Dave, now 75, was the son of a middleweight boxer and played as a professional footballer for Chelmsford City, Luton Town, West Ham United, Leyton Orient, Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace. An inside-forward who scored 69 League goals, he won a Third Division Championship medal with Brighton in 1958.

He took up coaching and earned a fine reputation at Chelsea, Fulham and Arsenal before taking his first managerial job at Leyton Orient in 1965. Two years later he succeeded Tommy Docherty at Chelsea and inherited a strong squad that included players like Osgood, Hollins and Cooke. They won The FA Cup in 1970 and the European Cup Winners' Cup a year later.

Soon after leaving Chelsea he became boss at QPR and was unlucky not to win the League Championship in 1976 with an outstanding team built around the talents of Gerry Francis and Stan Bowles. Then he managed Manchester United, taking them to The FA Cup Final in 1979, and Coventry City.

As manager of England's Under-21 team he won the UEFA Championship twice, in 1982 and 1984, and was so highly thought of at Lancaster Gate that he was made the first Technical Director of The FA National School at Lilleshall.

After leaving Coventry he was appointed assistant manager of the full England side under Bobby Robson. He never managed at club level again but has had numerous coaching roles and was most recently heading up Sven-Goran Eriksson's scouting network.

On the announcement of the award, Dave spoke to TheFA.com: "Obviously I'm very proud to get the award. My dad got the George Medal many years ago and it's nice to catch him up! I'm really pleased and it's great doing things for your country and being recognised for it.

"I'm still involved in football and that's nice. I'm watching games for Sven and his coaching team, taking a look at current England players or players who might be good enough to make the squad. It's so good to still be in touch.

"Thinking back on all my time in the game I think winning The FA Cup with Chelsea was the highlight. I loved being involved with England's Under-21s too and was thrilled to bits when we won the European title twice in the '80s.

"I like watching the progress of the present team. Peter Taylor is a nice bloke and a good coach and I know they're going to do well."