Nobby Stiles

As with most who remember the only England team to win anything in our lifetime I was saddened when another of the ’66 boys passed away leaving now Bobby Charlton, George Cohen, Roger Hunt and Geoff Hurst.

Henry Winter paid him eloquent tribute in The Times yesterday.

However I disagreed with 2 points: that Nobby Stiles was an underrated player and the institutions of the game – the FA and the PFA – let him down.

As a player Stiles had two attributes: he was a ferocious tackler and he could protect his back four.

Many consider the England World Cup side of 1970 superior to that of the ’66 World Cup winners and cite the inclusion of Brian Labone for Jack Charlton and the more creative Alan Mullery for Nobby Stiles as evidence.

Because of his small size Stiles was not that good in the air, he did not have a creative pass, he did not have pace and the modern referees and VAR would be much tougher on his tackling excesses.

The second point that he was let down is even harder to substantiate.

Winter says he sold his medals.

He was not the first – and not the last – to cash in on the lucrative sporting memorabilia market.

I don’t blame him for that but I believe such decisions are not made out of hardship.

George Cohen sold his World Cup medal to Mohammed Al Fayed and I was with Alan Tanner at a lunch for the affable George when another Fulham supporter was photographed with George and actual medal.

Incidentally al Fayed provided him with a replica too.

The ’66 side probably only had three world class players: Bobby Charlton, Gordon Banks and Bobby Moore.

Martin Peters was a supreme technician, Alan Ball ran his heart out and Ray Wilson and George Cohen were capable full backs. Roger Hunt was underrated.

It did have a brilliant manager in Alf Ramsay … and who was as instrumental as any in getting rid of him in 1974 but the Press?

After he left we had “Turnip” Taylor and the “plonker” Bobby Robson – vilified by the Press – not to mention the witch-hunt of David Beckham and of any “missed penalty taker” as England inevitably exited in the quarter finals and got nowhere near emulating Sir Alf’s achievements.

This may all sound disrespectful of Stiles, who lit up our lives with his little jig in ’66, after to quote Ramsay at full time:

“You’ve beaten them once, go out and beat them again. Look at them, they can’t stand up.“

As for the Press, the fact that they are privy to the details of the lockdown long before a confused and panicky public says it all.

If I were Henry Winter I would be more critical of my profession – if you can call it that – than the institutions of football.