The summer a golden generation lost its shine

Ask Rio Ferdinand about the phrase ‘golden generation’ and he will tell you it was “stupid”.

Actually, he precedes that assessment with an expletive when considering the label in relation to England’s 2006 World Cup team.

“I feel embarrassed when I say it,” the former centre-back says in The Golden Generation, the new BBC documentary looking at why a star-studded team – tipped to end 40 years of hurt since the 1966 triumph – unravelled on the biggest stage.

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“I don't look back at that time with any type of happiness.”

And yet, these were golden times – both on and off the field.

Generational footballing talents, showbiz wives and girlfriends, a first foreign manager in Sven-Goran Eriksson – with a colourful private life to boot – their every move made the front and back pages of the newspapers at a time when celebrity culture was exploding.

Built up so much, they fell hard, and there were a lot of questions about what went wrong.

Twenty years on, have those involved got any more answers?

Major honours: 6x Premier League titles, 2x FA Cups and 1x Champions League (with Man Utd)

Key info: England captain. Known for precise crossing and set pieces. Proven to score goals

Key info: Young star who has just come through the ranks. Known for pace, power and attacking threat

Major honours: 2× Premier League titles and 1x League Cup

Key info: Proven goal-scorer from midfield. Intelligent on the ball

Major honours: 1x Champions League, 2x FA Cup and 2x League Cup

Key info: Captain at Liverpool. Box-to-box threat. Can do it all, defending and attacking

Major honours: 1x Premier League and 1x League Cup

Key info: Vital to England team because of composure, reading of the game and leadership

Major honours: Ballon d’Or 2001, 1x FA Cup and 2x League Cup (with Liverpool)

Key info: Proven goalscorer. Known for his pace

“I just call them a damn good squad of players,” says Steve McClaren, Eriksson’s assistant before taking over as manager, when asked about the ‘golden generation’ label.

The tag had first been applied in 2001 by the Football Association’s then chief executive Adam Crozier following a stunning 5-1 away win over Germany in a World Cup qualifier.

That team went on to lose in the quarter-finals at both the 2002 World Cup and 2004 European Championship. The 2006 World Cup in Germany was seen as the time for this special group of players to deliver.

The main challenge, though, was fitting them into a team. Central to that was the question of whether Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard should play together – both outstanding attack-minded midfielders but similar in style.“How do you leave out Gerrard, Lampard, [Wayne] Rooney, [David] Beckham?” adds McClaren. “That was the difficulty.”

There was one player’s inclusion in the 23-man squad that raised a lot of eyebrows at the time – Theo Walcott, a 17-year-old who had yet to play for Arsenal following his move from Southampton the previous January.