Top 5 Players Never To Have Been Capped By Their Country - 3

Ron Harris [Image from Flickr by: ca1951rr]

3. Ron Harris

795 times Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris turned out in the blue of Chelsea during the 60s and 70s, yet not once was he called upon by England. Feared as one of the hardest players in an era that included the likes of Tommy Smith and Norman Hunter. Ron Harris was the bedrock of a defence that oversaw Chelsea‘s first F.A. Cup, League Cup and Cup Winners Cup victories. Being only 22 at the time of the 1966 World Cup, Harris’ omission from that stellar tournament is no surprise, but England’s failure to qualify for four successive major tournaments in the 1970s really does beg the question why such a reliable performer domestically, was never given a chance for the national team. The pinnacle of this insanity for many Chelsea fans was in 1971 when Harris (captaining Chelsea at this point) led the Blues to their first European honour by beating Real Madrid, the giants of European football in the Cup Winners Cup Final. Chelsea fans of that period are probably right in their grievances against national selectors with some of their greatest ever players (Peter Bonetti, Peter Osgood, John Hollins) also barely getting a look in at international level. Harris was not the most elegant of footballers but you can bet that he would have sacrificed his body for the greater good in an England shirt and maybe that’s what was missing during that barren period for England.