Squeezey does it!
nervy, tense second half and just when England need a goal, Anderton delivers the goods.
A perfect pass into yours truly, and I dispatch a strike that we know will be enough to win the game. A celebration? I can’t resist. I run to the post, lay down, and the other lads leg it over to join in as Anderton gives me the dentist chair treatment.
‘This is the closest I’ll ever get to being Gazza’, I think to myself as I drown in Lucozade Sport.
The ref blows his whistle, makes a cheeky remark that he can’t believe Anderton lasted the whole game, and England have emerged victorious again.
He signs a few autographs, poses for pictures, and after a quick shower we head to the local boozer for beers. Team bonding, Anderton would call it. We ask him what he thinks of this upcoming clash against the Scots.
“For me, this game is more important than Slovenia,” he insists. “We know we’ll qualify for Euro 2016, but what can be so vital is a feel-good factor in the squad. That’s what a win over Scotland can do.
“Our mentality at Euro 96 was down to the manager, Terry Venables, because he knew how to bring us together.
“After the Scotland win he let us have a few drinks in our hotel bar and spirits were high. There was no dentist chair that night, but we were all very close by that stage.”
They also had Gazza in the ranks, of course.
“He really is a legend,” Anderton adds. “I grew up wanting to be like him, and I was lucky enough to play for England and Tottenham.
“Before my debut he came to my room to check I was OK, and I quickly realised that’s the kind of guy he was. Not just a joker, a genuinely caring person who would do things he did not have to.”