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England's Player Disciplinary Record

 

England Player Expulsions
No. Date Opponent Venue Type F A Rsl Player Time Details
424 05-Jun-1968 Yugoslavia Stadio Communale,
Firenze, Italy 
ECF 0 1 NL Mullery,
Alan P. 
90th
min.
Retaliatory kick at Dobrivoje Trivic
472 06-Jun-1973 Poland Stadion Śląski, Chorzów WCP 0 2 AL Ball,
Alan J.
76th min. Intervened in player tangle, grabbed Leslaw Cmikiewicz by throat and kneed him in groin
513 12-Jun-1977 Argentina Estadio La Bombonera,
Buenos Aires
F 1 1 AD Cherry,
Trevor J.
83rd
min.
Foul tackle from behind; Daniel Bertoni  knocked out two of Cherry's teeth in retaliation and also was sent off 
615 06-Jun-1986 Morocco Estadio Tecnológico,
Monterrey, Mexico
WCF 0 0 ND Wilkins,
Raymond C.
43rd min. Second cautionable offence--tussled with Mohamed Timoumi and showed disgust at later call by tossing ball, which hit referee
750 30-Jun-1998 Argentina Stade Geoffroy Guichard,
Saint-Etienne, France 
WCF 2 2 ND Beckham,
David R.J.
47th min. Retaliatory kick after whistle had blown for foul by Diego Simeone.

2-2 full-time, 2-2 after extra time, 3-4 on penalty kicks

751 05-Sep-1998 Sweden Råsunda Stadion,
Solna
ECP 1 2 AL Ince,
Paul E.C.
67th min. Second cautionable offence--two foul tackles, the second a late tackle on Henrik Larsson.
758 05-Jun-1999 Sweden Empire Stadium,
Wembley, London
ECP 0 0 HD Scholes,
Paul
51st min. Second cautionable offence--two foul tackles
761 08-Sep-1999 Poland Stadion Wojska Polskiego, Warszawa ECP 0 0 AD Batty,
David
84th min. Foul late tackle on Radoslaw Michalski
798 16-Oct-2002 FYR Macedonia Friends Provident St Mary's Stadium, Southampton ECP 2 2 HD Smith,
Alan
92nd
min.
Second cautionable offence -two foul tackles
832 08-Oct-2005 Austria Old Trafford, Manchester WCP 1 0 HW Beckham,
David R.J.
59th min. Second cautionable offence -two foul tackles
842 01-Jul-2006 Portugal Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany WCF 0 0 ND Rooney, Wayne M. 62nd min Alleged stamp on Ricardo Carvalho

Notes

England did not have a man sent off until their 424th match in 1968.  Three more were expelled over the next 30 years, and what was truly a magnificent disciplinary record stood at four expulsions in the 749 matches played through 26 June 1998.

But in England's next 12 matches over a little more than a year, the total doubled as four more were sent off, one of them the first England player to be expelled on home soil.   For the first time, England had two men sent off during the same season--in European Championship qualifying matches against the same opponent, Sweden.  And for the first time England had players sent off in consecutive seasons, indeed, in three consecutive seasons.   

When Paul Scholes committed two yellow card foul tackles against Sweden in 1999, he became the first England player to be expelled on home soil and  thus the first at Wembley Stadium.  Since Old Wembley has now been demolished to make way for a new national stadium, Scholes will retain that dubious distinction:  the only England player sent off in the 223 matches England played there.

A respite followed, but it was short.  In the second match of England's very next European Championship qualification campaign, against FYR Macedonia on 16 October 2002, the young yet often-disciplined striker Alan Smith was expelled for a second foul tackle, this one coming in time added on at match's end and, absurdly, after the ball already had crossed the touch line.  Smith thus became the second England player to be sent off on home soil, but this time at Southampton's new St. Mary's Stadium.

10 of the 11 expulsions occurred in competitive play.  Three came in final tournaments, all in the World Cup.  Seven came in qualifying competitions, two in the World Cup and four in the European Championship.  One came in a friendly match.  Seven occurred in matches played in June/July at the end of the season and two in matches played in September at the beginning of the season.  One in October.  Eight occurred in away matches, only three at home.   

_____

With thanks to reader Chris Murphy for pointing out by e-mail note of 28 December 2002  that  more attention should be given in the notes to Paul Scholes' "dubious distinction" as the only England player sent off in an international at Wembley Stadium.

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PY/CG