Just looking through the England starting XI for their game against Albania last Friday evening at Wembley, I was surprised to see that no fewer than six have played against Rovers in their career.
Kyle Walker (for Northampton Town), Ezri Konsa (for Charlton Athletic), Declan Rice (for West Ham in the Trophy), Jude Bellingham (for Birmingham in a friendly) and Harry Kane (for Leyton Orient) are five and then there’s Dan Burn, who made his England debut in the Albania game.
Burn was in his first spell with Wigan Athletic when he played twice against Rovers in the 2017/18 campaign. At what was then known as the DW Stadium, on 16th September 2017, the hosts were 3-0 winners against Darrell Clarke’s side.
It was a bad day at the office for Clarke and his team; Ryan Sweeney was sent off in the first half and Ellis Harrison’s late penalty was saved by Jamie Jones.
Burn, pictured here with Rory Gaffney, was in good company as Wigan had two more future internationals, Reece James and Ivan Toney in their squad. James started and Toney was a 37th minute substitute.
Nick Powell, Will Grigg and Gavin Massey scored for Wigan and the game was watched by a crowd of 8,732.
Burn was still in the side for the return fixture at The Mem, on 24th April 2018, as Wigan, under manager Paul Cook, were top of the league and already promoted, going into the match and they were happy to leave Bristol with another point under their belt with just two games to play.
The 1-1 draw saw Rovers take the lead through Liam Sercombe (seen here going for goal as Burn attempts to block his shot) on 28 minutes, but the visitors equalised through substitute Ryan Colclough in the second half.
Wigan were crowned champions a few weeks later, with 98 points from their 46 games, while Rovers ended the season in 13th place with 59 points.
It’s been quite a journey for Burn, who joined Newcastle United in January 2022. A week before his first international appearance he’d scored against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup Final
When he played against Rovers back in 2017/18, he had already turned out for Darlington, Fulham, Yeovil Town and Birmingham City and he would play for Brighton & Hove Albion and Wigan (again) before he signed for Newcastle.
Makes you wonder how many future England internationals we’ve seen at The Mem this season!