Tuesday, May 11, 2021

South East England All-Time Team

This blogger Artur Yanturin of Russia copied many of my blog teams.  This blog was one of them.  It was my Russia All-Time Team here.  His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.   His Spartak Moscow All-Time team entry of was published in October 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2017.  His entry of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.  He also copied many many of my blog entries.

His Facebook and Instagram


Cuthbert Ottaway and Robert Barker played in the first ever international match in 1872 

Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.


South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the first level of NUTS for statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex. Major towns and cities in the regions include Brighton and Hove, Guildford, Portsmouth, Milton Keynes, Reading, Oxford, Slough and Southampton.

Some of the football clubs in this region included Southampton, Portsmouth, Brighton, Reading, Oxford United, Wycombe Wanderers FC,m etc.  Southampton spent continuous 27 years in the top tier from 1978 to 2005. The club has won Football League Division One in 1983-84.  Portsmouth has won more silverware.  They won the first division football league in 1949 and 1950. The club has also won the FA cup twice, most recently in 2008.  At the time of writing, approximately 90 players born in the region have played for England.  Only South West England and East of England have produced less.

This is the all-time team for players born in South East England.  Birthplace is the criteria for selection for this team. If there were an All-Time World Cup, this would be the 23 players I would bring to the tournament. 

Team
GK: Ted Ditchburn (Kent)
Ditchburn made his senior debut for the Spurs in a wartime league match in 1940. At the end of the war, he returned to Tottenham. He went on to play in an unbroken run of 247 matches between April 1948 and March 1954. Tottenham won promotion as Division Two champions in 1949–50 and the First division league title the following year. Capped 6 times and went to the WC Finals in 1950.

GK: Vic Woodley (Slough)
Woodley signed for Chelsea in 1931, making his debut the same year. Woodley was a member of the glamorous Chelsea side of the 1930s, playing alongside the likes of Hughie Gallacher, Alex Jackson and Alec Cheyne. Woodley won nineteen caps for England - all consecutive, a record at the time - and in an era when there was stiff competition from Harry Hibbs, George Tweedy and Frank Swift. 

GK: Robert Barker (Wouldham)
Barker was educated at Marlborough College where he played both rugby and association football. After leaving school he joined Hertfordshire Rangers to concentrate on "soccer". He represented both Middlesex and Kent during his career, as well as making occasional appearances for Westminster School and Wanderers. He was selected to play in goal for England's first ever international match against Scotland on 30 November 1872. The original selection for goalkeeper, Alexander Morten, was unavailable

RB/DM: Peter Storey (Surrey)
Peter Storey spent 15 years at Arsenal, winning the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1970, the First Division title in 1970–71, and the FA Cup in 1971. He also was a losing finalist in the 1968 and 1969 League Cup and the 1972 FA Cup Final. He also won 19 caps for England between April 1971 and June 1973. He played in the Home Championships. He was transferred to Fulham in March 1977 before announcing his retirement eight months later.Surrey)
Peter Storey 
RB: Peter Sillett (Southampton)
Peter Sillet was the son of Charlie Sillett, a fullback who also played for Southampton.  He played with Southampton until 1953 when he joined Chelsea along with his brother John. He was the club's highest scoring defender until John Terry broke the record.  He won the League title in the 1954-1955 season.   He went to the World Cup Finals in 1958. 

CB: Graham Roberts (Southampton)
Roberts came from Southampton's academy, but he never played for them.  After stints with  Dorchester Town and Weymouth, he joined Tottenham Hotspurs in 1980.   He was a member of the successful Tottenham Hotspur side of the early 1980s, winning the FA Cup in 1981 and 1982.   He later played with Rangers, where he was involved in a controversial match in the Old Firm. Roberts won six caps for England.

CB: Gary Pallister (Kent)
Pallister played for Middlesbrough before he moved to Manchester United in 1989.  His transfer broke the national record for a fee paid for a defender, as well as being the highest fee between British clubs. By the time of his departure from Old Trafford after nine years, he was the only player to have collected winner's medals in all of the club's successes under Alex Ferguson's management.  He was capped 22 times.
Gary Pallister
CB: Martin Keown (Oxford)
Keown's career lasted from 1984 to 2005. He made over 400 appearances for Arsenal and won 10 honours. He also played for Brighton, Aston Villa, Everton, Leicester City and Reading. He won 43 caps for England, gradually forming a respected defensive partnership with Arsenal teammate Tony Adams at both club and international level. Keown represented England at four major international football finals including the 1998 and 2002 World Cups.

CB/CM: David Sadler (Kent)
David Sadler started his career with Maidstone United, but signed a professional contract with Manchester United in 1963, helping the club win the 1965 and 1967 First Division Football League championships as well as the 1968 European Cup. He left United in 1974 after scoring 27 goals for the club to join Preston North End, who were being managed by Sadler's former team-mate Bobby Charlton. Capped 4 times.

RB/LB: Mick Mills (Surrey)
Mick Mills holds the record for appearance with Ipswich Town.  He became the captain of Ipswich in 1971, where he formed a close relationship with manager Bobby Robson.  It was Ipswich's greatest era, winning the 1978 FA Cup and the 1981 UEFA Cup. He also played with Southampton and Stoke City.  Mills was capped 42 times between 1972 and 1982.  He played both rightback and left back for England. He captained England at the 1982 World Cup Finals.  
Mick Mills 
LB/LH/LW: Jimmy Dickinson (Hampshire)
Dickinson played for Portsmouth from 1946 to 1965.  He holds the record for number of league appearances for Portsmouth (764). Only Swindon Town's John Trollope (770) has made more appearances for a single club.  During his record 845 club appearances for Pompey and his 48 England caps he was never once booked or sent off, earning him the nickname Gentleman Jim.  He went to 1950 and 1954 World Cup Finals.

DM/RB: John Hollins (Surrey)
His father, grandfather and three brothers were all professional footballers as well.  His brother Dave, played international football for Wales. From 1963 to 1975, he played for Chelsea. He later played for Arsenal. He made 714 First Division appearances, an English top division record for an outfield player and second only to goalkeeper Peter Shilton.  He was only capped once.

CM: Dele Alli (Milton Keynes)
Dele Alli made his professional debut with his hometown Milton Keynes Dons in 2011.  He signed for Tottenham Hotspur in February 2015. In his first full campaign at White Hart Lane, Alli was voted the PFA Young Player of the Year, and won again the second year. He made his national team debut in 2015.  He was a part of the Euro 2016 team as well as the 2018 World Cup Finals in Russia.
Dele Alli 
DM: Gareth Barry (Hastings) 
Gareth Barry has made 597 appearances in the Premier League, including 365 for Aston Villa, putting him third on the all-time appearances list, and top among current players. In 2009, he joined Manchester City, where he won the FA Cup in 2011 and the Premier League title the following season. After a season on loan, he joined Everton on a three-year contract in July 2014. He played 53 times for England.  He was a member of Euro 2000 team, and then, the 2010 World Cup team.(Hastings)

RW: Peter Harris (Portsmouth) 
Harris was an outside right, and he played a crucial role in Portsmouth's Football league title-winning sides of 1948–49 and 1949–50.  Only the competition from Stanley Matthews and Tom Finney, in an era before substitutions were introduced to the game, prevented Harris earning more than two caps for the England national football team. He made England debut against Ireland in a 2–0 defeat in September 1949.

RW/LW: Terry Paine (Winchester)
Paine is best known for his career with Southampton, for whom he made over 800 appearances (a club record) in 18 seasons with the club between 1957 and 1974. He was known for his partnership with John Sydenham, Ron Davies and Martin Chivers.  He later played for Hereford United, and briefly worked at Cheltenham Town as a player-manager.  For England, he played 19 times and was a member of the 1966 World Cup team.
Terry Paine
LW: Charles Bambridge (Windsor)
Banbridge was considered one of the best players in England in the 19th Century. His football career was spent with Swifts, Windsor Home Park, Streatham, Upton Park, Clapham Rovers and Corinthian, also gaining representative honours for Surrey, Berkshire and London.  He made eighteen appearances as a left winger for England between 1879 and 1887, being appointed captain twice. He was one of three brothers who played for England.

LW/ST: Bobby Tambling (Sussex)
Bobby Tambling was Chelsea's all-time top scorer for 47 years, with 202 goals in all competitions until Frank Lampard surpassed this total on 11 May 2013. Tambling remains Chelsea's all-time top scorer in league competition with 164 goals. After enjoying a successful career in the Football League during the 1960s and early 1970s, Tambling moved to Ireland. He subsequently played for several Irish clubs.  Capped 3 times. 

AM: Tony Currie (Middlesex)
Currie started with Watford in 1967.  He was transferred to Sheffield United in 1968 and went on to score 54 goals in 313 appearances and was also made captain by manager Ken Furphy in March 1974. In September 2014, as part of the club's 125th Anniversary celebrations, he was named Sheffield United's Greatest Ever Player. In 1976,  he moved to  Leeds United.  His curling shot against Southampton F.C. In 1978 won ITV's The Big Match Goal of the Season that year.  Capped 17 times.
Tony Currie
CF: Ted Drake (Southampton)
As a player, he first played for Southampton but made his name playing for Arsenal in the 1930s, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, as well as five caps for England. He is Arsenal's joint fifth highest goalscorer of all time. He also holds the record for the most goals scored in a top flight game in English football, with seven against Aston Villa in 1935. 

ST: Peter Osgood (Berkshire)
Osgood was a legend with Chelsea.  He helped them to win the Cup Winners' Cup in 1970.  Despite his successes with Chelsea, he only earned 4 caps.  Sir Ramsey is rumoured to dislike him for his playboy lifestyle.   He was a member of the 1970 World Cup squad, making two appearances against Czechoslovakia and Romania as a substitute. Near the end of his career, he played for Southampton, Norwich, Philadelphia Fury and a return to Chelsea.

CF: Cuthbert Ottaway (Dover)
Cuthbert Ottaway was the first captain of the England football team and led his side in the first official international football match in 1872 against Scotland. As a club player, Ottaway took part in three successive FA Cup finals between 1873 and 1875. Representing his university at five different sports – a record that remains unmatched– Ottaway was also a noted cricketer until his retirement shortly before his early death at the age of 27.

ST: Martin Chivers (Southampton)
From 1962 to 1966, Martin Chivers played with Southampton. He  moved to Tottenham Hotspurs in 1968, breaking the tran sager record at the time.  During the 1971–72 campaign, Chivers hit the best form of his career, netting 44 times in 64 first team appearances. He scored eight times in 11 UEFA Cup matches in 1972, in which Tottenham became champion.  He was indicted to Tottenham's Hall of Fame. Chivers was capped 24 times for England.
Martin Chivers 
Squad Explanation
Leslie Gay, Alex McCarthy,  John Hawtrey, Percy Melmoth Walters, Arthur Melmoth Walters, Alfred Bower, R. Cunliffe Gosling, Steve Forster, Gordon Hill, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Neil Webb and Jamie Redknapp, Arthur Bambridge, Ernest Bambridge, Wayne Bridge, Herbert Smith, Stan Willemse, Neil Webb, Jamie Redknapp, Darren Anderton, Archie Turner and George Brann, William Jones, Johnny Berry, Alf Milward, R. Cunliffe Gosling, Peter Broadbent, Evelyn Lintott, Frank Jefferes, Bill Ellerington, Mason Mount, Trevor Whymark, Charles Wollaston, Ray Crawford, Harrod Fleming, John Atyeo, Johnny Byrne, George Cotterill, Mark Wright.

Squad Explanation
-- As of 2021, Essex is a part of East of England.  However, before 1965, Essex was considered to be South East England.  That year, a large parts of Essex was assigned to the Greater London area.  In 1994 when East of England was created, the rest of Essex was assigned to the East of England. Bobby Moore, George Male, Martin Peters, Frank Lampard Sr, Paul Parker and Trevor Brooking were born in areas that were considered South East England at the time of their birth.  However, I have been using modern geographical borders for most of my blogs.  So I decided to put them on my London team.  
-- Brazil-born Charles William Miller, who went to school in Southampton, was responsible for taking football to Brazil. He had a Scottish father and a Brazilian mother.
-- Nobody made my England All-Time team.  Every regional team has at least a single player.  It is hard to say who is the best player from this region.
-- Both Cuthbert Ottaway and Robert Barker played in the first international football match on 30th November, 1872 against Scotland. Ottaway was the captain.
-- Terry Paine and Ted Drake were on the Football League 100 Legends created in 1998.
-- Four players are on my projected England's 1974 World Cup team.  Of course, England failed to qualify for the Finals in real life.  My team was just an imaginary team and the analysis was own fantasy.  The players were Peter Storey, Mick Mills, Tony Currie and Martin Chivers.
-- Fourteen players on this team had played for one of the bigger London clubs.  In addition, Charles Bambridge, Robert Barker and Cuthbert Ottaway all played for a London-based team.
-- I created a Southampton All-time team.  They are the only club from the region I have created an all-time team. Terry Paine is the only player from this team making the squad, but not on the all-time team.  Several of them did play for the club. Portsmouth deserved to have their own all-time team.  They won two First Division titles.
-- Ted Ditchburn only earned 6 caps, but he was often rated higher than his contemporaries Bert Williams and Gil Merrick.  Both of which earned more caps.   He also played most of his career wehn Frank Swift was active ehich limited his career. Then, I selected Vic Woodley who was among Chelsea's greatest goalkeepers.  His international career was also affected by playing in the same generation as Swift.
-- Robert Barker (Wouldham) played in the first ever International match, but he was drafted to play the goalie position for that game.  Nevertheless, he had the honor of being the first English international goalkeeper.  I took him as my third keeper over Leslie Gay, Alex McCarthy and John Hawtrey. 
-- John Hawtrey was born at Eton College, where his father, the Reverend John Hawtrey, was master of the lower school. His younger brother was the actor, Sir Charles Hawtrey.
-- I selected three centerbacks Graham Roberts, Gary Pallister and Martin Keown who were famous club players of their time.
-- The last spot was between David Sadler. Mark Wright and Steve Forster.  Steve Forster played for a local club. He was known for helping Brighton to reach the 1983 FA Cup, but he was not as well known as Sadler who was an European Cup winner with Manchester United and an important player for Matt Busby.  Actually, he probably should even be ahead of Roberts.  
-- Both Percy Melmoth Walters and his brother Arthur played as a rightback for England.  Percy made a total of thirteen appearances for England, five as captain between 1885 and 1890.  However, they went too far back. Instead, I took two modern rightbacks Peter Sillett and Peter Storey.  Both of them were also club heros.  I listed Sillett as Chelsea greatest rightback. 
-- I don't know much about Alfred Bower's actual position.  He was listed as a fullback. He made five appearances for England between 1923 and 1927, three times as captain.  So I put him on honorable mention.
-- For leftback, Mick Mills is the starter.  He was the acting captain of the 1982 World Cup team.  I did not select a backup.  I seriously considered Wayne Bridge, and looked into Herbert Smith and Stan Willemse.
-- I do not have much candidates for central midfielders.  So I took John Hollins, Dele Alli and Gareth Barry.  Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Neil Webb and Jamie Redknapp were the other possible choices.
-- Gareth Barry was an unsung hero for club and country.  
-- Dele Alli was carrying an injury at the 2018 World Cup Finals.  His performance was affected.  Nevertheless, he scored an important goal against Croatia in the semifinal. Furthermore, he carried Tottenham Hotspurs to the Champions' League Final the same year.  He was on the PFA Team of the Year twice at the time of writing.  However, his career went downhill after a few seasons. At the moment, I selected him over Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Neil Webb, but I will re examine his career at a later date.  
-- If Neil Webb never joined Manchester United, his reputation might have been better. His injury woes over there and his poor relationship with Sir Alex affected his overall career.
-- Being one of the Spice Boys affected Jamie Redknapp's image and reputation during his career.  He was highly rated, but his career was unfulfilled because of injuries.  So I put him on honorable mention only. 
-- John Hollins made 714 First Division appearances, an English top division record for an outfield player and second only to goalkeeper Peter Shilton. 
-- Right winger Terry Paine is included on Football League 100 Legends.  He was also on England's 1966 World Cup winning team.  He only played one match against Mexico in that World Cup Finals. Then, I took Peter Harris as his backup.  He was a hero of a local club Portsmouth.  I have no room for Darren Anderton, Archie Turner, William Jones, Johnny Berry and George Brann.  
-- Darren Anderton was never the best of England in his prime.   His career was affected by injuries earning him the nickname "Sicknote".  He might also have more caps if he did not play at the same time as David Beckham.  He did play with Beckham, but nevertheless he could have been the undisputed right winger.  So I had Terry Paine and Peter Harris over him.
-- On the left, Charles Bambridge was one of the first star player of early years of the game.  His two brothers Arthur and Ernest Bambridge also made honorable mention.  They are the only trio of brothers to have played for England.  Jimmy Dickinson is Portsmouth's most capped English player of all time. In 1998, he was included on the list of Football League 100 Legends.  He also went to two World Cup Finals.
-- Mason Mount is only 22 years old.  In time, he might make the team.
-- Inside forward R. Cunliffe Gosling was described by Sir Frederick Wall, the long-serving Secretary of the Football Association, as "the richest man who ever played football for England".
-- Peter Broadbent was George Best's childhood hero, but I selected others over him.  He might be better than some of the players selected.
-- Peter Osgood, Martin Chivers, Ted Drake, Peter Harris, Bobby BobbyTambling and Terry Paine were household names at their time.  

Formation
I picked Peter Storey because he had more international caps than Peter Sillett. Dele Alli's World Cup performance in 2018 was affected by an injury.  Nevertheless, he played in 5 games in which England enjoyed one of their greatest run in World Cup history.  John Hollins was a club hero with limited international experience.



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