I did wonder if I was truly cursed when it came to the Three Lions.
From the very first time I went to the National Stadium to watch England take on Johan Cruyff’s Holland in February 1977, 11,069 days elapsed, four games in London and a World Cup quarter-final in Gelsenkirchen in 2006 without England scoring a goal – before I saw John Terry score the first England goal at the new Wembley in the 1-1 draw against Brazil in June 2007.
Despite losing 2-0 to Holland 49 years ago, overall it didn’t start that badly in footballing terms. Cruyff was superb that night – although it was Jan Peters who bagged a brace, it was the Dutch midfield maestro that effectively destroyed England on his own, and to this day he still remains the greatest player I’ve seen play live (with apologies to Messrs Messi and Ronaldo).
But the Dutch defeat set the scene, I didn’t make it back to the Twin Towers to watch England until Italy, 20 years later, came to town for a World Cup qualifier, having been thrown out of the FA’s Lancaster Gate at lunchtime along with a group of fellow Albion fans protesting about the FA ‘sitting on their hands’ over goings-on at the Goldstone, Glenn Hoddle’s England lost 0-1.
Johan Cruyff at Wembley in the 1970s - a player who began Ian Hart's long wait to see England score | R. Powell/Gettyplaceholder image
Johan Cruyff at Wembley in the 1970s - a player who began Ian Hart's long wait to see England score | R. Powell/Getty
It was November 1999, before I ventured up the A24 trying to break the hoodoo, this time Scotland narrowly won 1-0 in a Euro play-off – thankfully we’d won the first leg north of the border 2-0.
The new millennium arrived, along with the news that the old stadium was going to close at end of the year 2000, and given we’d beaten Germany in that summers Euros, I travelled to the capital the first Saturday in October confident my drought would finish, ironically at the last ever game at Wembley against the Germans in another World Cup qualifier.
Sadly, miserable weather mirrored the England performance, we lost 1-0 and manager Kevin Keegan resigned even before Gladiators started!
I had resigned myself to the facr I might never see England score, but then the summer of 2006, I’d done a funeral for a ‘ticket agent’, and having beaten Paraguay in the last 16, England set up the aforementioned quarter final with Portugal, our man came good.
Danny Welbeck in England action v Nigeria at Wembley in 2018 (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)placeholder image
Danny Welbeck in England action v Nigeria at Wembley in 2018 (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
Harty Junior and did it all in a day by car, thank you Paul Camillin, but again no goals (other than the penalty shoot-out, which England lost).
So, it was left to Terry to break the curse by heading in David Beckham’s free kick in 2007.
With the curse lifted, I’ve since seen countless England goals at both the new stadium and abroad, but the frustration and disappointment still carries on.
I was there that fateful November night in 2007 when ‘The Wally With The Brolly’, and Scott Carson’s display between the sticks – more like Frank Carson – meant we lost to Croatia and failed to reach the 2008 World Cup.
I’ve even seen us take the lead in a World Cup semi-final – in Moscow, 2018 – and in the Euro final in 2021, only for Gareth Southgate to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
And so to this summer, the World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada (as long as World War III doesn’t get in the way) and last week England boss Thomas Tuchel announcing a somewhat puzzling squad of 35 for the upcoming friendlies.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of Albion keeper Jason Steele, so on his call-up, fair play to him, but when have we ever had five keepers in any England squad before?
But far more baffling than that... the top English scorer in the EPL, with 12 league goals, 15 years of top flight and international experience is Brighton’s Danny Welbeck. Yet Dominic Solanke of relegation threatened Spurs is deemed a better option than him. It’s certainly is a funny old game…
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