🏴 How FourFourTwo helped a player earn 28 caps for Scotland
🧤 Neil Sullivan's route to international football and the 1998 World Cup didn't follow a conventional path
🎤 In fact, it all came down to a chance conversation with FourFourTwo magazine in the mid-90s
🍳 While stories like this can often be over-egged, the former Wimbledon, Spurs, and Leeds stopper confirmed in a recent chat with us that it was "100% true"
🗣️ "I was sponsored by Sondico gloves at the time, and I think David Beckham’s shin pads were sponsored by them. We were doing a promotional event at the same place, 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
🗓️ The interview in question appeared in the August '95 issue of the magazine
✍️ It read: "Sullivan would like to learn a language and hopes to play abroad one day, preferably in his favourite cities of Rome and Paris
✍️ "He qualifies to play for Scotland (although he admits he's more English than Scottish) and suggests Craig Brown comes down to Wimbledon and takes a look. But for now he wants to keep playing well for Wimbledon and doing well"
🗣️ "That went in the magazine, and somehow it made its way back to Craig Brown"
📞 "He rang me up, and I jumped at the chance."
🗓️ May 1997: Sullivan made his Scotland debut under Craig Brown against Wales.
☀️ Summer 1998: Selected for the Scotland World Cup squad in France, moving up to second-choice goalkeeper behind Jim Leighton.
🇧🇷 France '98 opening match vs Brazil, he was on the bench: "That feeling was pure excitement. It was a brilliant summer, great to be involved even in a small way and soak up the atmosphere"
🧢 He went on to win 28 caps for the Tartan Army and became Scotland's regular starter during Euro 2000 and 2002 World Cup qualifiers
