Readers of a certain vintage will find it scarcely believable that Euro 96 was 25 years ago. It was a tournament that defined the 90s and an entire generation of football fans as England came agonisingly close to bringing football home.
Alan Shearer’s goals, Stuart ‘Psycho’ Pearce’s scream, David Seaman’s penalty saves, Gazza’s goal against Scotland and the dentist’s chair celebration – and the same player’s agonising failure to connect to a cross against Germany and Gareth Southgate’s penalty miss. Even for those who are too young to remember it, the replays and tales are etched into the minds of every English football fan.
But it really was 25 years ago – and a lot can happen in 25 years. Some of Terry Venables’ 22-man squad have never left the public eye and their stories are well known, while others’ names some will struggle to recall. The last of them to hang up their boots was Phil Neville in 2013.
They all have their own stories to tell, and those stories stretch across the globe, from the sublime to the ridiculous. Here, Sportsmail runs through England’s Euro 96 squad, revealing what they are all up to now…
1 David Seaman (goalkeeper, 32, Arsenal)
The Arsenal keeper was one of only three players to feature in every minute of every match – memorably saving penalties from Gary McAllister in the win over Scotland and from Miguel Angel Nadal in the quarter-final shootout victory over Spain. He would earn 75 caps for England, with the last coming in the 2002 World Cup quarter-final defeat by Brazil aged 38 – when he was infamously lobbed by Ronaldinho.
Since retiring in 2004 after a season with Manchester City, Seaman has been a regular in Soccer Aid matches and appeared on Dancing on Ice in 2008 – going on to marry his dance partner Franke Poultney. A keen angler and regular on fishing shows, Seaman also appeared on ITV’s Harry’s Heroes in 2019 and 2020.
David Seaman celebrates his penalty save against Spain – and in an Arsenal Legends match
2 Gary Neville (defender, 21, Manchester United)
By the summer of 1996 Neville had already established himself as first-choice right back for club and country, playing every minute for England until the semi-final defeat by Germany – which he was suspended for. He would go on to earn 85 caps for England, the last of which came in 2007, and win 16 major trophies in a one-club career with United – who he would go on to captain before his career ended 2011.
Neville swiftly established himself as the most respected TV pundit in English football after taking up a job with Sky Sports immediately after retiring. He combined this role with working as England assistant manager from 2012 to 2016 and had a brief, disastrous spell as Valencia manager in 2015-16. In 2014, Neville became co-owner of Salford City, and now focuses his energies on running the League Two club alongside his work for Sky and property interests.
Gary Neville has established a career as a successful pundit since retiring
3 Stuart Pearce (defender, 34, Nottingham Forest)
England’s oldest player at Euro 96 – and one of only three in their 30s at the time – provided one of its most iconic moments with his spine-tingling celebration after scoring in shootout win over Spain; banishing memories of his penalty miss against Germany in 1990. ‘Psycho’ made the last of his 78 England appearances in 1999, playing on until he was 40 with Manchester City.
Pearce stayed at City after retiring in 2002 to work as a coach under Kevin Keegan, who he then took over from as manager in 2005, initially in a caretaker role. After being sacked two years later, he then went on to manage England Under 21s for six years – taking charge of a young Great Britain team at the 2012 Olympics too. He lasted just seven months as Forest boss in 2014-15 and had took on punditry roles before being appointed as an assistant to David Moyes at West Ham.
Stuart Pearce played on until he was 40 and is now assistant manager at West Ham
4 Paul Ince (midfielder, 28, Inter Milan)
Venables’ midfield enforcer was a key performer at Euro 96, with England struggling in the only match he missed against Spain through suspension. After two years with Inter he returned to the Premier League with Liverpool, before also serving Middlesbrough and Wolves with distinction. Ince played at the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, before retiring from international duty with 53 caps to his name.
Ince went into management with Macclesfield in 2006, initially as a player-boss, enjoying success there and at MK Dons – earning himself a shot in the Premier League with Blackburn in 2008. He lasted just 21 matches at Ewood Park before returning to MK Dons a year later, with his managerial career fizzling out with Blackpool in 2014. He is a now a regular pundit on TV.
Paul Ince has been out of work as a manager since 2014 and is a regular pundit on TV
5 Tony Adams (defender, 29, Arsenal)
England’s captain at Euro 96 played every minute of every match, though had been battling demons for most of his career up to that point. In August 1996, after a ‘three-day bender’, alcoholic Adams gave up drinking and checked himself into rehab. After recovering, he enjoyed a trophy-laden swansong to his Arsenal career under Arsene Wenger, retiring in 2002 after winning his fourth title. Adams appeared at the 1998 World Cup and made the last of his 66 England appearances at Euro 2000.
Adams set up the Sporting Chance Clinic in 2000, which continues to provide a specialist addiction and recovery facility for athletes. He has worked sporadically as a coach and manager since retiring, most notably at Portsmouth in the Premier League in 2008-09, with his last job coming with Granada in LaLiga in 2017.
Tony Adams captained England at Euro 96 and last managed Granada in 2017 (right)
6 Gareth Southgate (defender, 25, Aston Villa)
Southgate, who played every minute of every match at Euro 96 along with Adams and Seaman, was made the scapegoat for England’s exit after his missed penalty in the semi-final shootout defeat by Germany. The last of his 57 England caps came in 2004, though he was never a regular starter again after Venables left the job. He moved from Villa to Middlesbrough in 2001 and retired in 2006 with only two League Cup winners’ medals in his trophy cabinet.
Southgate went straight into management with Middlesbrough after retiring, lasting three years until he was sacked. He worked as a pundit and co-commentator for ITV after that, before landing the England Under 21 job in 2013. Then, his big break came in 2016 when England manager Sam Allardyce was sacked following a newspaper sting, thrusting Southgate into the main job. He has thrived in the role, guiding England to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals.
Gareth Southgate missed in the semi-final shooutout and is now England manager
7 David Platt (midfielder, 29, Arsenal)
An England veteran by the time of Euro 96, Platt started both knockout matches with Ince, then Neville suspended and Jamie Redknapp injured. The Germany defeat would be the last of his 62 England caps, with Platt ending his career early aged 31 after winning the Premier League with Arsenal in 1998.
Platt then returned to Italy – where he had spent four years as a player – to manage Sampdoria, before taking the Nottingham Forest job in 1999 and coming out of retirement in a player-manager role – though he would only pick himself seven times in two years. He spent three years as England U21 boss from 2001 to 2004, before coaching under former Samp team-mate Roberto Mancini at Manchester City from 2010 to 2013 after a six-year hiatus. After a brief spell managing Pune in India in 2015, Platt became a consultant for Serie B side Palermo in 2018 – a role he is still in.
David Platt celebrating scoring his penalty against Spain – and in his role at Palermo
8 Paul Gascoigne (midfielder, 29, Rangers)
Gazza’s most famous goal came in the Euro 96 win over Scotland – and his agonising missed attempt to get on the end of Alan Shearer’s cross in extra-time of the semi-final defeat best summer up England’s heartache. He was a key man for Glenn Hoddle in qualifying for the 1998 World Cup but missed out on the squad, flying into a rage in the manager’s hotel room with his 57-cap England career over. After a successful spell with Middlesbrough, his last Premier League appearance came with Everton in 2001 before brief stints with Burnley, Gansu Tianma and Boston United.
Without football to give him a sense of purpose, the alcoholism which had always been in the background of Gascoigne’s life spiralled out of control. His struggles with addiction and mental health problems in the years since his retirement have been well-documented.
Paul Gascoigne’s life spiralled out of control after his retirement in 2004
9 Alan Shearer (striker, 25, Blackburn)
England’s star man at Euro 96 with five goals in five matches, the tournament would kickstart an international career which had stuttered up to that point. Shearer took over the captaincy from Adams under Hoddle, leading England at the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, before retiring from international duty aged just 29 with 30 goals in 63 appearances. Having joined hometown club Newcastle in the weeks after Euro 96 ended, Shearer would remain with them until his retirement in 2006.
Shearer has been a regular pundit for the BBC’s Match of the Day since his retirement – save for a brief, unsuccessful attempt to save Newcastle from relegation as caretaker manager in 2009.
Alan Shearer is a regular on Match of the Day since retiring from football in 2006
10 Teddy Sheringham (striker, 30, Tottenham)
Despite being the wrong side of 30 at Euro 96, Sheringham’s best years were still ahead of him, with a move to Manchester United in 1997 resulting in three Premier League titles and Champions League and FA Cup winners’ medal in just four years at Old Trafford. The last of his 51 England caps came aged 36 against Brazil at the 2002 World Cup, while Sheringham would play in the Premier League until he was 40 and did not retire until the age of 42.
Sheringham had a brief coaching career, first as West Ham’s attack coach in 2014, then with spells in charge of Stevenage (2015-16) and Kolkata-based ATK (2017-18). He is a regular TV pundit and starred in ITV show The Masked Singer last year.
Sheringham enjoyed most of his success after Euro 96, playing on until he was 42
11 Darren Anderton (midfielder, 24, Tottenham)
A favourite of Venables’, Anderton started every match at Euro 96, missing only the final 12 minutes of extra-time in the quarter-final win over Spain. He was a regular at the 1998 World Cup but in a career plagued by injuries would only play 30 times for England, with the last of his caps coming in 2001. After 11 years with Spurs, his career ended in the lower leagues with Bournemouth in 2009.
Anderton, who never showed an interest in coaching, now lives in California and represented Spurs as a club ambassador on their 2018 tour of the United States.
Darren Anderton struggled with injuries throughout his career and now lives in California
12 Steve Howey (defender, 24, Newcastle)
One of five players in the squad not to play a single minute at Euro 96, centre back Howey never played for England again, with all four of his caps coming in the two years preceding the tournament. A key man in Keegan’s Newcastle team which twice finished as Premier League runners-up, injuries plagued Howey’s latter years on Tyneside before a move to Man City to work under Keegan again in 2000. He retired in 2005.
Howey now works as a Premier League referees’ assessor in the North East and North West, while he coaches around the world with the Premier Skills initiative run by the Premier League. He featured in the second series of Harry’s Heroes last year.
Steve Howey – who earned his four England caps before Euro 96 – featured on Harry’s Heroes (back row, middle)
13 Tim Flowers (goalkeeper, 29, Blackburn)
Seaman’s understudy Flowers was the No 1 for the successful Blackburn team of the mid-90s, winning the Premier League in 1995. He earned 11 caps for England, the last of which came in 1998, when he was named in Hoddle’s World Cup squad. He retired in 2003 after a four-year stint with Leicester.
Flowers has been employed as a manager and coach since his retirement, starting out as Leicester’s goalkeeping coach before becoming Iain Dowie’s assistant at Coventry in 2007. His first job as a manager came in 2010 with non-league Stafford Rangers, while he more recently managed Solihull Moors, Macclesfield and Barnet – who sacked him in March.
Tim Flowers was Seaman’s understudy at Euro 96 and most recently managed Barnet
14 Nick Barmby (midfielder, 22, Middlesbrough)
Winger Barmby made three substitute appearances during Euro 96, though fell out of favour under Hoddle despite scoring the first goal of his tenure. He returned to the team under Keegan four years later, before also scoring the maiden goal of Sven-Goran Eriksson’s reign in what would be the last of his 23 caps. Having joined Boro from Spurs, Barmby would also go on to represent Everton, Liverpool, Leeds and Hull in the Premier League.
Barmby took on a player-manager role with hometown club Hull in 2011-12, but has not managed again since being sacked. He joined Scunthorpe’s coaching staff in 2019 but only stayed for a few months.
Nick Barmby had a stop-start England career and was last seen as Scunthorpe coach in 2019
15 Jamie Redknapp (midfielder, 22, Liverpool)
Credited as the catalyst for England’s win over Scotland after coming on as a half-time substitute, Redknapp was then injured in the closing stages and missed the final three matches. Injuries continued to hamper Redknapp’s career, causing the Liverpool captain to miss the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, as he played just 17 times for his country in total. He missed the entirety of Liverpool’s 2000-01 season, which saw them win five trophies, before finishing his career with spells at Tottenham and Southampton.
While injuries stopped Redknapp from fulfilling his potential as a player, he has flourished since retiring in 2005, becoming a key part of Sky’s punditry team as well as being a star of their hit show A League Of Their Own.
Jamie Redknapp’s injury problems started at Euro 96 – but he has made a successful TV career
16 Sol Campbell (defender, 21, Tottenham)
Campbell replaced Redknapp for the final five minutes of the Scotland match and though that would be his only appearance at Euro 96, he would go on to establish himself as an England regular, earning 73 caps and appearing at five more major tournaments. At club level, Campbell did the unthinkable in 2001 and moved from Spurs to their north London rivals Arsenal – where he would win two Premier League titles and two FA Cups.
Since retirement, Campbell has managed both Macclesfield and Southend – though has spoken out on the difficulties of getting a job in the dugout as a black man. Campbell takes a keen interest in politics but failed in his attempt to be nominated as a Conservative Party candidate for London Mayor in 2016.
Sol Campbell became an England stalwart but has bemoaned his lack of chances as a manager
17 Steve McManaman (midfielder, 24, Liverpool)
McManaman started every game for England at Euro 96, though never quite hit the heights expected of him at international level, earning the last of his 37 caps in 2001 as Eriksson spurned him just as Hoddle had done before. At club level, McManaman enjoyed a successful four-year stint with Real Madrid after leaving Liverpool on a Bosman in 1999 – winning the Champions League twice and LaLiga twice – before retiring in 2005 following a two-year spell with Man City.
McManaman is another of the Euro 96 squad to have a enjoyed a successful career as a pundit since his retirement. He is a key part of BT Sport’s Champions League and Premier League coverage as a co-commentator and studio analyst.
Steve McManaman struggled to make an impact England and is now at BT Sport pundit
18 Les Ferdinand (striker, 29, Newcastle)
With Shearer and Sheringham working brilliantly in tandem at Euro 96, Ferdinand somewhat surprisingly didn’t play a single minute at the tournament despite his prolific club form. It was a similar story at the 1998 World Cup, when Ferdinand was again selected for the squad but did not play, with the last of his 17 caps – which yielded five goals – coming before the tournament. He retired from football in 2006.
Ferdinand has been Queens Parks Rangers’ director of football since 2015, having previously worked as a coach at Tottenham and as a pundit.
Les Ferdinand has been QPR’s director of football since 2015 after a 17-cap England career
19 Phil Neville (defender, 19, Manchester United)
Selected as a back-up full back to his brother Gary and Pearce, Neville also did not play at Euro 96, having made his debut just weeks before the tournament. Neville was a regular in England squads under several managers though not a regular starter, missing out on the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cup squads, despite being selected for Euro 2000 and Euro 2004. He won 59 caps and 10 major honours with United, before joining Everton in 2005. He retired in 2013.
Neville moved back to United upon retiring as part of David Moyes’ coaching team, while also working as an assistant to Pearce with England’s Under 21s. Neville became part-owner of Salford in 2014 and also joined his brother as an assistant at Valencia in 2015. He then took the England Women’s job in 2018, leading them to a World Cup semi-final, before taking over at David Beckham’s Inter Miami this year.
Phil Neville recently took on the Inter Miami post after leaving his role with England’s women
20 Steve Stone (midfielder, 24, Nottingham Forest)
One of the lesser-remembered members of the squad and an answer to many a quiz question, the Gateshead-born winger actually featured in three of England’s five matches at Euro 96 as a substitute. Coming off the back of the best season of his club career, and after impressing with two goals in six caps under Venables before the tournament, Stone looked set for a long international career. The emergence of a certain David Beckham put paid to that and Stone never played for his country again, retiring in 2007 after injury-hit spells with Aston Villa, Porsmouth and Leeds.
Stone returned to the North East after retirement as an academy coach with Newcastle, eventually working his way up to first-team coach under Alan Pardew in 2010, staying in the role until 2015. He has been Burnley’s Under 23s coach since 2018.
Steve Stone was overtaken by David Beckham after Euro 96 and is now Burnley U23 manager
21 Robbie Fowler (striker, 21, Liverpool)
Like Ferdinand, Fowler’s game-time was limited despite a prolific 28-goal Premier League season owing to the Shearer-Sheringham partnership. He made just two substitute appearances, against Holland and Spain, and would not appear at a major tournament for England again until the 2002 World Cup, having been selected for Euro 2000 without playing. His substitute appearance against Denmark in 2002 proved to be the last of his 26 caps in another injury-hit career.
Fowler is currently manager of East Bengal in India, having previously had spells in charge of Brisbane Roar and as Thailand’s Muanthong United – where he ended his playing career in 2012. Fowler has also worked as a coach at Liverpool’s academy and as a club ambassador, is a regular pundit and also starred in Harry’s Heroes.
Robbie Fowler was plagued by injuries after Euro 96 and now manages in India
22 Ian Walker (goalkeeper, 24, Tottenham)
Another quiz-question answer, Walker’s four England caps would be spread over eight years between 1996 and 2004. He was part of England’s Euro 2004 squad having enjoyed a career renaissance with Leicester, after losing his place at Spurs and being sold in 2001.
Walker, who managed non-league Bishop’s Storford in 2011-12, has been goalkeeping coach at Shanghai SIPG since 2014, having previously worked with their rivals Shanghai Shenhua.
Ian Walker, who earned four caps, has been a goalkeeping coach in China since 2012