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By the end of 1979, Phil Thompson had 18 caps and had helped England to qualify for the European Championships in Italy, the nation's first major finals in a decade. The last game of 1979 saw Thompson become England captain for the night as, with a game to spare, England qualified from their group with a fine 2-0 win over Bulgaria. Phil duly became captain of Liverpool at the same time, though his international appointment was only temporary as Kevin Keegan was unavailable. In 1980, Thompson played five of the seven warm-up matches, wearing the armband in two, as England prepared for Italy with five wins and a draw; their only defeat coming in a surprisingly poor 4-1 reverse against Wales in the European Championships, a scoreline that would not be matched for 25 years.
Thompson was captain on the day and had, by his own admission, one of the worst games of his career. However, there was little doubt that he would be one half of England's first choice partnership at the back as Greenwood named the squad which would contest the European Championship finals. Thompson and Watson didn't miss a minute in a mixed and ultimately unfulfilled tournament for England, with a draw, a defeat and a win not proving enough. Afterwards, Phil led his country out twice, with mixed results, as England got their long campaign to reach the 1982 World Cup underway. A 4-0 win over Norway was followed by a 2-1 defeat in Romania (the photo above is during the game) before injury again took Thompson away from the team, allowing Greenwood to blood younger defenders like Alvin Martin and Terry Butcher.
He returned in the summer as a frustratingly inconsistent England found themselves needing to win a clash in Hungary or face a third consecutive absence from the World Cup finals. Thompson and Watson re-established their dual roles as fearless stoppers and England fabulously won 3-1. They had to work right to the end of the campaign as Norway then won in Oslo, and Thompson picked up his 31st cap in the all-important decider against Hungary in November 1981. England won 1-0 and Phil was safely on his way to the World Cup, injury permitting. What he couldn't be sure of was who would be partnering him in the defence as Greenwood now had a number of candidates, young and mature, and he had a big decision or two to make. (Matthew Rudd)
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