Former Everton midfielder Lee Carsley will lead England Under-21s into the European Championship final against Spain this weekend, hoping to become the first Three Lions team to lift the trophy since 1984. The victorious captain 39 years ago was future Everton legend Dave Watson, and he has been speaking to evertonfc.com exclusively about his recollections…

Dave, you were with Norwich City at the time and you must still look back on that 1984 success with a great deal of pride?

Yes, I do. It’s something I think about whenever England are in the competition again and we had a tremendous time. Travelling around Europe, playing different teams in different cultures was a great experience for us. Quite a few of the lads in our team went on to win full international caps, which is what it’s all about really.  It’s not just about being great at that level yourself, it’s about kicking on further.

I remember we beat Denmark 4-1 home and away in the group stage and the home game was at Norwich City, which was good for me. Other than that, I can’t recall too much apart from the semi-final against France and the final against Spain.  It was a proper and tough competition, especially when it got to the latter stages. We had some really good games against some top-class young players.

Do you recall feeling the pressure increase as the tournament progressed?

Do you know what, I don’t think I did. I certainly can’t remember feeling any pressure in the games. Dave Sexton was the coach and he was great at making people welcome and making the players nice and relaxed, even if they were substitutes in the games. All of us loved joining up with the group.

The team spirit was absolutely fantastic, honestly. We used to meet in a hotel in Sheffield whenever we had get-togethers before the games. We’d turn up on the Saturday night from wherever we had played that day and go for a bite to eat or a few drinks and there was a great, relaxed atmosphere.

How good was Dave Sexton?

Very good and he was also a bit of a psychologist. He’d get into our heads and he was ahead of his time in that respect because we didn’t know anything about psychology in those days.  He had a guy called Alan Smith with him, from Sheffield Wednesday, who was a physiotherapist. Bobby Robson was obviously also around, and he’d pop his head into the dressing room at times.

A lot of the players in your 1984 squad went on to win senior caps – the likes of Gary Bailey, Gary Stevens, Steve Hodge, Mark Hateley.

At times players can be called up to England teams just to give them some experience and it can happen too many times but for us, we had a steady squad more or less all the way through the competition. That helped to build the confidence within the group when you knew that you would probably be selected each time.

Mark Hateley done great for us. He was very powerful, especially when he got on the turn and ran at defenders, and he was obviously a handful in the air. He was a great outlet for anyone who was in trouble…similar to what Big Duncan did for Everton years later.

Your future Everton team-mates Derek Mountfield, Gary Stevens and Paul Bracewell were in the squad…

Yes, and when I came to join Everton, it was just a case of walking in the door because I knew those lads, we’d been together for a while, and I knew Reidy and Trevor (Steven) from the full England squads.

It’s ironic that the England team of 2023 will also play Spain in the final?

The final will be a tough game against a group of players who have probably been in Spain teams from the age of 16, 17 and upwards. But it’s all about going it knowing how to win the game and it doesn’t matter how exciting the game is or isn’t – you’ve got to win the trophy.

We played against class players like Emilio Butragueno and Andoni Zubizerreta, but I am sure they look back now and think that we had one or two of our own as well.

How good a job has Lee Carsley done with the England 21s?

He has done a magnificent job. I’ve never actually worked with Lee or been at teams with him so I don’t know if he is a defensive minded person, but they haven’t conceded any goals in the competition and if you can keep clean sheets you will get chances to score yourselves, especially with the quality England have got.