England Football Online

Contact Us Page Last Updated 23 October 2024
 
 

Chronological
Name

Number of Matches
Points %
Tenure

England's Pre-War Captains
by Percentage of Points
1872-1914
1919-39
1946-60
1960-70
1970-80
1980-90
1990-2000
2000-10
2010-20
2020-30
 
Rank Player
 
Club
Apps Capt W D L GF GA Pt% First & Last Tenure

1
Tinsley Lindley
 
Cambridge Un., Nottingham Forest & Corinthians³, Nottingham F. & Corinthians¹
13 4 4 0 0 21 3 100 4 February 1888 5-1 vs. Wales
7 March 1891 6-1 vs. Ireland
3 yrs
32 dys
Howard Spencer
 Aston Villa
6 3 3 0 0 8 1 14 February 1903 1-2 vs. Scotland
1 April 1905 2-2 vs. Scotland
2 yrs
47 dys
Sam Barkas
 Manchester City
18 3 3 0 0 12 6 23 October 1937 5-1 vs. Northern Ireland
1 December 1937 5-4 vs. Czechoslovakia
353 dys
Charlie Bambridge
 
Swifts¹, & Corinthians¹
18 2 2 0 0 20 0 18 February 1882 13-0 vs. Ireland
5 February 1887 7-0 vs. Ireland
4 yrs
353 dys
Arthur Dunn
 Old Etonians & Corinthians
4 2 2 0 0 6 1 5 March 1892 2-0 vs. Wales
2 April 1892 4-1 vs. Scotland
29 dys
George Cotterill
 
Old Brightonians
&
 Corinthians
4 2 2 0 0 11 3 25 February 1893 6-1 vs. Ireland
1 April 1893 5-2 vs. Scotland
36 dys
Frank Forman
 Nottingham Forest
9 2 2 0 0 3 1 22 March 1902 1-0 vs. Ireland
2 March 1903 2-1 vs. Wales
345 dys
Basil Patchitt
 
Corinthians
2 2 2 0 0 7 3 21 May 1923 4-2 vs. Sweden
24 May 1923 3-1 vs. Sweden
4 dys
Alec Morten
 Crystal Palace
1 1 1 0 0 4 2 8 March 1873 4-2 vs. Scotland
1 dy
(90 min)
Henry Wace
 
Wanderers
3 1 1 0 0 5 4 5 April 1879 5-4 vs. Scotland
Francis Sparks
 
Clapham Rovers
3 1 1 0 0 3 2 15 March 1880 3-2 vs. Wales
Jack Hudson
 Heeley, Sheffield & Wednesday
1 1 1 0 0 7 0 24 February 1883 7-0 vs. Ireland
Jack Brodie
 Wolverhampton Wanderers
3 1 0 0 0 6 1 2 March 1889 6-1 vs. Ireland
Billy Moon
 
Old Westminsters &
 Corinthians
7 1 1 0 0 2 1 4 April 1891 2-1 vs. Scotland
Cunliffe Gosling
 Old Etonians & Corinthians
5 1 1 0 0 3 0 6 April 1895 3-0 vs. Scotland
Bill Oakley
 
Corinthians
16 1 1 0 0 3 0 9 March 1901 3-0 vs. Ireland
Ernest Needham
 Sheffield United
16 1 1 0 0 6 0 18 March 1901 6-0 vs. Wales
Joe McCall
 Preston North End
5 1 1 0 0 2 0 23 October 1920 2-0 vs. Ireland
Ephraim Longworth
 Liverpool
5 1 1 0 0 2 0 21 May 1921 2-0 vs. Belgium
Max Woosnam
 Manchester City
1 1 1 0 0 1 0 13 March 1922 1-0 vs. Wales
Thomas Lucas
 Liverpool
3 1 1 0 0 5 3 24 May 1926 5-3 vs. Belgium
Fred Kean
 
The Wednesday
9 1 1 0 0 5 2 21 May 1927 5-2 vs. Luxembourg
Stan Cullis
 
Wolverhampton Wanderers
12 1 1 0 0 2 0 24 May 1939 2-0 vs. Romania
24 Vivian Woodward
 Tottenham Hot.¹², Chelsea²
23 14 12 2 0 69 11 92.9 15 February 1908 3-1 vs. Ireland
13 March 1911 3-0 vs. Wales
3 yrs
27 dys

25
George Male
 Arsenal
19 6 5 0 1 28 6 83.3 18 November 1936 3-1 vs. Ireland
20 May 1937 8-0 vs. Finland
184 dys
Bob Holmes
 
Preston North End
7 3 2 1 0 17 2 13 March 1893 6-0 vs. Wales
9 March 1895 9-0 vs. Ireland
1 yr
362 dys
Alfred George Bower
 Corinthians
5 3 2 1 0 9 4 8 December 1924 4-0 vs. Belgium
12 February 1927 3-3 vs. Wales
2 yrs
67 dys
28 Willis Edwards
 Leeds United
16 5 4 0 1 14 4 80 22 October 1928 2-1 vs. Northern Ireland
20 November 1929 6-0 vs. Wales
1 yr
30 dys

29
Percy Walters
 
Old Carthusians &
 Corinthians
13 4 3 0 1 15 6 75 13 March 1886 6-1 vs. Ireland
15 March 1890 3-1 vs. Wales
4 yrs
3 dys

There is a significant possibility that Percy Walters received a fifth captaincy in his final match against Scotland, 5 April 1890, but as with all elements of doubt, we have left this out of his captain's record.

Ernie Blenkinsop
 Sheffield Wednesday
26 4 3 0 1 12 3 75 9 December 1931 7-1 vs. Spain
1 April 1933 1-2 vs. Scotland
1 yr
114 dys
John Goodall
 Derby County
14 2 1 1 0 6 3 7 March 1891 4-1 vs. Wales
7 April 1894 2-2 vs. Scotland
3 yrs
32 dys
Charles Wreford-Brown
 Old Carthusians
&
 Corinthians
4 2 1 1 0 6 2 18 March 1895 1-1 vs. Wales
2 April 1898 3-1 vs. Scotland
3 yrs
16 dys

Various sources cannot decide who was captain for the match against Wales, 12 March 1894, probably Charles Wreford-Brown, but possibly Cunliffe Gosling.  Wreford-Brown was by far the oldest in an inexperienced team, but a lot of sources decline to mention any captain. This match is therefore excluded from Wreford-Brown's captaincy record.

Charlie Buchan
 Sunderland
6 2 1 1 0 4 1 75 14 March 1921 0-0 vs. Wales
10 May 1923 4-1 vs. France
2 yrs
58 dys
34 Roy Goodall
 Huddersfield Town
25 12 8 1 3 37 16 70.8 31 March 1928 1-5 vs. Scotland
6 December 1933 4-1 vs. France
5 yrs
251 dys
35 Gilbert Smith
 Oxford University & Old
 Carthusians & Corinthians¹,
 Old Carthusians &
 Corinthians¹².
20 13 8 2 1 43 16 69.2 4 April 1896 1-2 vs. Scotland
30 March 1901 2-2 vs. Scotland
4 yrs
360 dys

It is feasible that Smith had as many as 15 captaincies - but in the match against Ireland, 7 March 1896, the captaincy remains disputed between Smith, George Raikes and Vaughan Lodge. The following match against Wales, 16 March 1896, the captaincy also remains unknown - although some have guessed at Smith. These two matches are excluded from Smith's records.

36 Billy Walker
 Aston Villa
18 3 2 0 1 7 6 66.7 21 May 1925 3-2 vs. France
7 December 1932 4-3 vs. Austria
7 yrs
231 dys
Alf Strange
 Sheffield Wednesday
20 3 2 0 1 9 7 14 May 1931 2-5 vs. France
19 November 1931 3-1 vs. Wales
190 dys
38 Bob Crompton
 
Blackburn Rovers
41 21 11 5 5 34 24 64.3 4 April 1903 1-2 vs. Scotland
4 April 1914 1-3 vs. Scotland
11 yrs
39 Jack Hill
 Burnley⁵, Newcastle United³
11 8 5 0 3 30 12 62.5 2 April 1927 2-1 vs. England
15 May 1929 3-4 vs. Spain
2 yrs
44 dys
Stanley Harris
 
Old Westminsters &
 Corinthians
6 4 2 1 1 8 3 25 February 1905 1-1 vs. Ireland
7 April 1906 1-2 vs. Scotland
1 yr
42 dys
David Jack
 Arsenal
9 4 1 3 0 8 5 5 April 1930 5-2 vs. Scotland
16 November 1932 0-0 vs. Wales
2 yrs
226 dys
42 Eddie Hapgood
 Arsenal
30 21 11 2 8 49 31 57.1 14 November 1934 3-2 vs. Italy
18 May 1939 1-2 vs. Yugoslavia
4 yrs
186 dys

43
Norman Bailey
 
Clapham Rovers¹¹,
 & Corinthians⁴
19 15 6 3 6 40 28 50 12 March 1881 1-6 vs. Scotland
19 March 1887 2-3 vs. Scotland
6 yrs
8 dys
Tommy Cooper
 
Derby County
15 4 2 0 2 9 4 14 April 1934 3-0 vs. Scotland
29 September 1934 4-0 vs. Wales
169 dys
Arthur Grimsdell
 Tottenham Hotspur
6 3 1 1 1 4 5 9 April 1921 0-3 vs. Scotland
5 March 1923 2-2 vs. Wales
1 yr
331 dys
Arthur Cursham
 
Notts County
6 2 1 0 1 4 8 2 March 1878 2-7 vs. Scotland
18 January 1879 2-1 vs. Wales
319 dys
Jesse Pennington
 West Bromwich Albion
25 2 1 0 1 6 6 15 March 1920 1-2 vs. Wales
10 April 1920 5-4 vs. Scotland
27 dys
Arthur Walters
 
Old Carthusians &
 Corinthians
9 1 0 1 0 1 1 5 April 1890 1-1 vs. Scotland 1 dy
(90 min)

There is a significant possibility that it was Arthur's brother who was captain in this match against Scotland, 5 April 1890.

Reginald Erskine Foster
 Old Malvernians &
 Corinthians
5 1 0 1 0 0 0 50 3 March 1902 0-0 vs. Wales  
Steve Bloomer
 
Derby County
23 1 0 1 0 2 2 3 May 1902 2-2 vs. Scotland
Arthur Knight
 Portsmouth
1 1 0 1 0 1 1 25 October 1919 1-1 vs. Ireland
Charles Alcock
 Wanderers
1 1 0 1 0 2 2 6 March 1875 2-2 vs. Scotland
Graham Doggart
 Corinthians
1 1 0 1 0 2 2 1 November 1923 2-2 vs. Belgium
Frank Moss
 
Aston Villa
5 1 0 1 0 1 1 12 April 1924 1-1 vs. Scotland
Claude Ashton
 Corinthians & Old
 Wykehamists
1 1 0 1 0 0 0 24 October 1925 0-0 vs. Northern Ireland
55 George Wilson
 T
he Wednesday
12 7 2 2 3 14 10 42.9 22 October 1921 1-1 vs. Ireland
17 May 1924 3-1 vs. France
2 yrs
209 dys
56 Sam Wadsworth
 
Huddersfield Town
9 4 1 1 2 7 9 37.5 22 October 1924 3-1 vs. Ireland
20 October 1926 3-3 vs. Ireland
1 yr
364 dys
57 Cuthbert Ottaway
 Oxford University
2 2 0 1 1 1 2 25 30 November 1872 0-0 vs. Scotland
7 March 1874 1-2 vs. Scotland
1 yr
98 dys

58
Jack Barker
 
Derby County
11 1 0 0 1 1 2 0 17 October 1936 1-2 vs. Wales
1 dy
(90 min)
Hubert Heron
 Wanderers
5 1 0 0 1 0 3 4 March 1876 0-3 vs. Scotland
Jack Hunter
 
Heeley, Providence, Wednesday & Sheffield Alb
7 1 0 0 1 0 1 26 February 1881 0-1 vs. Wales
William Rawson
 
Oxford University
2 1 0 0 1 1 3 3 March 1877 1-3 vs. Scotland
Charles Wollaston
 
Wanderers
4 1 0 0 1 4 5 13 March 1880 4-5 vs. Scotland
 

CG