Traditionally East Yorkshire is more of a rugby betting and spectating hotbed than it is for football.
But look a little further beyond the minor county’s boundaries to the wider county of Yorkshire and suddenly it becomes clear that this northern enclave more than punches above its weight when it comes to creating elite level football talent that appears on odds lines and matchday previews every day of the week.
This summer will be packed with professional sport, as the Japanese push ahead with their Olympics, the England cricket team welcomes a whole host of sides to these shores, and there are also the Wimbledon and the Lions Tour to look forward to and wager on.
However, the one event that the majority of sports bettors and spectators have been looking forward to the most is Euro 2020.
Here are the Yorkshiremen who will be giving it their all for the Three Lions this summer, as the whole nation dreams of England winning their first major championship since all the way back in 1966.
John Stones – Centre-Back
The 2018 World Cup was something of a watershed moment for football in Yorkshire, as no less than six players who started their football careers in the county were named on Gareth Southgate’s squad.
Only three of those six still remain today, and perhaps the most established of them all is John Stones, who comes hot of the heals of having won the Premier League and reaching the Champions League final.
Stones started his footballing journey at Barnsley, where he made twenty-four appearances before then being snapped up by Everton. During his time at the Toffees, he caught the eye of both England management and some of the biggest clubs in the land. One of those was Pep Guardiola’s Man City, who signed him in 2016 and have made him a regular fixture in their backline.
Stones now forms a formidable centre-back partnership for England with fellow Yorkshireman Harry Maguire, with both men going in search of clean sheets and goals from set pieces, as England try to go all the way to the final that is due to be played at Wembley.
Kyle Walker – Right-Back
Kyle Walker is John Stones’ Man City teammate, meaning the two have a strong understanding out on the pitch, which could come in handy for Gareth Southgate when the pressure mounts at the European Championship.
Walker’s football journey set sail in the Steel City of Sheffield, which has an incredible track record of producing top notch sportsmen and women. Having muscled his way into the Sheffield United youth setup he went on to make a couple of appearances for the Blades before being snapped up by Tottenham where he helped the club come as close as it has ever done to shrugging off its “always the bridesmaid” tag.
He then traded in his white shirt for a sky blue one and headed back north to Manchester. He is an ever-present in the right-back slot for Man City and is viewed as one of the best full-backs on the planet.
The right-back position has been one of the big talking points surrounding Southgate’s Euro 2020 squad, because he included no less than four of them in his 26-man selection. That means that Walker will be competing with La Liga winner Kieran Trippier and Champions League winner Reece James.
Harry Maguire – Centre-Back
As previously mentioned, Harry Maguire is the other Yorkshire bred centre-back in the England team, and he is also the man on this list who has the biggest connection to East Yorkshire, having made 54 appearances for Hull City between 2014 and 2017.
His stats in Hull were what finally put Leicester City’s savvy scouts onto his scent and the rest is history, as he helped the Foxes claim a maiden Premier League title and then secured his dream move to Manchester United, to follow in the footsteps of Jaap Stam and Steve Bruce (another Hull connection!).
Having been given a rocky ride by the media and fans, as well as an incident that occurred while he was on holiday, Maguire has now proven his worth, helping the Reds finish runner-up in the Premier League and probably being one of the first names on the England team sheet. He and Stones will be tough for Euro 2020 strike forces to break down, or at least that is what England fans will be hoping.
Jamie Vardy – Striker Missing In Action
There is one more of Yorkshire’s sons who perhaps should have his name up in lights this summer, but for one reason or another has been frozen out by the England hierarchy.
That man is Jamie Vardy, whose decision to remain loyal to Leicester City has ultimately cost him his place in the England side, this despite him regularly being lauded by all the best managers in England and abroad.
Vardy’s unlikely rise to the top via non-league football is well documented, but everything first started for him at the unheralded Stocksbridge Park Steels F.C. who are a club based on the outskirts of Sheffield and whose average attendance is under two hundred. It was here in the Northern Premier League Division One East that Vardy set out on his mission to become a great of the English game. It is a crying shame that the England management has not put more faith in him.
It was not always this way, because another England legend also spent time having lumps kicked out of him at Stocksbridge Park Steels F.C. That man was Chris Waddle, who received almost treble the amount of England caps as Vardy did.
Because of all this, Vardy has now pulled a Paul Scholes and declared himself retired from international football, meaning he will be watching from the sofa with the rest of us this summer.