England Soccer Captain Anagrams Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Many a player has heard the taunt of, "Even my grandmother could have scored that", in the light of a glaring miss. But which England captain scored so many goals between 1984 and 1992, that he must have been LIKE YER GRAN?

Answer: Gary Lineker

Lineker scored 48 goals for England, one short of the all-time record set by Sir Bobby Charlton. His final international game came against Sweden in the 1992 European Championship finals. Many were critical of manager Graham Taylor who substituted him with 29 minutes remaining rather than sentimentally allow him to stay on to try to score that extra goal.

2. This captain was just as competent as a player and manager at leading the national team into their MALE FRAYS. Who is this man, whose greatest triumph came in the mid-1960s?

Answer: Alf Ramsey

Ramsey made 32 international appearances as a player between 1948 and 1953. His greatest triumph was as manager of England when they won the World Cup in 1966. A knighthood followed in 1967. Prior to being appointed as England manager, Ramsey made his managerial name at Ipswich Town whom he took from the Third Division South to the top of the First Division in just six seasons.

3. This captain looks so accomplished on the ball that he's probably always had the desire to FIND IN ORDER A defence. Who is this centre back whose career has seen him play in London, Leeds, and Manchester?

Answer: Rio Ferdinand

Rio Ferdinand began his career at West Ham United before a move to Leeds United in 2000. When the Yorkshire club went into financial meltdown he was sold on to Manchester United. The transfer to Manchester United gave him almost every conceivable winner's medal including the UEFA Champions League in 2008.

4. WHY BIG TRILL to introduce our next captain? Only because he made 104 appearances for England, of which 90 were as captain. Who is he?

Answer: Billy Wright

Wright was a one club player, who played for Wolverhampton Wanderers between 1939 and 1959, although he did turn out for Leicester City in unofficial games played during World War II as Wolves suspended their footballing activities. His first match as England captain was in 1948; his last was in 1959 and he represented England in three World Cup final tournaments.

5. This midfielder from the 1960s spent most of his career at Wolverhampton Wanderers. His first game as captain saw no LOSER FROWN on his face as England won 10-0 against the USA. Who is he?

Answer: Ron Flowers

Flowers was a team-mate of Billy Wright at Wolverhampton Wanderers and made 467 appearances for the club before going on to player-manage Northampton Town. England's 10-0 win came in 1953 with Roger Hunt scoring four goals and Fred Pickering a hat trick.

It partly made up for their sensational 1-0 defeat in the 1950 World Cup finals, a result that some newspapers had assumed was a typo and recorded as another 10-0 England win!

6. Of which captain, both a Hammer and a Spur, might it have been said that he TRAINS TEMPER to be part of England's 1966 World Cup winning side?

Answer: Martin Peters

Peters played for both West Ham United (the Hammers) and Tottenham Hotspur (Spurs). He probably couldn't believe his luck as his senior career got going. At 20, West Ham won the FA Cup although Peters wasn't able to break into the team for the final. At 21, he was a member of the West Ham team that lifted the European Cup Winners Cup. And at 22, in 1966, he played in the final of both the League Cup and the World Cup despite only being brought into the World Cup squad on the eve of the tournament.

7. Which captain and tough-tackling full back, a regular between 1987 and 1999, was so renowned that any opponent will have wanted to CAPTURE A REST against him?

Answer: Stuart Pearce

Pearce is one of those players that was very nearly lost to top flight English soccer when he opted to play for non-league Wealdstone and work as an electrician. Thankfully, he was spotted by Coventry City and then brought to Nottingham Forest by their legendary manager Brian Clough. Since retiring, Pearce has managed Forest, Manchester City and the national England Under 21 team.

8. Here's a captain fantastic for you. Many other players stood helpless AS HE RAN REAL fast and scored 30 international goals between 1992 and 2000. Who is he?

Answer: Alan Shearer

To be fair, Shearer wasn't noted as an out and out pace man but for a combination of speed, guile and physical presence. He won the Premier League with Blackburn Rovers in 1995 and, a year later, joined his hometown club of Newcastle United for a then world record transfer fee of �15m.

After retiring, he became a TV pundit and appeared regularly on the BBC's "Match of the Day" programme. But for injury and the decision to take an early retirement from international soccer, Shearer would probably have scored far more goals for England.

9. This goalkeeping captain was on the wrong end of the infamous "Hand of God" goal in 1986. ENTER HOT LIPS as he furiously remonstrated with the referee. Who is he?

Answer: Peter Shilton

Shilton played 125 times for England in an international career that lasted 20 years, from 1970 to 1990. The "Hand of God" incident occurred during England's quarter-final against Argentina at the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico. The score was 0-0 when Diego Maradona punched the ball over Shilton and into the England goal. Argentina went on to win 2-1 and Maradona claimed that the goal should be credited to the hand of God.

10. His most successful years were for Liverpool at the start of his career. Frustration CAME IN WHOLE season at Madrid and continued in Newcastle and Manchester. Which captain is he?

Answer: Michael Owen

At one stage, it seemed very likely that Owen would break Sir Bobby Charlton's long-standing scoring record of 49 goals for England. In 2005, when he signed for Newcastle after a single season at Real Madrid, he was 25 and had already scored 32 international goals.

But then the goals began to dry up as injuries struck. None was more public than at the 2006 World Cup finals where he twisted a knee, an injury that sidelined him for almost all of the following season.

Source: Author glendathecat

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Nightmare before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

All of these questions relate to players that have captained the England international soccer team since 1950. Can you rearrange the words in capitals to identify them? Extra clues are provided in the questions.

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