Pacy, mobile left-back who gave an extra attacking drive to the England World Cup-winning team of 1966Ray Wilson, who has died aged 83, had the lowest profile of any player in England’s 1966 World Cup final-winning team, and generally liked to keep it that way. He was a fast, skilled, mobile left-back who was capped for his country 63 times, played in every England game in the 1966 finals, and was one of the best defenders his country has produced. Yet he kept firmly out of the limelight and, unlike most of his peers, made no attempt to make a living from football after retiring from the game – preferring instead to pursue a career as an undertaker.Wilson was an important member of the 1966 World Cup team, not only for his resilient defensive qualities, his pace and his powers of recovery, but for the extra drive he gave to the attack. In the absence of true wingers, he and his right-back partner George Cohen offered the England manager Alf Ramsey some degree of speed and penetration on the flanks. Related: Ray Wilson, England’s 1966 World Cup-winning left-back, dies aged 83 Continue readingread full article
