Today I'm going back 16 years to 2006 and England's International Friendly against Greece with the match played at Old Trafford, Manchester in front of just 45,864.
The match was the start of a new era under new manager and programme cover star Steve McClaren, taking over from outgoing predecessor Sven-Goran Eriksson who had left his post after England's disappointing World Cup Quarter-final penalty-exit against Portugal in Gelsenkirchen. McClaren was effectively the continuity candidate for the job having been groomed in the role of Coach and Assistant Manager by the FA to take over from Sven at some point. It wasn't therefore terribly surprising that his first squad selection wasn't particularly full of new faces. On the night, only substitute goalkeeper Chris Kirkland was making his debut with fellow substitute Darren Bent of Charlton Athletic also coming on for his second cap. The least capped starter was Middlesbrough's Stewart Downing who McClaren knew well from his time managing the Boro.
Barwell-born Chris Kirkland's debut ended up being his sole appearance for England but it was noteworthy for making a few of his relatives £10,000 each. When Kirkland was eleven years old, his father and a few family friends each placed £100 bets at 100/1 that Kirkland would one day play for England. Kirkland's club career took in Coventry City, Liverpool, Wigan Athletic and Sheffield Wednesday amongst others and he totalled 321 club appearances with the majority being made in the Premier League. Odds of 100/1 seem particularly stingy to me and would surely have been more realistic at 100,000/1 but that's bookmakers for you I suppose.
McClaren's not-so-new look England made light work of a lightweight Greek side who didn't look much like reigning European Champions and the Three Lions scored four goals before the half-time break. In the 14th minute, new captain John Terry headed home and then, fifteen minutes later, Frank Lampard's shot also found the back of the net courtesy of a deflection off Lagos that looped the ball over their goalkeeper. In the 35th minute Peter Crouch was on hand to sweep home the rebound following a save from another Lampard shot and Crouch was on hand to finish with a clinical header three minutes before half-time for 4-0. There was to be no further scoring but then there really wasn't any need and Otto Rehhagel's 60th match in charge of the Greek side finished in defeat with albeit with a very respectable record of won 30, drawn 15, lost 15.
York-born Steve McClaren had a solid but unremarkable lower League playing career turning out for the likes of Hull City, Derby County, Bristol City and Oxford United before injury forced him to retire in 1992. He then went into coaching starting at Oxford United under Denis Smith before moving on to another former club Derby where he acted as Assistant Manager to Jim Smith with some success. This led to an invitation to join Manchester United assisting Alex Ferguson where he would go on to help United win the treble in his first season followed by Premier League titles in the next two seasons. Having proved himself in the assistant role, his next post was as Manager at Middlesbrough between 2001-2006 and in 2004 Boro won the League Cup beating Bolton in the Final. It was Middlesbrough's first ever trophy and he followed this up in 2005/06 with a remarkable and unprecedented run to the UEFA Cup Final where Boro would eventually lose to Seville. Next stop was the England job. Sam Allardyce aside, McClaren's reign in charge of England ended up being the shortest on record with just 18 games in 16 months before failing to qualify for the 2008 European Championships after a disastrous defeat to Croatia on a rainy night at Wembley. Characterised by the written media as being "The Wally with the Brolly", McClaren was gone being replaced by Fabio Capello.
CRB Match No. 1510
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