in the 1-0 warm-up win over New Zealand. Ngumoha is now just one of eight 17-year olds to play for the Three Lions and is the fifth youngest of all-time, with only Theo Walcott, James Prinsep, Jude Bellingham and Wayne Rooney ahead of him.

Striker: Johnny Nicholls

There are three players fighting for the N-Team number nine shirt and they only have four caps between them. Eddie Nketiah will have to settle for a spot on the bench as he’s the only one of the trio who failed to score for the Three Lions, whilst David Nugent’s tap-in against Andorra in his only international appearance essentially belonged to Jermain Defoe.

That leaves West Brom’s 1954 FA Cup-winning hero Johnny Nicholls as the striker, with the Baggies star lining up alongside club team-mate Ronnie Allen for England in a 4-2 win over Scotland that saw him find the net on his debut.