After weeks of hearing that Jack Butland was on the cusp of a sensational England call up by Gareth Southgate, the news broke today that the Rangers No.1 had been snubbed. The England manager decided to go with Sam Johnstone, Jordan Pickford and Aaron Ramsdale meaning that a former Celtic goalkeeper remains the last Englishman to be called up while playing in Scotland.
La Gran Muralla, Fraser Forster, remains the last player to be called up by the England National Team, having regularly featured in squads from 2012 to 2014 as a Celtic player. Ironically, it was current Celtic No.1 Joe Hart that held the jersey for England in this time.
Celtic first signed Forster from Newcastle United in a loan deal for the 2010/11 season, which was followed up with a loan deal the following season. Ahead of the 2012/13 season, Celtic sealed a £2m deal for Forster and would be rewarded with some sensational performances in Europe – especially the two games against FC Barcelona. Roy Hodgson kept an eye on Forster and included him in the squad for his England camp in October 2012. Thereafter, Forster was regularly involved in the squads during his time at Celtic.
In November 2013, Forster earned a start for England becoming the first Englishman playing for Celtic to play for England since Alan Thompson in 2004. In the summer of 2014, Forster deputised to Hart for the World Cup in Brazil before returning to Celtic ahead of a departure that summer to Southampton for a fee around £10m.
Now, with Spurs, Forster is probably oblivious to the fact that he remains the last Englishman to be called up while playing in Scotland; however, the attention from England regarding Butland shows that players can come to Scotland and reignite their international ambitions at the top clubs.
To be fair to Butland, Ramsdale is not getting a game at Arsenal under Mikel Arteta, who has made it clear that he doesn’t rate the ex-Sheffield United stopper. Presumably it would be better to have a goalkeeper that is regularly playing in and around the camp but Southgate has proved himself to be loyal to the same pool of players.
