- Northumberland has the highest percentage of major tournament squad representatives per capita
- Gloucestershire and Somerset are the worst areas for producing England stars
- Greater London is sending seven representatives to this summer’s Euros
Being born in Northumberland gives budding footballers the strongest chance of representing England in a major tournament, according to new research.
Ahead of EURO 2024 in Germany, the BonusCodeBets.co.uk study analysed the birthplace of every player to play for the Three Lions at a World Cup or European Championships since 1966, finding the county in the North-East has the largest number of players, compared to its population size.
Northumberland, a county that actually borders Scotland, has produced seven English players in the past 58 years – equating to one player for every 46,337 people that live there.
England legend Peter Beardsley, and World Cup winning brothers Bobby and Jack Charlton are amongst those to have been born in the area.
The only other county with more than one player per 100,000 people is Merseyside (one per 60,087 people) – cementing its place as a hub of footballing talent for the nation.
By contrast, it’s those based in Gloucestershire and Somerset who have been represented in England squads the least, with only one player from each area receiving a call up, from their 928,466 and 975,782 populations, respectively.
Top 10 Counties for People per Call-Up
| Rank | County | Population | Players from County | People per Call-up |
| 1 | Northumberland | 324,362 | 7 | 46,337 |
| 2 | Merseyside | 1,442,081 | 24 | 60,087 |
| 3 | Tyne and Wear | 1,141,795 | 10 | 114,180 |
| 4 | South Yorkshire | 1,392,105 | 12 | 116,009 |
| 5 | Lancashire | 1,515,487 | 13 | 116,576 |
| 6 | Hertfordshire | 1,204,588 | 8 | 150,574 |
| 7 | Greater Manchester | 2,911,744 | 19 | 153,250 |
| 8 | Cumbria | 499,781 | 3 | 166,594 |
| 9 | County Durham | 871,531 | 5 | 174,306 |
| 10 | Greater London | 8,866,180 | 47 | 188,642 |
When looking at Gareth Southgate’s 26-man squad for the 2024 European Championships, it’s those in Greater London who have the largest representation, with seven members of the squad hailing from the nation’s capital – 75% more than second placed Greater Manchester.
Three newcomers to the England squad, Ezri Konsa, Joe Gomez and Eberechi Eze, helped cement Greater London’s top spot, ahead of West Midlands, which tied with the capital at the 2022 World Cup with four players apiece. With the likes of James Maddison and Jack Grealish not making it into Gareth Southgate’s final squad, Jude Bellingham is now the sole representative for the West Midlands in this tournament.
Four players in the squad will be representing the Greater Manchester area, with South Yorkshire and Merseyside being tied for third place, with two representatives each.
England EURO 2024 Squad Location Ranking
| Rank | County | Number of Players |
| 1 | Greater London | 7 |
| 2 | Greater Manchester | 4 |
| =3 | Merseyside | 2 |
| =3 | South Yorkshire | 2 |
| =5 | County Durham | 1 |
| =5 | East Sussex | 1 |
| =5 | Lancashire | 1 |
| =5 | Cumbria | 1 |
| =5 | Northamptonshire | 1 |
| =5 | Staffordshire | 1 |
| =5 | Devon | 1 |
| =5 | Surrey | 1 |
| =5 | West Midlands | 1 |
| =5 | Herefordshire | 1 |
| =5 | International | 1 |
A spokesperson for Bonuscodebets.co.uk said: “Everyone grows up dreaming of one day playing for their country, so it’s fascinating to find out which areas of England are the best and worst for producing national talent.
“To our surprise, it’s Northumberland that is England’s call up capital, despite not having a football league team. With just two of the top ten represented counties coming from down south, it’s safe to say that the North of England remains the real football capital.”
FULL TABLE OF PLAYER REPRESENTATION BY COUNTY:
| Rank | County | Population | Players from County | People per Call-up |
| 1 | Northumberland | 324,362 | 7 | 46,337 |
| 2 | Merseyside | 1,442,081 | 24 | 60,087 |
| 3 | Tyne and Wear | 1,141,795 | 10 | 114,180 |
| 4 | South Yorkshire | 1,392,105 | 12 | 116,009 |
| 5 | Lancashire | 1,515,487 | 13 | 116,576 |
| 6 | Hertfordshire | 1,204,588 | 8 | 150,574 |
| 7 | Greater Manchester | 2,911,744 | 19 | 153,250 |
| 8 | Cumbria | 499,781 | 3 | 166,594 |
| 9 | County Durham | 871,531 | 5 | 174,306 |
| 10 | Greater London | 8,866,180 | 47 | 188,642 |
| 11 | Herefordshire | 188,719 | 1 | 188,719 |
| 12 | Suffolk | 768,555 | 4 | 192,139 |
| 13 | Nottinghamshire | 1,170,475 | 6 | 195,079 |
| 14 | Bristol | 472,465 | 2 | 236,233 |
| 15 | Surrey | 1,214,540 | 5 | 242,908 |
| 16 | West Yorkshire | 2,378,148 | 9 | 264,239 |
| 17 | Hampshire | 1,856,770 | 7 | 265,253 |
| 18 | Leicestershire | 1,067,121 | 4 | 266,780 |
| 19 | Cheshire | 1,069,646 | 4 | 267,412 |
| 20 | East Riding of Yorkshire | 602,327 | 2 | 301,164 |
| 21 | Warwickshire | 607,604 | 2 | 303,802 |
| 22 | West Midlands | 2,953,816 | 9 | 328,202 |
| 23 | Derbyshire | 1,056,000 | 3 | 352,000 |
| 24 | Oxfordshire | 738,276 | 2 | 369,138 |
| 25 | Northamptonshire | 757,181 | 2 | 378,591 |
| 26 | Staffordshire | 1,139,794 | 3 | 379,931 |
| 27 | Buckinghamshire | 817,263 | 2 | 408,632 |
| 28 | East Sussex | 850,590 | 2 | 425,295 |
| 29 | Berkshire | 917,762 | 2 | 458,881 |
| 30 | Shropshire | 506,737 | 1 | 506,737 |
| 31 | Lincolnshire | 1,098,445 | 2 | 549,223 |
| 32 | Cornwall | 575,525 | 1 | 575,525 |
| 33 | North Yorkshire | 1,170,146 | 2 | 585,073 |
| 34 | Devon | 1,209,773 | 2 | 604,887 |
| 35 | Worcestershire | 609,216 | 1 | 609,216 |
| 36 | Kent | 1,868,199 | 3 | 622,733 |
| 37 | Bedfordshire | 682,311 | 1 | 682,311 |
| 38 | Dorset | 776,780 | 1 | 776,780 |
| 39 | Cambridgeshire | 859,830 | 1 | 859,830 |
| 40 | Norfolk | 925,299 | 1 | 925,299 |
| 41 | Gloucestershire | 928,466 | 1 | 928,466 |
| 42 | Somerset | 975,782 | 1 | 975,782 |