The night Gazza changed football for ever
Wembley crowd witnessed genius at work as seeds of modern game were sown
WITHOUT Italia ’90, there would have been no glitzy Premier League and the subsequent boom in English football that has lasted three decades. And without a largely forgotten friendly at Wembley 30 years ago this weekend, there would have been no chance for Paul Gascoigne and England to change history at Italia ’90.
The legend of Gazza has grown so large it’s almost inconceivable to realise he wasn’t assured of a place in Bobby Robson’s England team just six weeks before the World Cup started.
A friendly against Czechoslovakia on April 25, 1990 was only his second start in a Three Lions shirt, and his eighth cap overall. Robson admired the Tottenham player’s talent but was concerned about his stamina levels and lack of tactical discipline.
He also had the luxury of Manchester United captain Bryan Robson and Liverpool title winner Steve McMahon as highclass alternatives in midfield.
It wasn’t exactly Gazzamania when his big opportunity arrived. Only 21,000 fans traipsed to Wembley. Excitement levels were low. English clubs were still out of Europe because of hooliganism and Euro ’88 — the last major championship — had ended in catastrophe with three games and three defeats.
Given the prevailing mood, what happened in the next 90 minutes changed everything and proved a vital forerunner to England’s performance in Italy later that summer.
It was the first time Gazza completed a full game for England, a month shy of his 23rd birthday. Realising he was standing in the last-chance saloon, he produced one of his greatest and most timely performances, scoring once and setting up three other goals in a 4-2 England victory.
He assisted twice for Steve Bull: one from a sublime pass with the outside of his boot and the other a trademark surge and pinpoint cross. It was his corner kick that also caused havoc, allowing Stuart Pearce to score.
The Czechs were a good team — they would be World Cup quarter-finalists — but had no answer to genius. And Gazza saved the best until last, dribbling into the box before switching the ball from his right foot to left in one movement and firing past Ludo Miklosko before the keeper could set himself.
In the dugout, Robson was seen mouthing ‘That’s fantastic’ and his post-match comments confirmed Gazza would be going to the World Cup as a starter.
The following day’s newspapers reflected the arrival of a superstar with headlines such as Dazzler Gazza. The Daily Mail splashed on Gascoigne Glory Night. Significantly, Gazza’s England team-mates felt that the ‘Fat Boy’ image of Gascoigne’s earlier career had been replaced by a maestro ready for the big stage.
Mark Wright, an Italia ’90 team-mate, said: ‘This was the night Gazza stepped up and ran the show. Not only with his vision and passes, but work rate. He was the one who got back when the Czechs broke. He knew he had to show both sides of the game. He ran himself into the ground.’
It was fitting that the assist for Gazza’s goal came from Tony
Dorigo, his captain in the England Under-21 team.
‘He was a joy because he always wanted the ball, as Glenn Hoddle did, but even higher up the pitch,’ said Dorigo. ‘If I made a run from left-back and got my head up, Gazza was there. He was as strong as an ox and defenders couldn’t work out which was his weaker foot. He was quick with the ball because he controlled it instantly.
‘Gazza was head and shoulders above everyone else with the Under-21s, but when he came into the England squad and still had that extra yard over top players, that’s when it sunk in he was special. After the Czech game, there was a clamour to keep him in, no matter who was left out.’
The new plan was for Bryan Robson to play alongside Gascoigne but the skipper tore his Achilles in the second game in Italy, against Holland.
Even without Robson next to him, Gascoigne altered the face of football at Italia ’90 as England charged into the semis before losing to Germany on penalties.
Through it all Gazza was front, back and centre. His tears in Turin after being booked against Germany made him a national treasure and an unprecedented 300,000 people turned out to welcome the England team back at Luton airport.
After football’s dark days of the Eighties, the next decade brought new popularity and commercial revenues. On the pitch, the new Premier League doubled attendances compared with the old First Division and went global, both in terms of superstar players and fan base.
Gazza’s cheeky but engaging personality symbolised the revival, in the days before his problems with alcohol and mental health.
‘Chris Waddle was Gazza’s room-mate in Italy. He’d come to us to have a break. Within five minutes, Gazza would be at the door. “Waddler, Waddler, are you there?”’ smiled Terry Butcher.
‘He loved chocolate. Doc Crane (England team doctor John Crane) would leave all the players a Dairy Milk the day before matches as a treat. Gazza would try to nick them all. He was a loveable pest, our loveable pest.’
It is a great shame that while he helped create the football gravy train, it didn’t help his happiness. He had too many demons; alcohol, drugs, mental health and bad relationships.
Bryan Robson, his manager at Middlesbrough, with whom he signed after a three-year spell at Rangers between 1995 and 1998, recalled: ‘He was at his happiest on the pitch, he was hard to rein in away from it. I took him to Middlesbrough as I knew he would make a difference but he could be a nightmare.
‘We got a new team bus before playing at Aston Villa and he decided to test drive it down the road, only to crash it into a wall.
‘I made him pay for the damages and fined him two weeks’ wages. He just put his hands up and said: “Fair enough, gaffer”.’
Before he died, Sir Bobby used his Mail on Sunday column to explain how he felt about his wayward footballing son: ‘Not only was Gazza a great player, but everyone loved him.
‘He was the most popular player in my England squad,’ said Sir Bobby. ‘It’s such a shame what drink and other things did to him, but people never stopped caring or wishing him all the best.’
The whole incredible journey was only made possible because of the way he seized his big dress rehearsal 30 years ago against the Czechs.