Former England footballer, Alan Hudson, has requested that the English FA should delete his record of having played for the national team over what he called “the demoralising and very depressing way I was passed over for all but two England matches”.
He wrote: “My dream of a long international career was ruined and has led to long-term depression, anxiety and panic for which I still have counselling. It will be a great relief to be removed from my links with the history of England football. I don’t want anything to remain in the FA statistics to remind me of the demoralising and very depressing way I was passed over for all but two England matches.”
Hudson claimed that the then England manager, Sir Alf Ramsey, arbitrarily shut him out of the England squad for three years because he failed to honour an Under 23 international call-up while he was suffering from an ankle injury.
He was finally capped twice by Ramsey’s successor, Don Revie, who Hudson insists acted under duress: ”He only did that under pressure from the media and then discarded me, even though we won both those games and I was man of the match against West Germany in one of them.”
The Chelsea legend also accused the FA of a lack of support after suffering devastating injuries in a hit-and-run incident and he’s the first player ever to file such a request and will make a unique footnote in football history if successful.
About the car accident – which he still suspects was ‘a deliberate hit’ – Hudson wrote: “Your organisation never raised a finger while my family waited in grief and was trauma-stricken during my 59 days in a coma. When I woke I was surrounded by hundreds of cards wishing me well but not one from the FA.”
The final straw for him, he alleged, was the manner Manchester City star Jack Grealish was afforded little playing time at the Euros where the Three Lions lost the final on penalties to Italy.
He said: ‘I had been considering doing this for some time. Seeing how Grealish was humiliated by so little playing time when he was the one player who might have won the tournament for our country has pushed me over the edge. No wonder we haven’t won so much as a tin pot let alone another major championship since 1966.’
The FA, in response to Hudson’s request and allegations, said it holds him in ”high esteem as a great player who had a distinguished football career. However, we cannot comment on the actions of Sir Alf Ramsey and Don Revie as that period was many years ago and both individuals are now deceased.”
Regarding his request for his record to be wiped off, the FA’s director of legal and governance Polly Handford cites problems with data protection if complying.
Ms Handford said: ”In relation to your car accident and the trauma suffered by you and your family, we are very sorry to hear what a difficult time you have had. Given the time elapsed we cannot speak to what support would have been available.”
Hudson, undetered, is determined to keep fighting and, if necessary, seek legal help for the deletion of his records.
