Terry Venables' Euro 96 masterclass: How England were ahead of the curve

Manager Terry Venables holding a cup of tea at a training session of the England national football team at the Bisham Abbey sports centre in Berkshire, 4th June 1996
Manager Terry Venables holding a cup of tea at Bisham Abbey during Euro 96 (Image credit: Future)

For more than 20 years, the summer of ’96 was as good as it got for England. Not purely in terms of a tournament finish – Sir Bobby Robson had inspired a semi-final appearance just six years prior – but for how supporting your country is supposed to feel. 

Here was a team, lampooned by the press leading up to the finals and facing selection questions all across the pitch, delivering some of the most memorable results in the nation’s history. 

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Adam Clery

Adam published his first article for FourFourTwo in 2015, but didn’t publish his second until seven years later in 2022. A figure that would put him near the top end of any ranking for Longest Time Between Appearances For One Club. In the time between he plied his trade as both a writer and presenter on YouTube, earning the dubious distinction of being “The James Milner of WhatCulture”. Be that because he was capable of playing any role, or just because it felt like he’d been around forever, depends on who you ask. And yes, that is him from the Football Manager documentary and, no, he doesn’t want to talk about it.

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