| A dashing, flamboyant winger in Aston Villa's all-conquering side of 1981, Tony Morley was an obvious choice for an England team which preferred attacking through its flanks but only had one real candidate - Graham Rix of underachieving Arsenal - to fulfil it. Morley was called in by Ron Greenwood to add something unknown to England's hotch-potch efforts to reach the 1982 World Cup, and he shared in the glory of qualification when he made his debut as a sub for Steve Coppell - who had just suffered the wretched tackle which would end his career - in England's clinching 1-0 win against Hungary at Wembley. Morley won three more caps as Greenwood prepared and played with his squad selections prior to announcing the 22 which would compete, and much surprise was expressed when the Aston Villa player - by now also a European Cup winner - wasn't in. Morley never recovered fully from the disappointment and only won two further caps (the photo above is during his penultimate appearance, a 2-2 European Championships qualifying draw against Denmark in Copenhagen) under Greenwood's successor Bobby Robson as his club career sank quickly. His sixth and final appearance came on the eve of the anniversary of his debut, but his England life could have been so much longer and more fruitful had he made that crucial cut for Spain. (Matthew Rudd) |