I WAS given the ultimate accolade in that November (1983) when I got my first England cap.

I’d been in the squad a couple of times before.

There was an international the week after the Milk Cup Final the previous season and I had been included in that. We had a meal after the game at Wembley but travelled up to the Midlands to a restaurant owned by someone Ron knew.

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It was confusing to us as we should have gone to Manchester, and it seemed like a big show. We went back to Manchester and threw our boots in the skip.

I went in the next day and there were no boots – no boots, and travelling to the England game!

There was nowhere to buy a pair of boots except a warehouse called Winfields.

I was on the bench for England that time and it was probably just as well I didn’t play as those boots would have destroyed my feet.

I was back in for the European Championship qualifier in Luxembourg and roomed with Liverpool’s Alan Kennedy.

Gary Bailey was in the squad and one day we went to one of the shops – the shopkeeper was really wary of us. We weren’t aware of it at the time but there had been rioting from the England fans.

They must have thought we were part of it and we were going to ransack the shop.

We didn’t, of course, but we did ransack the opponents. I started – in my own boots – in the number two shirt, as we won 4-0. It would have been nice if it had been at Wembley but it was still pleasing to play, and I kept the mementoes afterwards such as the shirt and the programme.

Defeat against Denmark in the September meant that we couldn’t qualify for the finals the following year but having finally broken through my concentration was on hopefully keeping my place with the World Cup in 1986 in mind.

n n n I’m very proud to say I played for my country, I think I’ve already hinted that I didn’t always have the best of times in an England shirt.

That said, it is a very special memory to have a very proud thing to say that I played in the last Home International tournament, and the 100th anniversary, at the end of the 1983/84 season.

n n n The highlight of that time was without doubt the win over Brazil, which everyone remembers to this day for the fabulous goal by John Barnes. I had grown up watching Brazil and seeing the Maracana so to go there and actually win was incredible.

Like my first impression of Wembley, though, this famous stadium was a little underwhelming – it was only around a quarter full with 56,000, a good crowd anywhere else but not there.

The pitch wasn’t great either, but neither of those things could detract from what a marvellous achievement it was. I swapped shirts with Tato, their number 11. I put the shirt on and the press were all over me asking to take pictures.

n n n If there was one game in my career that I would have gladly grabbed a shovel, dug a hole and disappeared from the public eye, then (a game against Russia) was the one.

There was no disputing who was to blame – I went to trap the ball, but stood over it, tripped over and they ran through and scored.

There was nothing I could do. The USSR won 2-0.

It was painful to make that mistake – perhaps even more so because of the nature of it. Sometimes people say ‘consistent and reliable’ so much that it becomes a back-handed compliment but I was happy for people to describe my style as that.

I didn’t take risks even when I attacked, I made sensible decisions and was never too elaborate on the ball. So to make an error such as that was very frustrating, for it to come on the back of one that I didn’t feel was my fault was more annoying because in a way, it becomes almost a vindication of that earlier comment.

n n n I was grateful to England manager Bobby Robson for the faith he showed though I think I would have preferred it more if there was a little more talking or guidance, or personal reassurance.

It wasn’t always clear what the defender’s role was, whether we should sit or help the attackers. Bobby was obviously a very successful manager and must have felt at the time that less was more but I think in my case, less was not enough.

  • The autobiography of Mick Duxbury: It’s Mick, Not Mike (ISBN 9781785310492, published by Pitch Publishing) is available now from Amazon, Waterstones and WHSmith