The Most Common Birthplaces of UK Footballers
Ahead of the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup, Barratt Homes set out to discover which places in the UK have experienced the most regional pride through a hometown hero achieving their dream of playing football for their country.
Check out the map below to discover which famous footballers have come from the place you call home. Simply zoom in on the map to find the area you want to explore, and then click on the circle which will reveal more information about the players born in that area. Alternatively, you can use the search bar to discover more info about any area or footballer.
Explore Map
| Name | Location | Caps |
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The Hotspots for Producing {{ titles[country] }} Football Talent
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The Places That Have Produced the Most {{ titles[country] }} Footballers
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Methodology
Using Wikipedia, Barratt Homes researched the birthplace of 3,313 footballers that have represented the home nations at senior level. In total, 1,271 players were analysed for England, 661 for Wales, 813 for Scotland, and 568 for Northern Ireland.
Birthplaces were then categorised into towns/cities, boroughs/districts, counties, and regions to provide like-for-like comparisons based on the size of each birthplace. London is classed as a county other than the “City of London” which is classed as a city.
Due to birthplace information being unavailable for many players that debuted prior to 1920 for Scotland and Northern Ireland, for consistency only players that earned their first cap from 1920 onwards were analysed for these two nations. All players ever capped by England and Wales were analysed. Birthplace data was unavailable for two English players – Jimmy Ward and William Bromley-Davenport. Birthplace data was unavailable for 24 Wales players in total.
Data is correct as of November 10th 2022.
