00:05In the years before England triumphed on football's greatest stage, the stuffy and traditional
00:11English Football Association suffered from delusions of grandeur.
00:18The feeling that they were the best in the world was so strong they almost didn't bother
00:23going to the 1962 World Cup because they didn't think there was anything to prove.
00:30But they did go, and an earlier than expected exit brought swift change.
00:39Manager Walter Winterbottom resigned after 16 years at the helm, and a proven new mentor,
00:45Alf Ramsey, was enlisted.
00:49Ramsey was a tough, dependable defender, nicknamed the General for his leadership and tactical
00:55nows.
00:56He was a member of Tottenham's first division winning team of 1951 and captained England in
01:03three of his 32 games with the national team.
01:08But it was when he retired in 1955 to become manager of third division side Ipswich Town
01:13that he found his calling.
01:16He lifted them to division one within six years, becoming English champions in 1962,
01:22their first stint in the top flight.
01:27Ramsey only accepted the England role when promised complete control of team selection,
01:33a vast change from Winterbottom's era when a separate selection committee would perform
01:37that role.
01:40Said legendary Italian coach Vittorio Pozzo of the selection system, no great team was ever
01:46built on that.
01:50Under the total control of Ramsey so dawned a new era.
01:55He became England's first proper manager, and perhaps it was their first proper chance to
02:02win a World Cup.
02:03Using a new narrow formation dubbed the wingless wonders, the team bonded with a common goal.
02:11He trained them harder and for longer than ever before, and set them ambitious targets.
02:35And the stage was set for the final against West Germany.
02:44We will win the World Cup was his bold proclamation.
02:50And that trend continued.
02:53West Germany scored first, but goals to Jeff Hurst and Martin Peters gave England the lead,
02:59before Wolfgang Weber equalized in the 89th minute.
03:04But it was Hurst's heroics, two goals in extra time, that delivered England the Holy Grail.
03:11And while Hurst was hailed, so was Ramsey.
03:16Defensive midfielder Nobby Stiles proclaimed,
03:18it was you Alf, you did it, we'd have been nothing without you.
03:25Ramsey would continue for eight more years, taking them to the semi-finals of Euro 1968
03:31and the quarter-finals of the 1970 World Cup.
03:36But after failing to make it to the final four of the Euros in 1972,
03:40and then missing out on qualification for the 1974 World Cup as well, Ramsey was sacked.
03:47He took a sabbatical from coaching until September 1977,
03:52when he took over as caretaker manager at Birmingham City.
03:55But he stayed for only four months, quitting for good in 1978.
04:01During the 1998 World Cup, Ramsey suffered a stroke and passed away in April 99,
04:08aged 79.
04:11But Alf Ramsey's legacy lives on, the man who made England's dreams come true for the very first time,
04:18on football's greatest stage.
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