AT that point, it was possibly the greatest post-war achievement of a Jersey born and bred sportsperson. Thirty years ago, this week, Graeme Le Saux made his England debut in a 1-0 win in a friendly against Denmark at Wembley – and only Le Saux has surpassed that achievement since.
His first of 36 caps for the Three Lions coincided with the beginning of the Terry Venables “it’s coming home” era and preparations for Euro 96, which England were hosting and keen to win. Fittingly their opponents at Wembley for the first match under Venables were the reigning European champions. The teams met each other in the shadow of failure too, having both missed out on qualification of that summer’s World Cup in the USA.
Le Saux’s selection had been given widespread approval in the English media, with regular Stuart Pearce suffering from a loss in form. “Le Saux is the sort of quick, intelligent left back that Venables admires,” wrote Harry Harris in the Mirror. In contrast, the other 25-year-old Channel Islander receiving his first England call-up in the new-look 18-man squad was not as widely well received. Just 48 hours earlier, Matt Le Tissier scored a goal-of-the-season contender with a free-kick against Wimbledon but Hans Segers, who conceded the audacious strike, was less than impressed.
“He has got certain qualities, no doubt. But he’s a lazy sod. He just strolls around and does nothing. He turns up, takes a free-kick, that’s it,” dismissed Segers.
Le Saux’s attitude, on the other hand, was unquestionable. A late developer, after 120 appearances over four seasons at Chelsea, Le Saux joined the nouvelle riche revolution at Blackburn Rovers that Jersey-resident industrialist Jack Walker was bankrolling for a bargain £700,000 just 12 months earlier and were pushing Manchester United for the Premiership title. While the call-up to England was destiny manifest for Le Tissier, Le Saux was more grounded to the good news.
“I was aware of the speculation about a possible call-up, but it is different when you hear it officially,” he said.
“This is another part of my learning experience. And however I’m involved next week, I’m bound to benefit from the experience.”
His experience would be 90 minutes of football on the hallowed turf of Wembley in front of a crowd of over 70,000 and a hand in the only goal of the game, scored by David Platt in the 17th minute. Picking up a pass from Bent Christensen that was looser than an MP’s belt buckle, Le Saux took a look up and played a 60-yard forward pass to the feet of Alan Shearer. His Blackburn team-mate turned Marc Rieper, fed a slide rule pass into the on-rushing Platt in the penalty box who stroked a perfect first-time shot across Peter Schmeichel into the Big Dane’s net.
Le Saux continued to impress with a calm and composed performance, getting forward in wide positions as much as he could, as he was urged to do in a lop-sided version of Venables’ famous Christmas tree formation. As half-time approached, ITV commentator Alan Parry said: “He can look back at his first 45 minutes in international football with some pride. Done nothing wrong and quite a lot right.”
The second half saw both sides guilty of losing possession too easily, though England remained the more vibrant of the two. A lifeless Denmark could boast both Laudrup brothers, Michael and Brian, in their starting XI, but the rest of the team were limited, dynamite missing a fuse. England continued to create the better chances, with Le Saux again at the heart of the one that went closest. Driving into space towards the penalty area from the left touchline, he found Platt with a low and hard pass towards the penalty spot. Platt cushioned a lovely first-time pass into the path of Darren Anderton. His first touch drew out Schmeichel diving at his feet and he executed a delicate, deft dink over him, only to see Rieper desperately clear off the line.
With a quarter of the game remaining, Le Tissier came on as a substitute for Paul Gascoigne but he made little impact. Not that anyone was overly bothered in the afterglow of knee-jerk hyperbole and renewed optimism because England played the ball with positive purpose from time to time. “The curtain is up and the first-night party will take some beating,” chirped Joe Lovejoy in the Independent, letting his feet leave the ground.
“It was an incredible moment for me – representing Jersey as well as England made it extra special,” recalled Le Saux.
“I was given the shirt by Stuart Pearce at the training ground after Terry Venables had named his team and it was unforgettable. It is fair to say that he is pretty intimidating, but he told me that I deserved it on merit and he was really gracious. It made a huge difference to me and made me feel that the manager had made the right decision and filled me with confidence.
“It was the first time I’d ever played at Wembley and I remember going into the dressing-room and just trying to take it all in. In there were a lot of messages for the players, letters and telegrams and because it was my debut I had quite a few from people back in Jersey who had helped with my development.”
He remains the only Jersey-born footballer to represent England at senior level. Unfortunately, there would be heartache for Le Saux and he would miss the climax of the Venables era and what he and England had been preparing for since the game against Denmark: Euro 96. In December 1995 he sustained a broken tibia, a dislocated ankle and a ruptured tendon in his right leg from an innocuous challenge with Middlesbrough’s Juninho which took just under a year to recover.
Le Saux’s sister, Jeanette, admitted he was devastated. She said: “Obviously he’s very upset and distraught about it but he’s just got to come to terms with it like everyone else.’’
But he would be back in England colours soon enough. A Premiership winner with Blackburn the following season after his international debut, he appeared in every game at the 1998 World Cup in France under Glenn Hoddle. Not bad for a boy from St Saviour and former d’Hautree pupil.
The online version is amended from the article published in print, which incorrectly referred to Graeme Le Saux as the only Jersey-born footballer to win a full international cap. However, Le Saux’s former Star Trophy team-mate Trevor Wood won a single cap for Northern Ireland, coming on as a substitute in the 76th minute in their Euro 96 qualifier against Liechtenstein in October 1995.
