In England's first ever meeting with Turkey, the
Turkey 0-8 England, Nov 1984: In England's first ever meeting with Turkey, the Three Lions come away from Istanbul with all three points with captain Bryan Robson scoring a hat-trick...
Turkey 0-8 England
1986 World Cup, Group F Qualifier
Inonu Stadium, Istanbul
14 November 1984
Bobby Robson's team quelled a fervent Istanbul crowd, then a Turkish side with apparently no stomach for the contest, before charging to the top of the group with a magnificent 8-0 victory.
England's best away scoreline for twenty years - since the 10-0 win over the US in New York - was achieved without Mark Hateley, the hero against Finland, but the experienced Peter Withe proved an effective replacement.
From the moment Bryan Robson soared above a crowd of defenders to head bravely home in the 14th minute, the result was never in doubt.
It was not until the 23rd minute that Shilton touched the ball and not until the last quarter of an hour that he had anything like a real save to make.
The demoralised Turks were swamped by a rampant England - a Robson hat-trick, braces from both Woodcock and Barnes, and finally an Anderson header from a corner a couple of minutes from time.
Teams
Turkey: Yasar, Ismail, Yusuf, Kemal, Cem, Rasit, Mujdat, Ridvan, Ahmet, Ilyas (Tuncay), Erdal
England: Shilton; Anderson, Sansom, Williams (Stevens), Wright, Butcher; Robson, Wilkins, Barnes; Withe, Woodcock (Francis)
Referee: V Christov (Czechoslovakia)
Attendance: 42,000
Player View - Tony Woodcock
TheFA.com caught up with double-goal hero Tony Woodcock who told us what he remembered of the match: "It was billed as a very difficult game for us, particularly with the hostile crowd. They were outside the hotel in the night before the game in there hundreds or maybe thousands, trying to make sure the players don't get a good night's sleep," says the former Nottingham Forest forward.
"Before the game it was a tremendous atmosphere and we seemed to settle in pretty well. We scored early on and just went on from there and it was a very good England performance. At that time it sent a shudder around the rest of Europe - anyone going over to Turkey and beating them by such a score commanded a lot of respect in those days. It was a great result, not just for England, but it sent a message throughout Europe as well.
"I can remember my first one, a left-foot shot, I heard Bryan Robson coming in and he called 'leave it', but I just needed to turn on it to stick it in. My second goal I can remember well, it was late doors and I hit it with my right foot and being naturally left-footed that was nice.
"I'm very friendly with Viv (Anderson) and we were all very close. My old mate got his first goal for England and obviously Robbo of course got the hat-trick, but I can remember in the first half when he had a tap in which I could have put in, but I just got a call from him at the last second and he just rolled it in. If he wasn't a mate of mine, I would've taken it. Looking back after it, we had a laugh about that," says Woodcock, who won 42 caps for England.
"I'd spent a long time in Germany and there is a lot of Turks there who are mad about their football and to be beaten 8-0 left a bitter taste in their mouth. Even after all these years when I take part in veteran tournaments, there are still some of the Turkish players who remember that. I think that defeat set them up to start thinking seriously about the football.
"You never know in football, but if anyone is willing to bet on an 8-0 win for England next week will get very good odds. I think it will be a very, very tight game, but we thought 20 years ago it was going to be a tight game and it was all billed up to be a tough encounter but we won 8-0.
"We have had some good wins over the last few months, but if you analyse the per games properly you'll see that we have allowed the opposition one or two chances that they haven't taken. I know we can say they've never scored past as before, you alwasy know there has got to be a first time.
"Statistics are there to look at, but not taken too seriously. It's going to be an important game, but the main thing is that we have big players, a good mentality and attitude. Bring all that together and perform to the best of your ability.
"The match on the 11th, though, will be very tough. The game never changes, whether you're player with five people watching of 50,000 people, you have to win your challenges, you have to be tactically aware, give 100 percent and you've got to control the ball. We're going to need some cool nerves and big players and if we have that, then there is no reason why England can't go over there and win."