Lincoln City Players

Robert Taylor and Joe Morrell could all make their Euro debuts this summer, with Morrell and Johnson having represented the Imps to a senior level, and Taylor has been here as a youth. Are there any other Lincoln connections to the Euros?

Tony Woodcock

The first former Imp to go to a Euros finals was Tony Woodcock in 1980. He was a part of Ron Greenwood’s squad which included Kevin Keegan, Trevor Brooking and Glenn Hoddle which did not emerge from the group stages. Now, I was only two, so I don’t recall this, but after a draw with Belgium and defeat against Italy, England were out. That left a dead rubber with Spain, in which Woodcock scored. By my reckoning, that made him the first former Imp to score in an international competition, having been on loan a couple of years earlier.

Graham Taylor

Okay, so Taylor didn’t play for England, but he did manage at Euro 92, another failed attempt at international success. Taylor was vilified for his spell as England manager, certainly wrongly in my eyes. He oversaw an England in transition, heading out of the Italia 90 side and into what would become the Euro 96 squad. In 92, he took a 21-year-old Alan Shearer, as well as the likes of Lineker and Alan Smith.

A draw with Denmark in the opening fixture was a bad start, but there was no shame in holding a France side with the likes of Papin, Deschamps and Petit in it. Sadly, defeat to Sweden sent us home, whilst France were also eliminated, courtesy of Luton Town’s former striker Lars Elstrup.

Steve McClaren

The former Lincoln loanee was England manager during Euro 2008, which is a link to us and the Euros. Of course, like you and I, he watched it at home thanks to a woeful qualifying campaign which saw us finish behind Croatia and Russia, mainly thanks to defeats against Croatia (2-0, 3-2) and Russia (2-1) as well as draws with Israel (0-0) and Macedonia (0-0).

Gareth McAuley

Of course, McAuley was the second former Imp to get a game, and a goal at the Euros, when he appeared for Northern Ireland in 2016. The big defender appeared in all three of Northern Ireland’s group matches, scoring in the 49th minute of their 2-0 win against Ukraine. They had already lost 1-0 to Poland, and suffered the same fate against Germany. It left them as a best-placed runner-up and qualifying for the last 16, where they were beaten 1-0 by Wales. McAuley scored in that game too, just in the wrong net.