Four former Crewe Alexandra footballers to have been to a World Cup
The FIFA World Cup is in full swing, and as England play Wales tonight, we thought we'd look back at Crewe's World Cup connections.
Here are four ex-Crewe Alexandra players who were included in a FIFA World Cup squad.
David Platt
Getting the obvious - and the English one out of the way first. David Platt was known for gols at Gresty Road.
The midfielder scored 56 goals in 134 appearances for The Railwaymen. He played for the club from 1985 to 1988, and would get his first England cap the following year when he moved to Aston Villa.
His time in Crewe in the Fourth Division kickstarted his professional career, and would become a household name as part of Sir Bobby Robson's England squad in the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
Platt would play in two group stage matches, but is best remembered for his incredible volley and first England goal in the match against Belgium.
The extra-time winner can be viewed at the top of this article.
Platt then made his first start of the tournament in the quarter final agaisnt Cameroon, and headed in the opening goal in the 3-2 victory. He started the semi-final, headed in a disallowed goal against the Germans, and ended up on the losing side.
But the ex-Crewe player did register his third goal of the tournament in the third-place play-off loss to Italy.
He played 62 times for England scoring 27 times, and retiring from international duty in 1996. Platt retired form the game altogether in 2001, and was first team coach for Manchester City when they won their first-ever Premier League.
Earlier today, Platt gave a candid interview about his decision to leave Crewe.
Efe Sodje
The only player on the list to be playing for Crewe while they went to the World Cup, Efe Sodje played in the first Asian World Cup in 2002.
The Nigeria international joined Crewe as a 28-year-old in the year 2000. Sodje was a steely centre-back who scored three times in 97 appearances for Crewe.
Shortly after joining Crewe he was called up by his country, and would go on to earn 12 caps and score once.
His appearances in the Japan-South Korea hosted World Cup would have been extra exciting for Crewe fans as Nigeria were drawn in a group with England.
Sodje played 73 minutes in their opening match, but he was played in right-back instead of his preferred central defence role. Nigeria lost to Argentina 1-0.
While he didn't play the next match against Sweden, he did start against an English side containing David Beckham, Cheshire-born Michael Owen and Rio Ferdinand.
He could have even played against former Crewe legend Danny Murphy, who was set to make the 2002 England squad until an injury ruled him out.
Sodje played a part in keeping a clean sheet for the Nigerians against the Three Lions, as the match finished in a 0-0 draw. Nigeria finished bottom of the group with one point, whereas England qualified for the knockout stage.
While his headgear was green for the Super Eagles, he would sport a red bandana when playing for Crewe.
He would end his career with Macclesfield Town, the other Cheshire East club he played for. The Greenwich-born defender would go to prison in 2017 for fraud, but he has since been released.
Clayton Ince
Clayton Ince joins Sodje in the honour of facing England in a FIFA World Cup. However, Ince did not play being Trinidad and Tobago's third choice goalie during the 2006 FIFA World Cup tournament.
While the keeper was playing for Coventry City at the time of the tournament, Just months prior he was playing for The Alex. Born in Arima in Trinidad and Tobago, the 79-capped man between the sticks joined Dario Gradi's side in September 1999.
He joined the Alex in the Football League First Division, and was part of the side which sadly saw relegation in 2001-02, but stayed to help the automatic promotion the season after.
He had a brief loan spell in the year 2000 to Scottish club Dundee, and while he made no appearances, it was in the years after where he established himself as Crewe's number one goalkeeper and played the majority of his 123 games for the club.,
Ince was already an established international when he came to Crewe, having earned his first cap as a 22-year-old in 1994. He did play in the qualifiers for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but as he lost his spot as first choice goalie for Coventry City, so did his chance at getting some minutes in his nation's first World Cup. But he still made the squad.
He retired from the national team in 2009, and his country has never qualified for a World Cup since.
He retired in 2013 aged 41, playing club football in his home country.
Madjid Bougherra
Madjid Bougherra's time in Crewe is probably one to forget. Crewe were in dismal form and would be relegated from the Championship at the end of his loan spell.
But he would have something to smile about four years later has he would play in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The second African on the list, the Algerian centre-back made eleven appearances for Crewe Alexandra FC from January 2006 to June 2006.
He even scored once, in an impressive 4-1 home win over Coventry City.
Supporters wanted Dario Gradi to sign him on a permanent basis, but he went back to French club Guengon before being snapped by Sheffield Wednesday the following season. Following a stint at Charlton, he would play for Rangers, including in the 2010-11 Champions League.
Also in 2010, the defender made the 2010 FIFA World Cup squad, in what was the first World Cup to be held in Africa, then aged 27.
Remarkably, his country was also drawn in a group with England, like with Sodje and Ince previously n this list.
But before he could play England, he started in Algeria's narrow 1-0 loss to Slovenia. He would then help his team keep a clean sheet in the infamous 0-0 draw with England, which saw Wayne Rooney call out England fans for booing him on live television. Unfortunately, that would be Algeria's only point in the tournament as the United States beat Bougherra's side 1-0 thanks to a late Landon Donavan winner.
Other than Platt, he has the second-most World Cup appearances on the list, but he he the only player on the list to a appear in consecutive World Cup tournaments as Algeria also qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The ex-Crewe player's national side fared better in Brazil.
Bougherra was now captain for the national side, and started in the 2-1 loss to Belgium on June 17 2014. He put in a valliant performance in the 4-2 victory over South Korea, playing 89 minutes. However, having picked up a yellow card he did not start the final match as Algeria drew 1-1 with Russia and qualified for the knockout stages.
In the last 16, his side faced a tough task. Having finished second in their group, it meant that they would be drawn against a group winner. And it just so happened that Germany - the team they were drawn against - went on to win the whole tournament. The former Crewe man came on as a substitute in the 97th minute, playing in defence as Germany scored their second goal of the game in a 2-1 loss after extra time.
The French-born Algeria would retire from the African side one year later, having earned 70 caps from 2004 to 2015 and scoring four times/ He'd end his playing days for good on the books of Greek side Aris Thessaloniki. He's now coaching for the Algeria national side, who failed to qualify for the Qatar World Cup in 2022.
And that was it! Did we miss any players? Let us know and we'll make a sequel to this list.
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