Newcastle United attempted to lure England legend Paul Parker to St James' Park just before he achieved global stardom at Italia 90. It was Jim Smith who made an approach for a young Parker after swapping Queens Park Rangers for Tyneside and attempting to steer Newcastle clear of relegation in the 1988/89 season.
However, Parker opted to remain in London and would go on to earn a place in Bobby Robson's World Cup squad before becoming a major star as England reached the World Cup semi-finals, losing narrowly to West Germany.
Parker told Chronicle Live: "Jim Smith came to Newcastle in 1988 and tried to take me with him! I asked the question whether I wanted to sign by an independent person whether I'd be interested in pulling on the black and white stripes."
"The answer at the time was that things were going well for me at QPR. I'd jumped from Division Three to the top-flight. My first season I won a lot of awards from the newspapers and the Evening Standard. But then Jim left and at first tried to sign me."
"I was obviously in London, where I'm from, and I didn't want to go anywhere else at that given time. I was happy, and it was going well, so it didn't make sense at the time."
"Maybe if Newcastle were the Newcastle of today, it might have been different, but Newcastle were struggling and selling top stars. Newcastle today is a top club but at that time I was happy in London."
Sir Bobby Robson's Influence
Parker, who was teammates with Gazza and Peter Beardsley for England, feels it is fitting that Sir Bobby now has a statue outside St James' Park after the ex-Three Lions boss gave him his chance at Italia 90. A change of formation, as Robson adopted a sweeper system, saw Parker brought in as a wing-back and paved the way for a glittering career with Manchester United.
Parker said: "I still get emotional now thinking of Sir Bobby. There won't be another manager like him because football has changed at that level. I don't think the game allows that, you can't manage that way any more."
"He wanted the players to be 100%, he didn't want agents around, he wanted you to tell you everything that was going on. I played under Sir Alex Ferguson at Man United, and he was the same. If you had a problem, you saw your manager, nobody else. They respect you, and you respect them, loyalty."
"People always ask me who was the best manager I played for and it's hard because I had three great bosses. Sir Bobby, Sir Alex and Jim Smith at QPR. They all gave me an opportunity, Sir Bobby at the World Cup, Sir Alex gave me the chance at the biggest club in the world, and Jim took me from the Third Division. I would not have got to Man United without playing for England at the semi-finals in 1990."
Italia 90 Breakthrough
Parker went to Italia 90 after being handed the number 12 shirt by Robson, but returned as one of the most established modern full-backs of his generation. Then 26, Parker was second choice to ex-Everton and Rangers star Gary Stevens before a change of system altered his career path.
After a dire 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland, Robson altered his tactics to a 3-5-2 system, playing Mark Wright as a sweeper and Parker as a wing-back against Holland, with England sticking to a more continental style for the rest of the tournament.
Parker said: "I was thrown the number 12 shirt and didn't think I'd get on unless we were winning handsomely. I'd sat on the bench for friendly games at Wembley and obviously had an ego thinking I should be in, but Gary Stevens was a guaranteed 6.5 or 7.5 minimum per game, he did exactly what Bobby wanted so I knew it would be tough."
"These days, people want you to be prime Cafu at right-back, but Gary was good at his job. He was a great athlete but he was not going to bend balls in left, right and centre, you just knew what you were getting."
"To begin with, he did not want to make changes but because of what happened in the first game he changed system and I came in. We went to a sweeper system and even when he went back to a back four he kept me in."
Loyalty to Robson
Parker has recalled never wanting to let his manager down after realising a slight dip in performance would leave the ex-Three Lions chief visibly upset.
Parker said: "When you saw he was disappointed in you, it made you determined to go and do more for him. Terry Butcher told stories about what he was like at Ipswich, but he pacified as he got older."
"He would talk to you, and he'd make you feel like you'd seriously let him down, but you walked away knowing you had to go and improve and do better. You did not want to leave a bad taste in his mouth about you as a person."
"Bobby stayed loyal to players that were loyal to him. You might have a bad game, that's just human, but if you'd gave a 100% he would stick by you. He did that with his Euro 88 team, everybody demanded so many players being left out because of the embarrassment of that summer, but he stuck with the majority."
