Arsenal’s greatest England Internationals

Tony Adams representing England

Arsenal’s greatest England Internationals  

By Jonny Bray 

Traditionally an Arsenal player’s relationship with the English national team depended significantly on the position they played in.  
The Gunners have a history of producing some of England’s finest defenders and some of their most overlooked attacking players.  
Legends for club and country such as Sol Campbell, Lee Dixon and Martin Keown have all had their fair share of iconic moments whilst donning the three lions of England.  
However, that hasn’t always been the case for Arsenal’s attacking players.  
Take Ian Wright for example, who won 33 caps for England and scored nine goals but never was ‘the guy’ for England in the same way that Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney, and Harry Kane were ‘the guy’.  
It’s also worth noting that four of his goals came in a 7-1 win over San Marino.  
Similarly, attacking players such as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott and Paul Merson have all amassed a large number of caps, 89 in total, without ever really establishing themselves as stars at international level.  
For that reason, any list of Arsenal’s greatest ever England internationals is naturally going to be skewed in favour of defenders, however, this probably says more about Graham Taylor than it does Wright.  

 

David Seaman  

 

There’s no better place to start than in goal, where Arsenal can claim to have one of England’s top three keepers of all time.  
Alongside Gordon Banks and Peter Shilton, David Seaman is widely regarded as one of England’s few goalkeeping heroes, though Jordan Pickford is doing his best to ensure that that becomes a four-man group.  
Seaman earned 75 caps for England between 1988 and 2002, playing under seven different managers and appearing for the side in 15 consecutive years, a national record.
He will always be remembered for his performance and penalty save against Scotland at Euro 96 which famously provided the platform for Paul Gascoigne to score his iconic goal at Wembley.  
The only blip in his England career was an unfortunate moment against Brazil where he was chipped from 40 yards by a prime Ronaldinho.  
It was a low point for sure, but it also says a lot about Seaman’s quality that the stick to beat him with is an audacious chip by one of the best footballers of a generation.  
Compare that with Rob Green’s blunder against the USA, or Paul Robinson’s thumbed back pass, and it becomes clear that Seaman is England’s best keeper of the past 30 years.  

 

Tony Adams  

 

This one goes without saying.  
Another legend of Euro 96, Tony Adams would get into some people’s all time England XI, let alone a list of Arsenal’s best England internationals.  
He was England captain on 15 occasions and was also the star of one of the greatest renditions of God Save the Queen in the Euro 96 semi-final against Germany.  
He was a real leader at club and international level and remains the only England player to make tournament appearances in three separate decades.  
He was the last England player to score at the old Wembley Stadium when he scored England's second goal in a 2–0 friendly win over Ukraine on 31 May 2000.  
This was also his first goal since he scored against Saudi Arabia in November 1988, the record for the longest gap between goals for England. 

 

Ashley Cole playing against Italy


Ashley Cole  

 

Ashely Cole being England’s greatest ever left-back is a tough pill to swallow.  
He received 52 caps for England whilst at Arsenal and 107 overall, however, he’ll be one the few members of England’s ‘golden generation’ who will be remembered for his performances rather than the number of caps he won.  
His performance against Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo at the 2004 Euros and 2006 World Cup are considered two of the best performances by any English defender ever.  
His England career was so much more than that and he was so often the best thing about a boring, slow and uninspiring England side in the early 2000s.  

 

Kenny Sansom 

 

Kenny Sansom’s 77 caps for England whilst playing for Arsenal is testament to the quality and longevity of one of the Gunners’ greatest defenders.  
Those caps came after the nine he received whilst playing for Crystal Palace, with Sansom only missing a handful of games between 1980 and 1988.  
He was one of England’s most consistent performers and his record of 37 consecutive appearances between May 1984 and April 1987 has only been bettered by Billy Wright and Ron Flowers. 
Cole is the only full-back to win be capped more than Sansom and only eleven players have appeared more times for England than Sansom.  
There weren’t many lows in England career on a personal level, but he was one of the players that Diego Maradona skipped past on his way to scoring his fabulous solo goal at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. 

Photo Credit: Getty Images

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