This is the most difficult thing, to choose a team of players, transcending different eras, some of whom I’ve played with and others I’ve seen only briefly. But there are also some very easy decisions and the goalkeeper is one of them.

Peter Shilton was a fantastic keeper who was nearly 41 when he played the last of his 125 games for his country, but there’s one thing missing from his CV: he never won the big one. So Gordon Banks is in for what he achieved in 1966, and that fantastic save from Pelé in 1970.

Sadly there’s no chance of me getting in this team, and I’m going to pick Phil Neal at right-back. He was Liverpool’s most consistent player in a great period in their history, winning eight league titles and four European Cups. On the left I’ll have Stuart Pearce. Kenny Sansom runs him close, but Pearce just epitomised England.

I like how he fought for the shirt, and that he worked his way up from non-league football to become a great player for his country. I’d also have Jimmy Armfield in my squad, more for nostalgia than anything else, because when I was a young lad first getting in the team he gave me a bit of advice and was always there to help.

You just couldn’t pick an all-time England side without Bobby Moore at the heart of it, so he’d wear the armband and play at centre-back. But alongside him I’m going to put one of my personal favourites, someone who never got the accolades he deserved but was a terrific player: Colin Todd. He was often kept out of the England team by Moore and Emlyn Hughes, but I played with him at Nottingham Forest and he was absolutely sensational.

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Bryan Robson was by far the best midfielder I ever played with, possibly the best player I played with full stop. He scored goals, made goals, got tackles in, won headers – Bobby Robson called him Captain Marvel, and the nickname was very apt. He’d play alongside Steven Gerrard – another box-to-box player, who scored important goals at important times and brought great energy to the team, which I think you need in midfield.

In between them I’ll have Glenn Hoddle in the middle: such a gifted player, wonderful with both feet and blessed with great vision, he’d be the creative heart of the team.

I’ve got room for one out-and-out centre-forward, and it’s got to be Alan Shearer. Jimmy Greaves was a brilliant goalscorer, but Shearer’s physical strength and ability leading the line win him the spot. John Barnes, a player with fantastic natural ability who could change games in the blink of an eye, is out on the left, which leaves one last spot to fill.

I was always a Manchester United fan, and when I was a kid I’d go up there every school holiday to train. I can remember watching George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton, three magnificent players. Sadly there’s only one of them I can pick – Bobby wasn’t a winger as such but he could play in any number of positions, and the important thing is that he’s got to be in there somewhere.