Lee Carsley will take charge of the Three Lions senior side for the final time on Sunday, with the English-born Irish international facing the country he represented in his playing career.
Carsley has given six players their debuts in his short spell and there are four more in the squad who could still win their first cap under the outgoing England boss.
Here is an XI made up of the men who were the final debutants of an England manager’s reign…
Goalkeeper: Tom Heaton
Now seemingly content in the lucrative big-club-third-choice business, Tom Heaton was number one at Burnley in his younger days and ended up being the last new cap of the Roy Hodgson era, coming on as a sub in a friendly win against Australia shortly before the disaster that was Euro 2016. Current Manchester United team-mate Marcus Rashford also made his Three Lions bow in that game, starting and scoring the opener. If you fancy a goalkeeper challenge, try naming the former Arsenal goalie who was Kevin Keegan’s last debutant.
Right-back: Lee Dixon
Despite a long and trophy-laden career with Arsenal, Lee Dixon never went to a major international tournament with England. Bobby Robson gave Dixon his first cap shortly before the 1990 World Cup, the outgoing manager’s last new pick, but didn’t select him for the tournament. Injury ruled the full-back out of Euro ’92 and a failure to qualify for the following World Cup robbed the Gunners legend of a trip to the States. By the time football first threatened to come home in ’96, Gary Neville had claimed the number two shirt.
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Centre-back: Jarrad Branthwaite
Like Dixon, Jarrad Branthwaite made his England debut in a friendly shortly before a major tournament but failed to make the final squad. Gareth Southgate sent on the Everton defender as a substitute in a 3-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in early June this year, but to the surprise of many opted for Lewis Dunk instead in his Euro 2024 squad. Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton won his first cap in the same game, coming on seconds before Branthwaite.
Centre-back: Ugo Ehiogu
Terry Venables went into Euro ’96 knowing he would be replaced by Glenn Hoddle as manager after the tournament. However, the departing boss still selected some fresh faces to try out in the run up to opening game against Switzerland. Promising young defenders Sol Campbell, Ugo Ehiogu and Phil Neville all made their debuts, with Ehiogu being the last of the trio to win a cap after coming on as a substitute in a 3-0 win against China.
Left-back: Ashley Young
A team-mate of Branthwaite in this eleven and in the current Everton squad, despite making his first England appearance seventeen years earlier than his club colleague, Ashley Young won his first cap in the dark days of Steve McLaren. The former Manchester United player was the last fresh face picked by the one-time Red Devils assistant, coming off the bench in a 1-0 win over Austria in November 2007. Thankfully for Young, he had no part to play five days later as a 3-2 defeat to Croatia at Wembley left the Three Lions out of Euro 2008 and McLaren out of a job.
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Defensive midfield: Stever Perryman
Tottenham Hotspur’s all-time record appearance holder is eligible for this XI, with Steve Perryman winning his solitary cap in the run-up to the 1982 World Cup. Ron Greenwood was in the hotseat at the time, but retired from football after the tournament, one that saw the Three Lions exit at the second group stage despite not losing a game. Perryman made his debut thirty minutes after fellow new boy Paul Goddard to become Greenwood’s last pick.
Central midfield: Brian Talbot
Perryman was thirty when he made his England debut, born two years earlier than the last new cap of the regime before Greenwood. Don Revie is the manager in question and former Arsenal and Ipswich Town midfielder Brian Talbot is the player. Talbot made his first appearance is a 2-1 win over Northern Ireland in the May of 1977, but less than two months later, former Manchester City striker Revie quit to take on the lucrative job of managing the UAE side.
Central midfield: Trevor Brooking
Revie’s reputation in England was ruined after his desertion and Greenwood coming in was remarked upon as a vicar replacing a second-hand car salesman. However, Revie’s task of following the legendary Alf Ramsey was always going to be tricky, with the talent at his disposal in the mid to late seventies not matching the World Cup winning players of the previous decade. Ramsey’s last match in charge saw him pick six debutants for a friendly against Portugal in 1974. West Ham United legend Trevor Brooking was one of the sextet and went on to play for his country for a further eight years, winning his final cap in Greenwood’s last match as boss.
Central midfield: Lee Hendrie
Lee Hendrie’s solitary England appearance came in a seemingly meaningless friendly against the Czech Republic in late 1998, with the Aston Villa midfielder replacing club team-mate Paul Merson in the second-half of a 2-0 win for the Three Lions. However, the match proved to be Glenn Hoddle’s last as manager after his controversial comments about disabled people being punished for sins in a previous life came to light and resulted in his exit in the February of ’99.
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Striker: Daniel Sturridge
Like Hendrie, Daniel Sturridge made his international debut in one of those pesky, Premier League delaying November friendlies; a 1-0 win over Sweden at Wembley that only seemed significant for the Three Lions scoring their 2000th goal of all time. It ended up being Fabio Capello’s last match in charge after the Italian resigned following the FA stripping John Terry of the England captaincy.
Striker: Bobby Tambling
Before the Second World War, the national side was picked by committee but in 1946 Walter Winterbottom became the country’s first official manager and a total of nine new faces were selected in his first match in charge, including future centurion Billy Wright. Raich Carter and Tommy Lawton were the only two pre-war survivors and make a ‘Mind the Gap XI’, as Winterbottom prepared to build a side that would compete in the World Cup for the first time. His eventual replacement Alf Ramsey would be one of the players he took to Brazil in 1950 and before the future World Cup winning boss took over in ’63, Winterbottom’s final debutant was Bobby Tambling; Chelsea’s record goalscorer until he was passed by Frank Lampard.
The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek
