Red cards - red faces
ON October 14 last, in the Nations League Group game against Denmark at Wembley, Harry Maguire and Reece James became the 17th and 18th England players to get sent- off in a full international match, James seeing red after the final whistle.
The first player to take an early bath for England was Alan Mullery way back in 1968 and, in fact, with Maguire’s dismissal, no less than six Manchester United players have, between them, been sent- off no less than eight times, with two of them seeing ‘ red’ twice!
Red card fact file:
■ England had played a total of 423 matches before having their first player sent- off ( Mullery).
■ June is certainly the worst month for red cards with six recorded so far.
■ When Paul Scholes received two yellow cards against Sweden in 1999, he became the first England player to be dismissed on home soil and the first at the old Wembley Stadium.
■ In 2002, Smith became the second England player to be sent- off on home soil – redcarded at Southampton's St. Mary's Stadium.
■ David Beckham was England’s first captain to see ‘ red’ - walking off his home pitch at Old Trafford in 2005.
■ Skipper Steven Gerrard was the first player red- carded at the new Wembley stadium in 2012 and is so far the oldest to have been sent- off.
■ Raheem Sterling is the youngest player to be dismissed, aged 19 years and 179 days old. He was also the first substitute to be sent- off.
■ Sixteen of England’s 18 dismissals have occurred in competitive matches and no less than eight have occurred in June.
■ Eleven of England’s red cards have come in away matches and only six ( so far) have been at home.
■ Of the 18 dismissals overall, just three have come in the first- half of matches.
■ And Beckham holds the record for most yellow cards handed out to an England player – 19.
Red for United!
What is it with discipline and Manchester United players!! Two have been sent- off in FA Cup finals – Chris Smalling and Paul McGrath – while Andrei Kanchelskis saw ‘ red’ in a League Cup final.
■ 1920s United defender Frank Barson dismissed 12 times during his career, one less than record- holder Roy Keane who saw ‘ red’ 13 times at League level as a player..
■ Since 1900, almost 150 Manchester United players have been sent- off in League/
Premiership and all senior Cup matches, and statistics show that this is a British record.
■ During the two World Wars at least 12 United players left the pitch early and if one goes into the game further, we will find many other dismissals in non- competitive matches.
■ Four players were dismissed in the first half of the 1963- 64 season; seven saw ‘ red’ in the 1993- 94 campaign and also in the year 2000, while six took early bath in the whole of 2000- 01.
■ Apart from those already named in this article, other United players who have ‘ taken an early bath’ since 1955 include Eric Bailly, George Best ( twice), Wes Brown, Steve Bruce ( 2), Roger Byrne, Nicky Butt ( 4), Eric Cantona ( 6), Andy Cole, Pat Crerand ( 3), De Silva, Jonny Evans ( 2), Marouane Fellani, Rio Ferdinand, Darren Fletcher, Ander Herrera, David Herd, Jim Holton ( 2), Mark Hughes ( 5), Denis Law ( 4), Lou Macari ( 3), Anthony Martial, Juan Mata, Nani, Gary Neville ( 2), Paul Parker, Rafael, Bryan Robson ( 2), Cristiano Ronaldo ( 2), Paul Scholes ( 3), Luke Shaw, Alan Smith, current manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Nobby Stiles ( 2) and Nemanja Vidic ( 5) .