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Former Wimbledon and Tottenham goalkeeper Neil Sullivan was part of Scotland’s squad for the 1998 World Cup.

Neil Sullivan’s journey from being a regular in the Premier League to stepping into international football was anything but typical.

As it turned out, Sullivan’s chance to play for Scotland stemmed from an offhand comment he made to a reporter from FourFourTwo during a promotional event.

The former Wimbledon goalkeeper went on to win 28 caps for Scotland and travelled with the Tartan Army to the 1998 World Cup. And although stories like this can sometimes sound exaggerated, Sullivan himself says it really happened.

“Yeah, 100 per cent true,” Sullivan told FourFourTwo when asked whether the magazine genuinely helped him secure a place in Craig Brown’s squad in 1997.

Just like in Sullivan’s other most famous football moment, one future England captain also happened to be involved.

“I was sponsored by Sondico gloves at the time, and I think David Beckham’s shin pads were sponsored by them,” the former Spurs and Leeds goalkeeper continued.

“We were doing a sort of promotional event at the same venue, promoting the brand, taking photographs and signing autographs for fans — no prizes for guessing whose queue was longer — and a FourFourTwo reporter was there.

“We had a bit of a general chat and then I just happened to mention that I had a Scottish grandparent. That went into the magazine and somehow it found its way back to Craig Brown. He rang me up and I jumped at the chance.”

Sullivan made his Scotland debut under Brown against Wales in May 1997, and he did enough to make sure he was included in the squad for the 1998 World Cup.

After former Manchester United goalkeeper Jim Leighton came out of international retirement in 1998, Sullivan became a regular starter during the qualifiers for Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup.

“It was amazing,” Sullivan said when asked about being part of the 1998 squad. “I went as our third-choice goalkeeper with Jim Leighton and Andy Gorham ahead of me.

“We went to America on a sort of pre-World Cup tour, and Andy decided that he didn’t want to be involved, so I moved up to number two goalkeeper. We played the opening match against Brazil so we missed the opening ceremony because we were underneath the pitch getting ready. That feeling was pure excitement.

“It was a brilliant summer, great to be involved even in a small way and soak up the atmosphere.”

Ed McCambridge
Staff Writer