It's 25 long years since Northern Ireland scored against England. Sports Writer Paul Fraser caught up with former Middlesbrough winger Terry Cochrane, the last player to make his mark on the scoresheet in a green shirt, who fears it could be just as long before it happens again.

"I REMEMBER sitting, watching events unfold as a substitute when we were 1-0 down. Billy Bingham (the then Northern Ireland manager) told me to get stripped, go on and make a name for myself at Wembley," recalled former Middlesbrough winger Terry Cochrane of the day he went down in history playing against England.

Seventy three minutes had elapsed and Bingham's side were heading for another Home International defeat at the hands of the English underneath the famous Twin Towers.

But, in the venue of legends, Cochrane had other ideas on May 20, 1980. Ten minutes after his introduction the exciting wide-man burst into the box to meet Jimmy Nicholl's centre to earn the Ulstermen a memorable draw.

It was an occasion that will never be erased from the Cochrane memory bank and one very few back in his home country have let him forget.

And why would they? After all, his 83rd minute strike that day remains the last time any Northern Ireland player has managed to find a way past an England goalkeeper - dating back almost a quarter of a century.

Seven games have been and gone. Eleven goals have been conceded yet Northern Ireland have been unable to conjure up a single response against those wearing the Three Lions shirts.

The last time the two countries met was in April 1987 and things have deteriorated ten-fold across the Irish Sea since.

This afternoon Lawrie Sanchez takes his squad to Old Trafford knowing 103 places separate the two in the world rankings and hopes back in Belfast of someone breaking the 25-year goal-scoring duck are low.

"If Northern Ireland can go out and put in a good performance I suppose we have to be content with that," says Cochrane, deeply frustrated by Northern Ireland's demise in international football, where their standing is below that of footballing minnows Rwanda, Gabon and Vietnam.

"I don't want to sound too negative but really if they can come away from the game with a two or three-nil defeat then I suppose they have to be happy.

"There would be nothing too wrong with those scorelines because I remember being beaten 4-0 twice by England.

"People have to remember that England have some great players like David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen. Who do Northern Ireland have? Players from Rushden & Diamonds, Northampton and Hull. The gulf's massive.

"People talk about the result being affected by England having to cope with the pressures of having to get a result. That's not pressure. The England players cope with bigger pressures than that on a weekly basis.

"If you think of Beckham playing for Real Madrid and Steven Gerrard playing for Liverpool - how will that be more difficult to cope with than playing for England against Northern Ireland?"

Cochrane, and his No 7 and 11 Irish shirts, live in Middlesbrough, where he spent five seasons between 1978 and 1983 and is now forging a new media career with 96.6TFM, but he has strong feelings about the state of the sport in his homeland.

Born in Killyleagh in January 1953 - the same hometown as David Healy, who ended the longest goalscoring drought in European football history last February when he scored for his country - he was honoured to have played his part wearing the traditional green in the late seventies and early eighties.

It was an era at Windsor Park that has left the whole of Northern Ireland still harbouring thoughts of a return to those days, when the likes of George Best, Gerry Armstrong and Tom Finney graced the Belfast turf.

Cochrane never actually played in a game with the legendary Manchester United winger Best but the pair did enjoy being part of squads together.

"I remember one occasion when I went down to the hotel bar and Best was there," says Cochrane, who missed out on playing in the 1982 World Cup with a hamstring problem. "He asked me what I wanted and I had a swift half.

"That's what it was like then. The team spirit was tremendous. It was a squad of Northern Irishmen who were all local lads and liked to be around each other."

Relaxing at home yesterday, Cochrane could easily reel off the names of his team-mates from 25 years ago: Pat Jennings, Pat Rice, Norman Whiteside, Billy Hamilton and George Best.

His point was simple. If you go through this afternoon's starting line-up and, beginning with the manager, there are a number involved in the visiting dressing room at Old Trafford who were not born in Northern Ireland.

Sanchez, although a former international for the country he now leads, was born in Lambeth and lives in Reading. A former member of Wimbledon's Crazy Gang, he has been appointed to instil some of that style and approach to the game into the Ulstermen.

But Cochrane's school of thought is that Northern Ireland's government should take a stance and adopt a different approach if the Armstrong and Best days are to be rekindled.

"I don't know Lawrie Sanchez and I don't mean to be disrespectful to him but Northern Ireland won't make the steps it needs to with him in charge," said Cochrane, who earned 26 caps and played against England five times during his career, although never on the winning side.

"It needs a Gerry Armstrong or Pat Jennings type figure who can go in and make heads roll.

"They would put Irishmen into Irish jerseys, not players who are more interested in going on the field of play posing with their mobile phone in their hand.

"It would be a struggle to turn things around but if we are to stand a chance then the government has to supply Academies to all the clubs in the Irish Leagues, then we may see things begin to turn."

Sanchez has a three-strong North-East contingent in the current Northern Ireland squad in the shape of Newcastle's Aaron Hughes and Sunderland pair Jeff Whitley and George McCartney, who has withdrawn with a groin problem.

Both Hughes and Whitley will be in the starting line-up today but Cochrane has mixed feelings.

"Aaron is a great Northern Ireland international," he says. "There should be more of him around. George is also going to be the same.

"I'd like to think I am constructive in my criticism but I think Jeff is not the answer to our problems."

Cochrane has a love of greyhounds and had a couple during his days playing at Ayresome Park.

There is a chance he will be renewing his involvement on the tracks in future months but admits: "I'd have a better chance of winning at Sunderland dogs than Northern Ireland have of winning in Manchester - and it hurts to say that."