These home-grown heroes plied their trade on the playing fields of Hampshire before emerging to greet the roar of the crowd sporting the Three Lions.
Southampton-born Wayne Bridge ranks as one of the county’s most capped recent exports, playing 36 times for his country during a career that began in the Saints academy and took him into the Premier League elite.
Terry Paine in England action 1966 (Image: Echo)
Fellow Southampton lad Darren Anderton overcame a reputation for being injury-prone to become an important cog in Terry Venables’ legendary England Euro 96 side during a successful international career in which he earned 30 caps and scored seven times for his country.
Years earlier fellow Southampton man Martin Chivers was terrifying international defences in the early 1970s, scoring 13 times in 24 appearances for his country and for a time establishing himself as one of his country’s foremost strikers.
Heading slightly north to Winchester, which produced a genuine legend of the local game in the shape of Terry Paine, who went on to become an icon for Southampton and also won 19 caps for his country, making a key contribution to Sir Alf Ramsey’s unstoppable 1966 World Cup-winning squad.
Born in Barton on Sea out in the New Forest, was Jamie Redknapp, whose silky midfield displays earned him 17 England caps and an unforgettable senior international goal.
Wayne Bridge playing for England in 2010. (Image: PA)
Back in Winchester, the sharp-shooting Danny Ings earned three caps across his career, scoring a wonderful overhead kick against Wales to elevate him into the local-national narrative.
There is also the one-cap wonder in Winchester-born winger Steve Guppy, who earned his sole international appearance in 1999 under Kevin Keegan.
And last, but not least, the region’s most recent fully-fledged Three Lion, Southampton-born defender Levi Colwill, who has had five caps for the national team.
Provided he makes a recovery from his current injury, Colwill could be destined to ensure our local presence on the England team continues for many more years to come as the present squad fight for glory on the world stage across the pond.
