but by the end of the 1998–99 season he was a regular in the Leeds team. However, in the early part of the 1999–2000 season he suffered an Achilles tendon injury, and recovery was lengthened by side effects of the drugs he had to take for the heart problems he suffered as a result of the earlier rib injury. This caused him to miss the Euro 2000 Championships. Batty's experience was a key factor in Leeds qualification for the UEFA Champions League, and the cup runs to the semi-finals of both the UEFA Cup and the Champions League; however, when O'Leary was sacked by Leeds in 2002 Batty found himself out of favour with subsequent managers, and in May 2004 he was released by Leeds and retired from football. He was injured in a game against former club Newcastle United on 7 January 2004. This would turn out to be the final game of his career. International career Batty's performances for Leeds resulted in his making his England debut under Graham Taylor in the 3–0 win against the Soviet Union in May 1991, aged 22. At the time of the 1998 FIFA World Cup Batty was an England regular under Glenn Hoddle, but made limited starts in the four matches England competed in and was notable, along with Paul Ince, for missing a penalty saved by Carlos Roa which prevented the team from advancing to the quarter-finals. In all Batty gained 42 caps, making his final appearance for England in the 0–0 draw with Poland in 1999, where he was sent off in the 84th minute of the game. Personal life Since his retirement Batty has featured in 'The Match', in which a team of former professionals faced a team of celebrities in a charity match staged at Newcastle's St James' Park ground. Since retirement, some of Batty's former team mates including Alan Shearer and Jeff Kenna have commented that they didn't think Batty really liked football and that he had no real interest in it, only playing the sport because he was good at it. Shearer commented that he never studied the game or watched other games and that he was always the last one into training and the first one to leave, but regardless of this he was a fierce competitor. Following his retirement in 2004, Batty shunned life in the limelight and was living in Yorkshire, he