The Class of Euro 96

June 8th 2011 and it is 15 years ago that the England football team lifted the nation by reaching the semi-finals of the 1996 European Championships. A tournament never to be forgotten by all English football fans it was a rollercoster ride with many highs and the ultimate low - elimination by Germany in a penalty shoot out at the semi-final stage.

The squad of players that manager Terry Venables had assembled for this tournament was a good balance of youth (Robbie Fowler, Sol Campbell, Phil Neville and Gary Neville who were all under 21), experience (David Seaman, Stuart Pearce and Teddy Sheringham) and playmaking (Jamie Redknapp, Paul Gascoigne, Paul Ince).

The camaraderie amongst the players was superb and was further enhanced during a pre tournament tour to Hong Kong where the players (led by Gascoigne) were involved in a drinking game called "The Dentist's Chair". They were unfortunately photographed by the press which led to them making the front pages rather than the back pages. This led to widespread criticism from fans and the media alike who were appalled by the display of "laddish behaviour", and binge drinking in the lead up to the largest sporting event England had hosted since the World Cup win in 1966. Apologies were issued by the players involved but you always had the impression that the whole situation made the bond between the players stronger.   

Many England fans have fantastic recollections of the tournament like Gazza's goal against Scotland, Stuart Pearce's penalty and the 4-1 demolition of Holland but for the neutral it was a tournament of bore draws and penalty shoot outs. On the plus side however, the tournament was the catalyst which led to the foreign invasion of players from abroad who decided that they wished to ply their trade in the still relatively new English Premier League. Players like Karel Poborsky, Patrik Berger, Jordi Cruyff, Mikkel Beck, Frank LeBoeuf, Slaven Bilic, Fabrizio Ravanelli and Gianfranco Zola all joined Premier League clubs for the 1996-1997 season.

At time of writing there are only 3 members of that England squad still currently playing professional football. Sol Campbell who is now 36 and without a club, Robbie Fowler who is 36 and also without a club, Phil Neville who is 34 and is captain of Everton and Nick Barmby who is 37 and plays for Hull City.

A number of that side have also had a go at managing teams with varying success:

Stuart Pearce- Notts Forest, Man City, Current England U21 manager,
David Platt - Sampdoria, Notts Forest, England U21 manager, Current Man City First Team Coach
Paul Ince - Macclesfield, Notts County, MK Dons, Blackburn Rovers
Tony Adams - Wycombe, Portsmouth, Gabala (Azerbaijan)
Alan Shearer - Newcastle
Gareth Southgate - Middlesbrough
Paul Gascoigne - Kettering
Ian Walker - Current Bishops Stortford Manager
Les Ferdinand - Current Tottenham Striker Coach
Steve Stone - Current Newcastle First Team Coach
Tim Flowers - Stafford Rangers

Gary Neville, Alan Shearer, Steve McManaman and Jamie Redknapp have all carved out successful careers within the media and have all admitted that one day they would like to get into a managerial role.

15 years on and it is highly unlikely that you will see an England squad of players as close as the one we saw in 1996. Gone are the days where the players can bond over a few pints after training whilst they are with their international team mates. Instead they are confined to their rooms with their X-Boxes playing as themselves on the latest edition from the FIFA Football series of games. Maybe we should go back to the good old days of 1996 to get that all important team spirit back. Besides we can't get any worse than the performance of the England team in last year's World Cup in South Africa. Something to think about at least!!

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