Gary MABBUTT

Regarded rightly as one of the game's great gentlemen (though he was still as capable of moaning at a ref as any other central defender!), Gary Mabbutt's England career started and ended on three separate occasions without him ever really being valued as a first choice stopper. Mabbutt's cool and clean brand of defence made him almost one of a kind during a period when more uncompromising spoilers were being recruited to stem the best of the globe's centre forwards and therefore only the sort of club form at Tottenham Hotspur which gave him top-ranking headlines seemed to prompt a summons to the England squad. Such plaudits were immediate; he was two months into his Spurs career in 1982 when new coach Bobby Robson pencilled him into the team for a Wembley friendly against West Germany, although he was put into the right back position - a place with which he hadn't been familiar during his formative Bristol Rovers years, never mind a dozen games with Spurs - and England's defence were flattened frequently in a 2-1 defeat. Mabbutt stayed in for his competitive debut - and played at centre back - as England destroyed Greece 3-0 in Salonika in a qualifier for the 1984 European Championships. Robson kept him in place in a three at the back system as England then trounced Luxembourg 9-0 in another qualifier and as 1983 then got underway, Gary seemed a regular fixture. England then took Greece on again (the photo above is during the game), at Wembley, in another European Championship qualifier and the game had little to keep Mabbutt occupied defensively but the night would become infamous for chronic misfiring at the other end, and the 0-0 draw restricted England's chances considerably. Robson liked Mabbutt, and so did the country and his fellow professionals.

As a player, Gary's calmness and precision timing in the tackle made up for his lack of pace and height, plus his mild immobility caused by a slightly ostentatious girth, but Robson needed to check the long-term suitability of other young centre backs after qualification for the European Championships was held over, and Mabbutt was not selected for a three-match summer tour of Australia. The crucial return to qualification action culminated in a 1-0 home defeat to Denmark which all but ended England's hopes of making the finals, and Gary had been crucially left out of the team. Robson put him in for the next game against Hungary - a 3-0 win - but the damage had been done and the coach decided to look elsewhere, preferring to instil more pace and natural grit alongside mainstay Terry Butcher at the back. Mabbutt's team-mate Graham Roberts was tested, before Terry Fenwick and Mark Wright began to monopolise England's defensive heart. Although highly respected and always consistent in the Spurs defence during the 1980s, Gary's England career seemed over by the time the 1986 World Cup came round. Younger hopefuls such as Mark Wright and Dave Watson were starting to look like genuine long-term contenders to the likes of Terry Butcher, Terry Fenwick and Alvin Martin for the central defensive roles, although it was only that experienced trio which travelled to Mexico and played their roles as England were eliminated in the quarter-finals. Robson decided thereafter that Fenwick and Martin were dispensable and, noticing a new, resurgent Spurs gunning for three trophies, offered an olive branch to the discarded Mabbutt who duly picked up his tenth England cap in a qualifier for the 1988 European Championships - more than three years after his ninth had come in a qualifier for the 1984 competition. This time the result favoured Mabbutt, who also scored a superb goal as England defeated Yugoslavia 2-0 at Wembley. (Matthew Rudd)

As 1987 began Gary Mabbutt's selection still wouldn't quite become the shoo-in which he craved and which Spurs fans claimed was essential. Tony Adams was given his debut in the next game - a 4-2 win against Spain - but Mabbutt hung around, playing in the next two qualifiers - the first in a three at the back system, the second as part of a four - as England beat Northern Ireland 2-0 and then disappointingly endured a goalless shutout in Turkey. Spurs reached the FA Cup final that summer so Mabbutt couldn't be considered for the Rous Cup opener against Brazil which ended 1-1, and Robson used the opportunity to take a second look at a fast-emerging Adams alongside the experienced Butcher. The partnership worked sufficiently for it to become the forefront pairing for the England coach and Gary would only win one more cap that year, in a 3-1 friendly defeat to West Germany in Dusseldorf. Butcher broke a leg in the winter and was instantly declared unavailable for the European Championship finals - for which England had qualified in style - but Mabbutt was not considered even as a potential back-up for Robson's new pairing of Mark Wright and Adams, with Dave Watson getting the call to the squad for Germany instead. England infamously came home disgraced after three shoddy defeats. Mabbutt was not selected again for England by Robson and by the time Graham Taylor took over in the autumn of 1990, it didn't seem likely - or even worthy of consideration - that a rejuvenated Mabbutt would get a recall. Though he pleasingly missed few games (despite the diagnosis of his diabetes) and was by now a worthy and highly trusted club captain, England were boasting Wright, Des Walker and Gary Pallister, all of whom were far ahead. Butcher had retired and Adams found negligible favour with Taylor despite Arsenal's unbeatable march towards that season's league title.

There was clearly room for another central defender to be called up thanks to Butcher and Adams' absence - an experiment with Earl Barrett didn't work - and in October 1991 Taylor decided to send for Mabbutt for, yet again, an upcoming pair of crucial qualifiers for the 1992 European Championships - his appearance meant that Gary had played in qualifiers for three separate European Championship tournaments and yet never once in a qualifier for a World Cup. Mabbutt shored up a defence robbed of the injured Wright as England stuttered past Turkey 1-0 at Wembley and then drew 1-1 with Poland in Poznan, with Gary winning the header from David Rocastle's late corner which allowed clubmate Gary Lineker to thump a fine overhead kick into the roof of the net to equalise and rubberstamp England's place in the finals. Mabbutt was again, however, destined not to take part, with one more cap coming in the preparatory period leading up to the tournament in Sweden. Taylor had massive problems with injured defenders leading into the finals - Wright pulled out with a late injury and no less than three right backs also had to withdraw - and he put Adams on standby instead of Mabbutt, ultimately being allowed to call up Keith Curle after the initial injury troubles but not Adams at a later stage. Gary was not considered and would not be asked to represent his country again. He continued to play for Spurs regularly and with dignity until the age of 36, although it's fair to say that he will be more remembered for his decorum and integrity than he ever will be for his abilities as a player, a fine one though he was. (Matthew Rudd)