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After the first black player to play for England (Viv Anderson in 1978) comes the first black player to score for England, and what an impact he had. Luther Blissett's blustering style for Graham Taylor's industrial but effective Watford team of the early 1980s rightly earned him an England call-up by Bobby Robson, never afraid to pick the strikers who were scoring, no matter how robust their own style or that of their team. In October 1982, Blissett came on as a sub for his debut in only Robson's second game as England succumbed to the West Germans in a friendly, but when whipping boys Luxembourg dropped in at Wembley for a European Championship qualifier two months later, Robson could afford to be experimental for a competitive fixture and Blissett was among his selections.
He responded with a hat-trick as England humiliated their opponents 9-0 and for a while Robson justifiably made him his number one target man, especially as he was piling up the goals in Watford's inaugural Division One season at the same time. Blissett duly featured in England's next two qualifiers - a goalless draw with Greece (as a sub) and a 2-0 win against Hungary - and maintained his place in the Home International games against Northern Ireland and Scotland, though failed to score in any. Robson took him on the 1983 tour of Australia but then dropped Blissett in favour of the experienced Paul Mariner for the all-crucial qualifer against Denmark at Wembley, which England lost 1-0. This was no surprise, as Blissett had made his surprise move to AC Milan by the time, and the consequent draining of his confidence in front of goal rendered him unplayable for a game which urgently needed a reliable goal getter.
Four more appearances followed - the away fixture with Hungary (see photo above) which England won 3-0, two Home Internationals and a friendly defeat to the USSR, at which point Watford were negotiating to bring him home. By the time the rescue was secured, Robson had found his next target man in Mark Hateley, who ironically would soon join Milan himself with considerably more success. Blissett is forever in the England history books, and it remains one of football's great quirks that a striker's only goals for his country came in the form of a hat-trick in one match. (Matthew Rudd).
CLUB CAREER:
1975–1983 Watford 246 (95)
1983–1984 A.C. Milan 30 (5)
1984–1988 Watford 127 (44)
1988–1991 Bournemouth 121 (56)
1991–1993 Watford 42 (9)
1992 West Bromwich Albion (loan) 3 (1)
1993–1994 Bury 10 (1)
1993 Derry City (loan) 4 (1)
1993–1994 Mansfield Town (loan) 5 (1)
1994 Southport (loan) 5 (2)
1994–1995 Wimborne Town
1995–1996 Fakenham Town
2007 Chesham United 2
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