Alright, so the other day, I got this sudden urge, you know? A proper kick to look back at the England squad from the 1986 World Cup. It just popped into my head, and I thought, “Right, let’s actually sit down and go through this properly, refresh the old memory banks.”
My First Steps
So, what I did first was simply fire up my computer. I didn’t do anything fancy, just opened up a search engine. I typed in something straightforward, like “England World Cup team 1986 players” or “1986 England squad Mexico.” I find keeping it simple usually gets you ninety percent of the way there.
Straight away, a load of information started to appear. Lists of players, articles, that sort of thing. I started scanning through, looking for the names that would jump out at me.
Digging into the Details
The first thing I wanted to confirm was the manager. And of course, it was Sir Bobby Robson. A true legend. I spent a little while just reading about his approach and how he put that team together. It’s always interesting to see the thinking behind the selections.
Then, I moved on to the players themselves. I started jotting down the key names as I found them. It was like a trip down memory lane:
- Peter Shilton in goal, an absolute rock.
- Defenders like Terry Butcher, bloodied but unbowed, always comes to mind. Kenny Sansom, Gary Stevens, Alvin Martin too.
- In midfield, names like Glenn Hoddle, what a player he was. Bryan Robson, though he got injured, Steve Hodge, Peter Reid. Real workhorses and artists mixed in.
- And up front, the main man, Gary Lineker. Golden Boot winner, wasn’t he? Six goals. Chris Waddle and Peter Beardsley were up there too, creating chances.
I made sure to look at the full squad list, not just the big names. Sometimes you forget some of the other lads who were part of it all, the ones who maybe didn’t play every game but were crucial for the team spirit and training.
Remembering the Tournament Itself
Once I had a good feel for the squad, I then started to look up their actual journey in the tournament. How they got through the group stages – bit of a slow start if I recall correctly, then they picked up. That match against Poland where Lineker got a hat-trick, that was a big one.
And then, of course, you can’t look up England 1986 without hitting the quarter-final against Argentina. The infamous “Hand of God” game. I spent a bit of time reading about that again, the controversy, Maradona’s other incredible goal. It’s one of those moments in football history that everyone remembers, for good or bad. It definitely brought back some strong feelings, even all these years later!
Wrapping Up My Little Project
So, after a good hour or so of this, I felt like I’d properly reacquainted myself with that team. I’d gone from a vague memory to having a solid picture of the players, the manager, and their story in Mexico. It wasn’t about discovering some secret new information, more about just taking the time to go through the records and relive it a bit.
It’s funny how these things stick with you. That ’86 team, despite not winning, left a real mark. And it was quite satisfying to just sit down and methodically go through it all again. Just a little personal project, but good fun all the same.
