Gary Charles had a good end to the season at Nottingham Forest in 1990-91
(he is pictured above in action for Forest in March '91) when he came in at
right back for ten games and even scored a rare goal in the FA Cup semi-final.
He hit national headlines when he was the player fouled by Paul Gascoigne in
the final at Wembley which led to the Spurs star's infamous knee injury, but
Graham Taylor had seen much to convince him, and so included the youthful
full back in his semi-experimental England squad which travelled to Oceania
for a four game tour. Charles played in the final two games - a 2-0 win over
New Zealand in Wellington and a 4-2 victory over Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur,
but when the serious business began again the following autumn, first choice
right back Lee Dixon was recalled. Charles' career never really caught fire
afterwards and his hopes of an international recall quickly faded away.
(Matthew Rudd) |