Mark HATELEY

John Barnes wasn't the only one to feel the pressure after a spectacular individual display against the mighty Brazil in the Maracana cauldron of summer 1984. Gangly but skilful striker Mark Hateley, a prolific goalscorer in the Second Division in his opening season with Portsmouth, was a worthy experiment from Bobby Robson who, having missed out on the 1984 European Championship finals, was looking to turn youth into manhood for a World Cup in two years. Hateley, a sub in the last pre-tour friendly against the USSR, climbed without a modicom of trouble above the Brazilian defence to head home a Barnes cross to complete a famous 2-0 win and almost instantly AC Milan came in for him. For the next year Hateley was England's first choice striker. Critics expressed concern at the ease with which England could adopt a route one tactic with such a tall man at the helm, but Mark's culture on the deck was, like with many lanky strikers, underestimated considerably.

In his sixth appearance he scored twice as England began their qualification campaign for the World Cup with a 5-0 drubbing of Finland; he then swerved through three defenders in a tight and awkward encounter with Northern Ireland to score the only goal at Windsor Park as England completed three wins from three in their group. Robson recalled the ageing Paul Mariner for the next tie in Romania and the resulting goalless draw saw Mariner's international flame snuffed out for good, and Hateley came back for all bar three of 1985's remaining matches. Hateley's goal in Helsinki earned England a 1-1 draw against Finland (the photo above is during the game) to keep up their unbeaten qualifying campaign; he then scored again in another mini-tournament - this time in Mexico - against his country of residence Italy, though England lost 2-1. By now, Gary Lineker and Kerry Dixon had also begun their England careers and it was clear that both had high ambitions for the World Cup, coinciding with a mini-drought in front of goal for Hateley. Lineker quickly ran away with the title of England's premier goalscorer as the straightforward qualification campaign concluded with home draws against Romania and Northern Ireland and a 5-0 thumping of Turkey. The question Robson needed to answer was who should partner him, with both Hateley and Dixon offering worthy target-man options and the latecomer Peter Beardsley providing a more creative angle. (Matthew Rudd)

Mark's primary concern as the series of pre-competition friendlies in 1986 got underway was to get back on the goal trail. He, Dixon and Beardsley all had matches as partner to Lineker, plus combinations of each other, but it wasn't until the penultimate friendly, in Los Angeles, that Hateley scored again, putting two past Mexico in a 3-0 win. He then got the only goal as England scraped past Canada 1-0 and with Robson naming all four prime centre forwards in the squad, Mark was installed as favourite ahead of Beardsley, with Dixon the rank outsider, to start as Lineker's batman. England were helpless and hopeless in all departments as an unheralded Portugal beat them 1-0 in the opener and then fared little better when they endured a goalless draw with Morocco, both in Monterrey. Hateley was unable to make an impact on either and suffered the ignominy of being substituted in the latter for a more defensive player - Tottenham's Gary Stevens - as manager Robson made sure of a point in the last 15 minutes following Ray Wilkins earlier red card. For the third and final group game, with a win vital, Robson dumped Hateley for Beardsley and a dream partnership sprung to life. Lineker scored a hat-trick and Dixon got on as a late sub for the England hero. Mark cut a glum figure on the bench but was back in action for the second round tie against Paraguay as a substitute for Beardsley as England won 3-0.

With Argentina looming in the last eight, Robson felt no need to make changes to his strikeforce and Hateley again stayed on the bench, with the required tactical changes made on the wings rather than in the firing line. England went out after an infamous 2-1 defeat. The World Cup hadn't been a great tournament for Mark Hateley but he stayed distantly in Bobby Robson's plans afterwards and had become the striker for Plan B if an opposing defence managed to snuff out the danger caused by a nippier, more creative style of attacking which came from Beardsley's approach to partnering Lineker. Hateley missed the remaining games of 1986, including two victorious qualifiers for the 1988 European Championships but was back for an awful goalless draw in Turkey which cost England vital points in their qualifying campaign. Mark was re-introduced to international football as a substitute for the ineffective Clive Allen, but couldn't crown his comeback with a goal. England qualified for the tournament with eventual ease but Hateley, who had moved to AS Monaco in the summer of 1987, was now really struggling to maintain the standard required. He was regularly in squads but infrequently given a chance to begin matches, even in friendlies, with only a truly woeful 0-0 draw against Scotland (the photo above is during the game 23rd. May 1987 Photo G.H. ©) in the summer of 1987 showing Hateley's name in the starting line-up. (Matthew Rudd)