Former England star Paul Parker has spoken of his affection for the man who turned him into a global star, Sir Bobby Robson, and insists the legendary Newcastle United boss saved English football from the gutter in 1990.
Football Before Italia 90
Before the glitz and glamour of the Premier League we know and love now, football was on its knees before Italia 90, with crowd violence, inadequate grounds, urine-infected terracing and families living in fear of taking kids to watch top-flight teams.
But after Sir Bobby's boys reached the semi-finals of the World Cup, it was the start of a cleaner image for football. A European ban was lifted, England came home with the FIFA Fair Play award, but most importantly, families flocked back to rebuilt stadiums.
Parker's Reflections
Parker - who is currently Stateside, preparing to watch England vs Croatia in Dallas - told Chronicle Live exclusively: "We changed the English game at Italia 90 - and Bobby Robson was at the centre of it all."
"Back in 1990, it wasn't just about the football; there was so much else going on. There were things going on politically at home and around the world, English teams were banned from Europe because of Heysel, so we had a lot going on with the fans and their treatment."
"You go to a theatre in Nottingham or Southend now, and there are 12 of us [from the squad doing a show], and there are 1,250 people there, a sell-out. Some of them weren't even around in 1990, but they have been told by their parents and grandparents about it."
"It's something I don't think will be forgotten until England actually win the World Cup."
Commercial Boom and Legacy
The commercial side of the game erupted after Italia 90, and Parker knows that without the success of that tournament, he would not have risen from the old Third Division to winning the Premier League with Man United.
He said: "English football changed forever after what we did in 1990. The product we have today is because of what happened that summer; everything before it was wrong about English football. The fans, the structure, even the Premier League was off the back of Italia 90."
"Games pop up on TV or online, and you look at the crowds, and people were in fear, disgusted by the fans of that era, but 1990 made it a family game. Now we see families and women at games, and it's commonplace; before that, it didn't happen because of the state of the game."
"Companies and brands wanted to put their name to England players from Italia 90 and the game grew all of a sudden."
"It made a difference to the game, and it doesn't get talked about enough. Is football as fun as it was then? I'm not sure."
Comparison with Modern Teams
England reached the semi-finals in 2018, too, after losing to Croatia in Russia, but whether Gareth Southgate's team is celebrated as much is a pub debate. Parker feels that the Italia 90 squad's longevity will continue until England actually better their near miss against West Germany and lift the trophy.
Parker: "The only thing that can better what we did is winning the World Cup. People come up to me and tell me the exact pub or bar they were in when we played West Germany."
"We know that night changed people's lives, not just the players, the fans."
Individual Benefits
After Italia 90, Parker won himself a move to Man United, Gazza went on to Lazio, David Platt followed him to Serie A and Mark Wright went to Liverpool.
The former England full-back said: "It's never been mentioned a lot, but we all benefited from being part of that team. Even now, today, we still reap the rewards from Italia 90."
"Without Italia 90 and England getting to a semi-final, you don't inspire the future generations, and who knows?"
"Would Gareth Southgate have led England to a couple of Euro finals and the World Cup semi-finals without using that inspiration?"
Loyalty to Sir Bobby
Parker admits he gets tearful just thinking about the fierce loyalty to Sir Bobby in 1990, not least after he'd become a public target for agreeing a move to PSV Eindhoven before the tournament.
Parker said: "Sir Bobby was a father figure to us all in the group. What happened out there was we dug in for him because of the treatment he'd had."
"Yes, we rode our luck at times with some narrow wins against Belgium and Cameroon, but even great teams ride their luck."
"We were probably naive against Cameroon, but everybody in that dressing room wanted to do it for Bobby Robson because of what he was going through at that time."
"He was vilified, the media treated him badly, and it's mad how he got treated when you look at it today. He was told he was leaving England, and it was time up, so he decided to make sure he had a new job and agreed to go to PSV Eindhoven, a top Dutch side, and signed a pre-agreement and then got battered for it."
"It's part and parcel of life, he got slaughtered and had stories made up about his private life, it affected us all the way he got treated."
"The players had a meeting over the way Bobby was treated. The senior players demanded everybody give their all for him because of what was going on. He knew it himself, and he knew how we felt about him."
"It didn't make us better players, but we were determined to go out and do it for him. We all gave that little bit more."
