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Sir Alfred Ernest "Alf" Ramsey (born 22 January 1920 in Dagenham, England; died 28 April 1999). He was a footballer and manager of the English national football team from 1963 to 1974. His greatest achievement was winning the 1966 World Cup with England on 30 July 1966. They also came third in the 1968 European Championship and reached the quarter-final stage of the 1970 World Cup under his management. He was knighted in 1967. is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Dagenham is a suburban town in east London, in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, situated 12 miles (19. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... First International Scotland 0 - 0 England (Partick, Scotland; 30 November 1872) Largest win Ireland 0 - 13 England (Belfast, Northern Ireland; 18 February 1882) Worst defeat Hungary 7 - 1 England (Budapest, Hungary; 23 May 1954) World Cup Appearances 11 (First in 1950) Best result Winners, 1966 European Championship Appearances 7 (First... 1966 was a year of triumph for the host nation, England, which won in a controversial final beating West Germany 4-2. ... is the 211th day of the year (212th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... The 1968 European Football Championship final tournament was held in Italy. ... The 1970 Football World Cup was held in Mexico, from May 31 to June 21. ...

Early Life and Playing Career

Having been a gifted amateur as a pupil and as a player for his army regiment, he played for Portsmouth in the London War League in 1942 before moving to Southampton from 1943 to 1949 (since 1944 as a professional), and Tottenham Hotspur after that. He was very successful with Spurs, playing as a right-back in more than 250 cup and league games, and in 1948 made his England debut against Switzerland; he went on to captain his country three times. His last game for England was the 6-3 defeat by Hungary in November 1953, in which he scored a penalty. As a player Ramsey was considered slow: but had excellent positional sense, read the game better than most, had awareness, strength, and excellent distribution for a defender. He was also a specialist penalty kick taker; his coolness and ability to anticipate the goalkeeper earning him the nickname, The General. Portsmouth Football Club are an English football club based in the south coast city of Portsmouth. ... Southampton Football Club is a professional English football team, nicknamed The Saints and based in the city of Southampton. ... Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is an English professional football club which plays in the Premier League. ... Bonaventure Kalou of the Ivory Coast takes a penalty against Dragoslav Jevrić of S&M during the 2006 World Cup. ... The Bolton players in white are defending - the nearest player is trying to prevent the Fulham forward in cyan from crossing the ball. ...

Ipswich Manager

He retired from playing in 1955 to become manager of Ipswich Town, which he managed very successfully, taking the team from the Third Division South to First Division champions in 1962. This was arguably the most remarkable League Championship win in its history, as Ipswich were all but condemned to relegation by virtually all football pundits and journalists at that time. Alf Ramsey's tactical astuteness, working with a squad of solid but not outstanding players, baffled and astonished the illustrious football clubs involved to achieve the apparently impossible feat of actually winning the League title in Ipswich's first-ever season in the top flight. Ipswich Town Football Club (also known as Ipswich, The Blues, Town or The Tractor Boys) are an English professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk. ... The Football League Third Division South was a level of English professional football which ran in parallel to Third Division North from 1921 to 1958. ... From 1889 until 1992, this was the highest division overall of organized football in England. ...

England Manager

He was appointed England manager in 1963 and immediately caused a stir when he predicted that England would win the next World Cup, which was to be held in England in 1966. This was a bold statement to make, as England's performance on the international stage had been poor up to that point. The World Cup started in 1930: but England refused to participate until 1950, when they suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the U.S.A. When Ramsey took over, he demanded complete control over squad selections. Before Ramsey, Walter Winterbottom had been manager, but selections and other decisions were often carried out by board committees and so forth. When Ramsey took over all of these duties, it led to him being referred to as 'England's first proper manager'. Sir Walter Winterbottom, CBE (January 31, 1913 in Oldham, England – February 16, 2002) was manager of the England football team from 1946 until 1962. ...

Ramsey was a firm but fair manager and was often regarded as difficult by the press. He ran a strict regime with his players and made sure that no-one felt that they enjoyed special status, star player or not. In May 1964, after a number of players failed to show up for a meeting in a hotel about a forthcoming tour, amongst them Jimmy Greaves, Bobby Moore and Bobby Charlton, they eventually returned to their rooms to discover their passports left on their beds. His strict regime didn't suit everyone but the players with real talent and respect for the game responded well to them and had great respect for Ramsey. Very few of those who played for Ramsey spoke ill of him. In the preparations for the 1966 World Cup, Ramsey made sure that no player was confident of a place in the final 22, which resulted in players performing at their highest level. His decision to appoint a young Bobby Moore as captain also showed Ramsey's ability to see great potential in young players. Another one of his abilities was as a master tactician: a quality that he had first shown with his reading of the game as a player. When it came to tactics, Ramsey had revolutionary ideas. James Peter Jimmy Greaves (born 20 February 1940) is an English former football player, Englands third highest goalscorer, and more recently a television pundit. ... Robert Frederick Chelsea Bobby Moore, OBE (born Barking, England, 12 April 1941 - died London, 24 February 1993) was an English footballer. ... Sir Robert Bobby Charlton, CBE (born 11 October 1937 in Ashington, Northumberland) is a former English professional football player who won the World Cup and was named the European Footballer of the Year in 1966. ...

Tactics

During his time at Ipswich, Ramsey began experimenting with a new style of play that would eventually lead to success in the World Cup and led to his England team being styled, "The Wingless Wonders". As natural wingers were not always known for their defensive qualities, Ramsey started dropping them in favour of attacking midfielders who could also drop back strong in defensive roles. This system proved revolutionary as it often baffled opposing fullbacks, who would naturally expect to see a winger coming down the flank at them once the ball was kicked off: instead, the attacking midfielders and strikers were taking the ball through the middle of the defence and scoring. This style of play proved successful at Ipswich, but really showed its worth when England traveled to Spain to play a friendly with them before the World Cup. As Bobby Charlton remarked, "The Spanish fullbacks were just looking at each other while we were going in droves through the middle". To go to Spain and win easily was a rare achievement for England, and clear evidence that Ramnsey's techniques were working. Sir Robert Bobby Charlton, CBE (born 11 October 1937 in Ashington, Northumberland) is a former English professional football player who won the World Cup and was named the European Footballer of the Year in 1966. ...

The 1966 World Cup

With his final squad chosen, Ramsey set about winning the World Cup for England. The first group game was against Uruguay and despite an array of attacking talent upfront including Jimmy Greaves and Roger Hunt, England were held to a 0-0 draw. Ramsey's statement made three years earlier was looking in doubt now: but he remained calm and still experimenting when his side faced Mexico in the next game. Ramsey was using the 4-3-3 system and for each of the group games used a winger, John Connelly against Uruguay, Terry Paine against Mexico and Ian Callaghan against France. James Peter Jimmy Greaves (born 20 February 1940) is an English former football player, Englands third highest goalscorer, and more recently a television pundit. ... Roger Hunt MBE (born Golborne, Lancashire 20th July 1938) was a footballer whose predatory instincts made him one of the English games most feared and respected strikers. ... Formation in association football describes how the players in a team are positioned on the pitch. ... John Connelly, (born July 8, 1938 in St. ... Terence Lionel Paine (born 1939) was an English footballer. ... Ian Robert Callaghan (born Toxteth, Liverpool, April 10, 1942) was a footballer who holds the record for the most appearances for Liverpool. ...

Ramsey dropped Alan Ball and John Connelly and brought in Martin Peters, whose advanced style of play as a midfielder matched just the qualities Ramsey looked for in his system, and Terry Paine. England beat Mexico 2-0 and faced France in their last group match. England went on to beat France 2-0 with Ian Callaghan replacing Terry Paine securing qualification to the knockout rounds. Two difficult situations arose from the final group match, however. After making a vicious tackle and being cautioned, midfielder Nobby Stiles came under flack from the top FIFA officials, who called for Ramsey to drop him from the side. Ramsey was having none of it, and firmly told the FA to inform FIFA that either Stiles would remain in his team or Ramsey himself would resign. Another bad tackle was committed during that match, resulting in Tottenham striker (and one of England's most prolific goal-scorers) Jimmy Greaves being injured and sidelined for the next few matches. Despite having more experienced strikers in his side, Ramsey selected young Geoff Hurst as Greaves's replacement, once again seeing potential in the young West Ham forward. The France match also marked Ramsey's final game with a winger. After it, he dropped Ian Callaghan from his side and brought back Alan Ball to strengthen the midfield. For other persons of the same name, see Alan Ball. ... Martin Stanford Peters MBE, (born November 8, 1943 in Plaistow, London) was a football player and hero of the victorious England team which won the 1966 World Cup. ... Norbert Nobby Peter Stiles MBE (born Collyhurst, Manchester, 18 May 1942) is an English former football midfielder. ... Sir Geoffrey Charles Hurst, MBE (born December 8, 1941 in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire) is a footballer enshrined in the games history as the only player to have scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final. ...

For the knockout stages, England's first opponents were a notoriously rough Argentina side. Ramsey once again showed his tactical awareness, and, now he was no longer using wingers, he decided to switch from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2. With Ball and Peters operating on the flanks, the midfield now boasted Nobby Stiles and Bobby Charlton in the centre. After a violent quarter-final (where the Argentine captain,Antonio Rattin refused to leave the field after being sent off), England scraped a 1-0 win thanks to Geoff Hurst latching onto a beautiful cross from Martin Peters and heading home a goal. Ramsey came under flack when he stopped his players swapping shirts with the Argentinians in protest at their dirty play and was then misquoted as describing the Argentinians as "animals". Antonio Ubaldo Rattín (born May 16, 1937 in Tigre, Buenos Aires Province) is a former Argentine football player, best known as a Boca Juniors midfielder, and because of an incident in a match at the 1966 World Cup. ...

In the semi-final, England faced a fluent and skillful Portuguese side containing the tournament’s top goal-scorer Eusébio. However, England won a 2-1 victory in a memorable match which saw them concede their first goal of the competition from the penalty spot. Ramsey had found the perfect defensive formula that went unchanged throughout the entire tournament. Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, GCIH, GCM (pron. ...

On the 30 July 1966 Ramsey's promise was fulfilled as England became the World Champions by beating West Germany in a thrilling final. A lot of Ramsey's tactics and decisions proved their worth in this final. Ramsey came under pressure to restore the fit-again Jimmy Greaves to the side: but he stuck to his guns and kept faith with Greaves's replacement, Geoff Hurst, who was to thoroughly vindicate Ramsey's judgement by scoring a hat-trick in a 4-2 win (after extra time) at Wembley. Filling his side with a good balance of experience and youth proved vital when the gruelling final went to extra time. The youth in the team powered England through extra time. A particular example of this was Alan Ball who, at 21, was the youngest player in the England side. Even in extra time, he never showed signs of tiredness and never stopped running - famously setting up Hurst's controversial second goal, as well as having a few chances himself. Even as the match ended with Geoff Hurst scoring England’s fourth goal, Ball was still running down the pitch in case Hurst needed assistance. Rather than a cross from Hurst, Ball was greeted by a number of England fans running onto the pitch who, thinking that the game was already over, had already started celebrating England's victory. is the 211th day of the year (212th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... GB World Cup Commemorative overprinted stamp The 1966 Football World Cup Final was the final match in the 1966 World Cup, contested by England and West Germany. ... Sir Geoffrey Charles Hurst, MBE (born December 8, 1941 in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire) is a footballer enshrined in the games history as the only player to have scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final. ... For other persons of the same name, see Alan Ball. ...

Ramsey remained his usual self during the celebrations: not joining in, but rather opting to let his players soak up their achievement. With his boldly-made promise now fulfilled, Ramsey had proved that the 4-4-2 system could work and had assembled an England team that could compete on the highest level due to physical fitness and good tactics. He remains exemplary as to this day and is the only England manager ever to have won the World Cup: unarguably England's greatest sporting achievement.

1966-1970

Despite famously losing to Scotland 3-2 at home in the qualifying competition, England still qualified for the 1968 European Championship, only to lose out in a 1-0 defeat by Yugoslavia in the semi-finals. England had to settle for third place after beating the Soviet Union. First international Scotland 0–0 England  (Partick, Scotland; 30 November 1872) Biggest win Scotland 11–0 Ireland  (Glasgow, Scotland; 23 February 1901) Biggest defeat  Uruguay 7–0 Scotland (Basel, Switzerland; 19 June 1954) World Cup Appearances 8 (First in 1954) Best result Round 1, all European Championship Appearances 2 (First... First international  Czechoslovakia 7 - 0 Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Antwerp, Belgium; 28 August 1920) Last International  Netherlands 2 - 0 Yugoslavia (Amsterdam, Netherlands; 25 March 1992) Biggest win Yugoslavia 10 - 1 India  (Helsinki, Finland; 15 July 1952) Yugoslavia 9 - 0 Zaire  (Gelsenkirchen, Germany; 18 June 1974) Biggest defeat  Czechoslovakia...

1970-1974

The fortunes of Ramsey's England declined in the 1970s. They entered the 1970 World Cup as one of the favourites and many people thought their squad superior to that of 1966, but having qualified for the later stages after a memorable match against Brazil when Gordon Banks made his famous save from Pele's header, they lost to the Germans 3-2 in the quarter-finals, after having been in the lead 2-0 with only twenty minutes remaining. The blame was put partly on Sir Alf's cautious tactics and partly on the stand-in goalkeeper, Chelsea's Peter Bonetti. A football goalkeeper leaves the ground to parry a shot on goal In many team sports, a goalkeeper (termed goaltender, netminder, goalie, or keeper in some sports) is a designated player that is charged with directly preventing the opposite team from scoring by defending the goal. ... Peter The Cat Bonetti (born September 27, 1941 in Putney, London, of Swiss parents) was a football goalkeeper for Chelsea F.C., the St. ...

The early 70s saw failure in the 1972 European Championships (again to the Germans), and in a heartbreaking world cup qualifier against Poland at Wembley in October 1973, England failed to qualify for the World Cup. Again while Ramsey's tactics were partly to blame (his inappropriate, mistimed substitutions, for example), England had also been spectacularly denied a win over that would have secured their place by a mixture of poor finishing and incredible goalkeeping from Poland's Jan Tomaszewski. A few months later, Sir Alf was sacked by the FA, many of whose officials had long held a grudge against England's finest ever manager.^{[citation needed]} The 1974 Football World Cup was held in West Germany. ... Jan Tomaszewski (born January 9, 1948) is a retired Polish footballer, who was nicknamed Tomek. A goalkeeper, Tomaszewski is best remembered by some for his performance for Poland against England, in a qualifier for the 1974 World Cup, which England needed to win. ...

Later Life and Death

The later stages of his career were as a Board director and caretaker manager of Birmingham City and then as technical advisor to Panathinaikos between 1979 and 1980. He also appeared, in illustrated form, in the Roy of the Rovers comic, when he took over as caretaker manager of Melchester Rovers while Roy himself was in a coma. Birmingham City Football Club are an English professional football club based in the city of Birmingham. ... Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (Greek: Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος,  ), widely known both as Panathinaikos or PAO, is a Greek multisport club based in Athens, Greece. ... Roy of the Rovers was a British comic strip about the life and exploits of a fictional footballer named Roy Race, which ran in various publications from the 1950s until 2001. ... Melchester Rovers is fictional soccer team that employed Roy Race in the British comic strip Roy of the Rovers. ...

He suffered a stroke during the 1998 World Cup and died from Alzheimer's disease at a nursing home in Ipswich on 28 April 1999, aged 79. For other uses, see Stroke (disambiguation). ... -1... For other uses, see Ipswich (disambiguation). ... is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ...

Legacy

Sir Alf

Ramsey was made an inaugural inductee of the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 in recognition of his impact on the English game as a manager. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1920 × 2560 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1920 × 2560 pixel, file size: 1. ... The Hall of Fame is housed at The National Football Museum in Preston, England. ...

Sir Alf Ramsey Way, formerly Portman's Walk, is a street in Ipswich that was named after Ramsey shortly after his death in honour of his achievements as Ipswich Town manager. In 2000, a statue of Ramsey was erected on the corner of the street named after him and Portman Road, at the North Stand/Cobbold Stand corner of the stadium. The statue was commissioned by the Ipswich Town Supporters' Club after an initial idea by local fan Seán Salter. Lady Ramsey continues to live (2007) in Suffolk.[1]. For other uses, see Ipswich (disambiguation). ... Suffolk (pronounced ) is a large historic and modern non-metropolitan county in East Anglia, England. ...

Personality

Ramsey often came across as an "aloof" and "proud" figure who talked what was once described as "sergeant-major posh" despite coming from a working-class background. In spite of the airs that he gave himself, he allowed his players to address him as "Alf", which is unusual for managers even today. He had a particular dislike of the media and of anything that he saw as bad manners. He often trained his side hard, a practice which paid off when England were able to battle on despite the heat in their World Cup 1966 Final against West Germany. He seemed to have felt nothing but disgust for his successors. At Ipswich, after he left for the England job, he refused to give Jackie Milburn any advice in his managerial career. Milburn was sacked after nine months, following Ipswich's relegation from the top flight. Neither did Ramsey get on with Sir Bobby Robson, who some say did a better job than Ramsey as manager of Ipswich. Not only did Robson guide Ipswich to the FA Cup, the UEFA Cup, and a high place in the League, he also got England to the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup. Many thought that Ramsey's attitude to Robson was evidence of jealousy - even though Robson failed to match his achievements in winning the English championship with Ipswich and the World Championship with England. Members of Ramsey's family have suggested that he was liable to take a negative view of anyone who took over one of his jobs. Shortly before he died, however, Ramsey passed on his thanks to Sir Bobby through Bobby's wife after the Robsons paid for his bills in his nursing home. Sir Bobby later declared that Alf was the greatest British football manager ever^{[citation needed]}. This article is about the 1940s-50s footballer. ... Sir Robert William Robson Sir Robert William Robson, known as Bobby Robson (born February 18, 1933) is a football manager and former football player. ... This article is about the English FA Cup. ... The UEFA Cup (also known as European Cup 3, CE3 or C3) is a football competition for European club teams, organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). ...

Quotes

• "Never change a winning team."
• "It seemed a pity so much Argentinian talent is wasted. Our best football will come against the right type of opposition - a team who come to play football, and not act as animals." - Ramsey's indignant opinion of Argentina after England beat them 1-0 in a bruising quarter final in the 1966 World Cup.
• "You've won it once. Now you'll have to go out there and win it again." - Ramsey's brief team talk prior to the extra-time period in the 1966 final.

Managerial stats

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	L	D	Win %
Ipswich Town		August 1, 1955	April 1, 1963	363	172	117	74	47.38
England[1]		1963	1974	113	69	17	27	61.06
Birmingham City		September 8, 1977	March 6, 1978	26	10	12	4	38.46

Ipswich Town Football Club (also known as Ipswich, The Blues, Town or The Tractor Boys) are an English professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_England. ... is the 213th day of the year (214th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ... First international  Scotland 0 - 0 England (Partick, Scotland; 30 November 1872) Biggest win  Ireland 0 - 13 England (Belfast, Ireland; 18 February 1882) Biggest defeat  Hungary 7 - 1 England (Budapest, Hungary; 23 May 1954) World Cup Appearances 12 (First in 1950) Best result Winners, 1966 European Championship Appearances 7 (First in... Image File history File links Flag_of_England. ... For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ... Birmingham City Football Club are an English professional football club based in the city of Birmingham. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_England. ... is the 251st day of the year (252nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... is the 65th day of the year (66th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ...

Notes

The Football Association (The FA) is the governing body of football in England and the Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 144th day of the year (145th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Alf Ramsey management career stats at Soccerbase
• Alf Ramsey management career stats at Soccerbase
• English Football Hall of Fame Profile

Sporting positions
Preceded by Aymoré Moreira	FIFA World Cup winning managers 1966	Succeeded by Mário Zagallo
Preceded by Walter Winterbottom	England national football team manager 1963–1974	Succeeded by Joe Mercer (caretaker)
Preceded by Scott Duncan	Ipswich Town F.C. manager 1955-1963	Succeeded by Jackie Milburn

v • d • e England squad - 1950 FIFA World Cup
DF Aston • MF Baily • FW Bentley • MF Cockburn • MF Dickinson • GK Ditchburn • DF Eckersley • FW Finney • MF Hughes • FW Mannion • FW Matthews • FW Milburn • FW Mortensen • FW Mullen • MF Nicholson • DF Ramsey • DF Scott • DF Taylor • MF Watson • GK Williams • DF Wright • Coach: Winterbottom

v • d • e England squad - 1966 FIFA World Cup Champions (1st Title)
1 Banks • 2 Cohen • 3 Wilson • 4 Stiles • 5 J. Charlton • 6 Moore • 7 Ball • 8 Greaves • 9 B. Charlton • 10 Hurst • 11 Connelly • 12 Springett • 13 Bonetti • 14 Armfield • 15 Byrne • 16 Peters • 17 Flowers • 18 Hunter • 19 Paine • 20 Callaghan • 21 Hunt • 22 Eastham • Coach: Ramsey

v • d • e England squad - 1970 FIFA World Cup
1 Banks • 2 Newton • 3 Cooper • 4 Mullery • 5 Labone • 6 Moore • 7 Lee • 8 Ball • 9 B. Charlton • 10 Hurst • 11 Peters • 12 Bonetti • 13 Stepney • 14 Wright • 15 Stiles • 16 Hughes • 17 J. Charlton • 18 Hunter • 19 Bell • 20 Osgood • 21 Clarke • 22 Astle • Coach: Ramsey