Tony WOODCOCK

Having bashed home eleven of the goals which secured Nottingham Forest a shock League title in 1978, it was a natural progression for nippy and ruthless striker Tony Woodcock to be called up to represent his country the same summer. With no World Cup finals to prepare for, Ron Greenwood summoned the curly-haired hitman for the summer Home Internationals and Woodcock debuted alongside Manchester United's Stuart Pearson in the second game of the tournament, as England beat Northern Ireland 1-0 at Wembley. He didn't feature in the two remaining summer fixtures but was called up again as the qualification campaign for the 1980 European Championships began in earnest with an eccentric 4-3 win in Denmark, which Woodcock watched from the bench. A month later, he came on as a sub for Peter Barnes as Greenwood tried without success to pep up his hard-nosed strikeforce to secure a win in the Republic of Ireland (the photo above is during the game), but only ended with a 1-1 draw.

Woodcock started the next game - a 1-0 friendly win over Czechoslovakia which was more famous for the debut of his clubmate Viv Anderson - but was ditched again when the competitive fixtures returned at the beginning of 1979, as Greenwood not unreasonably kept faith with some rich scoring form at England level of Bob Latchford. Latchford's power complemented the more impudent, scurrying presence of Kevin Keegan behind him, and therefore a more cunning natural finisher like Woodcock was deemed not suitable for this particular twig on the tactical tree. Tony was a European Cup winner by the time he pulled the England shirt on again - coming on as a sub in a qualifier against Bulgaria in Sofia which England walked 3-0 - and it was on his sixth appearance, in October 1979, that he finally notched his first international goal, scoring a coolly taken brace as England thumped Northern Ireland 5-1 in a qualifier which took England closer to their first major tournament in a decade. The next two games confirmed qualification and Woodcock, who simultaneously completed a move to FC Cologne, settled further into the international fold with a goal against Spain at the Nou Camp as England began their preparations for the finals in Italy. (Matthew Rudd)

An injured Woodcock didn't feature in the 1980 Home Internationals but was still unsurprisingly named in the 20 which would jet out to Italy for the European Championships. He played in a three-pronged strikeforce against an offside-obsessed Belgium side in the opening game, which ended 1-1, and started and ended the remaining two games also, scoring the clincher in a 2-1 win over Spain which was not enough to help England make further progress after they had lost 1-0 to the hosts in the second fixture. He was now, however, a major force in his country's striking ranks, with hopes for the 1982 World Cup in Spain running high, despite England's woeful recent record in qualifying. Woodcock began the qualification campaign with some style, scoring a sweet goal in a 4-0 win over Norway at Wembley (the photo above is during the game. 10th September 1980 Photo G. Herringshaw.  ©). He scored in the next game too but England lost 2-1 in Romania, issuing their qualification campaign with an early setback. Tony was then in and out of the rest of the campaign through ill-form and then injury, not scoring again as England stuttered and coughed their way to qualification with victory in the last game against Hungary.

The first preparatory match of 1982 saw Woodcock come on as a late sub for his 20th cap as Northern Ireland were dispatched 4-0. He struck his first England goal in 18 months when England memorably beat Holland 2-0 in a Wembley friendly, and a series of assured, unselfish performances guaranteed his squad place when Greenwood decided on his 22, although a place in the starting XI against France in Bilbao was less assured. His former team-mate Trevor Francis and the ever-reliable Paul Mariner were settling down as a striking duo and Woodcock seemed to be in receipt of a place on the bench at most. He returned to his native land to join Arsenal and then joined his international team-mates for the nation's first World Cup in a dozen years, but it would turn out to be a huge frustration for both player and team. England won their three group matches without Woodcock getting a kick; then drew 0-0 in both of their second phase games with Tony unable to make an impact as a substitute in each. (Matthew Rudd)

Still only 26, there was still an international career ahead of Tony Woodcock as Bobby Robson took over the reins, and initially his strike rate improved, with a goal against West Germany in a friendly followed by two of the goals in a 3-0 beating of Greece and a further goal in a 9-0 destruction of Luxembourg, both qualifiers for the 1984 European Championships. However, injury and loss of form, plus Robson's desire to find more youthful strikers as part of the long-term plan, meant that Woodcock was restricted to just two appearances in the whole of 1983, during which time he didn't score and the aim of reaching the 1984 European Championships was shattered. His form then picked up and he was England's only goalscorer in the final Home International tournament as they beat Northern Ireland 1-0 and drew 1-1 at Hampden (the photo above is just prior to the game. 26th. May 1984. Image G. Herringshaw ©).

His next memorable contribution to the England team was to leap out of the way of John Barnes as the Watford winger went on his famous run through the Brazilian defence in the Maracana - unwittingly forcing Barnes to continue his run when he was looking for a pass (Woodcock leapt because he thought he was going to shoot). Tony was picked for the opening two qualifiers for the 1986 World Cup; scoring one against Finland and a pair against Turkey as England put away 13 without reply. He featured in three more qualifiers through 1985 but the youthful presence of Mark Hateley and Gary Lineker had started to push Woodcock, approaching 30, slowly out of the picture. His final appearance was as a sub for Kerry Dixon in a 1986 friendly against Israel and, although he had a mild chance of making the final squad for Mexico, Robson plumped for youth. Woodcock subsequently returned to Cologne and his profile fell substantially as a consequence. One of the more feared and consistent goalscorers at club level, his England legacy was one of a player who rarely let his country down and, as a striker, he had a good consistency in front of goal. (Matthew Rudd)