peter osgood career 4

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England

It’s a strange thing in football- you know you are playing well –you hear all the talk and read the press but it’s still a hell of a shock to the system when you get that phone call to ask you to join the England squad for the first time. It’s also a shock when you no longer get that phone call!

I first played for the England under 23’s in a fixture against Scotland (or as we used to say the ”Sweaty Socks”!) at Sunderlands old ground Roker Park. As I remember it was a bitterly cold night and I had a nagging injury but Alf Ramsey promised that if I scored he would take me off. Of course I did just that but within ten minutes the game was abandoned because of the conditions. So my debut goal was wiped off the record books!

One Sunday evening in febuary 1970 I got a call asking me to report for duty to the England squad as a replacement for the injured Bobby Charlton. We were due to play in Belgium on the Wednesday night and I made my debut as a full international England player – proud and emotional as I pulled on that Shirt.

I would never have thought that the brickie from Windsor would have this honour. Yes there were tears!

The World Cup 1970 Mexico was to follow…….more of that later……..

Here are my England statistics - of which I am very proud.