Steve Stone was the last England player to lift the World Cup – dancing like Nobby Stiles with the Jules Rimet trophy in Baddiel and Skinner's Three Lions video.
He was also part of the first team to be relegated from the Premier League in 1993, when Brian Clough bowed out after 994 games in charge of Nottingham Forest. The greatest manager England never had should have been carried across Trent Bridge on an emperor's throne at his passing-out parade.
Instead, Clough's last stand in football was an anaemic 2-1 defeat at Ipswich, blowing kisses to away fans from the steps of the team coach as they conveyed their contempt for director Chris Wootton, who was perceived as a force behind the downfall of a legend. In 40 years of this hack scribbling notes for a living, and 30 years of the Premier League marque, it remains one of the saddest sights in football.
