Sunderland have a rich history as a football club, but what about when it comes to supplying the national team? We take a look at the Sunderland players with the most England caps, and the players the Black Cats developed who went on to great careers with the Three Lions.
Sadly, it’s been a while since a Sunderland player represented England, but there is hope that the likes of Chris Rigg and Jobe Bellingham could make the step up. Whether they do that while being on Wearside or not is the only debate.
But, with Sunderland players on international duty at the moment, it got us thinking about the players who have worn that iconic white shirt through the years.
Here, we take a look at those with meaningful contributions for England. The only caveat is, we’re only including players on this list who earned their caps while playing for Sunderland.
Sunderland players with the most England caps
Interestingly, there are only 29 Sunderland players who have turned out for England over the years, with a total of 101 caps coming from the club.
Darren Bent, Michael Gray, Tony Towers, Billy Hogg – 3 caps
Former striker Darren Bent picked up three of his 13 England caps while he was a Sunderland player. He got 55 minutes under his belt against Brazil in a friendly in November 2009, before featuring again in a friendly against Japan in May 2010. Bent had a 19-minute cameo against Switzerland in a Euro 2012 qualifier in September 2010, where he scored one of his four international goals.
Michael Gray also got three caps while he was part of the highly-successful Sunderland side of the late ’90s. They were his only three appearances for England.
Tony Towers was at Sunderland between 1974 and 1977, and again, his only three England caps all came while he was a Mackem. The same goes for Billy Hogg, whose England career was confined to a three-game spell way back in 1902.
Willie Watson – 4 caps
Willie Watson might have earned more caps for Sunderland, were he not too busy being a full international for England’s cricket team, too. All things considered, it’s very impressive he played for the England football team at all.
Len Shackleton, Warney Cresswell – 5 caps
Len Shackleton made 320 appearances for Sunderland between 1948 and 1957, scoring 97 goals. He would only earn five caps for England, though, and they were spread out sporadically across a six-year period.
Once dubbed ‘The Prince of Full Backs’ for his talents in the tackle and his positional awareness, Warney Cresswell made 182 appearances for the Black Cats in the 1920s. During that time, he picked up five of his seven England caps.
Charlie Buchan, Raich Carter – 6 caps
We go even further back in time for the next Sunderland ace, with Charlie Buchan, who represented the Black Cats over a 14-year period between 1911 and 1925. He made a whopping 379 appearances for Sunderland, scoring 209 goals. And yet, it was only enough to get him six caps for England, but he did score four goals in that short stint.
Another Sunderland stalwart, Raich Carter, only managed six appearances for England in the pre-war period and never quite managed to get his career back on track after a move to Derby County in 1945. He did earn another seven caps after leaving Wearside, and scored seven goals in total for the Three Lions.
Kevin Phillips – 8 caps
Just like Charlie Buchan, it’s quite ludicrous that Kevin Phillips never got more caps for England. A Premier League Golden Boot and European Golden Boot winner, and yet Phillips found his path to the international stage blocked by the likes of Alan Shearer and Michael Owen.
George Holley – 10 caps
A Sunderland legend in the early-1900s, George Holley was a hybrid between a winger and a striker, much like many of the modern forwards are. He was largely overshadowed by the next man on this list, Arthur Bridgett, but he had some incredible moments for the Black Cats, including a hat-trick in a 9-1 win over Newcastle.
All ten of his England caps came while he was at Sunderland, and he scored eight goals for his country, too — seriously, how did he not play more?
Arthur Bridgett – 11 caps
As we mentioned before, Bridgett was the star man at Sunderland at the start of the 1900s. He made a massive 320 appearances for the Black Cats, scoring 108 goals for the club.
He made his England debut in 1905, but had to wait three years for his next outing for the Three Lions. Bridgett featured in a couple of overseas tours for England, which was the equivalent of the major tournaments we see now at international level, though not as serious as a World Cup.
Dave Watson – 14 caps
Top of the pile when it comes to Sunderland players with the most England caps is Dave Watson, who racked up 14 appearances for his country within a short space of time in 1974 and 1975. His England career was far more substantial, though, with the iconic defender earning 65 caps in total.
He made his debut in the last game of Sir Alf Ramsey’s tenure, featured in the European Championships of 1980, and even went on a run of playing every game for his country from 1974 to 1980. But, Watson was left out of the 1982 World Cup squad, and he is still the most-capped England player to never have featured at a World Cup for his country.
Honourable mentions for Sunderland players with England caps
You may be wondering about a few names that haven’t made it onto our list of the Sunderland players with the most England caps. Remember, the rule was that they had to earn those caps while playing for Sunderland, which is why the likes of Jermain Defoe, Jordan Henderson, and Jordan Pickford don’t feature.
Defoe won two caps for England after joining Sunderland. They came as a bit of a surprise, really, but his brilliant form for the Black Cats helped him force his way back into the international setup in 2017. He is the last Sunderland player to earn an England cap.
Before him, Frazier Campbell picked up one cap in 2012, and Danny Welbeck got one before that in 2011.
Jordan Henderson had an awful England debut, and didn’t get another chance while he was at Sunderland. It wasn’t until he joined Liverpool that he really entered the picture for the Three Lions, and he just won his 82nd cap against Albania as part of Thomas Tuchel’s first game with England, and could make it 83 against Latvia.
Jordan Pickford, meanwhile, did earn his first call-up while at Sunderland in 2017, but he didn’t actually make his debut at that time. He moved on to Everton that summer, and has gone on to become England’s number one and a national hero since — despite David Moyes predicting he would warm the bench if he left Sunderland.