20 YEARS AGO: As the door appeared to close on Bryan Robson’s World Cup, Paul Gascoigne stepped up to the plate to assume the key role in England’s midfield.

Robson limped off after an hour of the scoreless draw with Holland in Cagliari and the fear was that he would play no further part in Italia 1990.

But manager Bobby Robson found comfort in Gascoigne’s performance against the Dutch. “He ranked alongside anyone as the best player on the pitch,” the England boss said.

“He was absolutely outstanding. He needs a bit more education in certain respects but, overall, his contribution was very pleasing.

“He made things happen, worked hard and showed great mileage and quality on the ball.”

Mark Wright was another England success story, impressing in the experimental “sweeper” role and drawing high praise from Robson who predicted: “He should be the England sweeper for years to come. It’s the way forward for the national team.”

Not that Robson would be around to dictate future selection or tactics. He had announced before the tournament that he had accepted a lucrative offer to coach the Dutch club PSV Eindhoven – and was set to be replaced by Graham Taylor.

Mike Tyson declared himself “the best fighter in the universe” after bouncing back from the shock of losing his world heavyweight title to James “Buster” Douglas by knocking out Henry Tillman in the first round of his comeback fight in Las Vegas.

Nick Faldo, close to being officially acknowledged as the world’s best golfer, missed qualifying for an 18-hole play-off for the US Open title by the most slender of margins.

Faldo’s 10-foot birdie putt on the last green of the final round at Medinah slipped an inch past the hole and left Americans Hale Irwin and Mike Donald to fight it out on the extra day.

Bury’s signing of striker John McGinlay from Shrewsbrury merited just three paragraphs on the back page of the Bolton Evening News – but no one could have envisaged at the time that the name would ultimately become such a frequent feature in the newspaper’s headlines.

30 YEARS AGO: The repercussions of Wanderers being relegated after just two seasons of top-flight football became evident when goalkeeper Jim McDonagh – ever-present throughout the two Division One campaigns – was sold to Everton for £275,000.

The Republic of Ireland international, who cost just £10,000 four years earlier when former Bolton manager Ian Greaves signed him from Rotherham, had made it clear he wanted to stay in the First Division and Goodison manager Gordon Lee duly obliged.

And with Terry Poole rejecting a new contract offer that left manager Stan Anderson with something of a headache. Dennis Peacock, recently arrived from Doncaster, was now first choice with Dave Felgate, who had spent most of his Burnden days out on loan, as back-up.

Explaining his decision to sell McDonagh, who still had a year of his contract to run, Anderson said: “Situations both on and off the field can affect whether he plays to the best of his ability. I had to evaluate what Jim McDonagh was going to do for us next season.”

Over in Italy, England’s European Championship dreams were shattered by a single-goal defeat at the hands of the hosts in Turin.

Ron Greenwood insisted his players had “nothing to be ashamed of” after Marco Tardelli’s goal kept Italy on course for the finals but the critics rounded on the England manager for his team selection – in particular picking Garry Birtles to lead what turned out to be a toothless attack.

45 YEARS AGO: England's superiority over the lesser-ranked cricketing nations was once again evident at Lord’s, where pace bowler Fred Rumsey took 4-7 in a blistering spell to help dismiss New Zealand for a modest 175 in the second Test.

It was the perfect platform on which Colin Cowdrey and Ted Dexter were able to build a first innings lead with some attractive batting.

Manchester United’s marathon season ended in disappointment in Budapest where they lost 2-1 to Ferencvaros in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup semi-final play-off.

The play-off was needed after United – newly-crowned First Division Champions – won the first leg 3-2 at Old Trafford and lost the second 1-0 in Budapest.

Matt Busby’s team looked in charge before going a goal down just before half time and were out of it when Ferencvaros doubled their lead on 70 minutes. England winger John Connelly pulled one back four minutes from time but it was the Hungarians who won through to the final against Juventus.

Bob Stokoe, the manager of Bury Football Club, showed his abilities as a sporting all-rounder when he beat 20-year-old David Openshaw of Stand at the 19th hole to win the Bury Amateur Golf Championships.

Henry Cooper retained his British heavyweight boxing title when challenger Johnny Prescott was retired after 10 rounds of their 15-round championship fight in Birmingham – and immediately turned his attention to challenging Cassius Clay for the world title.