Sunderland left back Nick Pickering was a promising 20 year old of limited experience when he was,
to his and everyone else's surprise, included in a baby-faced squad which toured Australia and played
the hosts in three different cities in the summer of 1983. Pickering - who is pictured above playing for
England U21s - started the final game, in Melbourne, as England drew 1-1, and then returned to his
club in the realistic knowledge that at crunch time, it would be Kenny Sansom who would regain the
No.3 shirt when the business of qualifying for the 1984 European Championships resumed. As it was
Sansom had such a stranglehold on the shirt that the other left backs with half an eye on it also saw
their international careers pretty much snuffed out, although Pickering kept the distinction of being
Sunderland's last England player for a further 16 years until Kevin Phillips came along. He later won
the FA Cup after moving to Coventry. (Matthew Rudd).
The date above is incorrect. It was in 1984 but Nick was playing for England U21s (one of 15 caps for them)