121 years, 79 players, Three Lions

From Woodward to Solanke - our England players

Dominic Solanke last month became the 79th Spurs player to represent England when he featured against Greece in the UEFA Nations League - and he's back in the squad for this week's return match, plus a home game against the Republic of Ireland.

Our Three Lions' timeline can be traced all the way back to 1903 and one of football's first superstars, Vivian Woodward.

Here are the 79...

Vivian Woodward
1903-1909

21 caps, 27 goals as a Spurs player

Arguably football's first 'superstar' and one of the club's all-time greats, Vivian shone for Spurs between 1901-1909, including scoring our first goal in the Football League in 1908. He was also appointed to our Board of Directors in 1908. On the international stage, he scored 29 goals in 23 caps for England (1903-1911), plus another 57 in 44 amateur internationals. Harry Kane now tops England's all-time goalscoring chart with 58 goals, Vivian remains in the top 10, over 120 years after his first goal against Ireland in 1903. His 29 goals stood as England's best for 47 years before being overtaken by Tom Finney in 1958. His strike rate - 1.26 per game - remains the best in Three Lions' history.

1903-1938

1 - Vivian Woodward - 14/2/1903
2 - Fanny Walden - 4/4/1914
3 - Tommy Clay - 15/3/1920
4 - Arthur Grimsdell - 15/3/1920
5 - Bert Bliss - 9/4/1921
6 - Jimmy Dimmock - 9/4/1921
7 - Bert Smith - 9/4/1921
8 - Jimmy Seed - 21/5/1921
9 - Frank Osbourne - 8/12/1924
10 - George Hunt - 13/3/1933
11 - Willie Hall - 6/12/1933
12 - Arthur Rowe - 6/12/1933
13 - Walter Alsford - 6/4/1935
14 - Bert Sproston - 22/10/38
Dates = first cap as a Spurs player

Alf Ramsey
1949-1953

31 caps, 3 goals as a Spurs player

Sir Alf would later cement his place in English football history by becoming the first - and only - manager to lead the Three Lions to World Cup glory, his legendary status achieved in 1966. Before then, he was the Club's record signing when he was snapped up by Arthur Rowe from Southampton in 1949 and a key member of Rowe's 'push and run' team that secured back-to-back titles, the Second Division in 1949/50 followed by our first First Division championship in 1950/51. Alf made 250 appearances for us, scoring 24 goals, between 1949-1955.

1948-1956

15 - Ted Ditchburn - 2/12/48
16 - Alf Ramsey - 30/11/49
17 - Eddie Baily - 2/7/1950
18 - Leslie Medley - 15/11/1950
19 - Bill Nicholson - 19/5/1951
20 - Arthur Willis - 3/10/51
21 - George Robb - 25/11/53
22 - Harry Clarke - 3/4/1954
23 - Johnny Brooks - 14/11/1956

Jimmy Greaves
1962-1967

42 caps, 28 goals as a Spurs player

'Greavsie' had already scored 16 goals in 15 caps - his first aged 19 in May, 1959 - when he joined us from Milan in December, 1961. His first England cap as a Spurs player arrived against Scotland in April, 1962 as he took his total to 44 goals in 57 caps until his final cap against Austria in May, 1967. Still fifth in England's all-time list, FA Cup (1962, 1967) and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1963) winner Greavsie held the record as our all-time record goalscorer with 266 goals in 379 matches for over 50 years until he was finally overtaken by Harry Kane in February, 2023.

The 1960s

24 - Bobby Smith - 8/10/1960
25 - Jimmy Greaves - 14/4/1962
26 - Maurice Norman - 20/5/1962
27 - Ron Henry - 27/2/1963
28 - Alan Mullery - 9/12/1964
29 - Cyril Knowles - 6/12/1967

Glenn Hoddle
1979-1987

44 caps, 8 goals as a Spurs player

The talent of his generation, the debate will forever rage as to whether or not Glenn was awarded enough caps in a time where more a more direct style of football was the vogue in England. The midfield maestro earned 44 of his 53 caps at Spurs, another nine during his time at AS Monaco in France. A key member of Spurs teams that won the FA Cup in 1981 and 1982, then the UEFA Cup in 1984, Glenn made 490 appearances for us between 1975-1987 and later managed England from 1996-1998.

The 1970s

30 - Martin Peters - 18/4/1970
31 - Martin Chivers - 3/2/1971
32 - Ralph Coates - 12/5/1971
33 - Glenn Hoddle - 22/11/1979

Gary Lineker
1989-1992

38 caps, 18 goals as a Spurs player

Already firmly established as England's number one striker when he arrived at Spurs from Barcelona in 1989, Lineker won the Golden Boot as Bobby Robson's team reached the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup and then starred again alongside team-mate Paul Gascoigne as the team went a step further in Italia 90. Lineker's 48 goals took him to within one of Bobby Charlton, and he remains fourth on England's all-time list. Back at Spurs, he and Gazza inspired the team team to FA Cup glory in 1991, Gary scoring 80 goals in his 138 appearances.

The 1980s

34 - Ray Clemence - 9/9/1981
35 - Steve Perryman - 2/6/1982
36 - Gary Mabbutt - 13/10/1982
37 - Graham Roberts - 28/5/1983
38 - Gary Stevens - 17/10/1984
39 - Chris Waddle - 11/9/1985
40 - Steve Hodge - 18/2/1987
41 - Clive Allen - 29/4/1987
42 - Terry Fenwick - 11/2/1985
43 - Paul Gascoigne - 14/9/1988
44 - Gary Lineker - 6/9/1989

Teddy Sheringham
1993-2001

38 caps, 9 goals as a Spurs player

A key component of one of the best England teams of the modern era, Teddy's partnership with Alan Shearer clicked in Euro 96, where Terry Venables' squad were agonisingly knocked out on penalties in the semi-final by Germany. It says everything about Teddy's longevity that he earned the last of his 51 caps against Brazil at the 2002 World Cup, aged 36. He scored 124 in 277 matches for us in two spells, 1992-2003.

The 1990s

45 - Paul Stewart - 11/9/1991
46 - Teddy Sheringham - 29/5/1993
47 - Darren Anderton - 9/3/1994
48 - Nick Barmby - 29/3/1995
49 - Sol Campbell - 18/5/1996
50 - Ian Walker - 18/5/1996
51 - Les Ferdinand - 10/9/1997
52 - Tim Sherwood - 27/3/1999

Jermain Defoe
2004-2013

49 caps, 16 goals as a Spurs player

Our leading cap for England with 49 until he was overtaken by Harry Kane, there was almost a changing of the guard at Hampden in June, 2017 - Jermain's final cap, Harry's first as captain. JD's prolific 2009 and 2010 spilled over at international level, where he enjoyed a spell of nine goals in 11 caps, including his first and only goal at the World Cup (vs Slovenia in South Africa, 23/06/2010) and hat-trick (vs Bulgaria, 03/09/2010). Jermain is now sixth on our all-time goalscoring list with 143 goals in 363 appearances in two spells, 2004-2014.

The 2000s

53 - Ledley King - 27/3/2002
54 - Jermain Defoe - 31/3/2004
55 - Anthony Gardner - 31/3/2004
56 - Paul Robinson - 5/6/2004
57 - Michael Carrick - 28/5/2005
58 - Jermaine Jenas - 12/10/2005
59 - Aaron Lennon - 3/6/2006
60 - Darren Bent - 21/11/2007
61 - Jonathan Woodgate - 1/6/2008
62 - David Bentley - 20/8/2008
63 - Peter Crouch - 14/10/2009
64 - Tom Huddlestone - 14/11/2009

Harry Kane
2015-2023

84 caps, 58 goals as a Spurs player

England's record goalscorer, Harry reached the pinnacle for club and country in 2023, when he first broke Jimmy Greaves' long-standing all-time goals record at Spurs in February - his 267th goal for us the winner against Manchester City - and then became leading scorer for the Three Lions, a penalty against Italy in March taking him past Wayne Rooney's 53. We should have known... Harry scored his first England goal 73 seconds after coming off the bench for his debut against Lithuania in March, 2015. The Academy graduate took his tally to 280 goals in 435 appearances for us when he departed for Bayern Munich in August, 2023.

The 2010s

65 - Michael Dawson - 11/8/2010
66 - Scott Parker - 3/9/2011
67 - Kyle Walker - 12/11/2011
68 - Jake Livermore - 15/8/2012
69 - Steven Caulker - 14/11/2012
70 - Andros Townsend - 11/10/2013
71 - Harry Kane - 27/3/2015
72 - Ryan Mason - 31/3/2015
73 - Dele Alli - 9/10/2015
74 - Eric Dier - 13/11/2015
75 - Danny Rose - 26/3/2016
76 - Kieran Trippier - 13/6/2017
77 - Harry Winks - 8/10/2017

Dominic Solanke
2024-

One cap as a Spurs player...

Our 79th cap for England, summer signing Solanke has established himself as a key member of our starting line-up in the opening months of this season. His only senior England appearance before signing for us came all the way back in November, 2017, against Brazil, meaning when he played against Greece in October of this year, it marked the longest gap between England caps since our former goalkeeper Ian Walker between 1997 and 2004.