Devastation and delight: England’s Euros clashes with the Netherlands

Ruud Gullit (left) set up two Netherlands goals in their defeat of England in 1988 and Paul Gascoigne provided assists at Wembley eight years later. Composite: Allsport/Getty Images; Action Images

For a few months early in the 21st century, Sir Bobby Robson and Terry Venables kept bumping into each other on north-east football’s social circuit.

Fellow lunch and dinner guests were regaled with wonderful anecdotes as Robson, then managing Newcastle, and Venables, in co-charge of Middlesbrough, reminisced about, among many others things, their respective stints in charge of England.