Peter WITHE

Always a top striker, Peter Withe's ambitions were somewhat dented in the 1970s by his prolific shifts from club to club, never therefore allowing himself to settle into patterns of play which England coaches could observe. Not given a chance by Ron Greenwood as he helped Nottingham Forest to the League title in 1978, Withe had to wait another three years before his potency at champions-elect Aston Villa forced Greenwood to give the somewhat cumbersome but effective centre forward a go. Withe was a comparatively old debutant, pushing 30 years of age when he turned out in a friendly against Brazil at Wembley in May 1981 which England lost 1-0. He only featured in one of the World Cup qualifiers - a sub outing as England lost 2-1 in Norway - but featured in two of the pre-tournament fixtures (the photo above is during the 1-0 win against Wales) and was given a place in the squad for Spain, though stayed on the bench throughout. Bobby Robson kept his eye on Withe after the tournament, though he didn't play again until April 1983, when he scored his only England goal as Hungary were dispatched 2-0 at Wembley in a qualifier for the 1984 European Championships. Peter then played in both of England's summer Home International contests against Northern Ireland and Scotland and came on as a sub in England's 3-0 win over Hungary in the European Championship campaign which had been rendered futile by defeat against Denmark the previous month. Age was now a factor, but a 33 year old Withe, still producing the goods for Villa, was surprisingly brought back in November 1984 as a form striker for a World Cup qualifier against Turkey. England won 8-0 but Withe didn't score and the game acted as a last hurrah. (Matthew Rudd)

09/09/81 v Norway (A) L 2-1 (WCQ) sub

01/06/83 v Scotland (H) W 2-0 (HC)

02/10/83 v Hungary (A) W 3-0 (ECQ) sub

14/11/84 v Turkey (A) W 8-0 (WCQ)