‘Gentle giant’ who nearly played in the 66 World Cup
FOOTBALL mourned legend Ron Flowers last night – the oldest member of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning squad who has died at 87.
Flowers distinguished himself with Wolverhampton Wanderers from 1952 to 1967 and helped them to three First Division titles and the FA Cup in 1960.
He won 49 caps for England, including at the 1962 World Cup in Chile, and, aged 31, was the oldest star in Sir Alf Ramsey’s 1966 victorious Wembley squad.
The “gentle giant” and creative midfielder played 515 times for Wolves, placing him fifth on their all-time appearances list.
Yesterday Wolves tweeted: “We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of club legend and Vice President Ron Flowers MBE at the age of 87. A giant on the pitch and a gentleman off it.” England also paid tribute to the late star tweeting: “We’re saddened. All of our thoughts are with his family and friends.” Doncaster-born Flowers made 40 consecutive England appearances between November 1958 and April 1963.And he was the first Three Lions player to score in the European Championships with a goal against France in a qualifier at Hillsborough in 1962. Flowers never kicked a ball during the 1966 tournament yet narrowly missed out on playing in the famous 4-2 victory over West Germany.
Jack Charlton was due to continue in the heart of the defence when he caught a cold on the eve of the final.
Flowers was approached by Sir Alf the night before the game and told he would play if Charlton had not recovered by the morning.
A sleepless night followed but Charlton was fine the next day and Flowers failed to feature.
Only the 11 players that ended the game received winners’ medals. However, Flowers finally got his medal following an FA campaign and was awarded it by Gordon Brown in 2009.