Terry Venables: A ‘players’ man’ who nearly guided England to glory remembered

Published

12 months ago

November 26, 2023

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In 1996, Terry Venables was against the clock, managing the England national team in his last tournament.

Under intense scrutiny for his business dealings, MP Kate Hoey famously declared that Venables was unfit for the post of national team manager.

But in Euro 96, the former midfielder took England within one penalty of their first international final since 1966.

While falling to Germany in a nail-biting semi-final, with now England manager Gareth Southgate infamously missing his spot-kick, Venables won hearts and minds for taking England so far.

Gary Lineker called him the “best, most innovative coach that I had the privilege and pleasure of playing for”.

Gary Neville fondly said he was “without doubt the most technically gifted British coach we’ve ever produced”.

And Alan Shearer, who was the tournament’s top scorer with five goals, said today: “I owe you so much. You were amazing.”

Despite falling short in what turned out to be his last match as England manager, the self-described “player’s man” called 1996 the “best time of my life”.

The one-time midfielder was born in Dagenham, Essex, on January 6, 1943, and was an only child.

Having shown promise as a footballer, he joined Chelsea as an apprentice in 1958 before signing professional terms two years later, and then winning a League Cup winners’ medal in 1965 following a 3-2 victory over Leicester.

He had earned his two England caps the previous year in fixtures against Belgium and Holland, having represented his country at schoolboy, youth, amateur and under-23 level.

It was his transfer to Tottenham in 1966 that led to his most successful period as a player, during which he won the following year’s FA Cup with a 2-1 victory over his former club.

He left Tottenham for QPR in 1969, moving on five years later to Crystal Palace, where after one season he retired and joined the club’s coaching staff. In 1976, he started his career as a manager.

In a trait that made Venables unique during his managerial career, he co-wrote detective novels, which were later turned into the TV series Hazell about a wise-cracking cockney private eye. It ran for 22 episodes from 1978-79.

It proved a significantly bigger hit than one of his early business ideas – the ‘Thingummywig’, a hat with a built-in wig so women could go out without removing their curlers.

But back on the touchline, Venables led Palace to the Second Division in just one season. Another two seasons later and he had secured the league title and promotion to the First Division.

In October 1980, Venables resigned to take over as manager at QPR, leading the second-tier side to the 1982 FA Cup final, which they lost to Tottenham in a replay.

The next year, he guided them to the Second Division title, while becoming both their major shareholder and managing director.

He led QPR to a fifth-placed finish and qualification for the UEFA Cup in the 1983-84 campaign, but in May 1984 he became manager of Barcelona, and charmed their thousands of fans.

Later dubbed ‘El Tel’, Venables spoke to the fans in Catalan at his first match in charge and, more significantly, in his first season he led the club to their first Spanish league title in 11 years.

Venables signed Lineker and Mark Hughes during his time at the Nou Camp, also selling Diego Maradona.

However, Barca only finished runners-up in the league during the following two seasons, also losing in the final of the 1986 European Cup as Romanian opponents Steaua Bucharest triumphed on penalties after a goalless draw.

His dismissal in September 1987 was followed by his appointment as Tottenham manager in October. He brought Paul Gascoigne to the club and linked up with Lineker again.

Venables led Spurs to 1991 FA Cup glory with a 2-1 victory over Nottingham Forest in the final, although the match was overshadowed by Gascoigne’s cruciate ligament injury.

When Venables and Alan Sugar won the takeover battle for the club that June, he was also appointed chief executive, but his relationship with the then chairman gradually broke down.

In 1993 Sugar sacked him, and later that year the BBC’s Panorama programme alleged misdealings connected with Venables’s businesses, which he responded to by threatening libel action.

Despite any damage to his reputation, in January 1994 he was appointed England manager, and his first fixture in charge came two months later when they defeated Denmark 1-0 at Wembley.

That August, police also dropped their inquiry into allegations he paid Brian Clough a £50,000 bung to arrange a player transfer.

In January 1996, Venables revealed he would resign as England manager after that year’s European Championship to focus on pending court cases.

But with Arsenal’s Tony Adams as his captain at the heart of defence, Alan Shearer in form up front and a rejuvenated Gascoigne pulling the strings in midfield, England progressed to the knockout stages following a 4-1 thumping of Holland that still ranks as one of the Three Lion’s finest performances.

Venables’s use of the ‘Christmas Tree’ formation was considered instrumental to their success, which also included a penalty shoot-out victory over Spain in the quarter-finals.

After the crushing defeat to Germany, Venables made an unexpected return to the sport as Portsmouth’s director of football in July the same year.

By November he had been appointed Australia manager, also becoming Portsmouth chairman, having bought the club for £1.

In January 1998 he stepped down from his role of chairman and also agreed to a High Court order banning him from holding company directorships for seven years.

His return to Palace as manager that April was short-lived, but he was recruited again, this time by struggling Middlesbrough, in December 2000.

Having left after leading them to Premier League survival, in July 2002 he returned for one last job in club management, this time at financially troubled Leeds.

The sale of key players including Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler and Jonathan Woodgate contributed to their plight and in March, as the threat of relegation loomed, he was sacked again.

Venables surprisingly returned to the England set-up as new manager Steve McClaren’s assistant in the summer of 2006. Failure to qualify for Euro 2008 saw them dismissed in November 2007.

Having speculated in clubs and property, his final business venture began in 2014 when he opened a boutique hotel and restaurant with wife Yvette in Penaguila, Spain.

Venables is survived by his wife and daughters Tracey and Nancy.

UK

Remembrance Sunday commemorations in pictures – as King leads event at Cenotaph in Whitehall

Published

13 hours ago

November 10, 2024

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Remembrance Sunday commemorations in pictures - as King leads event at Cenotaph in Whitehall

The King led the nation’s Remembrance Sunday commemorations as he laid a wreath at the Cenotaph during a two-minute silence.

Charles, who is still receiving cancer treatment, paid his respects without the Queen, who did not attend events in central London due to a chest infection.

He appeared alongside his son Prince William and daughter-in-law, Kate, Princess of Wales, who carried out two consecutive public engagements for the first time this year after her cancer treatment ended.

Sunday was the King’s third Remembrance service as monarch.

The Royal British Legion’s veteran parade along Whitehall featured 10,000 veterans from 326 different armed forces and civil organisations.

Similar memorial events took place in Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Belfast, as well as smaller towns and cities.

Politicians from the four nations laid wreaths in capital cities, while veterans and their families also gathered for events in Portsmouth, the home of this year’s D-Day anniversary commemorations, and the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

Thousand of people, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and eight of his predecessors, watched as the nation fell silent at 11am.

Among the former leaders were Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Boris Johnson, Theresa May, Lord David Cameron, Gordon Brown, Sir Tony Blair, and Sir John Major.

Kemi Badenoch, the new Conservative Party leader, also laid a wreath alongside the prime minister.

On Saturday evening, the Prince and Princess of Wales attended the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, along with the King.

Hours beforehand, Buckingham Palace announced Queen Camilla would not be attending either of the Remembrance events. It is understood there is no cause for concern but that doctors did not want to hinder her recovery or put anyone else at risk.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings of the Second World War and the 25th anniversary of the end of the war in Kosovo.

It also marks the 75th anniversary of NATO and the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale between the UK and France.

UK

UK is ready to fight a war but will need to be stronger in future, head of armed forces warns

Published

14 hours ago

November 10, 2024

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UK is ready to fight a war but will need to be stronger in future, head of armed forces warns

The UK is ready to fight a war, the head of the armed forces has insisted, after the defence secretary recently suggested the military is not prepared for a conflict.

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin also stressed the importance of continuing to back Ukraine when asked about the potential impact of the re-election of Donald Trump on Russia’s war.

He said more than 1,500 Russian troops had been killed or injured in the warzone every day during October. That equates to more than 46,000 people – equivalent to more than half of the British Army.

The Chief of the Defence Staff used the Russian casualty figure to underline the cost to Vladimir Putin of his invasion, but analysts say the Kremlin has proven itself more than capable of absorbing high attrition rates without changing its war aims.

Admiral Radakin was speaking in an interview on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips to mark Remembrance Sunday.

Asked if the UK could fight a war at scale, he said: “Absolutely. So our servicemen and women will always be ready to serve their nation and to do as the government of the day directs us to do.”

Last month, however, John Healey, the new Labour defence secretary, told a Politico podcast that the armed forces were not ready to fight after being hollowed out and under-funded during 14 years of Conservative rule.

In reality, the hollowing out and under-funding also took place under the previous Labour government.

Pressed by Trevor Phillips on whether the army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force had the capabilities to fight a war, Admiral Radakin said: “We do have the capabilities. And then the reassurance is that we do that alongside our allies.

“And for those biggest fights, then we will always do them with our allies.”

He conceded, though, that the UK needs to be “even stronger in the future”.

Admiral Radakin added: “Some of that is about having deeper stockpiles. Some of that is being better at bringing technology and learning the lessons from Ukraine… And some of that is also recognising that you need to have a defence industry that can better support those demands.

“We’re in a more dangerous world.”

The top commander repeatedly stressed the importance of being part of NATO to be able to counter the biggest threats faced by the UK.

But the re-election of Donald Trump to the White House has raised new concerns about US support for the transatlantic alliance. The United States is by far its most powerful member.

The president-elect threatened to quit NATO when he was US commander-in-chief the first time around, and he has repeatedly berated member states that do not meet a minimum spending commitment of 2% of national income.

Mr Trump is also expected to take a different approach to the war in Ukraine to Joe Biden, saying he will end the fighting – but without yet explaining how.

Trevor Phillips asked Admiral Radakin how confident he was that the United States would continue to stand “shoulder to shoulder” with Ukraine.

The defence chief declined to speculate on potential US policy so soon after the election.

Instead, he said: “What you’re seeing is a Russia that is making tactical gains and is seizing more territory, but is doing that at enormous cost, enormous cost in terms of its soldiers – over 1,500 people a day are either killed or wounded in October.”

Admiral Radakin also pointed out how the war prompted NATO to grow, with Finland and Sweden joining.

“At the strategic level, Russia is losing,” he said.

“Russia wanted to subjugate Ukraine. It’s never going to subjugate Ukraine.

“And that’s what we should be really clear about – that we continue our support for President Zelenskyy and his people in their existential fight.”

UK

‘Renegade’ UK could be spared from Donald Trump’s tariffs, US governor says

Published

1 day ago

November 9, 2024

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'Renegade' UK could be spared from Donald Trump's tariffs, US governor says

The UK could be spared the impact of Donald Trump’s proposed trade tariff increases on foreign imports, a US governor has told Sky News.

In the aftermath of the Republican candidate’s decisive election win over Kamala Harris this week, attention is turning to what the former president will do on his return to the White House.

Mr Trump has said he wants to raise tariffs – taxes on imported products – on goods from around the world by 10%, rising to 60% on goods from China, as part of his plan to protect US industries.

But there are fears in foreign capitals about what this could do to their economies. Goldman Sachs has downgraded its forecast for the UK’s economic growth next year from 1.6% to 1.4%, while EU officials are anticipating a reduction in exports to the US of €150bn (£125bn).

However, New Jersey governor Phil Murphy – a Democrat – says he believes Mr Trump may consider not including the UK in the tariff plans.

Speaking on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, the governor said he cannot speak for the president-elect but he has a “good relationship” with him.

His gut feeling is that Mr Trump will not impose tariffs on goods from allies like the UK. “But if I’m China, I’m fastening my seatbelt right now,” he said.

Mr Murphy said that Mr Trump may look favourably at the UK after its departure from the European Union.

The president-elect is considering offering the UK a special deal that would exempt British exports from billions of pounds of tariffs, according to The Telegraph.

“Donald Trump (has) some sympathy with the renegade who has courage,” Mr Murphy continued. “I think there’s some of that. I think that’s a card that can be played. We’ll see.”

Asked about whether UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer can build a rapport with the incoming president, Mr Murphy said: “I’ve been able to find common ground with President Trump, and I’m a proud progressive, although I’m a cold-blooded capitalist, which is probably the part of me that President Trump resonates with.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said she is “confident” trade flows with the United States will continue despite the tariff proposal.

Will Brexit help UK in Trump trade talks?

Jon Craig

Chief political correspondent

@joncraig

Could Brexit help Sir Keir Starmer and the UK government in trade negotiations with President Trump – who calls himself “tariff man” – and the US?

The suggestion – ironic, given the PM’s hostility to Brexit and his pledge for a “reset” with the EU – has been made by a Trump ally and confidant, albeit a leading Democrat.

The claim comes from Phil Murphy, governor of New Jersey, in an interview for Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News.

Murphy says he has a good relationship with Trump, who has a palatial home he calls the Summer White House, a 500-acre estate and a golf club at Bedminster, New Jersey, just 45 minutes from Trump Tower in New York.

He says his “gut feeling” is that Trump has sympathy with the UK for having the courage to pull out of the EU, “this big bureaucratic blob” and “that’s a card that can be played” by the UK in trade talks.

Really? As Trevor politely pointed out, that might benefit the UK if the prime minister was Nigel Farage rather than Sir Keir.

Mr Farage, however, speaking at a Reform UK regional conference in Exeter, described Trump as a “pro-British American president” who’d give the UK “potentially huge opportunities”.

But there’s one problem, according to the Reform UK leader. Favours from Trump will only come, he claims, “if we can overcome the difficulties that the whole of the cabinet have been rude about him”.

You can watch the full interview with Governor Phil Murphy as well as other guests on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips from 8.30am.