Summary
- Former West Ham midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker believed England call was a scam before being named in the stand-by squad for the 2006 World Cup.
- Despite youth caps, Reo-Coker never secured a full England call-up in the end.
- His career faded after spells in MLS and he never featured under top managers.
While it’s often said that the universe responds to the frequency of belief, there are just as many moments in football where fortune doesn’t favour the bold – it simply strikes out of nowhere. Some players walk with the swagger of destiny, only to see their careers fizzle out. Others, more modest and unassuming, end up writing chapters no one saw coming.
In English football, one of the sport’s great lotteries is the elusive England call-up. For many, pulling on the Three Lions shirt is the pinnacle of a career. Players on the fringes or fighting to break through often find themselves glued to their phones as international breaks approach, waiting for the call that could change everything.
But for former West Ham and Aston Villa midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker, that call wasn’t something he ever expected. So when his phone rang in 2006, he assumed it was just another scam, unaware that the awkward conversation to follow with then-England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson would become one of the most memorable moments of his career.
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Reo-Coker’s Awkward Phone Call With Sven Goran-Eriksson
He couldn’t believe he was being named England’s stand-by midfielder
On an episode of the ‘Let’s Be Having You’ podcast, Reo-Coker, who made just north of 200 Premier League appearances between 2005 and 2012 and was an FA Cup runner-up with West Ham in the 2005/06 campaign, revealed the details behind what he thought was a scam call with the late and great Sven Goran-Eriksson. He said (watch the segment below):
“So I got the call, and that’s the time when Sven-Goran Eriksson – God rest his soul – he called me after training. And I told him to f*** off, because I thought it was someone playing a prank. I swear, it’s a true story. It was after training, and then I got the call, and someone goes, ‘Nigel, this is Sven. Just wanted to say that you’re in the standby squad for the World Cup.’
“I went, ‘Who the f*** is this? Like, f*** off, do one!’ I put the phone down. Then I got the call again, and he said the same thing. I was like, ‘Are you serious? Like, wow!'”
How Reo-Coker’s England Career Unfolded
It sadly never really took off after his youth caps
In his early days, Nigel Reo-Coker was very much in the mix for England, racking up 21 appearances under David Platt for the Under-21s and even captaining the side at the European Championship. At the time, it looked like the midfield engine was on a fast track for the senior squad. And while he was named on standby for the 2006 World Cup, the full call-up never came.
That same month, the FA confirmed that Reo-Coker would be replaced by Phil Neville, as back problems ruled him out of contention for the tournament. It marked the beginning of a slow fade from the national team radar. In 2010, he rejected a call-up from Sierra Leone after his six-year residence as a child helped him qualify, but he rejected in the hope he would one day represent the Three Lions.
Post-Aston Villa, Reo-Coker’s career began to drift further from the spotlight. He had spells with Bolton Wanderers and Ipswich Town before heading across the pond, trading the Premier League for the quieter hum of MLS pitches. Stints with Vancouver Whitecaps, Chivas USA, and Montreal Impact took him out of the England conversation entirely, and he never featured under managers like Steve McClaren or Fabio Capello.
In March 2018, a full-circle moment seemed possible. After training with them for several weeks, MK Dons were reportedly “keen” to bring Reo-Coker back – 14 years after he’d left Wimbledon during their National Hockey Stadium days. He signed a short-term deal on March 22nd, but the homecoming fizzled out as he failed to make a single appearance before quietly hanging up his boots at the age of 33.
All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt (correct as of 07/04/2025)
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