Sir Alf Ramsey: 32 England caps as a player, 113 games as manager, one World Cup
R is for Ramsey
By Clive Hetherington. Tuesday, 17 July 2007.
He was the mastermind behind the greatest day in our country's football history, when England lifted the World Cup, as we continue our summer A to Z series, R is for Ramsey.
A right-back for his country in his playing days, Sir Alf Ramsey was the first - and to date only - England manager to win the World Cup. He played in the 1950 finals in Brazil, where he was a member of the side who suffered an infamous 1-0 defeat by the United States.
Ramsey also captained his country, and appeared in another notorious humbling, the 6-3 eclipse by Hungary at Wembley in 1953 in a game in which he scored a penalty, on his way to claiming 32 caps.
After retiring as a player, he moved into management at Ipswich and led them to the Football League title in 1962.
Ramsey uttered the most prophetic words ever in English football when, having succeeded Walter Winterbottom as manager, he declared: "England will win the World Cup in 1966.''
He delivered on his promise at Wembley on 30 July 1966, as England beat West Germany 4-2 after extra-time. Geoff Hurst hit an unforgettable hat-trick and Martin Peters also scored on the day captain Bobby Moore, their West Ham teammate, held aloft the Jules Rimet trophy.
Ramsey became Sir Alf when he was knighted a year later. The seeds of his downfall were sown at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. England were knocked out in the quarter-finals as West Germany gained revenge for '66, coming from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in extra-time.
Fate conspired against Ramsey when he lost goalkeeper Gordon Banks before the game through illness, Peter Bonetti enduring a torrid time as his replacement.
England's failure to qualify for the 1974 World Cup spelled the end of Ramsey's reign. He later had a brief spell in charge of Birmingham and died in April 1999, aged 79.