England national football B team

Secondary national association football team representing England

England B is a secondary football team run occasionally as support for the England national football team. At times they have played other nations' full teams; they have also played matches against 'B' teams from other football associations. Since the team's first use in 1947, there have been 54 official and 3 unofficial B team matches. It has been inactive since May 2007.

Walter Winterbottom first proposed B team matches as a way of bringing players through into the national side (the Under 21 team, the current stepping stone to the national team, did not exist until 1976.). as preparation for England's Euro 2008 qualifier against Estonia on 6 June 2007. The squad included a recovering Michael Owen, who captained the side, There have been no B team matches since May 2007.

The aim of games has typically been to introduce younger or more inexperienced players into the national team set up, without giving them a full cap. They may often be held before World Cups or other tournaments to give second choice players, injured players or possible choices an opportunity to have a full game to either keep their fitness or play their way into the first team. Prior to the two higher attendances for the games in 2006 and 2007, the previous time that the B team had played in front of more than 20,000 people was in 1978 in a match in Singapore, against their national team, when 40,000 people attended. This boycott, however, ended Sutton's chances of ever playing for the full national team again. Furthermore, Matt Le Tissier, who scored a hat trick for the England B team against Russia B in that match, controversially failed to make the 1998 FIFA World Cup squad. In particular, it proved useful for Aaron Lennon and Peter Crouch to stake their claims for places in the 2006 FIFA World Cup squad. eventually made it to the final World Cup squad. However, an injury picked up in the game prevented goalkeeper Robert Green from playing at the World Cup and of the twelve players in both squads, five were established players with over 25 caps. In the period since the most recent match in 2007, there has been little comment about the B team. Former England international goalkeeper David James in 2010 called for a return of regular matches, but this call has not been repeated.

The England B team has not played since 2007. Its most recent match was a 3–1 victory against Albania at Turf Moor, Burnley, 25 May 2007. There are no scheduled fixtures.

Player records for the England B team come largely from groups of players who were involved with the side during short periods in which frequent games were played, notably between 1978 and 1981, and again between 1989 and 1994. These two periods count for 29, or just over half, of all England B games.