England World Cup 1966 Squad

World Cup 1966 was the first and last World Cup held in England, and the first and so far last World Cup that the English national team have won, because of this the winning squad are considered heroes in England. The 2010 World Cup will be the eleventh World Cup's and 44 years since that victory, as I write this hub it is September 2009 and England have just clinched qualification to the 2010 tournament; but this was not the inspiration that I needed to write this hub, I will in fact disclose the purpose of this article at the very end. This page only features a brief biography of each of those 11 players involved in the thrilling final match against Germany, as those players were the only ones to receive winners medals. This page should be considered the introduction to a much larger range of sub-articles, as I will be hyperlinking throughout the text to long and detailed biographies of every single individual mentioned on this page. That is 23 biographies, I have my work cut out, but they deserve it. I hope that you enjoy.

Perhaps the most important cog in the machine was Alf Ramsey, the manager of the English national team between 1963-1974, having previously gained 32 England caps as a player between 1948 and 1954. Sir Alf Ramsey was knighted in 1967 in recognition of his astonishing achievement the year prior, before going on to lead England to a third place finish at the 1968 European Championship. Ramsey went on to take England to the semi-final of the European Championship in 1968 and the World Cup quarter-final in 1970. Ramsey was sacked in 1974 after disastrously failing to qualify for World Cup 1974. Sir Alf Ramsey died in 1999 at the age of 79.

The goalkeeper on the great final day was 28 year old Gordon Banks, who had been given his debut just 3 years prior by new England manager Ramsey. By 1965 Banks had established himself as England's number 1 keeper and held this position for 7 years, gaining 73 England caps between 1963-1972; the England v Germany game was the 33rd of his caps. In the year that followed the World Cup, there was a strange twist in Banks career. Whilst considered by many to be the best goalkeeper in the world, he was ousted by Leicester City in favour of a 17 year old keeper who demanded first team football. That young keeper was Peter Shilton, the man who would go on to succeed Banks as England's number one goalkeeper. Banks was awarded the OBE in 1970 in recognition of his footballing achievements.

Jack Charlton did not gain his first England cap until 1965, at the age of 29, but went on to become a World Cup hero just over one year later. Charlton showed a profound loyalty during a club career which saw him play for just one club, Leeds United, for an astonishing 23 years; making a total of 774 appearances of the Yorkshire side. Alf Ramsey experimented and changed his side a lot in the year leading up to the World Cup, but the one thing that remained constant was Jack's effective partnership in central defence alongside Bobby Moore. Jack Charlton was, at 31, the second oldest member of the England 1966 World Cup squad; and one of the most famous images from the final was the sight of Jack falling to his knees and sobbing tears of joy. Charlton is decorated with an OBE, and was also given honorary Irish citizenship following 9 years in charge of the Irish National Team. Jack's younger brother Bobby Charlton was of course also a member of the same World Cup XI.

Bobby Moore was England's captain, he also captained West Ham for over 10 years, and played for a England a record of 108 times before his international retirement in 1973; this record was later broken by Gordon Banks' successor Peter Shilton. Bobby Moore set up the first of Geoff Hurst's 3 goals with a quick free kick onto Hurst's head to make the score 1-1. At the end of the game, Moore is pictured wiping his muddy hands on his shirt and shorts before shaking the hand of Queen Elizabeth II and being presented with the World Cup. Bobby Moore died in 1993 at the young age of 51 following a cancer battle, dying a hero with the British and having been labelled as the greatest ever defender by none other than Pele. Bobby Moore received the OBE in 1967, the year after leading the English to victory.

George Cohen was the right back in the side that won the competition, having made his England debut just two years prior, Cohen played his last game for England in 1967 and was the first of England's starting XI to cease playing for the England team. During an International career that lasted just 3 years, Cohen had won the sports greatest prize. Cohen was, like Jack Charlton, a 'One Club man'; having played all 13 of his professional years for Fulham. George Cohen was described by George Best as the best full back that he had ever played against, which is of course some accolade. Cohen had played for England at the expense of England legend, and fellow one club man, Jimmy Armfield. Astonishingly, George Cohen had to sell his winners medal after encountering financial hardship; his former club Fulham moved to ensure that the medal remained close to him by purchasing it for £80,000 and putting it on display at their Craven Cottage ground. George Cohen was awarded the MBE in 2000 after a newspaper campaign petitioned for him and 4 other members of the squad to be decorated, these 4 players had never received recognition whilst the other 6 members of the final XI had been honoured in 1967.

Completing the defence on that great day was experienced 31 year old Everton left back Ray Wilson. Wilson was one of the more established members of the side, having been a regular for six years prior to the competition and appearing all of England's games in the previous world cup in 1962. This was a feat that he was going to better in World Cup 1966, featuring in every minute of every game on route to victory, with the final being his 51st cap. Ray Wilson retained his place in the England team until the end of the 1968 European Championship, the third/fourth place play-off victory against the USSR being his 63rd and final International cap. After retirement Wilson decided to leave football and established a successful undertakers in Huddersfield, before retiring completely aged 62 and settling in Halifax. Wilson was one of 5 players to receive an MBE in 2000 after a long media campaign to see them given honours.

Martin Peters had it all, he could run, pass, score, and create. Martin Peters was just 23 in 1966 and had played just 3 International games before the start of the tournament. Although Peter's did not the play the first group stage game against Uruguay, he started the second after a lacklustre draw and found himself playing in the middle of the park for the rest of the tournament. Peters scored for England in the final, the goal which put England 2-1 ahead; this goal would have been the winning goal was it not for Germany's equaliser in the dying seconds of the game. Martin Peters was a West Ham player between 1959-1970, before subsequently enjoying spells at Tottenhan Hotspur between 1970-1975 and Norwich City between 1975-1980. Peters played his final England International in 1974, having won a total of 67 caps and scoring some 20 goals. Martin Peters retired from football in 1981 at 38 having made a total of 882 competitive appearances and scoring 220 goals. Sir Alf Ramsey described Martin Peters as "ten years ahead of his time", and that was testimony immense ability on the ball.

Alongside Peter's that day was tough tackling 24 year old Manchester United midfielder Nobby Stiles. Stiles was an unlikely hero, in fact an unlikely footballer. He was very small as a boy, at a time when most players of his size were being rejected by professional clubs for being too short, he also suffered from severe shortsightedness which meant that he had to wear very strong contact lenses on the pitch and very thick glasses off of the pitch, as well as having to wear dentures after having all of his front tip ripped out on the pitch. Nonetheless, he was spotted by the great Matt Busby and given the chance to prove himself, and he did so in great style by the World Cup in 1966 and the European Cup with United just two years later in 1968. Nobby played his final game for England in the unsuccessful 1970 World Cup, obtaining a total of 28 caps and scoring 1 goal. This made Nobby the least capped of the 1966 XI. Nobby Stiles was one of the 5 players awarded an MBE in 2000 as a result of not being honoured with the rest of the squad in 1967.

Completing the midfield in a 4-4-3 formation was 21 year old Alan Ball, the youngest member of the World Cup winning team. His excellent performance in the final against Germany resulted in him being awarded the Man of the Match award, this is despite Geoff Hurst's hat-trick. Ball's individual performance on the night of the final is considered by many to be one of the greatest individual performances in history, with his tireless box-to-box display. It was Ball that set up Hurst's controversial second goal, and England's third goal, to make the score 3-2 in extra time. Ball played for England until 1975, and collected a total of 72 caps; scoring 8 goals in the process. Ball retired from playing football in 1984 after 819 appearances and 184 goals. As mentioned earlier in this hub, five players were awarded an MBE in 2000 having missed out on earlier honours; one of these players was Alan Ball.

Bobby Charlton went into the tournament with a big reputation. The most experienced International in any starting eleven, and at the peak of his career as one of Manchester United's 'Busby Babes'. At 28 years of age, going on 29, Charlton had already been an International for 8 years. A lot was expected of Charlton in the run up to the tournament, and he did not disappoint. Charlton was famously a goalscoring midfielder, capable of scoring as many as a striker but playing a deeper attacking midfield role; and this was the role that Charlton was asked to play by Alf Ramsey. Although it is often stated that England played a 4-3-3 formation, Charlton would effectively be a 4th midfielder when required and a 3rd striker when required. He fulfilled the purpose of this role perfectly by scoring an essential goal in the group stages and two goals in the semi-final win against Portugal. Charlton had a relatively quiet game in the final, with Franz Beckenbauer and Charlton effectively marking each other out of the game. Charlton quit International football in 1970 with 106 International caps and 49 International goals to his name. He is still holder of the highest England goalscorer record. Bobby Charlton became 'Sir Bobby Charlton' in 1994. Bobby Charlton is of course the younger brother of fellow world cup winner Jack Charlton,

Liverpool striker Roger Hunt was one of three centre forwards selected for the squad, having been playing regularly for England since 1962. Hunt travelled to the 1962 World Cup finals in Chile but did not feature in the tournament, but was again called up for the 1966 World Cup final squad by new manager Sir Alf Ramsey. Hunt started the tournament up front alongside Jimmy Greaves, who was subsequently injured and replaced by the young Geoff Hurst. Roger Hunt was the only constant in the front line and was instrumental in the teams successful attempt to reach the final, scoring 3 times in 6 games. Hunt played for Liverpool between 1958 and 1969, making 492 appearances and scoring an incredible 245 goals before being allowed to leave to join Bolton Wanderers. His International career ended at the same time, having accrued 34 International Caps and scoring 18 International goals. Roger Hunt is the 5th and final player to have been awarded an MBE in 2000, after the other 6 members of the final starting eleven had been featured on the 1967 honours list.

West Ham Geoff Hurst striker went into the 1966 World Cup as the third choice striker behind Jimmy Greaves and Roger Hunt, it was clear that his only chance for a game would be if one of those two players were to injure themselves or be red carded. Indeed, Greaves and Hunt were the chosen strike partnership for the 3 group stage games against Uruguay, Mexico and France. It was against France that Jimmy Greaves suffered a deep gash to his leg. This injury gave 25 year old Hurst the opportunity to play the remaining three games of the tournament, despite only having played for England 5 times. Hurst was an instant hero, scoring the only goal in the 1-0 win against Argentina in the Quarter-Final, he went on to set up a goal in the Semi-Final victory over Portugal. Greaves declared himself fit for the final game against Germany, and the English media were calling for his return to the starting 11. However Alf Ramsey had other ideas and announced that he would be sticking with Hurst, meaning that Greaves would not be appearing at any stage - there were no substitutes allowed in competitive football at the time. Then of course came the hat-trick in the final, the goals that made Geoff Hurst famous worldwide. He went on to played on for England until 1972, scoring 24 goals in 49 games, before being awarded an MBE in 1975. He was later knighted in 1998 in recognition of his achievements.

The Eleven players featured on this hub are immortalised in history and are recorded as the winners of the 1966 World Cup; but what about the others? Each nation in the tournament named a 22 man squad. In 1966 winners medals were only awarded to the 11 players that played in the tournament, with the other 11 players and Sir Alf Ramsey missing out. This of course probably left a very bitter taste in the mouth of Jimmy Greaves, who started the tournament as a first choice striker. The 11 'forgotten men' were:-

Jimmy Greaves, John Connelly, Ron Springett, Peter Bonetti, Jimmy Armfield, Gerry Byrne, Ron Flowers, Norman Hunter, Terry Paine, Ian Callaghan, George Eastham

At the start of this article I mentioned that I would reveal my reasons behind this hub, so let me explain. On 10th June 2009, 43 years after the victory, 11 winners medals were presented to players that missed out on a medal the first time around by prime minister Gordon Brown; this followed a lengthy campaign by the Football Association to persuade FIFA to issue medals in retrospect. All 11 players attended the ceremony at 10 Downing Street. But there is one person who never lived to see his winners medal, Sir Alf Ramsey, so this hub is for Sir Alf Ramsey - England's most successful ever manager.