Every Bolton Wanderers England international through history

Bolton Wanderers have supplied 28 of those players, putting them 19th in the league table above the likes of Stoke City, Leicester City, Blackpool, Huddersfield Town, Fulham or Portsmouth.

Whenever England and Bolton are mentioned in the same breath, the name Nat Lofthouse comes to mind. And his immense record of 30 goals in just 33 appearances for his country – all of which were accomplished in Bolton colours – ranks favourably with any of the striking greats in history.

Beyond that, the famous Eddie Hopkinson is the only other Wanderers player to achieve double figures whilst playing at the club.

His England career actually only spanned two years and eight months but he did travel to the World Cup finals in 1958 with England as understudy to Colin McDonald.

Tommy Banks was also part of Walter Winterbottom’s squad, making three of his six appearances in the group stages in Sweden and becoming part of a defence which kept the great Brazil team at bay in the tournament’s first-ever goalless draw.

Gary Cahill made seven of his 61 England appearances to date as a Bolton player, making his debut against Bulgaria in September 2010 and then scoring his first goal for his country the following year in a 3-0 victory in Sofia. In doing so, he became the first Wanderer to score for the Three Lions since Ray Parry against Northern Ireland in November 1959.

Parry won just two caps – the second coming in 1960 against Scotland. Freddie Hill would follow him into the England team two years later, also earning just a pair of caps, although the arrival of Sir Alf Ramsey – and his famous Wingless Wonders – meant the skilful Bolton star was criminally unused on the international scene.

Ray Westwood was a prolific goalscoring superstar of the 1930s in Lancashire, returning after serving in the Territorial Army during the war for a second stint. As such, his international career was somewhat stunted.

He became the 600th England cap when he turned out in a 4-0 win against Wales at Ninian Park in September 1934 and then played in the 200th international, a 3-0 win against Germany at White Hart Lane.

Jimmy Seddon also won half a dozen caps in the twenties whilst playing for Bolton, whom he captained to the 1929 FA Cup. This all despite playing through the pain of ‘Trench Foot’ which had been contracted during service in the World War.

Dougie Holden won five England caps as a Bolton player, his first coming in a 1-0 victory against Scotland in a British Championship match in April 1959 and his last just six weeks later in and end-of-season tour match in Mexico.

It is perhaps a little surprising that the great Wanderers goalscorer Joe Smith only earned five caps for England, or that his only goal came against Wales in March 1914.

David Jack had already scored in six of Bolton’s seven games en route to the 1923 FA Cup final when he got a call from his country for the first of four England caps won whilst at the club.

Soon to move for a world record £10,340 fee to Arsenal, Jack could have played for France or Scotland via his parentage and actually scored at the Olympic Stadium in Paris in a 5-1 win in May 1928.

John Sutcliffe was the first Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper to represent England, making his debut at the same time as club-mate Jimmy Turner.

Sutcliffe has a rich backstory, not all of it positive. And though he remains the last player to have represented England at both rugby union and football, he switched codes after being suspended by the RFU for professionalism.

He played four times for England and was a player of some repute in the town, which made his arrest on February 7, 1897, all the more shocking.

Accused of a “savage attack” on his wife he appeared in court a few days later only for the case to be withdrawn by his wife. Sutcliffe hurried from the court and boarded a train bound for Sheffield, where Wanderers were due to play that evening.

That wouldn’t be the last time that Suttcliffe courted controversy, however, and by 1905 he was back in court again accused of failing to pay maintenance to his wife, dating back four years.

Making his England bow the same day was James ‘Jimmy’ Turner, one of a few star players who had been signed for Bolton by John J Bentley at the end of the inaugural Football League season, in which the club finished fifth.

Turner scored four goals in five games on his arrival, including the club’s first-ever hat-trick, achieved in a 9-0 rout against West Manchester in November 1888.

Turner’s England bow came at left-half and would be one of three caps he earned in his career, spaced five years apart. Each cap would also be earned at a different club – first in March 1895 at Stoke City and later at Derby County in March 1898, aged 31.

Some sources claim Turner was involved in another unsavoury moment in Wanderers’ early history – and was actually attacked by members of the crowd during a Manchester Senior Cup final against Bury in April 1895.

Reports at the time were notoriously variable on detail, but the fact Turner’s name was not included in the starting line-up by The Bolton Evening News’s reporter at the time suggests the legend has rather departed from fact down the years.

Harry Nuttall played three times for England between 1927 and 1929 and went on to devote 40 years of his life to Wanderers in a range of jobs up to his retirement in 1964.

Goalkeeper Dick Pym won three FA Cup winners’ medals with Bolton in the twenties but made only three appearances for his country in 1925 and 1926.

Rugged defender Malcolm Barrass, pictured, also earned a hat-trick of caps between 1951 and 1953, also representing the Football Association in an unofficial tour of Argentina which included a game which had to be abandoned for torrential rain.

Defender David Weir won two England caps in 1889, later making a living as a bootmaker. It was reported by The Bolton Evening News that he died after catching a chill watching Wanderers in 1933.

Completing the list of players to earn two England caps were Bobby Langton, who faced Ireland and Scotland in 1950, Kenny Davenport, the Football League's first-ever goalscorer, and Fred Kean – who was involved in a bizarre story shortly after joining Wanderers from Sheffield Wednesday in 1929.

According to the Sheffield Independent, Kean’s home was bombarded with calls after a rumour spread around that his car had been involved in a major accident in Manchester on his way back from a game against Sunderland.

The problem was sufficient for Bolton to release a telegram to the press which insisted: “Mr Kean was at his home all day taking a quiet rest”.

A total of 11 Bolton players have won a solitary England cap – the most recent of which was Kevin Davies, who came on as a substitute against Montenegro in October 2010.

As the old joke goes in these parts, Michael Ricketts won two caps against Holland in 2004, his first and his last.

Also part of the one-cap club are: William Bannister, William Butler, George Eastham, Harold Hassall, Albert Shepherd and John Wheler.

Although not strictly a Wanderer, the Horwich-born former Plymouth Argyle, Birmingham City and Torquay United outside right Gordon Astall holds a special distinction as England reach the 1,000-game milestone.

At 92, he is the oldest-living England international – his two caps gained in a 5-1 victory against Finland in 1956, a game in which he scored, followed by a 3-1 win in Berlin against West Germany in front of 90,000.

A former Bolton player – Peter Shilton – also holds the England record for most caps.