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One month and two memorable performances were the sum total of the mercurial Alan Hudson's meagre England career as he fell victim to a combination of his own indiscipline, institutionalised mistrust in the 1970s of the English game's entertainers, and Don Revie's personal eccentricities in selection policy. He had already graced Chelsea for many years and then left for the more pragmatic surroundings of Stoke City (he is pictured above in action for the Potteries club) by the time he received his long overdue call-up papers at the start of 1975.
Revie pitched him in against West Germany, and Hudson gave a masterclass in midfield control and vision as England won the friendly 2-0. Tongues were again hanging out over Hudson's talent, and at still only 23, he had time on his side to dominate England's engine for years to come. The infamous 5-0 demolition of Cyprus in a European Championship qualifier came next, and Hudson played his part in the game which became immortalised by Malcolm Macdonald record-breaking achievements in front of goal. In the form of his life, Hudson looked forward to the forthcoming return fixture in Limassol, but wasn't picked. When he was also left out of the summer's Home Internationals squad, it became clear that Revie had seen something the rest hadn't, and it was not to his liking.
The initial outcry and bout of head-scratching over Hudson's exclusion was quickly overshadowed by Revie's further capacity to baffle when he ditched World Cup hero Alan Ball as both captain and player. Nobody ever established a satisfactory reason as to why Hudson was so suddenly ditched, and indeed he never returned for England, especially after a move to Arsenal which proved nothing short of catastrophic and pretty much ruined him. (Matthew Rudd)
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