The English Abroad 4 - A Final Look Down Quiz

Answer: Kevin Keegan

In 1977, after six seasons with the club, Kevin Keegan elected to leave Liverpool and joined West German side Hamburg SV. At the time, Hamburg were not one of the most successful sides in the Bundesliga, having not finished higher than sixth for two decades. However, when Keegan signed they had just won their first European trophy, the 1977 European Cup Winners' Cup, and saw him play one of his first games for the club against Liverpool in the European Super Cup. Although the club only finished tenth in his first season, Keegan had personal success, scoring 12 times and winning the European Footballer of the Year title. The following season saw Branko Zebec appointed as manager; his methods improved Keegan's fitness, while the player was also better able to integrate with his team-mates by improving his grasp of German. As a result, Hamburg ended the season as champions for the first time in nineteen years.

In the 1979-80 season, Hamburg entered the European Cup for the just the second time. Having beaten Valur of Iceland in the first round, they then dealt with Dinamo Tblisi and Hajduk Split before playing Real Madrid in the semi-final. The first leg saw Hamburg lose 2-0, with many believing that they stood little chance in the return. However, the second leg saw Keegan's team win 5-1, leading them to their second European final in three years, a team performance Keegan described as the best of his time in Germany. The final proved an anti-climax, as Hamburg's opponents, European Cup holders Nottingham Forest, played with a plan to stifle and intimidate Keegan out of the game, and play backs to the wall having taken the lead. The game ended 1-0, with Forest retaining the trophy. It proved Keegan's last game for Hamburg, and he left to join Southampton in the summer of 1980.

Answer: Laurie Cunningham

Laurie Cunningham had made a name for himself as a winger playing for West Bromwich Albion, which he joined in 1977. During his time at the club, he became a pioneer when he played alongside Cyrille Regis and Brendan Batson, making the club only the second to employ a trio of black footballers in England's top flight. Cunningham's presence helped make West Bromwich Albion one of the most exciting English sides of the late 1970s, and also led to his being the first black player to win an England cap at any level, when he played for the Under-21s in April 1977, 19 months before Viv Anderson became the first black player to receive a senior cap. Cunningham received his first senior cap in May 1979 playing against Wales, while the same summer saw him make an historic move, becoming the first English player to join Real Madrid

Cunningham proved to be an instant hit in Spain, scoring twice on his debut, and making a total of 41 appearances in his first season with 12 goals, helping his new club to win both the La Liga title and the Copa del Rey. His second season with the club also started brightly, only for him to sustain a broken toe during a game against Real Betis in November 1980, which required an operation and led to his absence from the team for much of the season. In his absence, Real Madrid successfully navigated the later rounds of that season's European Cup to reach the final, where they played the English champions, Liverpool. Although Cunningham had regained his place in the team, he was far from match-fit, and unable to have any influence on the game, which Real Madrid ultimately lost 1-0. Cunningham eventually left Real Madrid, first on loan to Sporting Gijon in 1983, before joining Marseille permanently in 1984.

Answer: Gary Lineker

After his move from Leicester City to reigning English champions Everton in the summer of 1985, Gary Lineker achieved sensational figures, scoring a total of 40 goals in 57 games that season, and helping the club to finish runners-up to their local rivals Liverpool in both the league and the FA Cup. This, which was added to by a star showing in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, in which he was the top scorer, led to Barcelona signing the striker in the summer of 1986. Signed by manager Terry Venables, Lineker initially thrived at the club, scoring twice on his debut, and famously getting a hat-trick in his first "Clasico" against Barcelona's fiercest rivals, Real Madrid. The club finished second in Lineker's first season, while they were eliminated at the quarter-final stage of the UEFA Cup by Dundee United. A poor start in the league the following season led to Venables being sacked, but the club were successful in winning the Copa del Rey. Lineker himself had a personally successful second season, scoring 20 goals to add to the 21 from the previous year.

Barcelona's cup victory led to their entry into the following season's European Cup Winners Cup. This was the club's first season under the management of Johan Cruyff, and saw a significant change in how Lineker was used. While he had achieved fame as a predatory goalscorer, Cruyff elected to use the player as a right-sided midfielder. This led to his eventually losing his automatic place in the team. However, he was used regularly during the club's European campaign, which saw them navigate ties against Fram of Iceland, Polish side Lech Poznan, AGF of Denmark and CSKA Sofia from Bulgaria, with Lineker scoring four times in the competition, reaching the final where they played the Coppa Italia winners Sampdoria. Although still used on the right, Lineker played the whole game, which Barcelona ended up winning 2-0. This proved his last game for Barcelona, as in July 1989 he left to join Tottenham Hotspur.

Answer: Chris Waddle

Chris Waddle had been a mainstay of Tottenham Hotspur's team for four years when, in the summer of 1989, he elected to leave the club, becoming the latest in a string of English players to move outside England and escape UEFA's ban on English clubs playing European football. Waddle made the decision to move to the the reigning French champions Marseille. At the time, Marseille had begun a period of domination of French football, having not only won the league title, but also the Coupe de France in the season before Waddle's arrival. This period saw the club win a total of four successive league titles, as well as make inroads into the latter stages of European competition, with Waddle a major influence on the club's progress.

Having won their second successive league title, the first featuring Waddle in the team, in 1990, Marseille entered the European Cup once again. Having reached the semi-finals the year before, the club was one of the tournament's favourites, and progressed through to the quarter-final, where they knocked out the holders, AC Milan. Having well beaten Spartak Moscow of the Soviet Union in the semi-final, Marseille reached their first European final. However, despite being heavy favourites against Yugoslav side Red Star Belgrade, and with one of the most gifted sides in European football at the time, the game ended 0-0 after extra time, with Marseille ultimately losing on penalties. Waddle spent another season at Marseille, before joining Sheffield Wednesday in the summer of 1992.

Answer: Paul Ince

Paul Ince had been a major part of the spine of Manchester United's team since he joined the club in 1989. However, in the years of his time there, he had an often tempestuous relationship with his manager, Alex Ferguson, that ultimately led to him becoming one of a number of first team members to be sold during the summer of 1995. Ince accepted an offer from Inter Milan, at the time one of the sleeping giants of Italian football, having last won the league title in 1989, and finishing sixth the season before Ince arrived. However, the club had gained success in Europe over the past five years, having won the UEFA Cup twice in four seasons at the start of the 1990s.

Ince's first season was lukewarm, as the club finished seventh in the league, and fell out of the UEFA Cup at the first hurdle to Swiss side Lugano. However, their league position was enough to allow the club to qualify for the following season's UEFA Cup. The 1996-97 season was more successful both for Ince and the club - Ince scored a total of ten goals in 38 games in all competitions during the season, while Inter gained a third place finish in the league, while in Europe the club made their way through the rounds of the UEFA Cup to reach their third final in seven years, this time against German side Schalke. Ince missed the first leg of the final, which Inter lost 1-0, but returned for the second. Despite levelling the tie with a 1-0 win, Inter ultimately lost on penalties. Following the final, Ince played once more for Inter in the following league game against Napoli, in which he scored at both ends. Although offered a contract extension, Ince chose to join Liverpool in June 1997.

Answer: Steve McManaman

Steve McManaman had been a regular in Liverpool's first team since breaking through as a teenager in 1991. As a result, it was something of a shock when, in late 1998, he rejected the offer of a new deal with the club and began negotiations to move on a free transfer in the summer of 1999. A number of European clubs were interested in signing the player, with ultimately Real Madrid emerging as the player's preferred destination. Having signed an agreement with the Spanish side in late January 1999, McManaman officially became a Real Madrid player the following July. As a still current international, McManaman became the highest profile English player to move to Spain since 1986, and only the second to play for Real Madrid (Gary Lineker went to Barcelona in 1986).

McManaman's first season in Spain proved to be personally successful, as he put in a number of performances that endeared him to the club's fans, particularly in the Champions League, where he was named Man of the Match in several of Real's games that season. While the club had a poor season domestically, only managing to finish fifth in the league, in Europe it was a different story as, having successfully negotiated the competition's two group stages, and then overcoming the previous season's two finalists, Manchester United and Bayern Munich, Real Madrid won their eighth European Cup, defeating their domestic rivals, Valencia, with McManaman scoring one of the goals in their 3-0 victory, and becoming the first English player to win the competition with a European club.

Answer: Owen Hargreaves

Owen Hargreaves was born in Calgary to a Welsh mother and an English father, who had emigrated to Canada in the early 1980s. Growing up in North America, as a youngster he grew up watching and playing ice hockey and gridiron football, not beginning to play football seriously until the age of 15. However, coming through the youth system of local club Calgary Foothills, he proved to be talented enough to be scouted by European clubs, and was signed at the age of 16 by German side Bayern Munich, where he played for two and a half years with the youth team, before graduating to Bayern Munich II, the club's reserve team. Hargreaves made his first-team debut as a substitute in August 2000 at the age of 19 in a league game against Hertha Berlin, with his first start coming a month later. The same month as his first-team debut for Bayern, Hargreaves was called into the England Under-21 squad.

The 2000-01 season was a successful one for Bayern, winning 19 of their 34 league games to win the league title for a third consecutive year, while also winning the DFB-Ligapokal domestically. the club also had a fruitful season in Europe, successfully negotiating the twelve games in two group stages of that season's Champions League with just two defeats, before knocking out the winners of the previous two competitions, Manchester United and Real Madrid, in the knockout stages to reach their seventh European Cup final. During the campaign, Hargreaves had started just three times, but was included in the line-up for the final against Valencia. Having finished 1-1 after extra time, Bayern won the penalty shoot-out to claim the trophy for the fourth time, and make Hargreaves only the second English player to win the European Cup playing for a European club.

Answer: Ashley Young

Ashley Young had been a regular at Manchester United since joining the club from Aston Villa in 2011. However, during the second half of his spell at the club, he found first-team action harder to come by until, in January 2020, he elected to leave, and took up an offer from Inter Milan to move to Italy. Despite being aged 35 at the time, Young became a regular in Inter's first team, generally playing at left or right back. His presence helped Inter to maintain their challenge for the league title that season, which was extended to end on 1 August 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. Inter ultimately ended the season finishing second in the league, a point behind champions Juventus, while also losing out at the semi-final stage of the Coppa Italia.

Inter's European season had started in the Champions League, but, owing to their finishing the group stage in third place in their group, they dropped into the Europa League knockout stages. Making their way past Bulgarian side Ludogorets, again they were forced to wait until August for the competition to continue. In the specially designed knockout tournament as a response to COVID, Inter, with Young playing a significant part, got past Getafe, Bayer Leverkusen and Shakhtar Donetsk to reach their fifth final in the competition. Facing Sevilla, the final was a tight affair that was decided by an own goal scored by Inter's striker Romelu Lukaku. However, despite this disappointment, Young's time at Inter, which ended the following season, was capped by his becoming just the third English player to win the Italian league title, which Inter won in 2021.

Answer: Tammy Abraham

Although Tammy Abraham made his debut for Chelsea in 2016, and remained at the club in and around the first team until 2021, he was never able to make a sustained breakthrough, ultimately scoring 30 goals in 82 games for the club, while also spending periods on loan at three other English league clubs. Because he was never guaranteed a starting place at Chelsea, he ultimately decided to leave the club, in an attempt to find a club at a high level where he would be guaranteed first-team football, eventually joining Italian club Roma. Five days after joining the club, he made his league debut, and gained two assists in a 3-1 victory over Fiorentina. Four days later, he made his European debut for Roma in the inaugural Europa Conference League, against Turkish club Trabzonspor.

Although in the group stage of the Conference League Roma suffered a shock 6-1 away defeat to Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt, their progress through the competition was relatively straightforward, with Abraham making a major contribution, scoring nine times in 14 appearances overall. Among the goals that he scored were a 91st minute equaliser in the second leg of the Round of 16 against Vitesse Arnhem, which put Roma through 2-1 on aggregate, and the winner in the second leg of the semi-final against Leicester City, putting the club reach its first European final since 1991. In the final against Dutch side Feyenoord, the tight game ended with Roma winning by a single goal to win their second European trophy, and first since 1960.

Answer: Reiss Nelson

Reiss Nelson joined Arsenal as a schoolboy, eventually signing his first professional contract aged 16, and making his first-team debut in 2017 at the age of 17. However, although remaining on the fringes of the first-team, he struggled to make a genuine breakthrough - in 2018, he went on loan to German club Hoffenheim, where he scored seven goals in 29 appearances, while three years later, he was again farmed out on loan, this time to Dutch side Feyenoord, who had reportedly been watching the player for some time in an effort to bring him in. Not long after he arrived, he was injured, which delayed the opportunity to make his debut, which eventually came in mid October 2021 as a substitute in a league game against RKC Waalwijk. However, he went on that season to make more than thirty appearances for the club, scoring four times.

As part of Feyenoord's season, Nelson made his debut in the inaugural Europa Conference League, which the club had qualified for after winning the league European play-off the previous season. Nelson scored his first goal for Feyenoord in the final group game against Maccabi Haifa, also scoring in the last 16, and getting three assists to help the club reach its first European final since 2002, where they played Italian club Roma for the right to be named as the first winners of the Conference League. However, a tight game led to Roma winning by a single goal. The final was Nelson's last game for Feyenoord, as he returned to Arsenal following his loan having helped the club to a third place finish in the league.

Answer: Chris Smalling

In a decade at Manchester United, Chris Smalling played more than 300 games in total for the club, becoming a regular in the heart of the team's defence, and winning five major trophies. However, in August 2019, the club elected to let him leave, and he moved on loan for the 2019-20 season to Italian club Roma. Upon his arrival, he assumed a regular place at the heart of his new club's defence, as he had done for Manchester United, making 30 league appearances, scoring three times, which made him the first English player to score twice or more in Serie A in ten years. With Smalling at the heart of the side, Roma finished fifth in the league in his first season, also reaching the last 16 of the Europa League. Smalling's success led to his move to Roma being made permanent at the end of that season.

Smalling's first season as a permanent Roma player was interrupted by injury, with the club's league finish seeing them go into the new Europa Conference League. However, the following season saw his return to full fitness, and he played a full role in the club's European campaign that, despite the hiccup of a 6-1 away defeat in the group stage at Norwegian club Bodø/Glimt, saw them ultimately reach the new competition's first final, where they played Dutch club Feyenoord. While the final was a tight affair, Smalling put in a performance in defence that saw him named as man of the match in Roma's 1-0 victory, helping them to their first European trophy since 1960.