England’s footballers beat France, Italy and Spain to win the European title? Pull the other one. It was 1984 and Dave Sexton’s under21 babes were tearing through Europe’s best young defences. Those were the days. The England juniors had a reputation to live up to. They were defending the title won in 1982 under Sexton, who steered them to a 5-4 victory in the two-leg final against West Germany.

Mel Sterland remembers the 1984 team well. His club, Sheffield Wednesday, had been struggling, but manager Howard Wilkinson pushed the young full-back forward, and selection for the under21s provided a great fillip. “We had a fantastic manager in Dave Sexton,” recalls Sterland. “He told us to go out and enjoy ourselves, and the British bulldog spirit saw us through.”

Although England lost 1-0 in Greece, it was their only blip as they finished top of their qualifying group to set up a quarter-final against France. Brian Stein and Paul Walsh had provided most of their goals in qualifying, with Mark Hateley struggling to find the net.

But Hateley’s move from Coventry to Portsmouth in 1983 proved a catalyst, and he hit four goals in a 6-1 romp against France in the first leg. He also scored from the penalty spot in a 1-0 win away.

England beat Italy 3-1 at home in the first leg of the semi-finals and, although they lost 1-0 away, they advanced to the final against Spain. Sterland silenced 30,000 Spaniards in the first leg in Valencia with the only goal. The return leg at Bramall Lane was a sweet night for English football. Hateley and Howard Gayle scored in a 2-0 win and England were champions.

1 Mel Sterland An attacking right-back, he rose through the ranks at Sheffield Wednesday, where he played for 10 years. After a short spell with Rangers, he moved to Leeds and won the First and Second Division titles. He lives in Sheffield and does charity work.

2 Nigel Callaghan The talented winger’s crossing ability earned him a place among the Watford greats. He played for Aston Villa and helped Derby win promotion for two seasons in succession. He is a disc jockey in Corfu.

3 Alan Smith Was scoring goals for Leicester when called into the under21 squad. Smith then joined Arsenal, where he spent eight seasons, helping the Gunners win the league in 1989 and 1991. Capped 13 times for England, he writes for the Daily Telegraph and is a television match analyst.

4 Steve Hodge The talented left-footed midfielder learnt his football under Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest. He played for Aston Villa, Spurs and Leeds among a string of clubs. He represented England 24 times and is now a radio summariser and coach.

5 Paul Bracewell A midfielder who helped Everton win the league title and Cup Winners’ Cup in 1985. However, he was on the losing side in four FA Cup finals – three with Everton and one with Sunderland. He won three England caps, managed Fulham and Halifax and was recently a national coach with the FA 6 Mike Kelly The England U21 coach was the national goalkeeping coach and worked with Liverpool, Leeds and Forest. He is assistant manager at Fulham.

7 Gary Stevens Stevens served Spurs and England equally well at right-back or in midfield, winning seven caps. He had scored for Brighton in the FA Cup final the previous year. Now a radio pundit.

8 Alex Williams The Manchester City goalkeeper won European championship medals at under18 and under21 level. A back injury forced him to retire at 26. He is head of City’s community programme.

9 Dave Watson A sheet metal worker at the Liverpool docks when he signed at Anfield in 1979, he moved to Norwich a year later. A rock-solid defender, he had success at Carrow Road and Everton. Won 12 caps and was in charge at Tranmere Rovers.

10 Gary Bailey A goalkeeper who grew up in South Africa, he played more than 400 games for Manchester United. He won two caps for England before a knee injury in 1987 ended his career. He is a TV presenter in South Africa.

11 Mark Hateley The son of former striker Tony, Hateley began his career at Coventry. He was scoring a goal every second game for Portsmouth before a big-money move to Milan. He also played for Monaco, Rangers and QPR. He won 32 England caps, managed Hull and is a TV commentator in Scotland.

12 Dave Sexton The son of a boxer played inside-forward, mostly for West Ham. Regarded as a staid manager, he won the FA Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup with Chelsea and steered QPR to runners-up in the First Division. He also managed Manchester United and Coventry and was assistant manager of England.

13 Danny Thomas It was a big year for Thomas. The full-back also helped Spurs win the Uefa Cup against Anderlecht a year after signing from Coventry. He played two games for England, but his career was cut short by injury. A qualified physiotherapist, he operates a surgery in Coventry.

14 Steve McMahon Combative midfielder who began his career with Everton. He then played for Aston Villa before winning three league titles and two FA Cups with Liverpool. He earned 17 England caps and played for Manchester City and Swindon, whom he managed along with Blackpool. He is a TV commentator in Asia.

15 Tommy Caton A centre-half, he captained the England schoolboys and made his Manchester City debut at 16. He joined Arsenal in December 1983 and played for Oxford and Charlton until injury ended his career in March 1993. He died of a heart attack at the age of 30.

16 Nick Pickering A midfielder who started with Sunderland, he helped Coventry win the FA Cup in 1987. He had spells at Derby, Darlington and Burnley. Pickering returned to the northeast to work in radio.

17 Mark Chamberlain A right-winger, Chamberlain began his career at Port Vale before joining Stoke. He played for Sheffield Wednesday and Portsmouth and won eight England caps. He was assistant manager of East Timor and is on the coaching staff at Portsmouth.

Mel Sterland’s autobiography, Boozing, Betting & Brawling, is published by Green Umbrella, £18.99 ESPN Classic, Sky channel 442, will show Paul Bracewell playing for Everton in the 1985 Cup Winners’ Cup final against Rapid Vienna at 10pm today

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