The Three Lions' EFL connections

The return of club football is only around the corner.

English Football League clubs will begin their campaigns this weekend, with the first game taking place on Friday 14 August.

The EFL has played a significant role in developing players into future England players, be that through loan moves or working up the pyramid.

Most members of the Three Lions squad have played in the EFL on their way to representing their country at a World Cup.

Here is a look at how the EFL has helped shaped the latest group of England’s World Cup stars...

Goalkeepers

Before making his Premier League debut for boyhood club Sunderland in 2016, Jordan Pickford had a number of loan spells across the three divisions.

A young Pickford spent time on loan at Burton Albion, Carlisle United, Bradford City and Preston North End, playing in all three divisions.

Dean Henderson also had a handful of loan spells at Grimsby Town, Shrewsbury Town and then Sheffield United, where he helped the Blades gain promotion to the Premier League in 2019.

James Trafford also has a Championship promotion on his CV with Burnley. That preceded loans at Bolton Wanderers and Accrington Stanley during his first spell at Manchester City.

Jason Steele didn’t make his Premier League debut until he was 31. Prior to that, he had played for the likes of Blackburn Rovers, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Northampton Town.

Defenders

Both Ezri Konsa and John Stones had to work their way up into the Premier League. The former came through the youth system at Charlton Athletic before moving to Brentford in the Championship.

Meanwhile, Barnsley-born Stones made his professional debut for the Tykes eventually leading to a move to Everton.

Dan Burn made 215 appearances in the EFL across all three divisions, playing for the likes of Darlington, Yeovil Town, Birmingham City, Fulham and Wigan Athletic, before his Premier League move to Brighton and Hove Albion in 2018.

Djed Spence also had to work his way up into the top-flight, starting at Middlesbrough. Promotion on loan at Nottingham Forest to the Premier League led to his move to Tottenham Hotspur. He then had a half-season loan spell in the Championship at Leeds United during the 2023-24 campaign.

As for the likes of Jarrell Quansah, Marc Guéhi, Trevoh Chalobah and Reece James, they all had various loan spells that aided their development.

Guéhi spent 18 months at Swansea City on loan from Chelsea and was a Championship play-off final runner-up.

Chalobah and James also played on loan from the Blues. The former had spells at Ipswich Town and Huddersfield Town while the latter spent time at Wigan Athletic.

As for Quansah, the Bayer Leverkusen man spent six months on loan in League One with Bristol Rovers.

Midfielders

Like Quansah, Elliot Anderson also had a loan spell at Bristol Rovers, helping them to promotion from League Two in 2022.

No one could forget Jude Bellingham starting his career as a 16-year-old at Birmingham City, but did you know that Jordan Henderson had a loan spell in the Championship as a youngster? He briefly played for Coventry City back in 2009.

Forwards

Before becoming a Premier League icon, Harry Kane also had a couple of EFL loan spells, going to Leicester City, Millwall and Leyton Orient.

Morgan Rogers was a League One play-off finalist with Lincoln City before stepping into the Championship, initially via loan spells at AFC Bournemouth and Blackpool before his permanent switch to Middlesbrough.

Eberechi Eze made over 100 Championship appearances for QPR before joining Crystal Palace, but also went on loan to Wycombe Wanderers in League Two.

Ollie Watkins also started his career in the EFL, playing for boyhood club Exeter City in League Two before jumping up to the Championship with Brentford.

Before breaking into the Everton team, Anthony Gordon had a loan spell at Preston North End.

Ivan Toney was another player who had to wait for his Premier League chance, playing in all three divisions for Northampton Town, Barnsley, Shrewsbury Town, Scunthorpe United, Peterborough United and Wigan Athletic before helping Brentford to promotion to the Premier League for the first time.