Peter REID

For the time he spent on the international scene, it was a rare thing indeed to see Peter Reid enter the field of play in an England shirt. Reid was in an awful lot of squads over a four year period in the 1980s with one role to play - the main back-up to Bryan Robson. In that sense, Peter sat on a lot of benches in his England tracksuit, waiting often in vain for his chance. There was not anyone quite with Robson's overall drive in both attack and defence, but when it came to finding someone best equipped to cover for the England captain's positional discipline in the middle of the park, winning the ball and feeding it simply to the players who possessed the game's silkier touches, Reid was the most capable deputy around. A leader of men (despite not being the captain) of Everton's otherwise youthful and precocious team of multiple honours in the mid-1980s, international recognition came remarkably late for Peter, who was 29 and had just won the 1985 League title with Everton when he was invited to join the squad for a summer tour of Mexico, a year before England expected to be back there for the World Cup.

Reid was handed his debut in the second game of the tour - a 1-0 defeat to the hosts - as he came on as a sub for Ray Wilkins and played alongside Robson; he then put in a stoic 90 minutes with the skipper at his side as England destroyed West Germany 3-0 prior to a flight to Los Angeles, where Reid won his third cap as a sub for Glenn Hoddle in a 5-0 stuffing of the USA. Home and a breather followed and Peter, along with Gary Stevens and Paul Bracewell, was one of three Everton stars who had made their international debuts on that tour, and subsequently he was never out of the squad, even though chances to actually kick another ball were few and far between. He paired with Robson again in Wilkins' injury-enforced absence as England resumed their so far flawless World Cup qualification campaign with a 1-1 draw against Romania (see photo above, mulling over free-kick options with his more experienced midfield colleagues Robson and Hoddle) but the return of Wilkins, and coach Bobby Robson's desire to take a longer look at Bracewell, meant that Reid played no further part in the qualification process, from which England sealed their place in Mexico. Peter played twice in 1986 prior to the squad announcement - both after coming on as a sub for Wilkins, firstly in a 2-1 Rous Cup victory over Scotland at Wembley and then a last-ditch friendly against Canada in Vancouver as England gently acclimatised to North American altitude. (Matthew Rudd).

Despite his lack of minutes on the pitch and his considerable absence of any pace, Reid got into the squad, primarily because the captain was going into the tournament with an iffy shoulder and as much a like-for-like as possible was required as a deputy. Robson duly went over on the shoulder in the second group game against Morocco which ended goalless and, with Wilkins also absent from the crucial third group game against Poland thanks to an impetuous red card, there was little doubt that Reid would be called into World Cup finals action, just nine days short of his 30th birthday. Peter duly took to the field as the defensive section of an entirely re-shaped midfield as England lined up against Poland in Mexico City, knowing that it was win or bust for their World Cup dreams. Coach Bobby Robson used Reid, earning his seventh cap, as the portcullis behind Glenn Hoddle and Peter Beardsley's visionary instincts in the England centre. He was expected to win the ball and play it simple, and that's precisely what he did as Hoddle and Beardsley dominated the game ahead of him and Gary Lineker stuck away a career-changing hat-trick to ensure a passage into the second round. With skipper Robson still injured, Reid was maintained in an untouched side for the second round tie against Paraguay which was completely one-sided. At 2-0, Reid was withdrawn in favour of Tottenham's Gary Stevens as the bigger picture emerged in the shape of Argentina in the quarter-finals.

Reid was selected (the photo above is during the game) and was one of the first players whom Diego Maradona waltzed through on the halfway line prior to scoring his stunning solo goal shortly after his lawlessness had put Argentina ahead. With attack now the be-all and end-all, Reid was unsurprisingly hauled off in favour of Chris Waddle, but it was only when John Barnes was chucked on that England got one back and nearly levelled up. The game ended 2-1 and Peter's World Cup adventures were almost certainly over - 1990 seemed unlikely for a player who would be 34 by then. Robson gave him four more caps - including in a 1-1 draw with Brazil in the 1987 Rous Cup and a 3-1 friendly defeat to West Germany later the same year, but he featured just once in the qualification campaign for the 1988 European Championships as Robson returned to fitness and resumed his talisman status at the heart of the national team. Reid won his 13th and final cap as a sub for the captain in a 1-0 win over Switzerland prior to the finals, and he was subsequently put in the squad for Germany as Robson's back-up again but never got a kick as England wimped out with three group defeats. It was game over afterwards as younger midfield grafters were called upon by Robson, but Reid was an unfussy, proud and uncomplaining member of the party, feeling the privilege of playing for his country at a time when his chance seemed to have passed him by. (Matthew Rudd)