Category Archives: England Greats

England Greats

England Greats: Kevin Keegan

March 28, 2012 – 11:24 am

Not all England Greats enjoy the international careers their ability and reputations deserve. The 1970s were a notoriously slim period for England, whose FIFA World Cup exit in 1970 ended their spell as world champions and began a decade of qualifying campaigns that did nothing whatsoever to lift the increasingly disillusioned political mood at home.

Kevin Keegan‘s England career overlapped with the team’s darkest decade, but he remains a player we should look back upon with a good deal of pride.

Tags Bobby Robson, Don Revie, Hamburger SV, Kevin Keegan, Liverpool, Newcastle United, Scunthorpe United, Southampton, UEFA European Championships 1980, World Cup 1982 | Permalink | Comments (2)

England Greats

England Greats: Alan Shearer

February 8, 2012 – 2:43 pm

There are football supporters, England supporters, who are old enough to accurately judge Alan Shearer – the latest in the England Greats series – by the quality of his punditry but young enough to not remember just how good a player he was. Sure, they’ve seen a few highlights and might be able to recall his last couple of seasons, but the extent to which he was arguably the last of his kind will be lost on more than a few Match of the Day viewers.

Tags Alan Shearer, Blackburn Rovers, Chris Sutton, Newcastle United, Southampton, Teddy Sheringham, UEFA Euro 2000, UEFA Euro 96, UEFA European Championships 1992, World Cup 1998 | Permalink | Comments (2)

England Greats

England Greats: Stan Mortensen

February 1, 2012 – 8:49 am

World War II had an effect on football just as it did any other walk of life, practically anywhere in the world. The latest subject of the England Greats series knew that better than most. Stan Mortensen was one of countless players whose club and country careers suffered between 1939 and 1945 and part of the crew of a Wellington bomber that crashed in Scotland during the war, killing two of his colleagues and leaving another with only one leg.

Tags Blackpool, Stan Mortensen, Stanley Matthews, USA, World Cup 1950 | Permalink | Comments Off

England Greats

England Greats: Peter Shilton

December 22, 2011 – 3:41 pm

Why the end of a 62-year-old man’s marriage is in the public interest is anyone’s guess, but the newspapers nonetheless brought us the details of one such divorce this week. The man involved was Peter Shilton, who has played more competitive matches than any other professional footballer in the world and England’s most capped player. The legendary goalkeeper is a worthy addition to the England Greats series and his career is far more memorable than gossip about his private life will ever be.

Tags Leicester City, Leyton Orient, Nottingham Forest, Peter Shilton, UEFA European Championships 1980, UEFA European Championships 1988, World Cup 1982, World Cup 1986, World Cup 1990 | Permalink | Comments Off

England Greats

England Greats: Paul Gascoigne

November 30, 2011 – 9:17 am

It’s often said that today’s England national team is lacking nothing more profoundly than a genuinely creative midfielder with a varied passing range and the vision to match. The second subject of the England Greats series is Paul Gascoigne, a player who had all that and more, but only when he was at his best. Sadly, his best was too often overshadowed by moments inspired from an altogether less brilliant place. Off the pitch his story is far more tragic than a tale of wasted talent.