Along the wall of his home on the coast of California, Darren Anderton has converted a cabinet into a shrine. Photos, books, baggy England caps and then – front and centre – a Tottenham kit from the late 1990s hangs next to his Three Lions shirt from the 1998 World Cup.
It is a signed, framed reminder of those few weeks in France that marked the realisation of a childhood dream. And this week Anderton’s five-year-old son will kickstart his own World Cup adventure.
Jack and his dad are off to Dallas for England’s opening game against Croatia. They will then follow Thomas Tuchel’s team to Boston and New York before diverting to Washington DC and Florida. The aim? To eventually meet England in Miami for a possible showdown with Brazil.
‘Fingers crossed they’re in the quarters,’ Anderton says. ‘And then who knows from there?’ Fingers crossed it sticks in Jack’s memory, too. Anderton’s first World Cup memories were forged in 1982 – when he was 10. His son is half that age.
‘Hopefully he’ll remember the trip,’ the former midfielder, 54, says. ‘He knows he’s going to the World Cup… I’m not sure if he knows exactly what it is. But he’s got his England kit.’ And the tournament is on his doorstep.
Nearly a decade has passed since Anderton went on a golf trip near San Francisco and met a local who is now his fiancee. He soon settled in California and started a family.
Former England winger Darren Anderton is going to watch Thomas Tuchel’s side in action during the World Cup along with his five-year-old son Jack
Anderton kept David Beckham out of the England team at the start of the 1998 World Cup
Before leaving for his World Cup road trip, Anderton sits down with Daily Mail Sport to discuss England’s chances of ending 60 years of hurt, Sunday roasts, the ‘horrific’ state of Spurs, why Arsenal remind him of the Crazy Gang and why his new neighbours are still shocked by Glenn Hoddle’s selection policy in 1998.
‘People here always say: “Oh my god, you played instead of Becks?”’ he says. In his first and only World Cup, Anderton scored against Colombia and started all four games on England’s right flank. ‘They obviously think the world of him over here.’ So he likes to remind the locals: ‘Yeah, I wasn’t bad!’
Anderton isn’t recognized often in the golfing enclave he now calls home. He lives a short drive from Pebble Beach and the mesmerising Carmel-by-the-Sea. His days revolve around taking Jack to pre-school and squeezing in a few holes. He is one of a group of English expats who meet for the odd roast dinner. What a glorious existence.
‘It’s just the most beautiful part of the world,’ Anderton says. ‘Life couldn’t be better.’ Well, except for one small snag that comes with settling in this golfing paradise: ‘Trying to find a four-ball where everyone has to pay $700 for a round [at Pebble Beach],’ Anderton says.
His son is starting to enjoy it, too, but for the next few weeks, football will be Jack’s focus. His dad wishes Cole Palmer and Harry Maguire were in Tuchel’s squad. As for Jordan Henderson? ‘If I wasn’t going to the World Cup because he’s “good around the camp”, I’d be pretty p***ed off,’ Anderton says.
But don’t mistake these grumbles for pessimism. ‘We have a really good chance,’ he says. ‘Harry [Kane] is obviously just ridiculous. I hope that we play some expansive, entertaining football that means that we see the best of Harry. The last two tournaments we haven’t… the service has been nil.’
Anderton played alongside Tuchel’s predecessor, Gareth Southgate, during that ‘magical’ summer of Euro ’96 and at the World Cup two years later. ‘It was no surprise to me that he went on and did so well for England [as manager],’ the 54-year-old says.
But Southgate fell short of ending this country’s wait for a major trophy. ‘I thought we would win something in my time,’ Anderton admits. Instead? Here we are, 30 years on from Euro ’96, still mulling over all those oh-so-nears.
‘I thought we would win something in my time,’ admits Anderton (third left), who scored against Colombia in a 2-0 win at France ’98
The way England left France ’98 still rankles with Anderton. Beckham’s red card and Argentina’s coach driving by with ‘their music going, banging on the windows, giving us all sorts. So unclassy’
The way England left France ’98 still rankles, too. Beckham’s red card and the sight – through tear-filled eyes – of Argentina’s coach driving by. ‘Their music is going, they’re banging on the windows, giving us all sorts. So unclassy,’ Anderton says. He heard England repaid the favour four years later. ‘A shame I wasn’t part of it, but I’m very happy that happened,’ he says.
The last of his 30 caps came in 2001, meaning Anderton must live with the memories of those changing rooms forever. ‘You don’t want to take your kit off, you don’t want to have a shower, you don’t want to admit it’s over,’ he says.
Here’s hoping Jack is given a reason to remember his first World Cup more fondly. Last Christmas, the family visited London and headed to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Jack loved it, apparently. Which is more than can be said for his Dad’s experience watching his former team stave off relegation once more.
‘Oh my lord, it was ridiculous,’ says Anderton, who spent more than a decade playing in North London. ‘I’m not one for slaughtering players… it’s hard at times, I get it.’ But? ‘This team over the last two years… it’s horrific.’
He is grateful that after the failed experiments of Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor, Spurs ended the season with Roberto De Zerbi in charge. ‘It’s incredible what he’s done to keep that team in the Premier League,’ Anderton says. ‘They are really bad… awful.’
At least they didn’t go down. And at least, for Anderton’s sake anyway, Arsenal didn’t add the Champions League to a first title in 22 years. ‘It’s a really poor Premier League, which makes it even more worrying about Spurs being where they were,’ he says.
He has never wanted Arsenal to do well, of course. But he always enjoyed watching them play. Now? ‘They’ve gone full circle,’ Anderton says. ‘It’s like watching the Crazy Gang… it’s easy to not like them for the way that they go about things. And then, of course, you have Arteta on the touchline doing all sorts. I loved Arteta – great player, played against him a lot, always had some good little battles.’
When the Champions League final arrived, however, Anderton headed out to play golf. He couldn’t face watching Arsenal against Paris Saint-Germain. Alas their round ended just in time for penalties. As a kid, he always wanted English teams – any English team – to conquer Europe. Not this year. ‘Thank God… what a great team PSG are,’ Anderton says. ‘That’s what football should be all about.’
‘I’m not one for slaughtering players,’ says Anderton. ‘It’s hard at times, I get it. But this team over the last two years… horrific’
‘One minute Cristian Romero could be the best centre back in the world, the next thing he’s kicking people because he’s lost his head’
Unfortunately, Arsenal’s heartbreak cannot mask the problems across North London. Anderton believes Spurs need to change tack and stop signing prospects in the hope they will come good. It worked with the likes of Kane, Kyle Walker, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen. But?
‘[Mauricio] Pochettino got that team to that level because of the coach he was and the players they were,’ Anderton says. ‘We keep trying to go down that route and I don’t think it can work again.’
His verdict on the current crop is brutal. ‘Nowhere near good enough,’ he says. ‘A bunch of individuals’ led by a captain, Cristian Romero, who jolts between two extremes. ‘One minute he could be the best centre back in the world, the next thing he’s kicking people because he’s lost his head.’ At the other end? ‘Our finishing is horrific, our final ball is horrific.’
Tuchel will hope the post-mortem of Anderton’s World Cup road trip is rather less savage.
