May 23 – Rous Cup Glory for England

BELIEVE it or not, but England were on their way to trophy success today in 1989, when they played Chile in the now-defunct Rous Cup.

Named after former FA secretary and Fifa president Stanley Rous, the competition was a short-lived contest that rose from the ashes of the British Home Championship which had been abandoned in 1984.

Originally the Rous Cup was a one-off game between England and Scotland, but by 1987 the powers that be looked to spice things up by inviting a team from South America to join the party each year.

Brazil came, saw and conquered in 1987, but England wrestled the trophy back to these shores by pipping Columbia the following season. In 1989 Chile were the guests and opened the tournament against England at Wembley.

Not that there was anyone there to see it. Due mainly to a Tube strike, only 15,628 were in attendance that night, making it England’s lowest ever crowd at Wembley Stadium.

Those that were there probably wished they hadn’t bothered, as the two sides played out a 0-0 bore draw. They were, however, treated to John Fashanu and Nigel Clough’s England debuts, as Bobby Robson experimented with his strike force.

Fash the Bash didn’t fare too well, making only one other performance in an England shirt as he was dropped quicker than you can say ‘awooga’.

Clough’s appearance in the Three Lions shirt meant that he joined a select band of father and sons that have player for England – only the Easthams and the Lampards can boast of the same achievement. Like his dad Old Big ‘Ead, though, Nigel failed to find the net during his England career, playing 14 games without scoring, making even Emile Heskey look prolific.

Four days after playing Chile, England took on the Scots in a winner-takes-all match to pick up what would be the final ever Rous Cup. An early Chris Waddle goal and a second from another debutant striker, Wolves’ Steve Bull, saw England cruise to a 2-0 win to secure silverware and, probably more importantly, bragging rights against the old enemy.

With it looking like even the cameramen got held up in the Tube strike, we’ll have to show you footage of the England-Scotland clash, so enjoy the mullets, tight shorts and grumpy Scots below. To balance the books, take a look at another England game from today here that didn’t go quite so well here. We’ll be back for more tomorrow, do don’t go changing…