English football was facing a period of introspection during April 1989. As the world in general tried to digest the full horror of the Hillsborough disaster, the future of the national game seemed at a crossroads. Surely this was the tragic tipping point for the sport, a time for English football to get its house in order.
For too many years the safety of spectators had been taken for granted. Crumbling stadia, perimeter fences and generally poor facilities provided a hostile environment in which to attend matches. The shocking policing of Liverpool fans at Hillsborough, shamefully covered up for decades, combined with this disregard for safety, led to a tragedy beyond comprehension.
The Taylor Report leading to all-seater stadiums would prove critical for the future direction of the sport, but it would be the success of the national team at Italia 90 that was perhaps the turning point regarding the image of football on the pitch. One man in particular would make his mark on that tournament, yet for both player and country the future looked a little uncertain in April 1989.
Drawn in a qualifying group with Sweden, Poland and Albania, England would make it to Italy by the width of a crossbar in Chorzow, but before that sliding doors moment there had been a rollercoaster ride. A 0-0 draw against Sweden opened the campaign at Wembley - 'GO! IN THE NAME OF GOD GO!' screamed the Mirror headline in relation to manager Bobby Robson - and who can forget the blood shed by Terry Butcher in Stockholm.
Fortunately for Robson and England, two comfortable wins against the whipping boys of the group boosted qualification hopes after the Wembley stalemate with Sweden. Albania would lose all six matches in the campaign, England particularly ruthless in their two meetings. A comfortable 2-0 win in Tirana during March 1989 was followed by a 5-0 demolition at Wembley a month later.
Coming just 11 days after the Hillsborough disaster, inevitably the build up to the Wembley match was overshadowed. Would the match go ahead? If so, would Liverpool and Nottingham Forest players take part? Would the FA Cup semi-final between the two clubs be replayed? With Liverpool's fixtures suspended, when would the league season conclude?
Eventually the decision was taken to play the Albania match, with Robson, who had been at Hillsborough himself, allowing the Liverpool and Nottingham Forest players selected in his squad to opt in or out. Nottingham Forest players Stuart Pearce, Des Walker, Neil Webb, Steve Hodge and Nigel Clough, and Liverpool's Steve McMahon and Peter Beardsley joined the squad. But John Barnes pulled out.
The fact that Liverpool's players were attending funerals truly put things into perspective, and fortunately Barnes' decision was fully respected, with John Aldridge and Steve Nicol also pulling out of their international matches. Both sets of players wore black armbands and a minute's silence was observed before the match. During the evening, the 60,602 Wembley crowd sung You'll Never Walk Alone in tribute to Liverpool.
"The game has taken such a knock that we need to get out there and give a good England performance that will boost our football," Robson declared before the match. The 5-0 win was certainly entertaining, although in truth England's opponents were poor. But for the some of the players involved it was an important evening in their international careers.
England took the lead after just five minutes, Gary Lineker scoring his first international goal for 11 months, with Beardsley doubling the advantage in the 12th minute. For the Liverpool forward the decision to play had not been taken lightly. But backed by Liverpool fans he had talked to, Beardsley figured a return to football in an England shirt might make things easier for him.
Beardsley added a third just past the hour, as Albania struggled to withstand the pressure. In fairness, Sulejman Demollari had a fine goal ruled out due to a player standing in an offside position, and 17-year-old debutant goalkeeper Blendi Nallbani performed admirably. But the introduction of Paul Gascoigne in the 66th minute added to Albania's problems.
Making just his third appearance for his country, the 21-year-old Gascoigne seemed to be another English player that could be placed in that broad category of maverick. The kind of midfielder that would be loved by fans but perhaps never fully trusted by his manager. A supremely talented footballer, but still a rough diamond.
Robson obviously had a lot of affection for Gascoigne, labelling him "daft as a brush" prior to the Albania match - Gascoigne would turn up to training the next day with a brush sticking out of his sock. Yet with skipper Bryan Robson a certainty in the team, and Webb producing the types of display that would earn him a move to Manchester United, fitting Gascoigne into the team looked difficult.
Gascoigne had moved to Tottenham for £2 million in the summer of 1988, and despite constant criticism over his weight, his performances had him knocking on the door for international recognition. His cameo against Albania only increased the volume behind those arguing that Gascoigne was what England needed.
"Looking as Wembley might be his own lawn," as Steve Curry put it in the Express, Gascoigne immediately demanded the ball. "You need two balls when he plays," Robson later joked. "One for him and another for the rest of us." Instructed to play on the right after coming on for David Rocastle, Gascoigne roamed where he wanted.
"I can tell you how much he listened to me because he played in every position except the one I had told him to play in," Robson said with a twinkle in his eye. But with Albania on the ropes, Gascoigne's free spirit was a welcome sight for England fans. Setting up Chris Waddle for England's fourth goal in the 72nd minute, Gascoigne was just warming up.
One mesmerising piece of skill that would have made Ricky Villa jealous earned a roar of appreciation from the Wembley crowd, Gascoigne's hips wiggling and feet shuffling completely foxing three Albanian defenders. But in the 89th minute came a first international goal that his display deserved.
Picking up the ball from debutant Paul Parker, Gascoigne clearly had one thing on his mind as he made his way to the Albanian penalty area. Using his strength to hold off one player, Gascoigne moved away from another as the shirts in front of him parted like the Red Sea. Finishing with his left foot from roughly 12 yards out, the boyish delight on the face of the scorer was heart warming.
"This really is a shining talent we're watching perhaps in its infancy here in international terms," commentator John Motson said, as replays of the goal highlighted the dazzling ability Gascoigne clearly possessed. David Lacey, writing in the Guardian, called it "a fitting finale" and a "typically impudent piece of skill". The hype surrounding Gascoigne was growing.
"It's been a long time since a precocious talent inspired such hope for the future as he wooed and won the affection of the Wembley fans," Harry Harris stated in the Mirror. Lacey added more praise. "[Gascoigne] has now established himself as the player most likely to give Bobby Robson the precocious skills, and the audacity to use them, which his teams have never really possessed."
Robson spoke with the energy of a proud father. "Paul Gascoigne has a rare and rich talent. I have never seen anybody oozing such confidence. Nothing frightens him. The kid can go out at Wembley with that cockiness and excite the crowd." But Robson would also urge caution.
"Gascoigne will be a gem of a player once he understands what teamwork is," Robson declared, adding that the older members of the squad would do their best to guide the young star. Robson admitted that Gascoigne needed to prove himself against stronger opposition. A stunning display against Czechoslovakia in April 1990 officially booked Gascoigne's Italia 90 ticket.
"Releasing himself with the exuberance of a pup in the park was fine against the unravelling Albanians but, as his manager pointed out, it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun for the spectators or his teammates against such as Holland or West Germany," Hugh McIlvanney noted after Gascoigne's glorious display at Wembley, an accurate assessment at the time.
Could Gascoigne do it on the World Cup stage against the likes of Holland and West Germany? For one glorious summer he proved he could. If it took the tragedy of Hillsborough to improve conditions for fans in the future, Gascoigne's personality and skills, plus England's run to the last four was proof that football could be cool. Football changed forever that summer. Two years later there was no going back.
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