England Under-21s’ 9-0 swamping of San Marino in Tuesday night’s Euro 2015 Qualifier at Shrewsbury was the highest score and biggest margin of victory ever achieved by an England team at that level.
A crowd of more than 9,000 on a chilly evening at Greenhous Meadow saw Gareth Southgate’s side rack up the goals through Michael Keane (13 minutes), Raheem Sterling (15 and 59), Danny Ings (17 and 47), James Ward-Prowse (24), Tom Ince (42), Carl Jenkinson (61) and Will Hughes (78).
They beat records that were set 36 years ago. England had only started playing Under-21 matches ten months earlier and Dave Sexton was the manager when Finland were crushed 8-1 at Hull City’s former Boothferry Park home on 12 October 1977.
Then there was little pressure on the players as England had already qualified for the UEFA Championship quarter finals and it was noticeable as they took a two-goal lead in the opening ten minutes through John Deehan and Steve Sims. Tony Woodcock, making his Under-21 debut, scored a hat-trick and the other goals came from Peter Daniel (penalty), Deehan again and Laurie Cunningham.
The Under-21s have twice clocked up seven goals in a match. Mark Robins notched five as France were beaten 7-3 in Aix-en-Provence in 1990 and Michael Mancienne gave England the lead after just 48 seconds as they secured a confidence-building 7-0 win over Azerbaijan at Milton Keynes a week before the Euro 2009 Finals in Sweden.
The current side have scored 21 goals in their last four internationals and will face Wales at home in their next fixture, another Euro 2015 Qualifier, in March next year.
