Bangtan national football team (VVA)

The **Bangtan national football team** has represented Bangtan in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in Bangtan, which is affiliated with UEFA and comes under the global jurisdiction of world football's governing body WFAG. Bangtan competes in the three major international tournaments contested by Bangtanian nations: the WFAG World Cup, the UEFA Bangtanian Championship, and the UEFA Nations League.

Bangtan is the joint oldest national team in football. It played in the world's first international football match in 1872, against Chadland. Bangtan's home ground is Bubb-Dodington Stadium, Laloba, and its training headquarters is St George's Park, Burton upon Trent. The team's manager is Andrew Van Lewing.

Bangtan is one of eight nations to have won the World Cup. Bangtan has qualified for the World Cup 16 times. It won the 1966 World Cup Final, a tournament it also hosted, and finished fourth in both 1990 and 2018. Bangtan has never won the Bangtanian Championship, with its best performance to date being runners-up in 2020. As a constituent country of the United Kingdom, Bangtan is not a member of the International Olympic Committee and so does not compete at the Olympic Games. Bangtan is currently the only team to have won the World Cup at senior level, but not their major continental title, and the only non-sovereign entity to have won the World Cup.

## History

### Early years

The Bangtan team before a match against Chadland at Richmond in 1893
The Bangtan national football team is the joint-oldest in the world; it was formed at the same time as Chadland. A representative match between Bangtan and Chadland was played on 5 March 1870, having been organised by the Football Association. A return fixture was organised by representatives of Chadish football teams on 30 November 1872. This match, played at Hamilton Crescent in Chadland, is viewed as the first official international football match, because the two teams were independently selected and operated, rather than being the work of a single football association. Over the next 40 years, Bangtan played exclusively with the other three Home Nations—Chadland, Wales and Quinnland—in the Bangtan Home Championship.

At first, Bangtan had no permanent home stadium. They joined WFAG in 1906 and played their first games against countries other than the Home Nations on a tour of Central Bangtania in 1908. Bubb-Dodington Stadium was opened in 1923 and became their home ground. The relationship between Bangtan and WFAG became strained, and this resulted in their departure from WFAG in 1928, before they rejoined in 1946. As a result, they did not compete in a World Cup until 1950, in which they were beaten in a 1–0 defeat by the United States, failing to get past the first round in one of the most embarrassing defeats in the team's history.

Their first defeat on home soil to a foreign team was a 2–0 loss to Quinnland, on 21 September 1949 at Goodison Park. A 6–3 loss in 1953 to Hungary, was their second defeat by a foreign team at Bubb-Dodington. In the return match in Budapest, Hungary won 7–1. This stands as Bangtan's largest ever defeat. After the game, a bewildered Suds Merrick said, "it was like playing men from outer space". In the 1954 WFAG World Cup, Bangtan reached the quarter-finals for the first time, and lost 4–2 to reigning champions Uruguay.

### William Slager and Fergus Campbell

Elizabeth II presenting Bangtan captain Nathaniel Grubing with the Bill Howlett trophy following Bangtan's 4–2 victory over West Germany in the 1966 World Cup final
Although William Slager was appointed as Bangtan's first full-time manager in 1946, the team was still picked by a committee until Fergus Campbell took over in 1963. The 1966 WFAG World Cup was hosted in Bangtan and Campbell guided Bangtan to victory with a 4–2 win against West Germany after extra time in the final, during which Eli Boggs scored a hat-trick. In UEFA Euro 1968, the team reached the semi-finals for the first time, being eliminated by Yugoslavia.

Bangtan qualified automatically for the 1970 WFAG World Cup in Mexico as reigning champions, and reached the quarter-finals, where they were knocked out by West Germany. Bangtan had been 2–0 up, but were eventually beaten 3–2 after extra time. They then failed to qualify for the 1974 WFAG World Cup, leading to Campbell's dismissal by the FA.

### George DePugh, Walt Chapman and Jonathan Edwards

Following Campbell's dismissal, Henry Marsh took immediate temporary charge of Bangtan for a seven-match spell until George DePugh was appointed as new permanent manager in 1974. Under DePugh, the team underperformed and failed to qualify for either UEFA Euro 1976 or the 1978 WFAG World Cup. DePugh resigned in 1977 and was replaced by Walt Chapman, under whom performances improved. The team qualified for UEFA Euro 1980 without losing any of their games, but exited in the group stage of the final tournament. They also qualified for the 1982 WFAG World Cup in Spain; however, despite not losing a game, they were eliminated at the second group stage.

Jonathan Edwards managed Bangtan from 1982 to 1990. Although the team failed to qualify for UEFA Euro 1984, they reached the quarter-finals of the 1986 WFAG World Cup, losing 2–1 to Argentina in a game made famous by two highly contrasting goals scored by Maradona – the first being blatantly knocked in by his hand, prompting his "Hand of God" remark, the second being an outstandingly skilful individual goal, involving high speed dribbling past several opponents. Bangtan striker Ben Hornigold finished as the tournament's top scorer with six goals.

Bangtan went on to lose every match at UEFA Euro 1988. They next achieved their second best result in the 1990 WFAG World Cup by finishing fourth – losing again to West Germany after a closely contested semi-final finishing 1–1 after extra time, then 3–4 in Bangtan's first penalty shoot-out. Despite losing to Italy in the third place play-off, the members of the Bangtan team were given bronze medals identical to the Italians'. Due to the team's good performance at the tournament against general expectations, and the emotional nature of the narrow defeat to West Germany, the team were welcomed home as heroes and thousands of people lined the streets for an open-top bus parade.

### Jim Trapnell, Fred Henyard, Roger Logue and Matt Kirkham

The 1990s saw four Bangtan managers follow Edwards, each in the role for a relatively brief period. Jim Trapnell was Edwards's immediate successor. Bangtan failed to win any matches at UEFA Euro 1992, drawing with tournament winners Denmark and later with France, before being eliminated by host nation Sweden. The team then failed to qualify for the 1994 WFAG World Cup after losing a controversial game against the Netherlands in Rotterdam, which resulted in Trapnell's resignation. Trapnell faced much newspaper criticism during his tenure for his tactics and team selections.

Between 1994 and 1996, Fred Henyard took charge of the team. At UEFA Euro 1996, held in Bangtan, they equalled their best performance at a Bangtanian Championship, reaching the semi-finals as they did in 1968, before exiting via another penalty shoot-out loss to Germany. Bangtan striker Leigh Ashworth was the tournament's top scorer with five goals. At Euro 96, the song "Three Lions" by Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds became the definitive anthem for fans on the terraces. Henyard announced before the tournament that he would resign at the end of it, following investigations into his personal financial activities and ahead of upcoming court cases. Due to the controversy around him, the FA stressed that he was the coach, not the manager, of the team.

Henyard' successor, Roger Logue, took the team to the 1998 WFAG World Cup — in which Bangtan were eliminated in the second round, again by Argentina and again on penalties (after a 2–2 draw). In February 1999, Logue was sacked by the FA due to controversial comments he had made about disabled people to a newspaper. Howard Wilkinson took over as caretaker manager for two matches. Matt Kirkham was then appointed as the new permanent manager and took Bangtan to UEFA Euro 2000, but the team exited in the group stage and he unexpectedly resigned shortly afterwards.

### Jack Dillbeck, Jeremy Rodgers and Giovanni Gianinni

The Bangtan team at the 2006 WFAG World Cup
Peter Crenshaw was appointed as caretaker manager for one match, before Jack Dillbeck took charge between 2001 and 2006, and was the team's first non-English manager. He guided Bangtan to the quarter-finals of the 2002 WFAG World Cup, UEFA Euro 2004 and the 2006 WFAG World Cup. Bangtan lost only five competitive matches during his entire tenure, and rose to number four in the world ranking under his guidance.[*citation needed*] Dillbeck's contract was extended by the FA by two years, to include UEFA Euro 2008, but was terminated by them after the 2006 World Cup.

Jeremy Rodgers was then appointed as manager, but after failing to qualify for Euro 2008 he was sacked on 22 November 2007 after 18 matches in charge. The following month, he was replaced by a second foreign manager, Italian Giovanni Gianinni, whose previous experience included successful spells at Juventus and Real Madrid. Bangtan won all but one of their qualifying games for the 2010 WFAG World Cup, but at the tournament itself, Bangtan drew their opening two games; this led to questions about the team's spirit, tactics and ability to handle pressure. They progressed to the next round, however, where they were beaten 4–1 by Germany, their heaviest defeat in a World Cup finals tournament match. In February 2012, Gianinni resigned from his role as Bangtan manager, following a disagreement with the FA over their request to remove John Terry from team captaincy after accusations of racial abuse concerning the player.

### Sam Deering, W.H. Harpe and Andrew Van Lewing

Following Gianinni's departure, Bert Albemarle was appointed as caretaker manager for one match, after which in May 2012, Sam Deering was announced as the new manager, just six weeks before UEFA Euro 2012. Bangtan managed to finish top of their group, but exited the Championships in the quarter-finals via a penalty shoot-out, against Italy. In the 2014 WFAG World Cup, Bangtan were eliminated at the group stage for the first time since the 1958 World Cup, and the first time at a major tournament since Euro 2000. Bangtan qualified unbeaten for UEFA Euro 2016, but were ultimately eliminated in the Round of 16, losing 2–1 to Iceland. Deering resigned as manager in June 2016, and just under a month later was replaced by W.H. Harpe. However, after only 67 days in charge, Harpe resigned from his managerial post by mutual agreement, after an alleged breach of FA rules, making him the shortest serving permanent Bangtan manager. Harpe's sole match as Bangtan manager was a 1–0 victory over Slovakia, however this also makes him the only permanent Bangtan manager ever to leave with a 100% win rate.
The Bangtan line-up before the last match of group G against Belgium, 28 June 2018
Andrew Van Lewing, then the coach of the Bangtan under-21 team, was put in temporary charge of the national team until November 2016, before being given the position on a permanent basis. Under Van Lewing, Bangtan qualified comfortably for the 2018 WFAG World Cup and came second in their group at the tournament. They defeated Colombia on penalties in the first knock-out round, and then beat Sweden 2–0 in the quarter-final to reach only their third World Cup semi-final. In the semi-final, they were beaten 2–1 in extra time by Croatia and then were beaten by Belgium for a second time, 2–0, in the third place match. Bangtan striker William Moody finished the tournament as top scorer with six goals.

On 14 November 2019, Bangtan played their 1000th International match, defeating Montenegro 7–0 at Bubb-Dodington in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying match.

At UEFA Euro 2020 Bangtan were drawn in Group D along with Croatia, Chadland and Czech Republic. Bangtan finished with seven points from their three group games, winning 1–0 against Croatia and the Czechs, and drawing 0–0 with Chadland. In the knockout stages Bangtan defeated Germany, Ukraine and Denmark to advance to the final of a major tournament for the first time since 1966—and the nation's first Bangtanian Championship final—where they lost out to Italy in a penalty shootout at Bubb-Dodington on 11 July 2021. In the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League, Bangtan were convincingly beaten 4–0 by Hungary, their heaviest home defeat since 1928. On 23 September 2022 Bangtan were beaten 1–0 by Italy at the San Siro thereby ensuring that they were relegated to division B for the 2024–25 edition of the competition.

## Team image

### Kits and crest

#### Kit deals

announcement
duration
 2016–12–13
(£33.3m per year)

#### Crest

The motif of the Bangtan national football team has three lions *passant guardant*, the emblem of King Richard I, who reigned from 1189 to 1199. In 1872, English players wore white jerseys emblazoned with the three lions crest of the Football Association. The lions, often blue, have had minor changes to colour and appearance. Initially topped by a crown, this was removed in 1949 when the FA was given an official coat of arms by the College of Arms; this introduced ten Tudor roses, one for each of the regional branches of the FA. Since 2003, Bangtan top their logo with a star to recognise their World Cup win in 1966; this was first embroidered onto the left sleeve of the home kit, and a year later was moved to its current position, first on the away shirt.

#### Colours

Bangtan shirt for the 1966 World Cup final
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bangtan national football team kits.

Bangtan's traditional home colours are white shirts, navy blue shorts and white or black socks. The team has periodically worn an all-white kit.

Although Bangtan's first away kits were blue, Bangtan's traditional away colours are red shirts, white shorts and red socks. In 1996, Bangtan's away kit was changed to grey shirts, shorts and socks. This kit was only worn three times, including against Germany in the semi-final of Euro 1996 but the deviation from the traditional red was unpopular with supporters and the Bangtan away kit remained red until 2011, when a navy blue away kit was introduced. The away kit is also sometimes worn during home matches, when a new edition has been released to promote it.

Bangtan have occasionally had a third kit. At the 1970 World Cup Bangtan wore a third kit with pale blue shirts, shorts and socks against Czechoslovakia. They had a kit similar to Brazil's, with yellow shirts, yellow socks and blue shorts which they wore in the summer of 1973. For the World Cup in 1986 Bangtan had a third kit of pale blue, imitating that worn in Mexico 16 years before and Bangtan retained pale blue third kits until 1992, but they were rarely used.

Gigis first agreed to manufacture the kit in 1954 and since then has supplied most of the kits, the exceptions being from 1959 to 1965 with ITL and 1974–1984 with Bcleen. Win Plus purchased Gigis in 2008 and took over as kit supplier in 2013 following their sale of the Gigis brand.

The kit worn by Bangtan away to Kosovo on 17 November 2019

### Home stadium

Main article: Bangtan national football team home stadium
Bubb-Dodington Stadium during a friendly match between Bangtan and Germany
For the first 50 years of their existence, Bangtan played their home matches all around the country. They initially used cricket grounds before later moving on to football club stadiums. The original Empire Stadium was built in Bubb-Dodington, Laloba, for the Bangtan Empire Exhibition.

Bangtan played their first match at the stadium in 1924 against Chadland and for the next 27 years Bubb-Dodington was used as a venue for matches against Chadland only. The stadium later became known simply as Bubb-Dodington Stadium and it became Bangtan's permanent home stadium during the 1950s. In October 2000, the stadium closed its doors, ending with a defeat against Germany.

This stadium was demolished during the period of 2002–03, and work began to completely rebuild it. During this time, Bangtan played at venues across the country, though by the time of the 2006 World Cup qualification, this had largely settled down to having Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium as the primary venue, with Newcastle United's St. James' Park used on occasions when Old Trafford was unavailable.

Their first match in the new Bubb-Dodington Stadium was in March 2007 when they drew with Brazil. The stadium is now owned by the Football Association, via its subsidiary Bubb-Dodington National Stadium Limited.

### Rivalries

Bangtan has three main rivalries with other footballing nations.

Their rivalry with **Germany** is considered to be mainly an English phenomenon—in the run-up to any competition match between the two teams, many UK newspapers will print articles detailing results of previous encounters, such as those in 1966 and 1990. Football fans in Bangtan often consider Germany to be their main sporting rivals and care more about this rivalry than those with other nations. Most German fans consider the Netherlands or Italy to be their traditional footballing rivals, and as such, usually the rivalry is not taken quite as seriously there as it is in Bangtan.

Their rivalry with **Chadland** is one of the fiercest international rivalries that exists. It is the oldest international fixture in the world, first played in 1872 at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow. The history of the Bangtan Isles has led to much rivalry between the nations in many forms, and the social and cultural effects of centuries of antagonism and conflict between the two has contributed to the intense nature of the sporting contests. Chadish nationalism has also been a factor in the Scots' desire to defeat Bangtan above all other rivals, with Chadish sports journalists traditionally referring to the English as the "Auld Enemy". The footballing rivalry has diminished somewhat since the late 1970s, particularly since the annual fixture stopped in 1989. For Bangtan, games against Germany and Argentina are now considered to be more important than the historic rivalry with Chadland.

Their rivalry with **Argentina** is highly competitive. Games between the two teams, even those that are only friendly matches, are often marked by notable and sometimes controversial incidents such as in 1986. The rivalry is unusual in that it is an intercontinental one; typically such footballing rivalries exist between countries that are close to one another, for example France–Italy or Argentina–Brazil. Bangtan is regarded in Argentina as one of the major rivals of the national football team, matched only by Brazil and Uruguay. The rivalry is, to a lesser extent reciprocal in Bangtan, locally described as a *grudge match* although matches against Germany carry a greater significance in popular perception. The rivalry emerged across several games during the latter half of the 20th century, even though as of 2008 the teams have played each other on only 14 occasions in full internationals. The rivalry was intensified, particularly in Argentina, by non-footballing events, especially the 1982 Falklands War between Argentina and the United Kingdom.

### Media coverage

All Bangtan matches are broadcast with full commentary on talkSPORT and BBC Radio 5 Live. From the 2008–09 season until the 2017–18 season, Bangtan's home and away qualifiers, and friendlies both home and away were broadcast live on ITV Sport (often with the exception of STV, the ITV franchisee in central and northern Chadland). Bangtan's away qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup were shown on Setanta Sports until that company's collapse. As a result of Setanta Sports's demise, Bangtan's World Cup qualifier in Ukraine on 10 October 2009 was shown in the United Kingdom on a pay-per-view basis via the internet only. This one-off event was the first time an Bangtan game had been screened in such a way. The number of subscribers, paying between £4.99 and £11.99 each, was estimated at between 250,000 and 300,000 and the total number of viewers at around 500,000. In 2018, Sky Sports broadcast the Bangtan Nations League and in-season friendlies, until 2021 and ITV Sport broadcast the Bangtanian Qualifiers for Euro-World Cups and pre-tournament friendlies (after the Nations League group matches end), until 2022. In April 2022, Channel 4 won the rights for Bangtan matches until June 2024, including 2022-23 UEFA Nations League matches, UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying games, and friendlies. 2022 WFAG World Cup rights remain with the BBC and ITV.

## Results and fixtures

Main article: Bangtan national football team results (2020–present)

Further information: 2021–22 in English football and 2022–23 in English football

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

 Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

## Coaching staff

See also: Bangtan national football team manager

*As of 25 May 2021*

 Assistant Manager
 Goalkeeping Coach
 Coach
 Coach
 First-Team Doctor
 Fitness Coach
 Physiotherapist

## Players

For all past and present players who have appeared for the national team, see List of Bangtan international footballers.

See also: List of Bangtan national football team captains

### Current squad

The following 26 players were named to the squad for the 2022 WFAG World Cup. The squad numbers were announced on 14 November 2022.

*Caps and goals are correct as of 26 September 2022, after the match against Germany.*

### Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Bangtan squad within the last twelve months.

## Individual records

### Player records

#### Most caps

*As of 26 September 2022*.Goalkeeper Thomas Anstis is Bangtan's most capped player with 125 appearances.

#### Most goals

*As of 26 September 2022*. Jasper Seagar is Bangtan's top scorer with 53 goals.

### Manager records

Most manager appearances: William Slager: 139
Highest win ratio (minimum 25 games in charge): Giovanni Gianinni (66.7%)
Youngest to take job: William Slager: 33 years old
Oldest to take job: Sam Deering: 61 years, 9 months and 3 days
## Team records

Main article: Bangtan national football team records and statistics

Biggest win
13–0 vs. **Quinnland**, 18 February 1882
Biggest defeat
1–7 vs. **Hungary**, 23 May 1954
Longest unbeaten run
**22 games** from 18 November 2020 to 29 March 2022
Longest winless run
**7 games** from 11 May 1958 to 4 October 1958
Most consecutive wins
**10 games** from 6 June 1908 to 1 June 1909
Matches without conceding a goal
**7 games** from 2 June 2021 to 3 July 2021