Richard Sutcliffe: Harking back to that memorable moment in dentist’s chair

Euro ’96 not only saw football come home but it also proved a watershed moment for the game in this country.

Gazza’s tears in Italia ’90 and the publication of Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch may have already made the game more palatable to the wider public. But it wasn’t until those glorious three weeks in the summer of 1996 that the country fell head-over-heels in love with football.

The sun shone, Baddiel and Skinner sang, Gazza re-enacted the dentist’s chair and, above all, England played with a tactical sophistication that suggested England had finally come to the party.

Now, with a distance of 17 years, Terry Venables’s side may not really have been as good as we remember. But, to this supporter, that summer most definitely was.

I was fortunate in that my late father had the foresight to realise just what a special few weeks Euro ’96 was going to be and bought tickets for a host of games 18 months in advance.

Other than the hosts, we had no idea who would qualify or where they would be playing. But that did not deter Dad, who rightly forecast England would play all their group games at Wembley.

Tickets for all three were duly purchased, along with the quarter-final and semi-final ties due to be played at the national stadium. The thinking, again spot on, was that if England finished top then they would stay in London.

For good measure and to ensure we went to a couple of northern matches, tickets for a group game at Elland Road and another at Old Trafford were also ordered.

At the time, I was very much club before country when it came to watching football but Dad insisted Euro ’96 would be a party that we would be glad of attending. How right he was and I still cannot hear ‘Three Lions’ by Baddiel and Skinner playing on the radio without smiling.

The highlights were many. Watching the might of Germany and Italy go head-to-head at the home of Manchester United was one, even allowing for the game finishing goalless. But most revolved around England at Wembley with all five of our visits being memorable for different reasons.

If pushed, I would have to say the post-match scenes after England had beaten Spain on penalties to move into the last four will take some beating.

‘Three Lions’ had really taken hold of the national psyche by then and never was it sung with more feeling or passion than that particular Saturday afternoon.

The feeling as we walked away from Wembley after Holland’s demolition was special, too, though tempered slightly even now by the memory of the gut-wrenching dejection that accompanied the identical walk back to the tube station in the wake of losing on penalties against Germany.

As good as those were, however, the standout moment for both of us came courtesy of ‘that’ goal by Gazza against Scotland.

Not only were our seats in the bottom tier at that end of Wembley but a small group of Scots had acquired tickets nearby and proved to be a right, royal pain all afternoon.

After Gazza scored and celebrated by re-enacting the dentist’s chair drinking session – something we missed until watching later at home on television due to our seats being so low that Gazza was hidden behind the advertising hoardings – those same loudmouth Scots slunk off with the jeers of thousands ringing in their ears. Childish, I know. But damn good fun, all the same.

I will be minded of that afternoon next week when Scotland visit the rebuilt Wembley. I would love to say I am looking forward to it as much as Euro ’96 but I can’t.

It could be because neither country is up to much any more or it might just be that football has changed since those heady days.

Nowadays, an international at Wembley has a very different feel. Of course, the menace of old is not missed.

But, when looking out across a crowd who seem more intent on saying ‘I was there’ than supporting the national team, I can’t help but hark back to the days when England versus Scotland really did mean everything to those lucky enough to have a ticket.