England's Euro-stars

The ultimate prize is the final in May – and several Englishmen have been there before with foreign clubs.

1979 – Bob’s Fall House
Little-known Englishman Bob Houghton takes unfashionable Swedish side Malmo to the European Cup Final in Munich, where they are beaten 1-0 by Nottingham Forest – Trevor Francis heading the winner. Houghton’s preference to play 4-4-2 with the strikers getting good service from the flanks is noted carefully by a new generation of Swedish coaches, including a certain youngster called Sven-Goran Eriksson.

1980 – King Kev cut to size
Reigning European Footballer of the Year and England captain Kevin Keegan faces English opposition in the European Cup Final. Keegan leads the Hamburg attack against Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest but can’t find any way past international team-mate Peter Shilton. John Robertson scores the only goal as Forest win 1-0.


1981 – Laurie load of Liverpool
Former West Brom winger Laurie Cunningham lines up for Real Madrid against Liverpool in Paris but can’t make an impression on Bob Paisley’s Merseysiders. Left-back Alan Kennedy scores the winning goal for Liverpool and he leaves Madrid two years later. Tragically, Laurie was killed in a car accident in 1989.

1991 – More penalty misery for Waddle
Chris Waddle enhanced his reputation as one of the best players in Europe by leading Marseille to the European Cup Final – defeating mighty AC Milan along the way. But having done the hard work, the French club were shut-out by Red Star in the final, losing 5-3 on penalties after a 0-0 draw. And, no, Chris – having missed from the spot in the Italia 90 World Cup semi-final – didn’t take one of Marseille’s penalties.

2000 & 2002 – Macca’s European Double
Steve McManaman is the only Englishman to win Europe’s biggest club prize twice with a foreign club – scoring in the final against Valencia in 2000, which Real Madrid won 3-0. In 2002, he came off the bench at Hampden against Leverkusen, Real winning 2-1 with a wonderstrike from Zinedine Zidane.


2001 – More than one English Owen
Owen Hargreaves was little-known to England fans when he helped Bayern Munich beat Real Madrid to reach the Champions League Final. The tigerish midfielder was again superb in the final as Bayern beat Valencia on penalties after a 1-1 draw, getting over the hurt of losing to Manchester United two years previously. He is now a regular member of the England squad with another Owen, Michael.