At least ten cricketers who played football at a genuinely professional or international level exist in the sport’s history, from Victorian all-rounder C.B. Fry to Australia’s teenage sensation Caoimhe Bray in 2026.
Between them, they collected FA Cup finals, football World Cup appearances, and Test centuries. Here’s the full list, in order, with the stats to back it up.
Quick List: Cricketers Who Played Professional Football
Before the deep dive, here’s the shortlist for a quick scan.
| # | Cricketer | Cricket Side | Football Club(s) | Football Highlight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C.B. Fry | England | Southampton, Portsmouth | 1902 FA Cup final, 2 England caps |
| 2 | Denis Compton | England | Arsenal | 1947-48 title, 1950 FA Cup |
| 3 | Willie Watson | England | Sunderland, Huddersfield Town | 1950 World Cup squad, 4 England caps |
| 4 | Brian Close | England | Arsenal, Leeds United, Bradford City | Signed for Arsenal in 1950 |
| 5 | Chris Balderstone | England | Carlisle United, Doncaster Rovers | Played football and cricket same day (1975) |
| 6 | Sir Viv Richards | West Indies | Antigua national team | 1974 World Cup qualifiers |
| 7 | Sir Ian Botham | England | Scunthorpe United, Yeovil Town | 11 Football League games |
| 8 | Arnie Sidebottom | England | Manchester United, Huddersfield Town | Won 1974-75 Second Division title |
| 9 | Ellyse Perry | Australia | Sydney FC, Canberra United | 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup |
| 10 | Caoimhe Bray | Australia | Junior Matildas (goalkeeper) | Current WBBL and youth football dual athlete |
While the era of dual-sport international athletes may have faded, the connection between cricket and football remains strong in India, where cricket icons like MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli have co-owned ISL franchises like Chennaiyin FC and FC Goa respectively. India’s top football league has benefited directly from cricket’s commercial success, with several ISL clubs following the same city-based franchise model that made the IPL a global phenomenon. As both sports continue to grow side by side, the ISL is proof that the cricket-football crossover has simply moved from the playing field to the boardroom.
Now, let’s look at each name in more detail.
The Full List of Cricketers Who Played Football
Here are the Details about the Cricketers Played Football too:
1. C.B. Fry: The Original Double International
Charles Burgess Fry set the template for this entire list. He played 26 Tests for England between 1896 and 1912 and later captained the side without ever losing a match as skipper.
Fry’s football career ran parallel to his cricket. He signed professional forms with Southampton in 1900 and made his debut against Tottenham Hotspur that December. Just months later, England capped him against Ireland.
The following season, Fry played full-back for Southampton in the 1902 FA Cup final, which the club lost to Sheffield United after a replay. He briefly joined Portsmouth afterward before injury ended his football days.
As if two sports weren’t enough, Fry also held the world long jump record for 21 years. Modern all-rounders have nothing on this man.
2. Denis Compton: Arsenal’s Cricket Superstar
Denis Compton remains one of England’s most celebrated batsmen. He scored 5,807 runs in 78 Tests at an average of 50.06, with 17 centuries.
Off the cricket field, Compton spent his football career at Arsenal as a left winger, from 1936 to 1950. He was part of the Arsenal squad that won the First Division title in 1947-48 and the FA Cup in 1950.
His numbers varied slightly by source, but he made somewhere close to 60 appearances for the Gunners and scored around 15 to 16 goals. Interestingly, his brother Leslie Compton also played football for Arsenal, and his grandson Nick Compton later played Test cricket for England. Sporting talent clearly runs in that family.
3. Willie Watson: England’s World Cup Squad Member Who Saved an Ashes Test
Willie Watson is best remembered in cricket for one innings. His unbeaten 109, alongside Trevor Bailey, saved the second Ashes Test at Lord’s in 1953.
But before that, Watson was arguably better known for football. He played for Huddersfield Town, then Sunderland, where he made 211 league appearances as a wing-half. He earned four England caps in 1949 and 1950.
Watson’s biggest football moment came in 1950, when he traveled to Brazil as part of England’s first-ever World Cup squad. He didn’t play a match, so he missed England’s infamous 1-0 defeat to the USA. Small mercies.
4. Brian Close: England’s Youngest Test Cricketer Also Played for Arsenal
Brian Close became the youngest man to play Test cricket for England when he debuted against New Zealand in 1949, at just 18 years old. He went on to captain both Yorkshire and England,.
On the football side, Close played for Leeds United, Arsenal, and Bradford City, mostly as a forward. His time at Arsenal ended after a scheduling mix-up got him sacked for arriving late to a match.
A serious knee injury at Bradford City in 1952-53 finally ended his football career. Close later mentored a young Sir Viv Richards and Sir Ian Botham at Somerset, both of whom appear further down this list. Small football-cricket world, isn’t it?
5. Chris Balderstone: The Man Who Played Cricket and Football on the Same Day
Nobody on this list pulled off a stranger feat than Chris Balderstone. On 15 September 1975, he was batting on 51 not out for Leicestershire against Derbyshire at Chesterfield when play stopped for the day.
He then drove roughly 30 miles to Doncaster and played the full 90 minutes for Doncaster Rovers in a Football League match, which finished 1-1. The next morning, he went back to Chesterfield and completed a century.
Balderstone also played 376 league matches for Carlisle United and turned out for Huddersfield Town and Queen of the South across his football career. On the cricket side, he scored over 19,000 first-class runs and won two Test caps for England in 1976. He remains the only player to appear in a Football League match and a first-class cricket match on the same day, and that record is unlikely to fall.
6. Sir Viv Richards: A World Cup Winner in Two Sports
Sir Viv Richards intimidated bowlers for a living. He retired in 1991 with more than 15,000 international runs and two ODI World Cup winners’ medals with the West Indies.
Long before that, in 1974, Richards represented Antigua and Barbuda in the football World Cup qualifiers. It didn’t go well. Antigua finished bottom of their group, including an 11-1 defeat to Trinidad and Tobago and a 6-0 loss to Suriname.
Richards never played for Antigua again after that campaign. Still, he holds a claim almost nobody else can: representing his country in a football World Cup qualifier and winning a cricket World Cup, all in the same career.
7. Sir Ian Botham: England’s All-Rounder Who Played for Scunthorpe United
Sir Ian Botham needs no introduction to English cricket fans. He took 383 wickets and scored over 5,200 runs across 102 Tests, one of the finest all-round records the game has seen.
Between the 1979-80 and 1985 seasons, Botham signed professional terms with Scunthorpe United and made 11 appearances as a centre-back. He later had a brief, unsuccessful spell trying to revive his football career at non-league Yeovil Town.
Botham eventually chose cricket permanently, and English cricket is better for it. Still, it’s fun to imagine an alternate universe where Beefy became a Football League regular instead.
8. Arnie Sidebottom: Manchester United Defender Turned Yorkshire Fast Bowler
Arnie Sidebottom started as a footballer before switching sports. He joined Manchester United as an amateur in 1971 and helped the club win the 1974-75 Second Division title while deputizing for an injured Jim Holton.
He later moved to Huddersfield Town and then Halifax Town, retiring from football in 1979. Sidebottom then focused on cricket for Yorkshire, taking 594 first-class wickets across an 18-year county career.
His one Test cap came in 1985 against Australia at Trent Bridge. Sidebottom’s son, Ryan Sidebottom, later played Test cricket for England too, extending the family’s sporting legacy by one more generation.
9. Ellyse Perry: A World Cup Footballer and Cricket Great
Ellyse Perry is arguably the greatest all-round cricketer of her generation, male or female. Across formats for Australia, she has scored over 3,600 ODI runs and taken more than 160 ODI wickets, with a Test best of 213, the highest Test score by an Australian woman.
Before cricket took over fully, Perry represented Australia’s national football team, the Matildas, as a defender. She earned 18 international caps and played at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup, where she scored a long-range goal against Sweden in the quarter-final.
Perry played club football for Central Coast Mariners, Canberra United, and Sydney FC before choosing cricket as her primary career. Even so, she’s still remembered as one of the finest two-sport athletes Australia has produced.
10. Caoimhe Bray: The Next Cricket-Football Crossover Story
The tradition hasn’t died out. Caoimhe Bray debuted for the Sydney Sixers in the WBBL in October 2024, at just 15 years old, becoming the league’s youngest-ever player.
In November 2025, at 16, Bray took a hat-trick against Sydney Thunder, becoming the youngest player in Women’s Big Bash League history to do so. She’s the seventh player overall to manage the feat.
Off the cricket pitch, Bray plays goalkeeper for Australia’s Junior Matildas at Under-17 level. She’s spoken openly about idolizing Ellyse Perry growing up, and as of 2026, she’s still juggling both sports on a three-year Sydney Sixers deal. Cricket fans should keep an eye on this one.
Honourable Mentions: More Cricket-Football Crossovers
A few more names deserve a mention, even if they didn’t make the main list.
| Name | Cricket Connection | Football Connection |
|---|---|---|
| Ken Taylor | 3 Tests for England (1959-1964) | Nearly 270 appearances for Huddersfield Town alongside future 1966 World Cup winner Ray Wilson |
| Leslie Compton | Played cricket for Middlesex | Won the FA Cup with Arsenal in 1950 and earned 2 England football caps as the oldest outfield debutant in team history |
| Gary Lineker | Reportedly a talented schoolboy cricketer | Chose football, became England’s second-highest all-time goalscorer instead |
Why Cricketers Don’t Play Football Anymore
The honest answer is scheduling. Modern cricket runs almost year-round now, thanks to franchise leagues, central contracts, and international calendars packed across every continent.
Football clubs also demand full commitment. Multi-million-pound contracts and strict fitness regimes leave no room for a second sport at the top level.
Balderstone’s same-day feat in 1975 already looked rare at the time. Today, insurance clauses and central contracts alone would make it close to impossible for a professional cricketer to also turn out in a Football League match.
That’s exactly why Caoimhe Bray’s situation stands out. She’s one of the very few current athletes still genuinely balancing both sports at a competitive level, even if she’ll likely have to choose one eventually.
Final Word: Legendary Cricketers Like Sir Viv Richards and Ellyse Perry Played Football
From C.B. Fry’s FA Cup final in 1902 to Caoimhe Bray’s WBBL hat-trick in 2025, the overlap between cricket and football keeps producing remarkable stories.
Most of these careers belong to a different era of sport, before specialization took over completely. Whether the next crossover athlete emerges from Australia, England, or somewhere else entirely, this list will need updating again eventually.
