You have to be a pretty good player to make more than 250 Premier League appearances – but that doesn’t necessarily mean you get to play for England.
Some players, perhaps regulars at U21 level, come agonisingly; others are never even called up to the senior squad in the first place.
Here, we take a look at the most experienced English Premier League players (anyone who had retired prior to the 2024/25 season) who never earned a full international cap for the Three Lions.
Matthew Etherington (288 appearances)
Matthew Etherington spent most of his career in the Premier League, joining Tottenham from third-tier Peterborough United in 2000, alongside teammate Simon Davies.
The Cornwall-born winger went on to make more than 150 top-flight appearances for both West Ham and Stoke City, but his England career only went as far as U21 level.
Andy Impey (289 appearances)
Versatile full-back Andy Impey played Premier League football for QPR – where he was named Player of the Season in each of the first three Prem campaigns – West Ham and Leicester.
He was included in Terry Venables’ ‘get-together’ England squad in the spring of 1995 but ultimately never earned a senior cap.
Titus Bramble (292 appearances)
A centre-back who started out with local club Ipswich, Titus Bramble also turned out in the Premier League for Newcastle, Wigan Athletic and Sunderland, featuring 105 times for the former.
While he earned 10 caps for England U21s between 2000 and 2002, he never became a full Three Lions international.
Graham Stuart (294 appearances)
There at the inception of the Premier League with Chelsea, Graham Stuart went on to play in the competition for Everton, Charlton Athletic – making over 100 appearances and scoring more than 20 goals for both – and, briefly, at the very end of his career, Norwich City.
However, Stuart’s England career was limited to five caps and two goals for the U21s at the start of the 90s.
Wayne Routledge (297 appearances)
Having risen through the youth ranks at boyhood club Crystal Palace and been ever-present in his first Premier League season, winger Wayne Routledge represented a further six clubs in the competition – most notably Swansea City, where he spent the last decade of his career.
Routledge went uncapped by England at senior level but, for the U21s, scored in the very first game at the new Wembley.
Garry Flitcroft (301 appearances)
Something of a Premier League wonderkid at Manchester City, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the 1992/93 campaign aged just 20, Garry Flitcroft also made a considerable number of top-flight appearances for Blackburn Rovers.
The midfielder scored 24 Prem goals, as well as netting three times in 10 games for England U21s in 1993.
Alan Wright (305 appearances)
A veteran of more than 250 Premier League games for Aston Villa alone, left-back Alan Wright spent more than a decade in the competition.
Having won two U21 caps in 1992, he was twice called up to the senior squad by Terry Venables in 1996 but didn’t get onto the pitch.
Marc Albrighton (310 appearances)
Marc Albrighton played every match of Leicester’s unbelievable 2015/16 Premier League title triumph, making more than 200 top-flight appearances for the Foxes.
The versatile winger, who had previously played the best part of 100 Prem games for his first club, Aston Villa, featured 10 times for England U21s but was never involved at senior level.
Peter Atherton (318 appearances)
Central defender Peter Atherton plied his trade in the Premier League for almost a decade, representing Coventry City, Sheffield Wednesday – who he captained – and Bradford City between 1992 to 2001.
He appeared once for England U21s during his time at Coventry shortly before the Prem’s inception but ultimately didn’t play senior international football.
Kevin Campbell (325 appearances)
An English champion with Arsenal in 1991, Kevin Campbell was still a Gunners player during the early Premier League years, scoring 22 Prem goals before he made his biggest mark on the competition with Everton – where he struck nine times in eight games on loan from Trabzonspor in 1999 to save the Blues from relegation.
The popular striker played for England U21s and England B, but the closest he got to the full squad was being on standby for a 1992 friendly against Spain under Graham Taylor.
Matt Taylor (325 appearances)
One of the great Premier League ‘Barclaysmen’, Matt Taylor’s screamers are as nostalgia-inducing as any other goal from the late 2000s.
As well as netting 23 times in the Prem for Portsmouth, the highly adaptable midfielder notched 10 in a season for Bolton Wanderers, but he didn’t go any further with England than three U21 outings.
Jason Dodd (329 appearances)
Right-back Jason Dodd spent 16 years at Southampton, playing in every Premier League campaign from 1992/93 to 2004/05 and captaining the Saints.
He might have played higher than U21 level for England, but he had the likes of Lee Dixon and Gary Neville to dislodge – a big ask at the time.
Steve Watson (351 appearances)
A right-back also capable of operating in midfield, Steve Watson made a considerable amount of Premier League appearances for both Newcastle and Everton, also turning out in the top flight for Aston Villa and West Brom.
He won 12 England U21 caps between 1992 and 1995, before representing the B team in 1998.
Chris Perry (363 appearances)
Centre-half Chris Perry spent his entire Premier League career in London, playing for boyhood side Wimbledon, Tottenham – who signed him for a club-record £4m in 1999 – and Charlton Athletic.
And while impressive form in 1997 saw him tipped Wimbledon boss Joe Kinnear and Alex Ferguson to play for England, he never did.
Kevin Nolan (401 appearances)
Kevin Nolan was the first player to reach 400 Premier League appearances without winning a full England cap, doing so in 2015 at West Ham, where he was captain.
Formerly of Newcastle and, most notably, Bolton Wanderers – who he also captained – the midfielder, who found the net 69 times in the top flight, was touted as a potential full England international but had to settle for two U21 caps.
Mark Noble (414 appearances)
In 2021, West Ham legend Mark Noble surpassed former teammate Kevin Nolan as the player with the most Premier League appearances without playing for England at senior level.
Skipper for seven years at the club he had grown up supporting, the no-nonsense midfielder scored three goals in 20 games for the Three Lions’ U21s – helping them to the final of the 2009 European Championship – but that was as far as he went on the international stage.
