TEN years ago yesterday, Paul Fairclough sent his first England Non-League international side – then known as the National Game XI – into battle against Belgium.
He'd already had to fight one war and lost; to the Football Conference whose clubs pulled their players out of his original squad amid unfounded concerns over insurance and safety.
On the pitch he would taste defeat too, going down 3-1 with a side selected from the Isthmian, Southern and Northern
Premier leagues that at that point made up Step 2 of the Non-League pyramid.
It was a genuine semi-professional international squad, and with issues resolved with the increasingly full-time Conference in time for the next fixture in Holland, it would be the last.
But from that humble start in Ostend's Albertparkstadion, success has followed – and not only in the form of four triumphs in the Four Nations Tournament, one in the European Challenge Trophy and two runners-up performances in the International Challenge Trophy.
Transferred
Six players from that Belgium trip – Aldershot's Nikki Bull and Roscoe D'Sane, Kingstonian's Tim Sills, Altrincham's Ian Craney, Basingstoke's Craig McAllister and Tamworth forward Scott Rickards – would go onto play in the Football League, either by being transferred or winning promotion.
By the time Fairclough bade farewell to his latest England C group at Bexleyheath's Marriott Hotel on Wednesday morning, he had a list I'd given him following the previous night's gallant ICT semi-final defeat to Turkey of 165 other Non-League players he'd handed caps to, who had followed in that half-dozen's footsteps.
“We always debrief with them before they go back to their clubs and they were all disappointed, but the performance has given them belief – and I used the list that you gave me,” said the 63-year-old, who trod the same path as manager.
After learning his trade with Hertford Town and Stevenage, Fairclough earned League Managers Association membership by winning promotion with Barnet in 2005 while doubling up as national boss.
“I said to the players, ‘I've got a list in my pocket of 171 players who've gone on from this team to play in the Football League, and you lot are ready to join them',” he continued.
Playing the numbers game, that is an average of 17.1 players progressing from the Three Lions each year; seven – Danny Collins, Sam Ricketts, David Stockdale, DJ Campbell, Michael Kightly, Steve Morison and Curtis Obeng – going all the way to the top-flight.
A total of 70 have earned their status by winning the Conference title or play-offs, while 102 have been transferred – that's just under a whole team each season, giving rise to the theory that a call-up to an England C squad can be viewed as a finishing school for Non-League players.
Rubber-stamp
“We always remind the players when they come to us to never forget their roots, that it's the hard work they do with their Conference clubs that earns their living and their call-up,” says Fairclough. “I do believe it is that rubber-stamp, however, and I know of managers who have signed players because he's been with England C, so he's got to be half-decent.
“It does work for some of these players, and looking down at that list, it was a trip down Memory Lane. I had a permanent smile reading over all those names.”
Some have moved up more than once, but I've counted only the first elevation for each player. Some have dropped down the leagues, others have gone into management and coaching and, tragically, two have died. But what talents Adam Stansfield and Mitchell Cole were.
As well as the Premier League names mentioned above, Garry Thompson and Luke Oliver have helped Bradford to this season's League Cup final while many have enjoyed highly-respectable careers in the Championship.
One such man recently linked with a move to West Brom, Derby County's ex-Burton Albion defender John Brayford, was Fairclough's pick as the next to progress when I discussed his century of graduates in July 2008. This time he
selects a midfielder from a similar-sized club to the Brewers.
“Kieron Forbes could play at a really high level,” said Fairclough.
“On a technical level he was not out of place with those Turkish players, some of whom have full caps and have played Champions League football.”
Fairclough says he is “full of optimism” for the next tournament with a core of Tuesday's squad still eligible, but adds: “We've got to wait now and see what happens.”
As history shows with this England C set-up, that wait is more to do with who gets picked up, rather than who he has to drop due to loss of form. The one certainty is that the Lions' star leavers list will only grow longer…
The 171 players to graduate to the Football League – 101 via transfer and 70 who won promotion – in Paul Fairclough's decade as England manager are:
Tim Sills (Aldershot to Oxford), Ian Craney (promoted with Accrington), Wayne Brown (promoted with Chester), Danny Collins (promoted with Chester), Gregg Blundell (promoted with Doncaster), Adriano Rigoglioso (Morecambe to Doncaster), Matt Baker (Hereford to Wrexham), Chris Weale (promoted with Yeovil), Scott Guyett (promoted with Chester), Wayne Hatswell (promoted with Chester), Michael Rose (Hereford to Yeovil), Lee Elam (Halifax to Yeovil), Terry Skiverton (promoted with Yeovil), Stewart Drummond (Morecambe to Chester), Lee Johnson (promoted with Yeovil), Paul Terry (Dagenham to Yeovil), Darren Way (promoted with Yeovil), Junior Agogo (Barnet to Bristol Rovers), Chris Murphy (Telford to Cheltenham), Phil Smith (Crawley to Swindon), Tris Whitman (promoted with Doncaster), Anthony Charles (promoted with Barnet), Scott Rickards (Tamworth to Kidderminster), Sam Ricketts (Telford to Swansea), Luke Rodgers (promoted with Shrewsbury), Gavin Cowan (Canvey to Shrewsbury), Adam Miller (Aldershot to QPR), Rob Purdie (promoted with Hereford), Steve Guinan (Hereford to Cheltenham), Garry Thompson (promoted with Morecambe), Liam Hatch (promoted with Barnet), Jake Sedgemore (promoted with Shrewsbury), Danny Carlton (Morecambe to Carlisle), Karl Hawley (promoted with Carlisle), David Stockdale (York to Darlington), Chris Blackburn (Morecambe to Swindon), Simon Grand (promoted with Carlisle), Luke Oliver (Woking to Yeovil), Peter Cavanagh (promoted with Accrington), Danny Bacon (Hucknall to Lincoln), Jon Boardman (Woking to Rochdale), Andy Proctor (promoted with Accrington), Andy Tretton (promoted with Accrington), DJ Campbell (Yeading to Brentford), Craig Mackail-Smith (Dagenham to Peterborough), Simon Travis (promoted with Hereford), Ismail Yakubu (promoted with Barnet), Mark Robinson (promoted with Hereford), Nicky Bailey (promoted with Barnet), Dean Sinclair (promoted with Barnet), Scott Kerr (Scarborough to Lincoln), Anthony Elding (Kettering to Boston), Matt Glennon (Carlisle to Huddersfield), Simon King (promoted with Barnet), Aaron Brown (Tamworth to Reading), Gary Roberts (promoted with Accrington), Tamika Mkandawire (promoted with Hereford), Steve Haslam (Halifax to Bury), Darran Kempson (Morecambe to Crewe), Andy Bishop (York to Bury), Billy Jones (Exeter to Crewe), Paul Jones (promoted with Exeter), Justin Richards (Woking to Peterborough), Shane Blackett (Dagenham to Peterborough), George Boyd (Stevenage to Peterborough), Aaron McLean (Grays to Peterborough), Michael Kightly (Grays to Wolves), Marvin Morgan (Woking to Aldershot), Magnus Okuonghae (Crawley to Dagenham), Louie Soares (promoted with Aldershot), Shwan Jalal (Woking to Peterborough), Dave Perkins (Morecambe to Rochdale), Arran Lee-Barrett (Weymouth to Coventry), Roscoe D'Sane (AFC Wimbledon to Accrington), Scott Griffiths (promoted with Dagenham), Craig Stanley (promoted with Morecambe), Clayton Donaldson (York to Hibernian)* Paul Benson (promoted with Dagenham), Adam Yates (promoted with Morecambe), Neal Bishop (York to Barnet), Kieran Charnock (Northwich to Peterborough), Danny Foster (promoted with Dagenham), Carl Baker (Southport to Morecambe), Glen Southam (promoted with Dagenham), Paul Carden (Burton to Accrington), Stuart Lewis (Stevenage to Gillingham), James Constable (Kidderminster to Shrewsbury), Dennis Oli (Grays to Gillingham), Stuart Thurgood (Grays to Gillingham), John Nutter (Stevenage to Gillingham), Barry Fuller (Stevenage to Gillingham), Nikki Bull (promoted with Aldershot), Craig McAllister (Oxford to Exeter), Dean Moxey (promoted with Exeter), Adam Stansfield (promoted with Exeter), Lewis Chalmers (promoted with Aldershot), Ben Harding (promoted with Aldershot), John Grant (promoted with Aldershot), Michael Morrison (Cambridge to Leicester), Jon Shaw (Halifax to Rochdale), Jon Ashton (promoted with Stevenage), Stacy Long (promoted with Stevenage), David Bridges (promoted with Stevenage), Ryan Austin (promoted with Burton), Mark Molesley (Grays to Bournemouth), Martin Rice (Truro to Torquay), Adam Bartlett (Kidderminster to Hereford), John Brayford (Burton to Crewe), Mitchell Cole (Stevenage to Oxford), Lance Cronin (Ebbsfleet to Gillingham), Jeff Goulding (Fisher to Bournemouth), Shaun Harrad (promoted with Burton), Ronnie Henry (promoted with Stevenage), Ricky Holmes (Chelmsford to Barnet), Nathaniel Knight-Percival (Wrexham to Peterborough), Chris McPhee (Kidderminster to Torquay), Steve Morison (Stevenage to Millwall), Kevin Nicholson (promoted with Torquay), Russ Penn (Kidderminster to Burton), Matt Tubbs (Salisbury to Bournemouth LN), Martyn Woolford (York to Scunthorpe), Steve Arnold (Eastleigh to Wycombe), Michael Bostwick (promoted with Stevenage), Adam Boyes (York to Scunthorpe), Richard Brodie (promoted with Crawley), Joel Byrom (promoted with Stevenage), Darius Charles (Ebbsfleet to Stevenage), Scott Doe (Weymouth to Dagenham & R), Andrew Fleming (Wrexham to Morecambe), Luke Foster (Mansfield to Stevenage), Exodus Geohaghon (Kettering to Peterborough), Scott Laird (promoted with Stevenage), Luke Moore (promoted with AFC Wimbledon), Jon-Paul Pittman (Crawley to Wycombe), Martin Riley (Kidderminster to Cheltenham), Anton Robinson (Weymouth to Bournemouth), Josh Simpson (Histon to Peterborough), Lee Tomlin (Rushden to Peterborough), Carl Tremarco (Wrexham to Macclesfield), Jason Walker (promoted with York), Nicky Wroe (promoted with Torquay), Matthew Barnes-Homer (Luton to Rochdale LN), Sam Deering (promoted with Oxford), Matt Green (promoted with Oxford), Steven Gregory (AFC Wimbledon to Bournemouth), Ryan Hall (Bromley to Southend), Chris Holroyd (Cambridge to Brighton & HA), Rossi Jarvis (Luton to Barnet), Kyle McFadzean (promoted with Crawley), Curtis Obeng (Wrexham to Swansea), Max Porter (Rushden to AFC Wimbledon), Alex Rodman (Tamworth to Aldershot), Joe Welch (Histon to Stevenage), Charlie Henry (Luton to Aldershot LN), Rob Atkinson (promoted with Fleetwood), Paul Bignot (Newport to Blackpool), Matty Blair (promoted with York), Seb Brown (promoted with AFC Wimbledon), Jamie Day (Rushden to Crawley), George Donnelly (Fleetwood to Macclesfield), Aden Flint (Alfreton to Swindon), Sam Hatton (promoted with AFC Wimbledon), Andy Mangan (promoted with Fleetwood), Danny Rose (promoted with Fleetwood), Brian Saah (Cambridge to Torquay), Shaun Beeley (promoted with Fleetwood), Junior Brown (promoted with Fleetwood), Ashley Chambers (promoted with York), Michael Coulson (Grimsby to York), Connor Jennings (Stalybridge to Scunthorpe), Michael West (Ebbsfleet to Crewe)
LN = Loan * Scottish Premier League
