4 Jul 2008
VIDEO: Clark's pride

England U19 captain Ciaran Clark speaks of his pride at leading the Young Lions to the European Championships.


UEFA European U19 Championships
Prague & Liberec, Czech Republic
14-26 July 2008
Click here for the full tournament details 

England's U19s travel to the Czech Republic later this week to play in the UEFA Championship Finals. Our U19s were runners-up three years ago, losing 3-1 to France in the final in Belfast, and last won the Championship when England were hosts in 1993.

In '93, of course, they were U18s rather than U19s, with UEFA having amended the age levels in 2001.

England began with a solid 2-0 win against France at Stoke on 18 July, Kevin Gallen and Robbie Fowler (pictured left) scoring the goals on that occasion. Both players were on target again and Julian Joachim added the other two as we beat Holland 4-1 at Walsall two days later.

Ted Powell's side were now warming to the task, Fowler blasting a hat-trick as Spain were overwhelmed 5-1 at Bescot Stadium in their last Group One fixture. Mark Tinkler and Jamie Forrester grabbed the other goals as England qualified for the final at Nottingham Forest's City Ground on 25 July.

A massive crowd of 23,381 packed in to see Darren Caskey notch the 70th-minute penalty that proved to be enough to sink Turkey.

England lined up like this: Chris Day (Tottenham Hotspur), Gary Neville (Manchester United), Kevin Sharp (Leeds United), Darren Caskey (Tottenham Hotspur), Chris Casper (Manchester United), Sol Campbell (Tottenham Hotspur), Mark Tinkler (Leeds United), Julian Joachim (Leicester City), Paul Scholes (Manchester United), Robbie Fowler (Liverpool) and Kevin Gallen (QPR). Noel Whelan (Leeds United) came on for Gallen.

Now, 15 years on, there's another chance for glory. Our U19s start against their Czech Republic hosts on the Monday 14 July.