Bleep tests, alcohol bans and Gazza: Italia 90 set the bar for England and sports science | Sean Ingle

Bobby Robson employed a head of human performance for the World Cup and, despite wariness, the players got on board

The eve of Italia 90. Gazza’s tears, England’s heartache, and the cascading emotions of a World Cup that sang and ultimately stung still lie ahead. For now, the sports scientist tasked with acclimatising Bobby Robson’s side to the Italian summer is using cutting-edge technology to assess each player’s fitness: a BBC microcomputer, a dot-matrix printer, and a few clunky Polar heart-rate monitors.

Some in the England setup initially regard Prof John Brewer, the Football Association’s first head of human performance, with suspicion. But after monitoring the squad with a bleep test at Lilleshall before they fly to Italy, again when they arrive, and for a third time after a fortnight’s training in the hottest part of the day, Brewer can prove to the players they have adapted to the heat, and can play their familiar high-tempo game.

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