Southampton: Fraser Forster Named to England Squad
Southampton keeper Fraser Forster has been named to Sam Allardyce’s first England squad, and will feature in a World Cup qualifier vs. Slovakia.
Allardyce, who resigned as Sunderland’s manager to take the Three Lions job this summer, released his call-up sheet yesterday ahead of the team’s match vs Slovakia on 4 September.
Forster is joined in the keeper position by embattled Manchester City keeper Joe Hart, as well as Burnley’s Tom Heaton. It is presumed that Hart will be first-choice, as in the case of the Euro 2016 tournament.
Forster returns to the English team after being second-choice keeper throughout Europe 2016, in which he did not record a start. With Hart out of favour and potentially out of a job at the Etihad, it is possible that Allardyce may opt for a keeper with more regular playing time in his first outing.
Though the keeper is Southampton’s only contribution to the national team this time out, Saints faithful will recognize several familiar names among the lineup.
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Liverpool contributes four players to the selection; of these, half are former Southampton men. Adam Lallana played on the South Coast for six years (2008-14) before moving up to Anfield in the “mass exodus” of summer 2014. Right-back Nathaniel Clyne played three years at St. Mary’s, making the move in 2015 for a fee of £12.5 million.
Manchester United, a perpetual titan of the Premier League, contributes four players including longtime captain Wayne Rooney. Of interest to Southampton fans is left-back Luke Shaw, who spent 3 years with the club before moving to Old Trafford on a fee of £30 million, then a record sum for a teenager.
While fielding only one player in the English national team may be little cause for celebration, the potential for that player to start and feature is high. A great performance from Forster on the international stage will do much to raise his profile and that of the club.
More than that, though, one need only look around to see Southampton’s reputation as a factory of talent validated.
In years past, it was West Ham that was called “the Academy of Football.” When England last won a World Cup, the squad featured three Hammers including its captain, the legendary Sir Bobby Moore.
It is perhaps too early to speculate on who will lift the World Cup trophy in 2018. If England should be so lucky this time out, it will be in no small part due to the success of Southampton’s modern-day Academy of Football.