Gary PALLISTER

Gary Pallister's England career began in a blaze of publicity as a vibrant young Middlesbrough team of 1988, desperately trying to earn promotion back to the big time while on extinction's brink, was showcased by a few salivating football programmes on TV and their tall, elegant central defender caught many an eye. Pallister, who was initially a more proficient basektball player than gangly centre back, had many a scout drooling over his performances and he was still a second string defender when Bobby Robson trusted his instincts and went for broke, calling him up for a friendly against Hungary in 1988 (the photo above is during the game).

England were already assured of their place in the summer's European Championship finals but defensive emperor Terry Butcher had just suffered a broken leg and Robson needed to look at all the potential reinforcements on the scene. Pallister waltzed into the England squad as an unknown, was given a starting shirt in Budapest and famously saw a free header from a corner flash past the post, almost giving him an even glitzier headline than the ones he'd received when Robson announced he was playing. For all that, he was a raw defender with no top flight experience and Robson couldn't use up a place in the squad on him when Butcher was absent and England's other centre backs were almost as inexperienced.

It's worth wondering whether Pallister would have been risked for the European Championships had Butcher been around to hold his hand, but the chances are that Butcher's fitness would not have forced Robson's hand in Pallister's direction to start with. Gary earned a second cap in November 1988 against Saudi Arabia - the opponents say it all - and went back to the day job at Middlesbrough, earned promotion and got his big move to Manchester United which, after a settling in period which was not without its difficulties, led to his inevitable recall to the international set-up as a bonafide defender of class and reputation. (Matthew Rudd)

Graham Taylor put Pallister back into the spotlight for a friendly against Cameroon in February 1991, in which he came on as a sub for Bryan Robson. For all Manchester United's subsequent dominance at club level, Gary was never fully allowed to establish himself under Taylor, winning just two more caps in 1991 and missing out entirely on the 1992 European Championship finals, despite the well-documented injury headaches Taylor was experiencing with his defenders. Pallister came back for the qualification campaign for the 1994 World Cup, deployed as an extra centre back by Taylor in an ill-conceived wingback system against Norway which left the defence completely bemused and England's bid to go to the USA in tatters after a 2-0 defeat.

Pallister played in all three matches of England's summer tour of the States, including the infamous 2-0 defeat by their hosts, and Taylor felt compelled to pick him for the remaining three World Cup qualifiers at the end of 1993, including the superb 3-0 win over Poland and the controversial 2-0 defeat in Rotterdam, during which Palliser shackled Holland's young striker Dennis Bergkamp almost perfectly, letting him loose just once to score the Dutch clincher. Gary's twelfth appearance for England was in Taylor's last game, the surreal 7-1 non-event against San Marino, but he had hopes of more consistency under new coach Terry Venables, who had always admitted to being a Pallister fan. Venables picked Gary for three of his opening six matches (the photo above is during the 1-0 win against Denmark) but injuries took their toll and Pallister ultimately watched a partnership grow between Tony Adams and Gareth Southgate, amidst lots of permutations and one-off recruits like John Scales and David Unsworth.

Palister won his 20th cap against Switzerland at the end of 1995 and didn't play for Venables again afterwards, missing out on the 1996 European Championship squad after Venables went for the youth of Steve Howey and Sol Campbell as back up for his first choice duo. Glenn Hoddle recalled Pallister for two World Cup qualifiers at the end of 1996 as England beat Moldova and Poland without conceding a goal, but Gary's age and lack of pace was starting to catch up with him at club level, leading to his tangential demise from the international scene. There was rarely a more elegant and controlled defender of a ball-playing variety than an on-form Pallister during his era, but the prevalence of defenders who were happy to just defend seemed to please the coaches more. (Matthew Rudd)