Ahead of England’s Nations League game with Greece on the 10th of October, Lee Carsley announced that John Stones would get to captain the Three Lions for the first time. With Harry Kane not fit enough to start due to a minor knock, Carsley said that the Man City defender “deserves” the honour and that he was a great example to the younger players. In turn, Stones set it meant “everything”, especially for his family to see him walk out as skipper.
The Barnsley-born former Everton player will be making his 82nd appearance for his country and it promises to be a proud moment for him. Over the years so many greats of the English game have had the honour, with Kane certainly among those. The Bayern Munich striker has performed the honour since 2018 when Gareth Southgate bestowed the captaincy upon him and as England’s leading goalscorer he has to be considered among England’s finest skippers.
There have been many over the years, but does Kane make the top five? Let’s take a look at England’s five greatest captains of all time. This is of course subjective, like most (if not all) lists that aren’t purely stats-based, not least because there are no fixed criteria for how we assess what it means to be a “great England captain”. Anyway, here are the five best!
1) Bobby Moore
Whilst deciding on some of the spots in the top five is tricky, selecting the greatest Three Lions skipper of all time is a pleasingly straightforward task. Moore is the only skipper to have actually held aloft meaningful silverware. He was captain of the only England (men’s) side to have won a major tournament, guiding them to success, of course, in the home World Cup of 1966. For that reason alone Moore merits top spot on this list but in truth, there are other reasons to consider him the best of the best.
Chief among those is the fact that nobody has skippered the England team more than him, with Moore wearing the armband an astonishing 90 times. He first walked the side out aged just 23, having been made captain of West Ham when he was only 21. Further boosting his credentials is the claim made by Pele that Moore was the greatest defender of all time.
And if more supporting evidence was needed, further testimony to his excellence and longevity is the fact that his 108 England caps was a record haul when he retired. He remained England’s most-capped footballer until being surpassed by Peter Shilton and no outfield player made more appearances until David Beckham, in March of 2009.
2) Billy Wright
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It would be a little reductive if this list was solely based on which players had captained the Three Lions the most times, but in second place we have plumped for the brilliant Wolves central defender, Billy Wright. William to his mother (probably), led England out 90 times, the same total as Moore. Of course, he never led his country to glory at a World Cup, but he did lead the team out at the tournament three times, in 1950, 1954 and 1958. They fell short at all three, a quarter final appearance in 1954 proving as good as it got.
Like Moore he is a cap centurion, having played 105 times for England and, in fact, he was the first footballer from any nation to reach 100 caps. He won three First Division titles with Wolves, came second in the Ballon d’Or in 1957 and was inducted into the International Football Hall of Fame in 1997. He held the record for the most England caps for over 10 years, until Bobby Charlton went past him.
3) Bryan Robson
Bryan Robson was a truly world-class talent at his peak and in all made 90 appearances for his country. Playing as a classical, all-action, box-to-box midfielder, he scored 26 goals and skippered the Three Lions 65 times. With Man United, he won two Premier League titles, three FA Cups and the European Cup Winners’ Cup but despite those impressive stats, in some ways his career is a story of what might have been.
Nicknamed Captain Marvel, he truly was an inspirational leader. He brought his team together by example, through force of will, personal courage and on-pitch man-management. Sadly his aggressive, committed style of play led to a number of unfortunate – and unfortunately timed – injuries, perhaps not helped by an approach to diet and lifestyle that was, shall we say, of its time.
England had high hopes heading into the 1986 World Cup but they lost Robson to injury in the second game. They lost in the quarters to Argentina, 2-1, thanks to a moment of magic from Diego Maradona and a moment of, well, cheating. Had Robson been on the pitch might they have been able to stop one or both of those goals and maybe go all the way? We will never know, but Robson was some player and a top-class captain, who was sadly around just a little too late to fully garner the benefits of United’s great teams under Sir Alex Ferguson.
4) Harry Kane
As said, Kane is England’s leading goalscorer, his 68 goals putting him well clear of Wayne Rooney, Charlton, Gary Lineker and all the rest. He recently won his 100th cap, scoring twice in that game against Finland, which was the 73rd time he had led out the Three Lions.
These are impressive numbers, but Kane has also led a hugely successful – by England’s standards – team. His quiet, calm leadership has helped England to the final of two European Championships, plus the semi final and quarter final of the World Cup. He is not a leader in the mould of Robson or John Terry but he is up there with England’s best.
5) Alan Shearer
Selecting the final place on this list was tough but we have plumped for Alan Shearer, who was captain on 34 occasions. The top scorer in PL history, Shearer largely led by example but set high standards and was hugely committed on the pitch. He “only” won 63 caps, scoring 30 times, in a career hit by several major knee injuries.
However, he was one of England’s deadliest strikers, a true patriot, and though he didn’t skipper the side at Euro 1996, he came close to helping them to glory at home. He then took the armband for the World Cup in 1998 and the Euros in 2000.