Saturday, May 1, 2021

South West 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

Hapgood, Bowden, Britton and Bastin (Battle of Highbury) 
Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.


South West England is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Large cities and towns in the region include Bristol, Bournemouth, Cheltenham, Exeter, Gloucester, Plymouth and Swindon. It is geographically the largest of the nine regions of England covering 9,200 square miles (23,800 km2), but the third least-populous, with approximately five million residents.

South West England is not known for associated football. It is a region for rugby. At the time of writing, approximately 40 footballers from South West England have played for England.  The region produces the least amount of English international footballers.  As compared, South East England has about 110 players while the Greater London area has about 170.  The region has 9 teams in the English Football League: Bristol City, Bristol Rovers, AFC Bournemouth, Cheltenham, Exeter, Plymouth Argyle, Swindon, Yeovil and Forest Green Rovers. All of them usually spent their time in the lower division. 

Team
GK: Nigel Martyn (St. Austell)
Having started his career with Bristol Rovers he moved to Crystal Palace where he became the first £1million goalkeeper in British football and was a member of the Palace side that lost the 1990 Cup Final and won the Full Members Cup in 1991. Subsequently, Martyn spent six seasons at Leeds United. He went on to win 23 England caps. An ankle injury forced him to retire in 2006, following three seasons at Everton.
Nigel Martyn 
GK: Jack Butland (Bristol)
Butland began his career with Birmingham City, but mainly sent out for loans. He transferred to Premier League club Stoke City in January 2013 for a fee of £3.3 million, but spent his career on loan elsewhere until 2015 where he became first choice. Butland was the first choice for Great Britain squad at the 2012 London Olympics. In 2012, he received his senior cap at the age of 19, the youngest ever England's keeper.

GK: Dick Pym (Devon)
Pym was best known for being the Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper at the first ever FA Cup final to be played at Wembley Stadium in 1923.  The match was known as the "White Horse" Final.  In total, he won three FA Cups. In 1921, he was sold from Exeter City to Bolton Wanderers for 5000 pounds, which was a record.  From 1925 to 1926, he was capped 3 times for England.

FB: Edward Haygarth (Gloucestershire)
Born in 1854, Haygarth represented the England national football team and played first-class cricket with Gloucestershire and Hampshire. Haygarth was capped just once for England, in a 2–2 draw against Scotland where he played as a full-back.  He played club football for Reading and Swifts.  He was a member of Reading Hall of Fame.

CB/RB: Gary Mabbutt  (Bristol)
Gary Mabbutt became one of the best known defenders in English football in the 1980s, playing initially for Bristol Rovers before joining the first division club Tottenham Hotspur, where he became captain. With Spurs, he won the UEFA Cup in 1984 and the FA Cup in 1991 (as captain). However, he scored an own goal in the 1987 FA Cup that gave Coventry the cup. He played 16 times for England between 1982 and 1992. He scored his only international goal against Yugoslavia. 
Gary Mabbutt
CB/RB: Keith Curle (Bristol)
Curle  played notably for Manchester City between 1991 and 1995, where he was also the club captain. He also played for Bristol Rovers, Torquay United, Bristol City, Reading, Wimbledon, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Sheffield United, Barnsley. He became player-manager of Mansfield Town in 2002, where he remained until 2005.  He earned a total of 3 caps for England.  He played against Denmark at Euro 1992.

CB: Larry Lloyd  (Bristol)
Larry Lloyd was remembered for his stints with Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. He was a part of Bill Shankly's great side from 1969 to 1974.  He helped Liverpool winning the First Division in 1972-1973, the FA Cup 1973-1974 and the UEFA Cup 1972-1973. He was also a part of Brian Clough's team that won back-to-back European Cup. For England, he played 4 times between 1971 and 1980.
Larry Lloyd 
CB/GK: Charles Wreford-Brown (Bristol)
Charles Wredord-Brown was credited of creating the term "soccer" for the sport to separate it from rugby football. He played both football and cricket while in Oxford University.  He played for Old Carthusians and Corinthian FC won 4 England caps over a 9 year period, captaining the side on 2 occasions in 1894 and 1895.  He later served as the Vice-President of the English Football Association.

LB: Eddie Hapgood (Bristol)
Hapgood captained both Arsenal and England during the 1930s. He was one of first star players in England.  His image was used for advertisement which was a pioneer at his time. He started his Arsenal career in 1927 and ended in 1944.  Internationally, he had 30 caps with 21 times as its captain.  He captained England during the famous "the Battle of Highbury" against World Cup winner Italy in 1934.
Eddie Hapgood 
MF: Phil Taylor  (Bristol) 
Taylor played for his hometown club Bristol Rovers as an apprentice before he was signed by Liverpool in March 1936.  He played for them until 1954.  Liverpool won the Football league in the 1946–47  season.  He represented England 3 times, making his debut on 18 October 1947 in a British Home Championship alongside Tom Finney, Stan Mortensen and Tommy Lawton. 
 
LH/LM/LB: Ray Barlow (Wiltshire)
Ray Barlow was considered West Bromwich Albion's greatest footballer.  He played for them between 1944 and 1960, helping them to win the 1954 FA Cup.  That year, they also finished second in the league.  He also played briefly for Birmingham City.  For England, he played once in 1954 against Norther Ireland.  He also played twice for England B.

LM/LWF/DM: Maurice Setters (Devon)
Setters was known for his 6 seasons with Manchester United.  He was the club's captian. He also played for Exeter City, West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City, Coventry City and Charlton Athletic, and in the United Soccer Association with the Cleveland Stokers.  Setters was included in the provisional England squad for the 1958 World Cup squad but was not selected for the main team. 

DM: Eric Dier (Cheltenham)
Eric Dier grew up in Portugal with British parents and was signed by Sporting CP at an early age. He spent two seasons on the first there. In 2014, he joined Tottenham Hotspurs in England. Dier was one of models for England's Umbro kit in 2011 as a 16 years old before he was considered by England at any level. In 2015, he received his first senior cap.  He was a part of the team at Euro 2016 in France and the World Cup 2018 in Russia, where he captained one of the games.
 Eric Dier 
WH/RH/RB: Cliff Britton (Hanham)
His professional playing career began when he signed for Bristol Rovers in 1928, where he played with his brother Frank.  In 1930, he joined Everton.  He was one of the stars of Everton's 1933 FA Cup win. He was one of the classiest playmakers of his era.  He was a member Gwladys Street's Hall of Fame (Everton FC).  Between 1934 and 1937 Britton also played nine times for England

CH/CB: Billy Wedlock  (Bristol)
William John Wedlock was also known as "Fatty" or the "India Rubber Man".  He played for Bristol City in 1900–01 and from 1905 until his retirement in 1921. Between 1901 and 1905 he played for Aberdare.He He won 26 England caps between 1907 and 1914. The East End at Ashton Gate Stadium was named the Wedlock Stand in his honour, before being demolished in 2014 as part of the Ashton Gate Stadium redevelopment.

HB/CM: Jimmy Allen (Poole)
Allen played for his local club Poole Town and transfered to Portsmouth in 1930.  Allen joined Aston Villa in 1934 for a record transfer fee of £10,775.  Allen was in his prime when his career was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II. He was forced to retire through injury in 1944. Allen made his international debut for England at the age of 23.  He has two caps.

RW: Tim Ward (Cheltenham)
Ward started with  Cheltenham Town before joining Derby in 1937, whete he played until 1951.  Ward's career was adversely affected by the outbreak of World War II, and during his time in the army Ward made guest appearances for Notts County, Hamilton Academical and Leeds United and also played for the Scottish Army XI before he was sent to fight in Europe.  He earned two caps.

LW: Cliff Bastin (Devon)
Cliff Bastin played for Arsenal between 1929 and 1937.  He was one of the best player on the Arsenal team that dominated football in the 1930's.  Arsenal won 5 league titles in the decade. He was the Arsenal all-time leading scorer from 1939 to 1997. He also played for Exeter City, where he started his career in 1928. At the international level, Bastin played 21 times for England national team. He played against Italy in 1934 at the "Battle of Highbury".
Cliff Bastin
FW: Ray Bowden (Looe)
Bowden began his football career with the local non-league club, Looe F.C.  Between 1926 and 1933, he played for Plymouth Argle.  He signed for Herbert Chapman's Arsenal in March 1933 for £4,500.  It was one of Arsenal's greatest periods.  Between 1937 and 1939, he played for Newcastle United.  In all Bowden represented England six times and scored once, against Wales in February 1936.

FW/CB: Roy Bentley (Shirehampton, Bristol)
Started with Newcastle United, Roy Bentley joined Chelsea in 1948. He played 367 games for Chelsea and captained the club to their first League Championship in the 1954-55 season. He also won 12 caps for the England national side. He played at the World Cup Finals in 1950, including the 1-0 loss against the United States.

SS/WF/ST: Trevor Francis (Plymouth)
From 1971 to 1979, Francis played for Birmigham Town.  He was England's first £1 million player when he moved from there to Nottingham Forrest. He was known for winning the European Cup with Nottingham Forest in 1979 and 1980.  His career also took him to Manchester City, Birmingham, Detroit Express, Sampdoria, Atlanta, etc. He played for England 52 times. He went to the 1982 World Cup Finals.
Trevor Francis
FW: Walpole Vidal (Abbotsham)
Vidal was well known as the "prince of dribblers".  He played in the first three FA Cup Finals, of 1872, 1873 and 1874. He was a member of the Wanderers F.C. team when they won the first ever FA Cup.   He then played for Oxford.   In March 1870 he played in the first ever international football match, which took place at Kennington Oval, London. He represented England again in 1871.  Vidal also played for Old Westminsters and Remnants football clubs and in representative matches for London and The South v The North. 

ST: Mick Channon (Wiltshire)
Mick Channon played notably for Southampton from 1965 and 1977, and then from 1979 and 1982.  Between the two stints, he played for Manchester City. At the age of 34, he joined Norwich, where he played form 1982 and 1985. For England, he was capped 46 times, but England failed to qualify for the World Cup Finals during his career. He also became known for his trademark windmill goal celebration.  He is from South West England.
Mick Channon
Honorable Mention
John Hillman, Freddie Fox, Tyrone Mings, Stuart Taylor, Bert Lee, Ralph Birkett, Ronnie Dix, Stanley Harris, Harold Fleming, Dean Ashton, Henry Hammond, Geoff Bradford, Jack Cock, Joe Cottle.

Squad Explanation
-- Eddie Hapgood and Cliff Bastin are automatic selections.  Both are members of my England All-Time team.  In their lifetime, they also played together for Arsenal and England.  I also quickly selected Mick Channon and Trevor Francis.  They are household names at their time.
-- At the time of writing, approximately 40 footballers from South West England have played for England.  The region produces the least amount of English international footballers.  As compared, South East England has about 110 players while the Greater London area has about 170.  The region has 9 teams in the English Football League: Bristol City, Bristol Rovers, AFC Bournemouth, Cheltenham, Exeter, Plymouth Argyle, Swindon, Yeovil and Forest Green Rovers. All of them usually spent their time in the lower division. 
-- South West England is known for rugby union football.  In 2019, the region had the highest number (6) of players on England's Rugby World Cup squad.  By contrast, only two players (Jack Butland and Eric Dier) from this area went to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. So twenty-three percentage of the 2019 Rugby World Cup came from here while South West born players consisted only 8% of the 2018 World Cup football team.
-- In 1934, England played against World Cup holder Italy in a match that was later known as the "Battle of Highbury".  It was Italy's first match after winning the World Cup while England who did not participated at the tournament was considered one of best teams in the world.  The match was often billed as the 'real' World Cup Final. England started 4 players from South West England and won 3–2 in a highly violent match.  The South West footballers were Eddie Hapgood, Ray Bowden, Cliff Britton and Cliff Bastin. 
-- Ray Bowden, Eddie Hapgood and Cliff Bastin played together for Herbert Chapman's Arsenal in the 1930's.  The club was one of the pre-war greatest club sides. As mentioned, they played on the "Battle of Highbury".  Ralph Birkett (Devon) was also on that team, but his career with the club was limited.  He only made honorable mention.  
-- Nigel Martyn is the obvious choice for keepers.  Then, I selected Jack Butland who went to some bigger tournaments with England.  He was also the youngest ever England international goalkeeper at 19 years 158 days.  Dick Pym earned the third spot for winning three FA Cups.  His transfer fees of 5000 pounds in 1920 were listed as a record. He also played on the first ever FA Cup held at the Wembley Stadium. The match was known as the "White Horse Final".
-- I admitted not knowing the other goalkeepers.   It also seemed that John Hillman would be a good candidate for this team.  Charles Wreford-Brown also played goalkeeper, but I selected him as a defender.
-- For fullbacks, I had Eddie Hapgood, but I am unfamiliar with the rest of them.  In actuality, I do not have many candidates.  I took Edward Haygarth even through the role of fullback in the 19th Century was not the same as the modern game.  Besides, I do not know which side he played on.  His inclusion is still a question mark.  
-- Ray Barlow was ranked as one of England's top 100 players on a website.  He was West Bromwich Albion's greatest player. His position was a cross between the leftback and left midfielder.  It was believed Bobby Moore modelled his game after him. Bobby Robson described him as the greatest footballer he ever played against. I listed him as a midfielder, but he would be my backup leftback.
-- I do not have a natural rightback.  Gary Mabbut who also played as a rightback would be my starting rightback.  He would have made the team as a centerback as well.   Centerback Keith Curle was England's cover for the rightback position at Euro 1992.
-- For central defenders, Larry Lloyd and Gary Mabbut were all-timers at their respective clubs.   Curle had experience (as a backup) at Euro 1992.  Then, I took Charles Wreford-Brown from the 19th Century who captained England twice.  I already mentioned him above.
-- Charles Wredord-Brown captained England twice.  He also was credited of creating the term "soccer" for the sport to separate it from rugby football. He later served as the Vice-President of the English Football Association.  He was selected based upon his contribution to the game as well.
Charles Wredord-Brown
-- Larry Lloyd played in two of England's most painful defeats(he only had a total of four caps).  Nevertheless, he helped Nottingham Forest to win the European Cup.
-- At the time of writing, Tyrone Mings is still 28 years old.  He is too young to be considered.  He might one day take over Curle's spot.  Stuart Taylor is an all-timer for local club Bristol, but he was a lower division player.
-- The midfield lacked a big time player.  Eric Dier is probably the most famous midfielders due to his performance at the 2018 World Cup Finals.
-- Some of the positions of the older players were confusing.  I actually moved Billy Wedlock  who was a centre-half to the midfield. 
-- Maurice Setters was an uncapped player.  He was selected for the 1958 World Cup Finals, but only twenty players travelled to Sweden. He also was famous due to his association with Manchester United in the 1950's.  He was Bobby Charlton’s best man at his wedding in 1961.  He was known for his combative style.  He would be a defensive midfielder.
-- In 1934, Jimmy Allen joined Aston Villa for a record transfer fee of £10,775.  However, his performance over there did not justify his fees.  Nevertheless, it was still a milestone for South West England.  Besides, he had been a stalwart of the Portsmouth team.  
-- Despite the lack of midfielders, Bert Lee was the last player dropped.  I took forward Ray Bowden over him.  Bowden's successes with Arsenal were the main reason.
-- I need a right winger or outside-right (a wide player on the right). Right winger Mike Summerbee who was born in Lancashire was raised in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.  He should easily make the team, but birthplace remains as my only criteria. 
-- Cliff Britton was a fine crosser of the ball according to Dixie Deane. He was listed as a Wing-Half or Right-Half.  
-- Arthur Milton (Bristol) was the last man, and the last survivor, of the twelve people to have played at the highest international level for both England's football and cricket teams.  However, he seemed to be a better cricket player than a footballer.  Instead, I studied the careers with Ralph Birkett and Tim Ward.  Both players played around the same time and their careers were cut short by the Second World War.  Brikett was only 26 when the War began, but was 33 by the time league football resumed.   He did not seem to play football after 1939 (see above about Arsenal).  Tim Ward, on the other hand, played until the 1950's.  Based upon that, I took Tim Ward.
-- Ronnie Dix holds the record for being the youngest goalscorer in Football League history, when he scored for Bristol Rovers aged 15 years 180 days in 1928.  Harold Fleming was among Swansea's greatest player.  Stanley Harris captained the first ever England Amateurs.  Geoff Bradford is the most successful player in the history of Bristol Rovers, and still holds the club records for most goals scored in a season (33) and most career league goals (242).  He had a single cap. Jack Cock had the distinction of being the first Cornishman to play for the England national team. But I took more famous English international over them.
-- The five attackers I selected were Mick Channon, Trevor Francis, Walpole Vidal, Roy Bentley and Ray Bowden.  Channon, Francis and Bentley were establish English internationals. 
-- Walpole Vidal played oor England on the first international match.  He seemed to be a dominating player in the 1870's.  
-- Roy Bentley is a member of my Chelsea All-time team while Bowden had a great career with Arsenal.

Formation
Billy Wedlock's position was probably a centerback in the modern game so I out him there. I also moved Gary Mabbut to the rightback where he also played in his career.   Cliff Britton was a fine crosser of the ball.  Alternatively, I could have played Roy Bentley and move Trevor Francis out in the wide.  Francis was a natural striker, but he had played as a right wing.  The left side could be England's greatest since both Hapgood and Bastin are on my England All-Time team.  Some website ranked Ray Barlow very high, but I admitted not knowing much about him. Dier started over Settlers because he had World Cup experiences.



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