After breaking into the Crewe first-team aged 18, Platt soon began to make a name for himself, scoring 11 goals in all competitions in the 1985/86 season.

He made his League debut against Scunthorpe United and scored his first senior goal in a 3-1 victory over Rochdale. Not long after making his debut, coach Dario Gradi pushed Platt into what would become his familiar advanced midfield position.

Attention started to focus on Gresty Road after Platt scored 22 goals in 43 League games in the 1986/87 season and then, after an even more prolific start to the following season, Aston Villa bought the 21-year-old for just £300,000.

In total, Platt made 134 League appearances for Crewe, scoring 55 goals in the process.

Platt's first year at Villa Park saw the Birmingham-based side win promotion back into the old First Division after new manager Graham Taylor worked his Watford magic again by steering Villa to second place.

After a bit of a struggle in 1988/89, Platt burst into life in the 1989/90 season, scoring 19 goals in 37 League appearances as the Villans finished second to Liverpool in the race for the championship.

His performances caught the eye of England manager Bobby Robson, who saw fit to hand Platt his debut in the November 1989 friendly match with Italy.

Platt then played four further matches to cement his place in the Italia '90 World Cup squad. Having already come on as a substitute against both Holland (drew 0-0) and Egypt (won 1-0), Platt made his third appearance in a row from the bench in the second round match against Belgium.

In injury time at the end of extra time, with penalties seemingly inevitable, Paul Gascoigne floated a perfect free kick into the area which Platt latched onto, turning on a sixpence to volley home past Preud'homme, sending England into the quarter-finals.

In Naples, England met Cameroon and it was Platt, who started the match, who gave England the lead midway through the first-half, converting Stuart Pearce's perfect left-wing cross with a textbook downward header.

Platt then started in the semi-final against West Germany, which ended of course in penalty shoot-out failure. Platt though scored his spot kick and scored his third goal of the tournament in the 3rd Place Play-Off against Italy.

Returning a hero, Platt went back to Villa for the 1990/91 season as one of Europe's brighest talents. That season saw him score nineteen League goals for the second consecutive time, which was enough to tempt Serie A club Bari into splashing out £5.5 million for him.

At Bari, Platt managed eleven goals and missed just nine of Bari's games as they finished 15th. However, his efforts were not enough to keep the team up and they returned to Serie B.

Platt's goals, however, put him ninth in the top scorers chart, a wonderful effort for a midfielder in his first season in the notoriously frugal Italian championship and, true enough, the great Juventus swooped in and bought the England captain for £6.5 million.

Platt spent just the one season - 1992/93 - at the Stadio Delle Alpi and never really found his way into Trappatoni's side, making only 16 appearances in the League.

When Juve won through to the UEFA Cup Final, Trappatoni again excluded Platt from the side but, thanks to five goals in the tie from Roberto Baggio, Juventus beat Borussia Dortmund 6-1 on aggregate.

That summer saw Platt make his third consecutive big-money move as he transfered to Sampdoria for £5.7 million which, on accumulated transfer figures, made him one of the most expensive footballers in history.

In his two seasons at Samp, Platt became one of the most-loved players amongst the fans of the Genoese club.

Fittingly, Platt won his only domestic Italian trophy of his spell in Italy when Sampdoria won the 1994 Coppa Italia, under the guidance of current England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Platt returned to the English Premier League in 1995, signing for Arsenal in a £4.75 million deal and spent three years with the Gunners, culminating in the winning of the Premiership and FA Cup Double in 1997/98.

During his first season at Highbury, Platt continued playing for Terry Venables' England and was a member of the squad for the 1996 European Championships.

England again won through to a semi-final only to lose to Germany on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Platt's last match for his country.

After Arsenal, Platt concentrated on his future coaching career by training for various coaching badges. In attempt to gain a rounded understanding of football management, Platt also toured Europe, studying coaching methods at Barcelona, Ajax and Juventus.

In December 1998, he was offered a coaching role with former side Sampdoria, but returned to England the following February.

He was offered a new role by then FA Technical Director Howard Wilkinson to work on the coaching team with the England Under 18s, whilst taking his coaching qualifications. He became manager of Nottingham Forest in July, and spent two years in charge of the First Division club at the City Ground.

In July 2001 Platt was appointed coach to the England Under 21 side, successfully qualifying for the UEFA U21 Championships in Switzerland in his first year in charge. He left The FA earlier this year.

David Platt Factfile 

Nationality: English
Place of Birth: Chadderton, England
Date of Birth: 10 June 1966 
Height: 5' 10''
Weight: 11 12 
Clubs: Man Utd, Crewe, Aston Villa, Bari, Juventus, Sampdoria, Arsenal 
Position: Attacking midfielder

Year

Club

Apps.

Goals

1983/84

Manchester United

0

0

1984/85

Crewe Alexandra

22

6

1985/86

Crewe Alexandra

43

9

1986/87

Crewe Alexandra

43

22

1987/88

Crewe Alexandra

26

19

1987/88

Aston Villa

11

5

1988/89

Aston Villa

38

7

1989/90

Aston Villa

37

19

1990/91

Aston Villa

35

19

1991/92

Bari

29

11

1992/93

Juventus

16

3

1993/94

Sampdoria

29

9

1994/95

Sampdoria

26

9

1995/96

Arsenal

29

6

1996/97

Arsenal

28

4

1997/98

Arsenal

31

3

1999/00

Nottingham Forest

3

0


David Platt's Honours

1990 World Cup, 4th Place (England)
1993 UEFA Cup (Juventus)
1994 Coppa Italia (Sampdoria)
1998 English Championship (Arsenal)
1998 FA Cup (Arsenal)