A look at former Norwich City player Andy Townsend’s inclusion in the Republic of Ireland’s squad for the 1990 and 1994 FIFA World Cups.
Midfielder Andy Townsend joined Norwich City from fellow First Division outfit Southampton in August, 1988, for a fee of £300,000. He made his Canaries debut at Middlesbrough, coming on as a substitute in the 3-2 victory at Ayresome Park on September 3, 1988.
Townsend’s first start came in a win over Tottenham Hotspur on October 22, 1988 and he quickly became a key player in Norwich’s midfield. In his debut season he made 44 appearances and scored seven goals in all competitions which included the winning strikes at Manchester United on October 26, 1988 and against Liverpool on December 17 that year.
Norwich finished fourth in the top flight in the 1988/89 campaign and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup. At the end of the season, the hard-tackling, hard-working Townsend was shortlisted for the PFA Player of the Year award.
His contributions for the Canaries that season brought him to the attentions of Republic of Ireland manager Jack Charlton, and Townsend made his international debut in a friendly against France in February 1989, which finished in a goalless draw. His first competitive game for Ireland was a substitute appearance in a 1-0 win over Spain in April, 1989 in a World Cup Qualifier.
During Townsend’s second season at Carrow Road in 1989/90, he netted three times and missed just three games in all competitions before Chelsea paid £1.2m for his services in July, 1990.
That summer, ahead of his move to Stamford Bridge, Townsend featured in all five of the Republic of Ireland’s matches at the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. The Boys in Green drew all of their group games – against England (1-1), Egypt (0-0) and the Netherlands (1-1) - before beating Romania on penalties in the round of 16. Townsend scored Ireland’s third spot-kick against Romania after the game had finished goalless after extra-time. The Republic met Italy in the quarter-finals at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico on June 30 1990, but a Salvatore Schillaci goal for the hosts ended their hopes of reaching the final four.
Townsend made 138 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 12 goals in all competitions during his three seasons with the club before he moved to Aston Villa in July 1993. He finally won some silverware in the West Midlands as the Villans beat Manchester United 3-1 to lift the League Cup trophy in 1994.
Townsend was captain of the Ireland squad at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The Boys in Green got revenge over Italy for defeat at the previous World Cup, beating the then-three-time champions 1-0 in their opening group game on June 18, 1994 but lost to Mexico 2-1, six days later. Their final group game was a 0-0 draw with Norway which saw all four teams in Group E finish on four points with the same goal difference – the only time that has ever happened at a World Cup. Mexico went through as group winners due to goals scored, and Ireland progressed too, due to their surprise victory over Italy.
Jack Charlton’s side bowed out of the tournament in the round of 16 as the Netherlands put two past them at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando on July 4, 1994.
At club level, Townsend was on the move again in August 1997 when he joined Middlesbrough. He made 37 appearances and scored two goals for ‘Boro in his first season as they won promotion to the Premier League. The following season he struggled to get into the first team on Teesside so moved to West Bromwich Albion, but a knee injury forced his retirement in July 2000.
Words by Andy Greeves