At St George’s Park, where England’s Under-21s have spent the past three weeks preparing for the European Championship, Aidy Boothroyd is talking world domination. Hubris and England head coaches often make an uncomfortable pairing but Boothroyd is outlining an aspiration of the Football Association. On display nearby are the Under-17 and Under-20 World Cups. The aspiration has substance, and the Under-21s aim to add another layer over the next fortnight in Italy and San Marino.
England won the two World Cups in 2017, the year Boothroyd and his Under-21s suffered the agony of a penalty shootout defeat by Germany in the Euro semi-finals. The head coach remains determined to increase the trophy collection at St George’s Park and to do so in a style that England fans can identify at every age level.
“I daydream a lot [of adding to the World Cup successes] but they’ve gone really,” says the former Watford manager, who has been part of the England set-up since 2014. “I am very much thinking about the next one rather than wallowing in what has gone on before but, yes, that would be lovely. That is what we are aiming to do, but you need a vision of where you want to get to and that is having a legacy in English football of winning things over a period of decades.
“We want to be thought of as the leading team in the world and to do that you have got to be winning consistently. I think there is also a bigger picture for us in the way we want all our teams to play. The average guy or girl who watches football wants to win, but they want their team to play in a way that is attractive and entertains them. That is the world we live in and that is what we try to do.”
Quick GuideEngland at the Euro U-21 finals
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Highs and (mainly) lows since 1994
The Under-21 European Championship began in 1978. England have won it twice – in 1982 and 1984 – but have not fared so well since Uefa introduced group stages at the 1994 finals.
1994 England failed to qualify after finishing fourth in their group, six points behind winners Poland.
1996 England again failed to make it, finishing second behind Portugal but missing out on one of the best runner-up places.
1998 England won their qualifying group but had to face Greece in a play-off to reach the finals. They lost on away goals despite Emile Heskey (2), Michael Owen and Marcus Hall scoring in a 4-2 home win.
2000 England qualified for the finals but failed to get out of the group despite a 6-0 win over Turkey. Frank Lampard, Danny Mills, Jamie Carragher and Danny Murphy were in the squad but the team lost to Italy and Slovakia.
2002 England, under David Platt, finished last in their group despite winning their first game against Switzerland. Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch scored in that 2-1 win but defeats by Italy and Portugal followed.
2004 England struggled in qualifying, finishing third, 11 points behind group winners Turkey. Joey Barton, Joe Cole and Phil Jagielka featured.
2006 Another failure to get to the finals, this time with Peter Taylor as coach. After finishing second behind Germany, England lost 3-2 to France in a play-off.
2007 The tournament switched to odd years and England reached the semi-finals, where they lost 13-12 in a shootout to hosts the Netherlands. Anton Ferdinand missed the decisive penalty.
2009 England again got to the semi-finals and this time won the shootout, against Sweden, Kieran Gibbs converting the last penalty. In the final Stuart Pearce’s team lost 4-0 to Germany.
2011 England drew with eventual winners Spain in the group and picked up another point against Ukraine before conceding two late goals against the Czech Republic to go out. Jordan Henderson, Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck were in the team.
2013 England finished bottom of their group behind Italy, Israel and Norway despite having Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ross Barkley.
2015 Gareth Southgate was in charge but again England finished last in their group, despite beating Sweden in their second game after a goal from Jesse Lingard.
2017 After Southgate was appointed manager of the senior side, Aidy Boothroyd took over as U21 manager. Jordan Pickford, Ben Chilwell, Nathan Redmond and Jack Grealish were part of the England squad that reached the semi-final, where they lost 4-3 on penalties to Germany. Kathryn Batte
England have not won the Euro at Under-21 level since 1984. Their latest pursuit of a third title – Italy have won it five times and Spain four – starts on Tuesday against France in Cesena. With the three group winners and best runner-up comprising the semi-finalists, the opening game could prove decisive in a section that also includes Romania and Croatia. Boothroyd is well aware the FA’s ambitious target brings no guarantees, but neither does it allow for a comfort zone.
“You would have to be pretty special to be an all-domineering world power so we know that, realistically, that might not happen over a period of time but we have always got to strive to be that,” he says. “We have to push ourselves to a point where we are disappointed if we haven’t gone past where we have been before.
“We can’t wallow in the wins because those trophies out there will go rusty. We need new ones to shine. Now we are expected to do well and I am not afraid of that. It would be lovely to have world domination but I think we have always got to be striving for it. There will be ups and downs. There always are.”
Only three players remain in Boothroyd’s squad from England’s last shot at the Euros in 2017 – Tammy Abraham, Demarai Gray and Angus Gunn – but several of the group could have been considered for senior duty in the Nations League. He laughs at the suggestion James Maddison, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Phil Foden are off to Italy because of his close connection to Gareth Southgate.
“I’m only smiling because I’m thinking about all the players who have gone up and he’s stolen from me,” says Boothroyd. “My job is to feed players through to the senior team and to help improve our chances at senior level. What we’re expected to do is develop those players who don’t quite get into the senior team to win our own games as well. A winning environment breeds a winning environment.
“Gareth has dispelled the myth you have to have 100 Premier League games under your belt before you play. That’s never been further from the truth. It was smart thinking and we’re now in a position where we have a group of 2000s in the Under-21 team and players born in 1997 in the senior team. We are very young and with that comes freshness. With the freshness comes a brand of football everyone is excited about.”