‘I didn’t see the ball move, but I remember reading all that Uri Geller nonsense’ Alan Shearer wishes as many people remembered his Euro 96 goal vs Scotland as they did the ‘phenomenon’ behind Gary McAllister’s penalty miss

Goalkeeper David Seaman of England saves a penalty from Gary McAllister of Scotland during the England v Scotland match in Group A of the European Football Championships at Wembley. England beat Scotland 2-0. With an inset of Uri Geller
Goalkeeper David Seaman of England saves a penalty from Gary McAllister with Uri Geller later claiming he 'moved' the ball (Image credit: Future)

It was the era of Braveheart, and Mel Gibson references were rife in the British press on the eve of a crucial Euro 96 six-pointer derby match. England vs Scotland at Wembley Stadium.

Trevor Brooking, on commentary duty that day reinforced the obvious: “I can’t think of a bigger game that any of these players could play in.”

Paul Gascoigne was portrayed as Henry V; Gary McAllister, William Wallace. On pundit duty, Alan Hansen was balanced with Tartan Army hate figure Jimmy Hill. 

VIDEO Alan Shearer Explains How England Could Have Won The Euros

New Chelsea boss Ruud Gullit was drafted as neutral, with the effortlessly cool Des Lynam refereeing and 28 years later we’re still talking about it. 

“All England-Scotland games, whether at Wembley or Hampden Park, are big games.” Alan Shearer tells FourFourTwo in 2024. “That result [2-0 win vs Scotland] could have gone either way as well. We hadn’t played fantastically well against Switzerland – we drew that game 1-1. 

“Against Scotland, we got a little bit of luck with them missing the penalty at 1-0 – if they’d scored, then who knows? They miss it, then we’re up the other end and Gazza scores that amazing goal. 

15 June 1996 - Euro 96 - Group Stage - Scotland v England - Gordon Durie of Scotland. - (Photo by Mark Leech/Offside via Getty Images)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

“It’s funny, because not many people remember who scored the first goal. Obviously I do, but everyone remembers Gazza, and rightly so, because that was such an iconic moment in English football. 

“To do it against Scotland, at Wembley, and in a major tournament, the brilliance of that goal was just something else. Not many people could have done that.”

It wasn’t the only miraculous thing that happened on the pitch at Wembley on that blazing hot afternoon. The key moment of the game came as Gary McAllister ran up to belt his penalty. 

Replays showed the ball clearly moved. It rolled, subtly, but enough to be captured on camera. McAllister has since admitted he noticed it and it can’t have helped his efforts to beat David Seaman. 

Jack Grealish was only one when Paul Gascoigne was dazzling at Euro 96

Gazza celebrates with Teddy Sheringham after his Scotland wonder goal, and after his famous dentist chair celebration

Speaking to FourFourTwo last year, McAllister revealed "During the pandemic, all of the games from that summer were shown on TV. I’d never watched the England match back because of the penalty I missed – when Uri Gellar made the ball move!”

The 90s TV personality, Geller, later claimed it was HE who moved the ball using psychic powers. Shearer admits he didn’t see it at the time, and doesn’t recall players discussing it either. 

“Who was the guy that tried to claim he moved it? Uri Geller! I remember reading about that nonsense,” he said.

McAllister meanwhile told FourFourTwo: “There’s no doubt in my mind that the result would have been different had I netted the penalty. England took the initiative after David Seaman saved it. Had I scored, I think we’d probably have won that match.”

Alan Shearer was speaking to FourFourTwo as part of his work with Topps to promote the official UEFA EURO 2024 sticker collection, available now from Topps.com and all good retailers

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Matthew Ketchell
Deputy Editor

Ketch joined FourFourTwo as Deputy Editor in 2022 having racked up appearances at Reach PLC as a Northern Football Editor and BBC Match of the Day magazine as their Digital Editor and Senior Writer. During that time he has interviewed the likes of Harry Kane, Sergio Aguero, Gareth Southgate and attended World Cup and Champions League finals. He co-hosts a '90s football podcast called ‘Searching For Shineys’, is a Newcastle United season ticket holder and has an expensive passion for collecting classic football shirts.