For about a dozen years I acted as liaison officer to visiting national teams, i.e. those playing at Wembley.
This extra little job for The FA involved my meeting the party at the airport with transport, staying with them in their hotel and helping with the arrangements for training, tickets and so on.
I was looking after the Danes when Bobby Robson’s England played them in a World Cup warm-up fixture at Wembley in May 1990.
I met them as the group came through customs at Heathrow – I noticed Peter Schmeichel, the Laudrup brothers and John Jensen among the players – and we went outside with all the equipment to pile onto the coach and limousines.
The limousines were there but where was the coach? Coaches weren’t allowed to leave the coach park until a certain time after the plane had landed – I think it was half-an-hour – and driver Frank must still have been there.
“Frank, looking a bit sheepish, eventually turned up with the coach. Between you and me, I think he’d fallen asleep”
We waited for 15 minutes; Michael Laudrup, sitting on a pile of kit bags, thought it was all hilarious.
I stayed with 48 different teams over the years and that was the only time the coach didn’t turn up.
There was nothing for it but to get everyone – and all the gear – into taxis.
Fortunately, I had lots of cash with me and paid out to all the drivers as they pulled up outside the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington.
Frank, looking a bit sheepish, eventually turned up with the coach. Between you and me, I think he’d fallen asleep in the coach park.
That evening, a balmy one, we took the Danish squad to the Bank of England Sports Ground in Roehampton for a training session.
This is where England trained in Alf Ramsey’s time and the facilities remain first-class. Football is still played there every week and on Saturday they hosted an AFA Senior Cup semi-final on one of their immaculate pitches between Albanian and Old Wilsonians. OWs, since you asked, won 4-0.
That international back in 1990 was played on the Wednesday evening and a 27,000 Wembley crowd saw England beat the Danes 1-0 with a Gary Lineker goal on 54 minutes.
It was the star striker’s 31st goal for his country, putting him a clear third in the all-time list behind Jimmy Greaves and Bobby Charlton.
