How Nat Lofthouse and others helped make Lancashire the ‘best county for English football’
The Wanderers have produced 28 England internationals over the years, many of whom hail from the region.
Nat Lofthouse is an obvious name that springs to mind – the ‘Vienna Lion’ is the country’s seventh-highest goalscorer of all time, having found the net 30 times in 33 caps.
Other internationals born in the Bolton or Farnworth area include Tommy Banks, Tommy Lawton, Alan Ball, Paul Mariner, David Jack, Harold Hassall and Jason Wilcox, among others.
Lancashire is actually “the best county for English football”, according to new research from footballticketpad.com.
The survey analyzed the birth counties of the 1,271 players who have represented the men’s national team since its introduction.
Lancashire have provided 218, and players like Harvey Barnes and Sam Johnstone have been called up more recently.
This means that the men of North West County, in theory, have 0.0145% representation of the Three Lions when accounting for population size.
Northumberland are second on the list with a rate of 0.0116% – having produced 37 England players in total, including Bobby Charlton and Alan Shearer.
Durham also topped the list with 0.0097%, having notably provided Paul Gascoigne and Bobby Robson.
Staffordshire and Warwickshire are also among the five, with rates of 0.0075% and 0.006% respectively.
Meanwhile, Cheshire sits at the bottom of the list with a figure of 0.0029%. The county has produced 31 England internationals over the years.
Here is a full list of results
1. Lancashire, 218 internationals (0.0145%)
2. Northumberland, 37 internationals (0.0116%)
3. Durham, 84 internationals (0.0097%)
4. Staffordshire, 85 internationals (0.0075%)
5. Warwickshire, 34 internationals (0.006%)
6. Yorkshire, 103 internationals (0.0044%)
7. Derbyshire, 40 internationals (0.0038%)
8. Nottinghamshire, 43 internationals (0.0037%)
9. Shropshire, 17 internationals (0.0034%)
10. Cheshire, 31 internationals (0.0029%)
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