There are no Newcastle United stars with the Three Lions for the second World Cup in a row. That's not good enough says Toon legend Robert Lee.
Of all the Premier League clubs, Manchester United and Chelsea had most players selected in the original 30-man squads with 16 each.
Then came Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal with 12.
Newcastle have FOUR. Cheick Tiote, Mathieu Debuchy, Moussa Sissoko, Tim Krul - Loic Remy and Shola Ameobi have both since left St James’ Park.
England weren’t at the World Cup in 1994 in the USA. Had they been, then it’s a fair assumption Beardsley, Lee, Andy Cole, Lee Clark, Warren Barton, Steve Watson and Steve Howey (who was at Euro 96) would either have been in the squad or at the very least been on the fringes of the what was then the 22.
Rob Lee: “There was always four or five of us from Newcastle when any England squad was announced. Obviously Big Al was a stick-on before he retired. In fact, he was always going to start.
“Peter Beardsley, David Batty and myself were regulars for a few years. For a time there was also Les Ferdinand, Warren Barton and Lee Clark came with us to Le Tournoi in 1997 having been promoted from the under-21s.
“That’s a pretty decent number of Newcastle players. It would be decent for any club. Now there are none. It’s a real shame.
“In my day there were always Newcastle players in the England team, or at least the squad, with many more chapping at the door.
“There was always debate about the likes of Steve Watson regarding whether they should get a chance. There will be nobody arguing right now about the few English lads who get a game for us.
“Either we buy England internationals or at the very least guys who look to be in line for a cap. Or we bring through our own. Sadly, neither of these things is happening. England players, even those who are not established, cost a lot of money. Unless there is a huge change of heart behind the scenes, we will look elsewhere.
“I can’t see a time in the near future when Newcastle will be represented in the national team. And that makes me sad.
“But Fraser is there and Andy Carroll came close. But neither play for us any more.
“Back in my day, we signed English internationals. I think I speak for everyone when I say I wish we’d go back to those days.”