‘Which Coventry City forward scored four goals in an England shirt at Highfield Road?’ is a quiz question that may confound many Coventry City supporters. Over the past 50 years, just three City players have scored four goals while wearing a City shirt, much less an England one. Only a few days after Ipswich manager Bobby Robson attempted to purchase the bearded center forward, Mick Ferguson scored all four goals in a 4-1 victory over Ipswich Town in December 1979.
Steve Livingstone scored four goals in a 5-0 League Cup victory against Sunderland in 1990—completely unexpected—and Cyrille Regis scored five goals in the same competition Cup against Chester in 1985, a game that City won 7-2. Ken Satchwell scored four goals in a 5-3 victory over Wrexham on Christmas Day 1959, which is when Ferguson first appeared on the scene.
Mark Hateley, at eighteen, scored all four goals for England Youth against Denmark at Highfield Road in a European Youth qualifier, three months after Mick Ferguson’s quartet against Ipswich. Ed Blackaby wanted me to elaborate on Hateley’s performance that evening.
Three Coventry City players were included in the squad by England manager John Cartwright: Hateley, fellow striker Tom English, and full-back David Barnes. Hateley had only made two substitute appearances and one start for the Sky Blues main squad. English had played in 22 games and scored 10 goals, putting him ahead of Hateley in the club’s rankings. A month later, Barnes would make his debut with the first squad.
The England squad was arranged as follows: Gibson (Tottenham), Allen (West Ham capt), Hateley (Coventry), English (Coventry), Mackenzie (Manchester City), Kendall (Tottenham), Barnes (Coventry), Peake (Leicester), Mabbutt (Bristol Rovers), Pates (Chelsea). Barham (Norwich) replaced Gibson, while Horn (Crystal Palace) replaced Kendall.
A few members of the squad were connected to the Sky Blues: Terry Gibson joined the team in 1983 and enjoyed three extremely successful seasons there; Paul Allen and Gary Mabbutt both participated against City in the 1987 FA Cup final.
They had players like Jan Molby (later of Liverpool), a fifteen-year-old Michael Laudrup (later of Juventus, Barcelona, and Real Madrid), John Sivebeak (later of Manchester United), and Kent Nielsen (later of Aston Villa). I don’t have the Danish lineup.
English, another Sky Blue attacker, provided Hateley with support as he scored the first and third goals with “electrifying runs,” defeating two defenders and setting up Hateley for the goal. Mark scored his second goal in between, smashing in a left-footed effort off a Gibson corner.
Hateley’s fourth goal was the night’s sparkling high point, according to Neville Foulger of the Coventry Telegraph.Steve Mackenzie outran the Danish defense on their right flank, and Hateley scored a breathtaking left-foot volley as his waist-high cross was crossed. His father Tony, a former City player, stole his son’s shirt after the game, but I’m sure Mark has it back in his collection now.
With the win, England was guaranteed a spot in the June 2018 European Under-18 Championship finals in East Germany, where John Cartwright’s squad defeated Poland 2-1 in the championship match. Paul Allen and Terry Gibson scored the goals. 1980 has particular meaning for Allen, who is the nephew of former Spurs striker Les Allen. He played in nearly 40 games for Second Division West Ham during his season, which culminated in a spot on the Hammers’ FA Cup-winning Wembley squad that defeated Arsenal 1-0.
