| England's hopes never recovered and Revie's infamous desertion of the cause gave Brooking a fillip within the disappointment of not reaching the 1978 finals - his old West Ham mentor Ron Greenwood was appointed to the job by the FA. This galvanised the Brooking/Keegan understanding, and the two set each other up to beat Italy 2-0 at Wembley in the last qualifier which, although a scoreline not extensive enough to steal their opponents' top spot in the group, revived hopes that the blip was just that. Trevor's goal was the first of his England career in his 19th appearance. Relegation for West Ham United at the end of the same season could have clouded the mind of a less appreciative coach, but Greenwood knew Brooking's value to the team and never kept him far from the action throughout the next two calendar years. A flourishing Brooking and Keegan ran the show in one European Championship qualifier in 1978 when England beat Denmark 4-3 in Copenhagen; in May 1979, Brooking and Keegan's most famous piece of England interplay set up one of Keegan's finest England goals in the Home International win over Scotland at Wembley. Keegan's purposeful run at the Scots defence was prompted by Brooking's availability for a sublime one-two movement which tore up the opposition and allowed Keegan to slot the ball home with complete authority. The understanding of the two, along with Greenwood's decisiveness in picking a settled side, got England on course for their first finals in ten years, and Trevor featured in the lion's share of the fixtures into early 1980. Once qualification for the European Championships was settled (the photo above shows Trevor during the 5-1 stroll against Northern Ireland in a Euro qualifier in October '79), Greenwood kept Brooking in the centre as the experienced fulcrum around whom he could experiment with candidates for the squad, and Trevor scored his second international goal as England again did over the Scots in the Home Internationals. At last a major tournament got to see the Keegan/Brooking double act at work, but England were stunted and lacking in ideas as they struggled to a 1-1 draw with Belgium in the opening group match in Turin. Greenwood sacrificed Brooking for the next game in Italy and England were robbed of a collected influence in the middle of the park as the hosts won 1-0. The third game was a win-and-hope scenario for England, with Brooking scoring the opener in a 2-1 win over Spain, but the other results on which England were reliant didn't come through and England exited early. (Matthew Rudd) |