England Mark 1,000th International With Legacy Numbers

To mark the nation’s 1,000th international and in celebration of the Three Lions legacy, England players will wear “legacy numbers” on their shirts in their match against Montenegro on 14 November. The move will see every player to have represented England in the past 147 years given their own number.

1,000 games in 147 years. That’s the legacy that will be celebrated when England host Montenegro in the UEFA EURO 2020 qualifier on Thursday 14 November, and to commemorate the occasion, the current squad will wear individual legacy numbers on their shirts. The Legacy number system will see every player to have ever represented the nation at men's senior level assigned a number, from Robert Baker, the goalkeeper in the first international, to the most recent cap winner Tyrone Mings, at 1,244.

As is already tradition in other sports, the Legacy numbering system will be adopted by the FA moving forward. While UEFA has granted special dispensation for the numbers to be displayed underneath the crest for the 1,000th game, they will be moved to the inside of each collar for future fixtures to ensure UEFA regulations are adhered to.

All former England captains, 50+ cap internationals and 1966 World Cup winners have been invited to the game, with attendees to be presented with their own unique legacy number memento by FA chairman Greg Clarke.

Viv Anderson, the first black professional footballer to represent England at senior level and in at number 936, will also attend in recognition of his own notable role in the team’s history.

Gareth Southgate, who played for England between 1995 and 2004 and has been given the number 1,071, said "We always talk to the players about the badge on the front of the shirt and how we are a small part of that history. To be involved in this game is a particularly poignant moment, especially given that some of our former players will be at the match as well.

“There are so many players that have gone before and players that will come after. It's important we leave the shirt in a better place than when we found it."

Some notable entries on the list include:

767 Bobby Charlton

804 Bobby Moore

816 Gordon Banks

835 Jack Charlton

843 Geoff Hurst

887 Kevin Keegan

940 Glenn Hoddle

945 Terry Butcher

966 John Barnes

979 Gary Lineker

987 Chris Waddl