Farewell to World Cup ’66 legend Ray Wilson

ASK even the most avid football fans to name england’s World Cupwinning team and the name most likely to elude them is that of Ray Wilson. So low a profile did the quiet man of that glorious summer of ’66 keep that few fully appreciated the best left back ever to play for this country. The best ever? Yes, to his dying day. Yes, better than Ashley Cole, Stuart Pearce, emlyn hughes, Graeme Le Saux or any of today’s Premier League no 3s. Don’t just take my word for it. Let Terry Venables tell a story of another contender which demonstrates how the passage of time blurs the clarity of judgment. When Venables was manager of Crystal Palace in the Seventies he was advising the ebullient Kenny Sansom on some key points of his play. Says Venables: ‘I told Kenny to remember how Ray Wilson positioned himself in certain situations. he looked at me blankly and asked, “Ray who?” ‘It was only 10 years or so after the World Cup final at Wembley. I could hardly believe my ears but I had forgotten how young Kenny was and how quickly the generations change. ‘he went away and watched films of Ray and came back to me and said how it had opened his eyes about england’s best left back. Which, by the way, Ray Wilson remains.’ not for nothing did the railways apprentice from Derby become an idol at huddersfield, then an FA Cup winner with everton at Wembley in that same World Cup year. In company with Gordon Banks, Bobby Moore and Bobby Charlton, Wilson was one of england’s four truly world-class players, which by general consensus is the minimum core requirement for a team to have a real chance of winning the World Cup. his tactical intellect, astute positioning, pristine defending, precision passing and eye for the overlap were among his characteristics. So was his sense of impending danger, as Moore once testified: ‘Ray closed off opposition attacks before they could develop and covered me on the left flank before I knew I might need it. he was not only the best of all england left backs but at that time probably the best in the world.’ That is no exaggeration and 63 england caps accumulated despite some difficulty with injuries are a testament to Wilson’s greatness. That reserved nature prevented him translating his understanding of the game into management. So he went into business as an undertaker, which suited his understated demeanour but also gave rise to kindly amusement among his old team-mates. Two other heroes of the ’66 World Cup-winning team, Bobby Moore and Alan Ball, have passed away previously. As have squad members Jimmy Armfield, John Connelly, Gerry Byrne and Ron Springett. Sadly, england’s heavenly dressing room is filling up all too fast.