England who qualified comfortably for the 1980 European championships had very high hopes. Kevin Keegan was confident that England could win the competition. However by the end of the tournament, England’s reputation was in tatters. It might have been all different if Belgium had not equalized in England’s opening group match in Turin. After Belgium equalized, fighting broke out on the terraces between English and Italian football fans. England lost to Italy in the following match which all but ended their hopes of a place in the semi-final and an uninspiring 2-1 victory over Spain compensated little for England’s lack of success.
England’s qualification campaign for the 1982 world cup finals got off to a disastrous start as England embarrassingly lost 2-1 to Norway. England also dropped points against Switzerland and Romania and qualification seemed a distance away for Ron Greenwood’s men. However as other results in England’s group went the way of the English all they needed was a draw against Hungary at Wembley. England won the tie 1-0 and England qualified for the 1982 world cup finals, finishing second place in their group behind Hungary.
Ron Greenwood had major problems with his England squad going into the 1982 finals. His two best players, Kevin Kegan and Trevor Brooking had been injured and were both seen as potential match winners. England started off well in their opening football match against France. Bryan Robson’s 27 second goal was followed up by himself scoring another later on in the match. England comfortably dispatched Kuwait in the group stage as Trevor Francis was in inspiring form. England needed to beat Spain by two clear goals in their last match to reach the semi- finals, after 60 minutes, with the score being goalless, Keegan and Brooking arrived on the football pitch. Within few minutes both of them squandered golden opportunities. England’s inability to pierce the Spanish defence had given the host country heart, as the minutes ticked away, Spain looked increasingly confident. England were eliminated unbeaten, only conceding one goal throughout the tournament. Following the disappointment of failing to win the world cup, Ron Greenwood left the post as England manager, to be replaced by Bobby Robson. Robson made changes, dropping Kevin Keegan from his team. In his first match in charge, England played Denmark in a Euro 84 qualifier and only managed a 2-2 draw; Robson had already been criticized as he left Keegan out of his side.
Bobby Robson’s first victory as England manager came in an easy 3-0 victory over Greece and that was followed up by a glorious 9-0 hammering over Luxemborge, with Luther Blisset scoring a hat trick. England followed that up by a highly disappointing home draw to Greece and Robson was once again heavily criticized. England beat Hungary 2-0 at wembley in a victory inspired by Trevor Francis. The group decider was a match at Wembley between Denmark and England, England lost the tie 1-0 and their Euro 84 dream was over before it had even began.