Gary Stevens will always remember the atmosphere that greeted England’s Under-21 side on a balmy May evening at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán stadium in Seville 33 years ago. “There had been a lot of noise outside the hotel the night before and, when we were getting off the coach, there was a lot of intimidation, with people throwing fruit at us,” he says. “When we ran out to warm up you could hear all the insults from the crowd because they were so close. They appeared to be doing their utmost to make life difficult for us.”
In the fourth edition of Uefa’s tournament that had replaced the under-23 competition in 1978, Dave Sexton’s side arrived in Seville for the first leg of their European Championship final against Spain aiming to retain the trophy they had won two years previously. Having defeated a West Germany side featuring Pierre Littbarski and Rudi Völler in 1982, a team comprised of largely new players had battled past Greece, Hungary and Denmark to reach the knockout stages before disposing of France 7-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals thanks to four goals from Portsmouth’s Mark Hateley and then squeezing past a Roberto Mancini-inspired Italy in the semis.
“There was a lot of confidence among the squad because they had won it last time,” recalls Stevens, a defender who had begun his career at Brighton before moving to Tottenham in 1983. “But there was also the element of not wanting to fall short of what the previous group had done if we didn’t win it. It felt like a real achievement to be there. Most of us saw it as a stepping stone into the senior squad as well but there was a lot more competition in those days. If you look at the team that played in the final we were pretty much all first-team players but, if you look at the Under-21s now, there’s a good number who are playing below the top flight with their clubs.”
The team for the first leg of the final, featuring the future Everton captain Dave Watson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s father, Mark, and the Nottingham Forest midfielder Steve Hodge, had a combined total of a little more than 40 caps at under-21 level. Under the guidance of the former Chelsea and Manchester United manager Sexton they secured a 1-0 victory thanks to a goal from Sheffield Wednesday’s Mel Sterland six minutes into the second half.
“Dave was ahead of his time as a coach,” says Stevens. “When I joined up with the Under-21s he always had different ideas and new thoughts. I’ll always remember him telling me to play the ball off your front foot because it makes the transition of the ball that much quicker. When we did shooting practice we were always trying to get the ball to move because the balls were not like they are today. At times he would gather us all in for a team talk and we would be saying: ‘Pardon?’ because he was so softly spoken. He wasn’t a coach who barked out instructions and orders. He would suggest things and give you ideas, almost provoking you to come up with the answers yourself.”
England faced Spain players including Emilio Butragueño, Manuel Sanchís, Míchel and Andoni Zubizarreta, all of whom would go on to win multiple caps for the senior side, but the Guardian noted that the visitors’ performance was “marvellously composed” and that they were “perfect ambassadors for England”.
“The Spanish saw Sevilla’s stadium as one of the most hostile environments for visiting teams to play in,” recalls Stevens. “It was a real test and we managed to stand up to that. That is why it really is important for young players to play international tournaments because it really does stand them in good stead when they find themselves playing an international tournament at senior level. It certainly helped me when I ran on the pitch on two occasions at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. I felt that there was a certain familiarity and not a step too far because two years earlier I was winning an elite international tournament.”
Unfortunately for Stevens, Tottenham’s involvement in the second leg of the Uefa Cup final against Anderlecht 24 hours after the Under-21s’ second leg took place at Bramall Lane in Sheffield meant he was unable to play in the return against Spain. “After the first leg I remember a couple of reporters asking how it was going to work and I said: ‘It will be fine. I’ll play in both of them.’ But obviously that was never going to be feasible.”
After a goalless first half the tie was delicately poised until a cracking volley from Hateley settled English nerves. Birmingham’s Howard Gayle – one of two over-age players permitted in the side – added a second soon after as Sexton’s team became European champions once more. “After the game, the press interviews and what have you I was straight back down the road,” said Hateley, who was named Uefa’s player of the tournament and would join Milan for £1m within a month. “At the time I don’t think I really acknowledged how big an achievement it was.”
Stevens, who scored Tottenham’s third penalty in the shootout as Anderlecht’s Arnor Gudjohnsen – father of Eidur – missed the crucial spot-kick in the Uefa Cup final, received his England medal a few days later having failed to attend the second leg. “I’ll be honest with you, I don’t think we had finished celebrating before breakfast! It’s interesting because these days the FA would probably have laid on a chaffeur-driven Mercedes to take me up there. But it wasn’t even considered.”
The players who represented England over the two legs went on to win fewer than 100 senior caps. Hateley and Hodge – who, with Stevens, would be selected by Bobby Robson for the World Cup in Mexico two years later – accounted for the vast majority of those.
“It’s fair to say it wasn’t a team full of future stars,” admits Stevens, who lives in Thailand and works as a pundit for Astro Supersport in Malaysia. “I think only three of the squad went on to get more than 10 caps at senior level. I got seven in the end, for example. But it was much harder to make that progression back then because there were so many players in your position whereas today only about a third of Premier League players are eligible to play for England.
“In my day if you got an international call-up, then the club always wanted you go. The game is totally different today. I got in the Under-21s when I was at Brighton and I was on £200 a week. There are certain players who never play for their parent club’s first team and walk away with a couple of million quid in the bank.”
As England’s current generation prepare to begin their latest campaign in Poland this week, the manager, Aidy Bothroyd, will be fully aware that they have failed to match Sexton’s achievement in the intervening three decades. A final appearance in 2009 under Stuart Pearce that ended in a 4-0 defeat by Germany remains the closest England have come to emulating the classes of ’82 and ’84, an achievement that Stevens remains justifiably proud of. “There’s never been a reunion but maybe I should instigate one? We are scattered far and wide and are in all sorts of different jobs these days but we got to know each other pretty well over the whole tournament so I’m sure it would be great occasion.”
England team v Spain 1984 Under-21 European Championship final
First leg: Peter Hucker (QPR); Mel Sterland (Sheffield Wednesday), Gary Stevens (Tottenham), Dave Watson (Norwich), Danny Thomas (Tottenham); Mark Chamberlain (Stoke City), Kevin Brock (Oxford), Paul Bracewell (Everton), Steve Hodge (Nottingham Forest); Mark Hateley (Portsmouth), Howard Gayle (Birmingham)
Second leg: Gary Bailey (Manchester United); Mel Sterland (Sheffield Wednesday), Derek Mountfield (Everton), Dave Watson (Norwich), Nick Pickering (Sunderland); Nigel Callaghan (Watford), Kevin Brock (Oxford), Paul Bracewell (Everton), Steve Hodge (Nottingham Forest); Mark Hateley (Portsmouth), Howard Gayle (Birmingham).
