On this day (May 12) in 1981, Peter With made his England debut against Brazil. The Aston Villa striker was given the nod from the start by Ron Greenwood but ended up on the losing team as England fell to a 1-0 defeat in front of 75,000 supporters at Wembley.
Withe started alongside Ray Clemence, Phil Neal, Kenny Sansom, Bryan Robson, Alvin Martin, Ray Wilkins, Steve Coppell, Terry McDermott, Graham Rix and Peter Barnes but had no response to Zico’s 12th minute opener for Brazil.
Withe had a short-lived England career. He made only 11 appearances for the national team between 1981 and 1984, scoring just one goal. The 69-year-old’s form at Villa got him in the England team, but his 1985 departure from Villa Park would coincide with the end of his international career.
Nevertheless, Withe can certainly be proud of what he achieved at Villa, winning the First Division title in 1981 and the European Cup in 1982. He just had too much competition for places at England.
In other news, this is the last time Aston Villa did the Premier League double over Everton
