Terry Venables leaves behind a legacy as football’s most charismatic leader

26 November 2023 , 14:32

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Terry Venables led England at Euro 96 (Image: Mark Sandten/Bongarts/Getty Images)

On social media, in the newspapers, on television, you will not find a photograph of Terry Venables in which he does not have a smile on his face.

And that is not because we all like to use nice pictures of friends who have passed – it is because a photo of El Tel without a smile on his face does not exist. Quite simply, there has not been a more engaging, charismatic character in football, a man who combined a fierce footballing intellect with a down-to-earth charm that was never diluted by fame.

Euro ’96 was the first tournament I covered as a national newspaper reporter and Venables remains the most fascinating manager I have ever dealt with. And that is not because he was a fine host at Scribes, his members’ club in Kensington, but because he had a vision for the game that was way ahead of his time.

He also had a managerial style that, in terms of getting the best out of England players, had not been matched until Gareth Southgate got the job. It is no coincidence Venables and Southgate were so close.

Like Southgate, Venables had a bond with his players that went beyond the standard coach-footballer relationship. And that is what sets those two apart from the rest of the England managers over the last three decades.

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What sticks in the mind is how he stood up for them in the immediate wake of the dentist’s chair shenanigans in Hong Kong ahead of Euro 96. After all, he had given them permission to have a few bevvies on that day.

His handling of Paul Gascoigne was a masterclass in how to get the best out of an incredibly complex sportsman. After Gazza had scored THAT goal against Scotland at Wembley, Venables let the squad have another night out – a tactic that would be unthinkable mid-tournament these days.

Terry Venables has passed away aged 80 (Dave Sanderson/Getty Images)

Terry Venables and Gareth Southgate in 1995 (Clive Brunskill/ALLSPORT/ Getty Images)

Andy Dunn