Wooly jumpers and no water - Sheffield United man's World Cup prep was very different to this England squad's
Irish players who took part in the World Cup in USA ‘94 might have a laugh at England’s preparations to this summer’s tournament
Much of the talk around this year’s World Cup, certainly from the perspective of England and Scotland, has been around the heat they will face during the tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Any complaints, though, are likely to bring about a bit of a chuckle from those Irishmen who made a similar journey back in 1994.
In that year’s World Cup in the USA, the Republic of Ireland were the closest to a ‘home nation’ to qualify and it’s fair to say their preparations were a lot different to those in modern international squads.
These days, no stone is left unturned to make sure that every player is at their absolute pinnacle around fitness and conditioning, sleep and diet and nutrition.
It wasn’t always that way.
Among that Ireland squad in 1994 was then Sheffield United goalkeeper Alan Kelly, back-up to regular number one Packie Bonner and he recalled very different preparations to what this current batch of elite footballers will face as they attempt to acclimatise to the sweltering conditions.
“The heat then is something that will be similar to what England will be up against, ” Kelly said. “We had our preparation in Orlando to get used to the heat and it was almost unbearable.
“When we were on our build up, Jack (Charlton) made us wear woolly jumpers to get used to the heat and wouldn’t let us drink during training.
“We didn’t have nutritionists in those days, there were no shakes or anything like that, just water at the end. Packie and I were losing at least 5-7kg every session.”
And for those England players who may not get a run out during the World Cup, which kicks off this week with host nation Mexico taking on South Africa on Thursday, take a leaf out of Kelly’s book.
“I was still a relatively young player, and of course it would have been nice to have been involved in some of the games or even one, but that’s football,” he said.
“Jack had to pick a team and all I could do was make sure Packie was ready for each game. There was no goalkeeper coach at the time so we worked each other.”
The Irish had a whirlwind summer in the US back then. They beat would-be finalists Italy 1-0 thanks to Ray Houghton’s stunning goal - an iconic World Cup moment - before losing 2-1 to Mexico. It was in that match where Jack Charlton and John Aldridge famously got involved in a foul-mouthed confrontation with a Fifa official as the latter was being delayed coming on as a substitute.
Following that it was a 0-0 with Norway in the final group game, with both sides clearly wilting in the heat of the Giants Stadium.
Holland in the round of 16 proved to be a step too far for the Irish as goals from Dennis Bergkamp and Wim Jonk ended their summer sojourn.
“It was an incredible experience, ” Kelly said. “Football has obviously always been a global game, but I felt that it was really just starting to get huge at that time.
“It was in America and they were really going for it and that was the start of what they have built now in the MLS. For me personally, yes I did think I would find it hard to get playing because Packie (Bonner) was established as first choice, but to be there was amazing.
“We had a terrific squad, loads of experience and loads of major honours in it, but as a small nation there still wasn’t a lot expected of us.
“Then of course we went and beat Italy, which was phenomenal for us because everyone expected them to beat us easily.”