Looking Back At The England Side That Lost To Scotland In 1999

As Gareth Southgate prepares his England side to face Scotland in this evening's World Cup qualifier, the former Middlesbrough and Aston Villa defender will no doubt reminisce about the time he featured for the Three Lions in the 'Battle of Britain'

It was 1999 and going into the tie at Wembley, Paul Scholes scored twice in the opening leg to put England in the driving seat, but Keegan's side made hard work of their second leg, and even failed to manage a single shot on target in the entire 90 minutes. Shock, horror.

Year after year, we raise the same old question. Why do we never live up to expectation? - If you go back in time to 1999, England's squad was brimming with some of world football's biggest talents. From Alan Shearer to Tony Adams, the core of any Kevin Keegan side was always solid.

To say that we never achieved anything during this period is hugely disappointing.

A goal from big Don Hutchinson after a lovely cross from Neill McCann wasn't enough for Craig Brown's side that day, and like years gone by, England scraped through with a side that was then seen as 'world class'.

Here's an England side that should have made waves back in the 00's. The potentially lethal striking partnership of Owen and Shearer never really erupted, while the crumbling foundations of Tony Adams and Sol Campbell was susceptible to error - it could, and should, have been a different story.

England side that started against Scotland in November, 1999:

England:

Seaman, P Neville, Campbell, Adams, Southgate, Ince, Redknapp, Beckham, Scholes, Shearer, Owen.

Scotland:

Sullivan, Weir, Davidson, Dailly, Hendry, Ferguson, Dodds, Burley, McCann, Hutchison, Collins.

Referee: Pierluigi Collina (It)

Here are highlights from that game at Wembley:

Featured Image Credit:

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

@jackkenmare_