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He won League titles with Everton and Arsenal, won domestic Cups and succeeded in Europe, played in Spain and enjoyed a distinguished career at the heart of many a midfield, but few were more surprised than Aston Villa's Kevin Richardson when Terry Venables called him up for only his second game in charge as England - without a qualifying campaign as hosts of the next tournament - took on Greece in a Wembley friendly (the photo above is during the game).
Richardson, who was 31, played the holding role in a craft-filled midfield of Darren Anderton, David Platt, Paul Merson and - later on - Matthew Le Tissier, and did the regular trick of keeping it simple and doing it well. Although he became one of England's oldest debutants that day, he wasn't even the oldest debutant on the pitch, as his former Arsenal team-mate Steve Bould - three weeks his senior - also featured. Richardson's cameo offended nobody as England strolled to a 5-0 win but he wasn't asked back once Venables began working in earnest on structuring a midfield designed to win a tournament. (Matthew Rudd)
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