Ben White joins Three Lions legends among 10 stars booed by England fans | OneFootball

Ben White can take some consolation from the company he is keeping among other England players to be booed by their own fans…

White was jeered on Friday night during a chaotic cameo that saw him score then concede a late penalty.

England supporters can be a strange breed, as evidenced by their treatment of some of their own players.

White is just one of at least 10 to receive flak while playing for the Three Lions. We just need Jordan Pickford to cop it and we’ve got a full XI…

Ben White

Being booed upon scoring is a new one…

White was jeered when he came off the bench midway through the second half against Uruguay and England fans evidently had more to get off their chest given the Arsenal defender copped grief again when he scored his first international goal late on from six inches.

The Arsenal defender was singled out on his first appearance since being recalled from his self-imposed exile. White left the England camp at the 2022 World Cup, reportedly after falling out with Gareth Southgate’s assistant Steve Holland, and then made himself unavailable for selection.

With Southgate and Holland gone, White had no issue with playing for Thomas Tuchel, but England fans aren’t as forgiving as the German boss.

Jordan Henderson

The ex-Liverpool skipper was booed when he came off against Australia in 2023 in his first appearance since moving to Saudi Arabia.

Which is fair enough. Henderson burnt many bridges when he took the Saudi coin – which he never saw in the end anyway. But how many of those fans jeering Henderson would have turned down a similar offer?

Southgate could not fathom it: “I know what’s created it but it defies logic that you would give a player who is playing and putting his heart and soul into playing for England… why boo him?”

Harry Maguire

Southgate was even stronger on the boos Maguire received even before kick-off against Ivory Coast in 2022.

“The reception was a joke, an absolute joke,” said the England boss. “I imagine if you asked a few of them why they did it they probably wouldn’t even be able to answer. It’s mob mentality.”

Maguire’s name was booed when the teams were read out and his first touch was jeered. His crime: some ropey form for Manchester United. “A total embarrassment,” said Declan Rice. Of the boos, not Maguire.

Peter Crouch

The then-Liverpool striker was booed at Old Trafford when he came on against Poland in 2005.

“I was a Liverpool player, so I knew there was an element of that,” Crouch later reflected in 2022. “But there was also this stigma attached to me. Is he an England player? People openly said I wasn’t good enough. Whether I fitted the mould of an international footballer was an underlying thing and that, rather than the Liverpool aspect, drove the derision at Old Trafford. Fans who didn’t really know me – and dare I say maybe not overly knowledgeable about the game – were giving me grief. Even on the street.”

Twenty-two goals in 42 caps suggests those booing him are indeed know-nothing gobsh*tes.

Joe Gomez

Gomez and Raheem Sterling clashed during Liverpool’s win over Manchester City in November 2019 and the City star wasn’t prepared to leave it on the pitch.

Apparently, in the England canteen the following day, Sterling tried to grab Gomez by the neck and said “you think you’re the big man now?”

Things were eventually smoothed over, but Sterling was sent home and made to watch a qualifier against Montenegro from the Wembley stands. We assume he wasn’t among those booing Gomez for his role.

Frank Lampard

Lampard has the honour of being the first England player to be booed at the new Wembley. And it happened more than once.

The then-Chelsea star was jeered before and during cap 54 of 106, a friendly with Brazil, and again in the next game against Estonia.

Why? We’re not entirely sure. Some lacklustre form, probably.

Ashley Cole

Form definitely wasn’t Cole’s problem – he described 2008-09 as his best to that point when he was booed during a 5-1 win over Kazakhstan.

His mistake led to the goal England conceded but there was enough going on around Cole at the time – infidelity and an arrest outside a Kensington nightclub – to suggest there was more to it than just one sloppy pass.

“It was difficult when they booed,” he said at the time. “I’m a normal person, I’m just like you and just like everyone else – I have feelings and thoughts. So of course it hurt.”

Cole got over it to become England’s most-capped defender.

John Barnes

Barnes copped it on numerous occasions while representing his country. At first it was simply racism. F***ing morons.

And there was probably still an element of that towards the end of the winger’s 79-cap international career when he was jeered during a 6-0 win over San Marino.

“We ended up winning comfortably, but the goals came late and by then there was a lot of frustration,” Barnes told The Times in 2012. “They were being critical of me personally because I was a creative player, so I was being blamed for the fact we weren’t scoring goals.”

Owen Hargreaves

The England midfielder was booed when he came on to replace Joe Cole during the 1-0 win over Paraguay at the 2006 World Cup.

Why? Hargreaves, then at Bayern Munich, reckoned it was because the England fans weren’t familiar with his work.

“The problem I’ve got is that the English public don’t know me,” he said. “They don’t see me as a player. I can deal with that. Whether people cheer me or give a negative reaction, I’m not really bothered.”

Indeed. Hargreaves quickly won over the dissenters by being named England Player of the Year.

John Terry

Perhaps the one player on this list who could have few arguments over being booed but the reaction to EBJT after he was stripped of the England captaincy following his affair with Wayne Bridge’s Mrs was more muted than others whose crimes were considerably less serious.

Wayne Rooney was among those who came out before a win over Egypt in 2010 to plead with fans not to give Terry a hard time, and perhaps they listened.

Terry was jeered at first but later cheered off the pitch. England fans are weird.