5 reasons Steve Guppy only got one England cap
As hard as it may be to believe for many part-time football fans, Leicester actually have a history that goes back before winning the Premier League in 2015–16. The Foxes were decent in the few years up to the millennium and Steve “Tricky” Guppy was a fixture on the left wing in that period
1) He wasn’t that good
Okay obviously this is a bit harsh as you don’t get to play six or seven seasons at England’s top level without having a little something about you. And when you see some of the goals he scored — especially the one where he cuts in on his right peg at Chelsea and bends it in the far corner — you’ll really think we’re talking shite.
Problem was he just didn’t score enough and ten goals in his whole 174-game Leicester career isn’t a great return. 34 assists, however, in that time is good going and Leicester got relegated the season that he left for Celtic. Perhaps he was more influential after all and he was really the best English left winger in the Premier League…
2) His name is rubbish
No offence to the bloke but with a name like Steve Guppy he was never going to become the best player in the world. It is rather conspiratorial to say that your name has any say whatsoever in how successful you’re going to be in your career but it’s hard to imagine too many kids getting their mum to iron ‘GUPPY 11’ onto the back of a replica shirt.
The England squad throughout the period Guppy was at his peak was also full of players who were genuine international stars and celebrities from England’s traditional top four, a group it would really be hard to imagine him fitting in with. If Guppy had played ten years later — an era of gross mediocrity where even Jay Bothroyd got a cap — there probably would have been a decent chance of him picking up more than one appearance.
3) He doesn’t wear his kit very well
Even though he was playing in an era where numerous kits were notoriously ill-fitting — especially some of Leicester’s Fox Leisure numbers with ¾ length sleeves — Guppy never looked particularly comfortable in his kit.
For some reason his shorts were always really high — even when Leicester’s kit got better during his second spell at the club in 2004 — and his socks just a little bit too low. All that, combined with his slightly mechanical running style, made him look like a little bit of a scruff bag. When then England manager Kevin Keegan called Guppy “a left-sided David Beckham”, it’s likely he wasn’t referring to how he looked in his kit.
4) Committed career suicide by going to play in Scotland
Off the top of your head see if you can think of a good player whose career has improved by moving across the border from England to Scotland. Don’t worry if you can’t think of one, he doesn’t exist. Guppy was no exception.
Despite winning a Scottish Premier League title Guppy played less than half all league games and failed to score in his two full seasons after rejoining his former Foxes manager Martin O’Neill across the northern border. Guppy may have flopped when he went up north but Leicester flopped harder, coming dead bottom of the Premier League in the same season he left.
5) England were unreal on paper even though they were gagging for a genuine left-footed winger
For the two tournaments where England could have feasibly picked Guppy — World Cup 98 and Euro 00 — England’s squad was genuinely incredible. How they didn’t win something or at least reach a semi when their squad contained Shearer, Owen, Scholes and Gerrard with Adams, Campbell, Neville and Seaman behind them is a national travesty.
When you see all those names it seems obvious that Guppy should be nowhere near an England squad. When you look again, however, you’ll notice that there’s barely a natural left-footer in the side, bar Graeme Le Saux, Gareth Barry and Robbie Fowler, none of whom are left midfielders. It would have taken some bollocks to take Guppy to a major tournament or two but if we had, we’d have won both of them.
