1996 The year the Motorola StarTac flip phone went on sale, the phenomenon of Pokemon was born, Bill Clinton was re-elected for a second term in the US and the first Tickle Me Elmo went on sale.
A sheep called Dolly became possibly the most famous sheep in the world, Take That announced they are splitting up, Danny Boyle's trainspotting was released, Tyson Vs Bruno lasted three rounds and Jay-Z released his debut album Beyond reasonable doubt.
It was the year Nelson Mandela stepped down as The president of South Africa, The Spice Girls released Wannabee, the 26th Olympic Games were held in Atlanta, the last performance of The Ramones took place at the Palace in Hollywood and Tupac was shot and killed in Las Vegas.
It was also the year that had the soundtrack of The Fugees - Killing Me Softly, Peter Andre - Mysterious Girl, The Prodigy - Firestarter, Oasis - Wonderwall, Alanis Morissette - Ironic and of course the summer anthem that brought a new belief to a nation, The lightning seeds with Baddiel and Skinner - Three Lions.
After numerous national failures in previous competitions, with the slogan “when football comes home” it felt like Football was coming home with England hosting the Euro 96 competition. The last and only major trophy the national team lifted was 30 years prior when Bobby Moore hoisted the Jules Rimet trophy in 1966 at Wembley.
Even with England ranked 24th in the world, with Terry Venables at the helm, the current England manager Gareth Southgate playing and a team of Legendary talisman such as Paul Gascoigne, Stuart Pearce and Alan Shearer could something special be on the cards.
With group games against Switzerland, Scotland and the Netherlands promising a tense start to the tournament. Against the old rival Scotland Paul Gascoigne went on a rampant run chipping Colin Hendry and then hitting the volley to score what is arguably the greatest ever goal in English history, which was then followed by one of the most famous goal celebrations in the dentist chair celebration.
A quarter final draw with Spain ending in a penalty shootout, which allowed Stuart Pearce (Psycho) to exercise the demons of his penalty shootout miss against West Germany in the 1990 World Cup.
A semi final match against Germany bringing back painful memories of the Italia 90 World Cup defeat. The Germany semi-final ended with a 1 - 1 draw and a penalty shoot out. With both teams scoring their first five penalties, up steps the now England manager Gareth Southgate to hit the ball and have his penalty saved handing the game to Germany again, dumping England out of the competition and a nation left deflated in sporting terms once again.
Fast forward 25 years, the entire planet has been on pause for over 12 months, to a competition that had been delayed by the Covid Pandemic. It could be argued that there are certain similarities between the two competitions, The media overhyping the England team, England playing Scotland in the group stages at Wembley, Gareth Southgate's participation in the competition once again, the finals being held at Wembley and the re-emergence of the Lightning Seeds with Baddiel and Skinner - Three Lions played everywhere.
We still believe the big question of the day being is It's Coming Home, Either way it's an opportunity for a national distraction and to get back to some sense of normality in these uncertain times, show your support for a small independent family business that's Teevolution and the England team with one our England design T-Shirts or Hoodies #Jointheteevolution #itscominghome #threelions
