Fabio Capello will be among the former England managers in attendance at Wembley on Thursday night as the Football Association stage a series of events to commemorate the 1,000th men’s international.
The 73-year-old Italian, who took charge of England between 2008 and 2012, will be joined by a host of high-profile figures from the team’s past, with all former captains, players with 50 or more caps and the 1966 World Cup-winning squad invited to the match against Montenegro.
They will each receive a specially engraved commemorative silver Elizabethan dish from FA chairman Greg Clarke in the Wembley Suite prior to kick-off, while every player will be given a shirt with their own ‘legacy number’, assigned in the order they made their England debut right up to Tyrone Mings, who was the 1,244th when featuring against Bulgaria last month.
Viv Anderson will also be recognised as the first black professional to represent England at senior level.
It is understood Wayne Rooney, Peter Shilton and Sir Geoff Hurst are among those confirmed to appear, while former England skipper David Beckham is one of several set to send a video message which will be played on the big screens inside the stadium. At half-time, the dignitaries will be brought onto the pitch to meet the crowd.
England have also been given special dispensation by Uefa to wear shirts with each player’s legacy number printed underneath the crest. The number will subsequently be moved to the inside of each collar to comply with UEFA regulations.
Gareth Southgate, number 1,071, was presented with his own shirt during last month’s visit to an exhibition at the National Football Museum in Manchester.
