If you follow the Football Association on Twitter, it will not have escaped your notice that the game’s governing body in England marked its 150th Anniversary yesterday. The glitzy shindig in London was accompanied by a seemingly endless bombardment of self-congratulatory tweets that made the FA come across like a kid with a new toy.
At nine and a half feet, the statue of former England manager Bobby Robson stands tall over supporters of Newcastle United after it was unveiled outside St James’ Park before the Magpies’ Premier League match against prospective champions Manchester City this afternoon.
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.
UEFA Euro 1980 was a dire tournament for England but at least the satisfaction of qualifying could take the edge off the negativity. After a relatively good World Cup in 1982, the country didn’t even have that to fall back upon. UEFA Euro 1984 would have been the great Bobby Robson’s first tournament with the national team, but instead he would lead the team to a quarter-final in World Cup 1986.
In Mexico, England stuttered through Group F, their only win bringing a famous hat-trick for eventual Golden Boot winner Gary Lineker. The second round saw England face Paraguay and dispatch them with ease, Lineker scoring two of three unanswered goals against the South Americans. England would be stunned in the last eight by Paraguay’s neighbours, Argentina, and a very special player.
Supporting the England national football team from a fresh perspective.
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