| 1901–1974 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | The Football Association | ||
| Mostcaps | Rod Haider (65) | ||
| Top scorer | Vivian Woodward (46) | ||
| FIFA code | ENG | ||
| |||
| First international | |||
 England Amateurs 12–0Germany  (London, England; 21 September 1901)[1] [a] | |||
| Last international | |||
England Amateurs 1–1Scotland Amateurs  (Coventry, England; 5 April 1974) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
 France 0–15England Amateurs (Paris, France; 1 November 1906)[2] : 5–6, 16 | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Ireland Amateurs 5–1England Amateurs (Belfast, Ireland; 13 February 1937)[2] : 5–6, 116 England Amateurs 0–4South Africa  (London, England; 19 September 1953)[2] : 5–6, 177 | |||
TheEngland national amateur football team was theamateur representative team forEngland atfootball. It was formed in 1901,[2]: 5–6 due to the growth of theprofessional game which meant thatamateur players could no longer easily find places in the mainEngland national team.
It was the most successful team in theBritish Amateur Championship, winning on 16 occasions (5 joint). The England amateur team was disbanded byThe Football Association in 1974.[3]
Its first international match was againstGermany[a] on 21 September 1901, a 12–0 win atWhite Hart Lane, London, withR. E. Foster scoring 6.[b] It was to be another five years before an official England amateur team was founded.[1] The next match was away againstFrance on 1 November 1906 and resulted in a 15–0 win for England, withStanley Harris netting seven goals andVivian Woodward four.[4] The team played many internationals against the full representative sides ofEurope, which were usually a mixture of amateur and professional players.[5] The strength of the English amateur team meant they were still able to beat many of these sides and in fact they were unbeaten in 20 matches from 1906 to 1910.[6] Whilst these England amateur matches are not considered full senior internationals byThe Football Association, they are deemed to be by some their opponents.[6] As such, the England amateur side delivered the biggest defeats on several European nations; theNetherlands (12–2) in 1907,Germany (9–0) andBelgium (11–2) in 1909, andSweden (12–2) andHungary (7–0) in 1912 (as Great Britain).[7][8]
| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men'sFootball | ||
 | 1908 London | Team |
| 1912 Stockholm[9] | Team |
There is a difference of opinion as to whether the England amateur team was effectively theGreat Britain Olympic football team at the1908 and1912 Olympic football tournaments. The FA's website considers the gold medals in these tournaments a win for the England amateur side rather than a British team,[10] whilst inBryon Butler's book it is shown that the winners' certificate names England.[11] Conversely, Mark Chapman'sEngland's Amateurs site states that the 1908 and 1912 teams were Great Britain and points to the fact that photographic evidence shows the team playing with the Union flag on their shirts.[12] It can be stated that both arguments are true, as it was the case for the1956 Olympic tournament where the team played asGreat Britain but the team was organised by the FA and consisted solely of amateur Englishmen as the other home nations withdrew their support.[12]
The England amateur team was disbanded in 1974 when the Football Association abolished the distinction between amateurs and professionals, simply calling them "players".[3] Asemi-professional representative team, made up of players from theNational League System, now plays in its place.
The list below only includes those matches prior toWorld War I (1906–1914).[13]
| Rank | Player[c] | Goals (+unofficial) | Caps | Average | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vivian Woodward | 46 (+11) | 30 | 1.47 | 1906–1914 |
| 2 | Harry Stapley | 28 (+6) | 14 | 2 | 1907–1909 |
| 3 | Cyril Dunning | 11 (+1) | 4 | 2.75 | 1909–1913 |
| Gordon Hoare | 11 (+5) | 14 | 0.79 | 1909 | |
| 5 | Arthur Berry | 10 (+2) | 25 | 0.4 | 1908–1913 |
| 6 | Harold Walden | 9 (+0) | 3 | 3 | 1912 |
| 7 | Clyde Purnell | 8 (+2) | 6 | 1.33 | 1907–1909 |
| William Steer | 8 (+0) | 6 | 1.33 | 1910–1911 | |
| James Raine | 8 (+0) | 10 | 0.8 | 1906–1909 | |
| 10 | Stanley Harris | 7 (+0) | 1 | 7 | 1906 |
| George Webb | 7 (+2) | 5 | 1.4 | 1910–1911 | |
| Chris Porter | 7 (+5) | 7 | 1 | 1908–1910 |
Willie Jordan scored 6 goals, while the likes ofArthur Bell,Syd Owen andFrederick Chapman settled at five.
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