Declan Rice will become the 10th Arsenal men's player to captain England tonight against Belgium, continuing an association with the famous armband that stretches back to April 1930.
Back then, David Jack was a household name in world football, and still holds a number of personal accolades. He was the first player to score at Wembley, the first player £10,000 player and went on to become our 10th highest goalscorer in history with 124 strikes.
David Jack - the first Arsenal player to captain England
He also became the first-ever England skipper on our books when he led the Three Lions to a 5-2 win against Scotland to clinch a first outright British Home Championship for 17 years. Jack marked the occasion by grabbing a goal, and he would go on to skipper his side three more times.
Given our dominance of the English game in the early 1930s, it is no surprise that more Gunners were bestowed the honour after Jack, and indeed two of his teammates would soon go on to assume the role.
A pillar of our defence during the period, Eddie Hapgood is one of our most decorated players with five league titles, and his leadership qualities came to the fore at international level too. The first time he skipped England came in 1934 during the infamous Battle of Highbury, when the reigning Home Nations champions beat World Cup winners Italy at our former home.
He would be captain for 10 successive matches, before his fellow full-back and Arsenal icon George Male took over for most of the 1936/37 season. Across his career, George was the first player to appear in six title-winning campaigns and would captain England on six occasions, which included a tour of Scandinavia that saw England beat Norway, Sweden and Finland by an aggregate score of 18-0.
Eddie Hapgood introduces George Male to dignitaries before the game against Italy in 1934
Hapgood resumed the England captaincy in April 1938 and held it for 11 successive matches until World War II broke out in 1939, making him our most-capped England captain with 21 occasions leading his side. He would also skipper the team in 13 unofficial wartime internationals before ending his playing days during the conflict.
36 years would pass before we had another player lead out England again, and it would take a World Cup winner to finally break the drought when Alan Ball was handed the armband by Don Revie for a reunion with West Germany at Wembley in March 1975.
Alan Ball exchanges pennants with Franz Beckenbauer in 1975
After beating the then-world champions, he would keep the position for the next five matches and remain undefeated, culminating in a 5-1 win against Scotland that saw Ball’s team clinch the British Home Championship from under their rivals’ noses, which proved to be the final game of the midfielder’s illustrious international career.
Ball’s brief but successful dalliance with the captaincy would usher in another lengthy wait before we had another England leader, which finally ended when Tony Adams was handed the armband on his 33rd cap in a friendly against Romania in 1994.
Tony Adams during his first game as England captain in 1994
Our iconic skipper would share the duties with several other players during the next six years, but was tasked with leading his country during Euro 96 which saw England’s glorious run to the semi-finals. Tony would captain England 15 times, including becoming the last player to lead the team out at the old Wembley Stadium against Germany in 2000, on what proved to be his last England appearance.
In this period, three other Gunners were handed the armband. David Platt was England’s first-choice captain when we signed him from Sampdoria in 1995. After being replaced by Adams, he filled in twice more as a Gunner in friendlies against Croatia and Hungary in the build-up to Euro 96, scoring against the latter.
David Platt, David Seaman and Martin Keown captaining England
David Seaman was a mainstay between the posts during this time, and he was handed the captaincy in September 1997 in a World Cup qualifier against Moldova, leading his team to a 4-0 win Then, after Adams withdrew with a back injury ahead of another qualifier against Finland in October 2000, Martin Keown led England to a 0-0 draw in Helsinki.
The last Gunner before Declan to skipper the nation was Sol Campbell. The defender had previously had the honour on two occasions before joining us, including becoming the second-youngest captain aged 23 in 1998, but in the summer of 2005 he deputised for David Beckham during a friendly win against the USA in Chicago.
Sol Campbell playing against the USA in 2005
That was the 57th England game where an Arsenal player had held the captaincy, and now after a 19-year wait, we finally have another Gunner leading the side out.
Given his age and standing in the game, it would be a surprise this wasn’t the first of many times Declan led the Three Lions.
Our England captains
Eddie Hapgood - 21 caps - 1934-1939
Tony Adams - 15 - 1994-2000
George Male - 6 - 1936-1937
Alan Ball - 6 - 1975
David Jack - 4 - 1930-1932
David Platt - 2 - 1996
David Seaman - 1 - 1997
Martin Keown - 1 - 2000
Sol Campbell - 1 - 2005
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