Terry Venables Profile
Terry Venables is possibly best remembered for leading the Three Lions during Euro 96, when England came within a toe-nail’s length (Paul Gascoigne’s to be precise) of a place in the final. Although eventually failing to end ‘30 years of hurt’ the tournament was marked by some great England performances, including a resounding 4-1 thrashing of Holland at Wembley, with the SAS (Shearer and Sheringham) in full flow. Venables has since enjoyed spells with Australia, Middlesbrough and Leeds United, but is now concentrating on his work as a pundit with ITV.

On The Field 

Best individual performance: Thierry Henry’s hat-trick against Liverpool last season changed the title race. And Arjen Robben has come up with several great individual performances since he’s come to Chelsea.

Best team performance: I think you have to mention Arsenal because they are the team of 2004 with that incredible unbeaten run. The key game was their 4-2 win against Liverpool. I saw that game, they were wobbling at half-time but blew Liverpool away.

One thing you would like to change: It was a real pity Wayne Rooney got injured against Portugal during Euro 2004. It’s part and parcel of football of course and there’s no guarantee England would have won but now we will never know.

England player of the year: I’ve suggested that already haven’t I! It has to be Rooney. He is a very young man but has done enough already for Everton, Manchester United and England to show he is not a flash in the pan. I thought his performance against France was particularly good. The French have some superstars in their team but Rooney looked totally comfortable in that environment.

Manager of the year: There are two for different reasons. Jose Mourinho won the Champions League and has Chelsea on top of the Premiership so you can’t argue with that. But on another level, the way David Moyes has transformed Everton is remarkable.

I thought at one stage he was going to leave and Everton would be relegated. But he’s stuck it out and done a fine job. They are a great club and I am delighted to see them so high up. But if Moyes had gone, that would have been fatal.

A name to watch in 2005: Stewart Downing has already grabbed a lot of attention for Middlesbrough but next year should see him take it a stage further for England.

I remember Stewart as a young boy when I worked at Middlesbrough and he stood out to me. The club have several good youngsters, I look forward to seeing how Stuart Parnaby, Anthony McMahon and James Morrison do.

One rule change you would like: It’s time to forget that old saying ‘luck evens itself out’ and check on controversial decisions with video evidence. We could start with balls going over the line, penalty shouts and whether there were fouls in scoring a goal.

People say it would be bad because it would slow the game down – nonsense. It would add to the showbiz and entertainment. The most important thing is we would get the fair decision. Referees and their assistants just can’t see everything these days.

Off The Field

Best Christmas memories: I was a 17-year-old just made it into the Chelsea side and we had a match at Newcastle or somewhere like that. It would take all day on the train and because we wouldn’t get a Christmas lunch and there was no food on the train, my mum packed me a great big turkey leg in silver foil. When I got hungry, I pulled this enormous turkey leg out and the other five players in my carriage were watching me with absolute envy. I asked them if they wanted any but they were too polite. So I tucked into the whole lot while they were salivating.

Favourite Christmas song: It has to be Bing Crosby singing White Christmas. I remember it as a kid and it still touches the heartstrings.

Where in the world would you'd most like to visit in the next year: I’ve been to most places but one I always fancied visiting was The Maldives. I actually got to go in 2004 so I can’t be greedy and ask to go anywhere else in particular.

If a film were to come out next year about your life, who would you like to play you? Other people have suggested Ray Winstone or Robert De Niro. But the reality is probably Joe Pasquale!

Log on to TheFA.com over the festive period for more end of year reviews.

Date Article
20 December       Terry Venables
21 December The Barber
22 December Tord Grip - Part I
23 December Tord Grip - Part II
24 December Brent Hills and Tord Grip - Part III
25 December Sven-Goran Eriksson - Part I
26 December Trevor Brooking - Part I
27 December Trevor Brooking - Part II
28 December Trevor Brooking - Part III
29 December Sammy Lee
30 December Graeme Dell and Matt Upson
31 December Sven-Goran Eriksson - Part II
01 January  Sven-Goran Eriksson - Part III
02 January  Brendon Batson
03 January  Nigel Worthington and Lyndon Lynch
04 January  Marcus Bignot
05 January  Dave Jones
06 January  Bobby Robson and Martin Hunter
07 January  Mark Schwarzer and Zesh Rehman