Although Gary Lineker was completely untouchable in the late 1980s, it made sense and good practice for Bobby Robson to give a run-out to any other Englishman showing aptitude and consistency in front of goal, so West Ham's Tony Cottee received a call-up as the squad, rested from their Mexico heroics, reconvened in the autumn of 1986 for a friendly against Sweden in Stockholm. Cottee came on as a sub for Trevor Steven as England succumbed 1-0; then made a late appearance in the opening qualifier for the 1988 European Championships against Northern Ireland with England already 3-0 up.
A third appearance came again as a sub in Hungary (see photo above) but Cottee's diminuitive stature against expert defenders was clearly not making him any ground with Robson, though not starting any of his opening three matches didn't help his cause either. After the 1988 European Championships, which Cottee unsurprisingly sat out, he was given his fourth cap as a sub for the equally unpredictable Mick Harford during a 1-0 win against Denmark, and then a fifth - again from the bench - as England drew 0-0 with Sweden in the opening qualifier for the 1990 World Cup.
The summer of 1989 brought new hope for Cottee after a highly productive opening season for Everton but in a squad crammed with internationally unheralded strikers, Cottee was the odd one out as Robson tried John Fashanu and Nigel Clough as a starting pairing before introducing Cottee as a late sub for Fashanu. During this game, Cottee had a header cleared off the line which, but for an inch or two, could have turned his fast-stuck England career around.
Instead, he got a seventh cap - and, at last, a place in the starting line-up - as England turned Scotland over 2-0, but Cottee could only watch, undoubtedly dumbstruck, as debutant sub and Third Division mercenary Steve Bull came off the bench for the injured Fashanu and promptly scored, while Cottee, six more games better off, hadn't had a sniff for the whole 90 minutes. By now Robson had concluded, along with most others, that international football and Cottee simply didn't suit each other, and the curtain was tugged down. (Matthew Rudd) |