Foreigners in English Football. I was pretty horrified to find out that none of Arsenal's players this afternoon were English, or British, or even from the UK/Rep Ireland. So I decided to check out stats from all West Ham's Premiership matches this season to date to see how 'British' the top division in English football is.
West Ham v Manchester City on August 11th 2007.
West Ham Man City
Robert Green (England) Kasper Schmeichel (Denmark)
Jonathan Spector (USA) Micah Richards (England)
Anton Ferdinand (England) Vedran Corluka (Bosnia & Herzegovina)
Matthew Upson (England) Richard Dunne (Rep Ireland)
George McCartney (N. Ireland) Javier Garrido (Spain)
Fredrik Ljungberg (Sweden) Blumer Elano (Brazil)
Lee Bowyer (England) Dietmar Hamann (Germany)
Mark Noble (England) Michael Johnson (England)
Luis Boa Morte (Portugal) Martin Petrov (Bulgaria)
Bobby Zamora (England) Stephen Ireland (Rep Ireland)
Craig Bellamy (Wales) Rolando Bianchi (Italy)
Substitutes
Daniel Gabbidon (Wales) Nedum Onuoha (Nigeria)
Richard Wright (England) Joe Hart (England)
Matthew Etherington (England) Deiberson Geovanni (Brazil)
Hayden Mullins (England) Fernandes Gelson (Cape Verde)
Dean Ashton (England) Valeri Bojinov (Bulgaria)
13 UK, 3 foreign.
5 (UK + Ireland), 11 foreign.
Birmingham v West Ham on August 18th 2007
Birmingham City
West HamColin Doyle (Rep Ireland)
Robert Green Stuart Parnaby (England)
Jonathan Spector Radhi Jaidi (Tunisia)
Anton Ferdinand Liam Ridgewell (England)
Matthew Upson Stephen Kelly (Rep Ireland)
George McCartney Sebastian Larsson (Sweden)
Kieron Dyer (England)Fabrice Muamba (England)
Mark Noble Mehdi Nafti (Tunisia)
Hayden Mullins Olivier Kapo (France)
Matthew Etherington Garry O'Connor (Scotland)
Craig Bellamy Mikael Forssell (Finland)
Bobby Zamora Substitutes
Mathew Sadler (England)
Daniel Gabbidon Maik Taylor (N. Ireland)
James Walker (England)Gary McSheffrey (England)
Lee Bowyer Cameron Jerome (England)
Dean Ashton Rowan Vine (England)
Luis Boa Morte 11 UK+I 5 foreign.
14 UK, 2 foreign.
West Ham v Wigan Athletic on August 25th 2007
West Ham Wigan
Robert Green Chris Kirkland (England)
Lucas Neill (Australia) Paul Scharner (Austria)
Anton Ferdinand Mario Melchiot (Holland)
Matthew Upson Titus Bramble (England)
George McCartney Andreas Granqvist (Sweden)
Matthew Etherington Kevin Kilbane (Rep Ireland)
Hayden Mullins Antonio Valencia (Ecuador)
Mark Noble Denny Landzaat (Holland)
Kieron Dyer Jason Koumas (Wales)
Craig Bellamy Antoine Sibierski (France)
Bobby Zamora Emile Heskey (England)
Substitutes
Jonathan Spector Fitz Hall (England)
James Walker Michael Pollitt (England)
Lee Bowyer Michael Brown (England)
Luis Boa Morte Julius Aghahowa (Nigeria)
Dean Ashton Caleb Folan (???)
13 UK, 3 foreign.
8 UK + I, 8 foreign (assuming that Folan is foreign).
Reading v West Ham on September 1st 2007
Reading
West Ham Marcus Hahnemann (USA)
Robert Green Graeme Murty (England)
Lucas Neill Ivar Ingimarsson (Iceland)
Anton Ferdinand Michael Duberry (England)
Matthew Upson Nicky Shorey (England)
George McCartney Emerse Fae (Ivory Coast)
Lee Bowyer James Harper (England)
Mark Noble Brynjar Gunnarsson (Iceland)
Hayden Mullins Stephen Hunt (Rep Ireland)
Matthew Etherington Leroy Lita (England)
Dean Ashton Kevin Doyle (Rep Ireland)
Craig Bellamy Substitutes
Andre Bikey (Cameroon)
Daniel Gabbidon Adam Federici (Australia)
Jonathan Spector Kalifa Cisse (Mali)
Richard Wright Bobby Convey (USA)
Carlton Cole (England)Dave Kitson (England)
Luis Boa Morte 8 UK + I, 8 foreign.
13 UK, 3 foreign
West Ham V Middlesbrough on September 15th
West Ham Middlesbrough
Robert Green Mark Schwarzer (Australian)
Lucas Neill Luke Young (England)
George McCartney Jonathan Woodgate (England)
James Collins David Wheater (England)
Matthew Upson Andrew Taylor (England)
Lee Bowyer George Boateng (Holland)
Hayden Mullins Fabio Rochemback (Brazil)
Mark Noble Julio Arca (Argentina)
Matthew Etherington Stewart Downing (England)
Craig Bellamy Jeremie Aliadiere (France)
Dean Ashton Mido (Egypt)
Substitutes
Daniel Gabbidon Andrew Davies (England)
Richard Wright Brad Jones (Australia)
Fredrik Ljungberg Gary O'Neil (England)
Luis Boa Morte Dong-Gook Lee (S. Korea)
Carlton Cole Tuncay Sanli (Turkey)
13 UK, 3 foreign 7 UK, 9 foreign.
Newcastle v West Ham on September 23rd
Newcastle
West Ham Steve Harper (England)
Robert Green Habib Beye (Senegal)
George McCartney Claudio Cacapa (Brazil)
Lucas Neill David Rozehnal (Czech Rep)
Matthew Upson Charles N'Zogbia (France)
Anton Ferdinand Geremi (Cameroon)
Lee Bowyer Nicky Butt (England)
Mark Noble James Milner (England)
Hayden Mullins Mark Viduka (Australia)
Matthew Etherington Michael Owen (England)
Dean Ashton Alan Smith (England)
Carlton Cole Substitutes
Steven Taylor (English)
Jonathan Spector Sanchez Jose Enrique (Spain)
James Collins Shay Given (Rep Ireland)
Richard Wright Abdoulaye Faye (Senegal)
Fredrik Ljungberg Obafemi Martins (Nigeria)
Henri Camara (Senegal)7 UK + I, 9 foreign.
12 UK, 4 foreign.
West Ham v Arsenal on September 29th
West Ham Arsenal
Robert Green Manuel Almunia (Spain)
Lucas Neill Gael Clichy (France)
Anton Ferdinand Bacary Sagna (France)
Matthew Upson Kolo Toure (Ivory Coast)
George McCartney Philippe Senderos (Switzerland)
Fredrik Ljungberg Alexander Hleb (Belarus)
Mark Noble Francesc Fabregas (Spain)
Scott Parker (England) Mathieu Flamini (France)
Lee Bowyer Vassiriki Diaby France)
Henri Camara Robin Van Persie (Holland)
Dean Ashton Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo)
Substitutes
Daniel Gabbidon Emmanuel Eboue (Ivory Coast)
Richard Wright Lukasz Fabianski (Poland)
Hayden Mullins Neves Denilson (Brazil)
Luis Boa Morte Gilberto Silva (Brazil)
Carlton Cole Nicklas Bendtner (Holland)
12 UK, 4 foreign. 0 UK, 16 foreign.
I do have some thoughts to add to the above stats but I'll leave them for another time, when I'm not so tired!