If Paul Gascoigne's boots were one size bigger: How English football's history could have changed at Euro '96

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Dwelling on those agonisingly ‘what if’ moments is a major part of what supporting England’s national team has become, ever since benefitting from the one that went the other way in 1966.

Subsequent generations of Three Lions fans and players alike have repeatedly felt the agony of being on the wrong side of small margins, cruel deflections and head-scratching decisions that separate era-defining jubilation from heartache.

Had any of these twists of fate turned the other way, dynasties of success could so easily have been built, rather than the mental blocks amid the ever-increasing pressure to deliver on the grandest stages.

There may not have been even half as many “years of hurt” – a phrase that need not have ever been coined – while the national psyche of the fans right through to the players would have been unrecognisable from the mentality of glorious failure shared today.

Kevin Keegan heading wide against Spain in 1982, Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ in ‘86, Paul Parker’s unfortunate ricochet against West Germany in ’90 before Chris Waddle hit the post in extra-time, Sol Campbell’s disallowed goal against Argentina in 1998, Ronaldinho firing in Brazil’s winner in-off the bar in 2002 and Frank Lampard’s goal that never was against Germany in 2010 which may have prompted a different outcome in an otherwise one-sided tie.

And that’s just the World Cup misery.

In Euro 2004, Sven Goran Eriksson’s ‘Golden Generation’ were denied a place in the semi-finals when Campbell (again) had a late winner controversially ruled out against hosts Portugal, before yet more spot-kick trauma lay in wait.

But as far as ultimate twists of fate go, arguably the cruellest of them all came at the home of football back on June 26, 1996.

Thirty years of hurt on from England’s finest hour against the same opponents at the same venue, a team that had captured the nation’s hearts with stories of triumph and redemption across three unforgettable weeks stood one win away from a second major final.

Paul Gascoigne’s previous heroics against Scotland rocketed him to another peak of stardom in his roller-coaster career of emotions, Alan Shearer was banging in the goals to silence pre-tournament doubters, Stuart Pearce had fittingly banished what was then a tiny penalty shoot-out hoodoo, and the rest of the team were riding the crest of a patriotic wave towards glory.

If this had been a true sporting fairytale then it would, of course, have been scripted for Gazza to send the nation into pandemonium.

The tears of Italia ‘90, at the end of a World Cup where his dazzling displays on the pitch and his lovable lunacy off it helped turn him into a football icon and national treasure, were followed by his own sliding door moment 12 months later that feasibly had huge knock-on effects when it comes to the history of English football.

A ridiculously high foot into the stomach of Nottingham Forest's Garry Parker just two minutes into the 1991 FA Cup final was farcically punished by a just lecture from referee Roger Milford and, in hindsight, Gazza and the rest of England wished he’d been sent off.

Fifteen minutes later he cut down Gary Charles with a horrendous challenge that ruptured a cruciate ligament in his own right knee and remains Gascoigne's biggest regret to this day.

He missed the ill-fated Euro ’92 campaign under Graham Taylor, who could in turn have enjoyed a much different tenure with a fully fit Gazza, while he still wasn’t yet back to his best during the failed qualifying campaign for the 1994 World Cup.

By the time he’d recovered from another broken leg sustained at Lazio, his old Spurs boss Terry Venables was now in charge of England and it wasn’t long before he recaptured his spark and confidence following a breathtaking first season at Rangers.

It obviously had to be Gascoigne who broke Scottish hearts with his brilliance and dentist's chair celebration at Wembley and now the stage was set for him to do the same to the team who witnessed his tears six years earlier.

He was a couple of inches – or less – away from doing so in the most dramatic circumstances.

After the scores were locked at 1-1, an intensely nerve-jangling period of extra-time ensued, with both sides tentatively seeking what would have been the first ever Golden Goal.

It was Darren Anderson who first came tormentingly close to stealing a lifetime of limelight and changing England's future just three minutes after the restart, when his effort from Steve McManaman's pull-back hit the post and rebounded back into the arms of Andreas Kopke.

Around seven minutes later, Gazza's moment arrived.

Teddy Sheringham’s beautifully flighted, chipped pass from midfield found Shearer down the right side of the box, and his low, volleyed cross bounced past Kopke, leaving the goal gaping for an onrushing Gascoigne.

Despite a desperate - somewhat clumsy - sliding effort to get on the end of it, his outstretched leg failed to make contact and score a goal that really would have taken him to a whole new level of legend.

That moment alone would surely have been a springboard to cement his place in the England side for longer than just two more years and therefore avoid his biggest ever footballing disappointment of being omitted from Glenn Hoddle’s World Cup squad.

Penalties obviously wouldn’t have been needed, sparing England from a mentally scarring run of five successive shoot-out defeats spanning 16 years of tournament football and also saving Gareth Southgate from his own personal anguish – not to mention his Pizza Hut endorsement.

The aforementioned 'Golden Generation' would then, in theory, have been able to thrive many years later instead of being saddled by the same pressures and weight of history that got heavier with every passing failure.

There’s no guarantee that England beat a Karel Poborsky and Pavel Nedved inspired Czech Republic in the final, but let’s not assume the worst would have happened based on our painful experiences of what really did.

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