00:03In the years before England triumphed on football's greatest stage, the stuffy and traditional
00:09English Football Association suffered from delusions of grandeur.
00:16The feeling that they were the best in the world was so strong, they almost didn't bother
00:21going to the 1962 World Cup, because they didn't think there was anything to prove.
00:28But they did go, and an earlier than expected exit brought swift change.
00:37Manager Walter Winterbottom resigned after 16 years at the helm, and a proven new mentor,
00:44Alf Ramsey, was enlisted.
00:48Ramsey was a tough, dependable defender, nicknamed the General for his leadership and tactical
00:54Naus. He was a member of Tottenham's first division winning team of 1951, and captained
01:00England in three of his 32 games with the national team.
01:06But it was when he retired in 1955 to become manager of third division side Ipswich Town,
01:12that he found his calling. He lifted them to Division 1 within six years, becoming English
01:18champions in 1962, their first stint in the top flight.
01:26Ramsey only accepted the England role when promised complete control of team selection,
01:31a vast change from Winterbottom's era, when a separate selection committee would perform
01:35that role. Said legendary Italian coach Vittorio Pozzo of the selection system, no great team
01:44was ever built on that. Under the total control of Ramsey, so dawned a new era. He became England's
01:55first proper manager. And perhaps it was their first proper chance to win a World Cup. Using
02:02a new narrow formation dubbed the Wingless Wonders, the team bonded with a common goal.
02:09He trained them harder and for longer than ever before, and set them ambitious targets.
02:17We will win the World Cup was his bold proclamation. An uneventful nil-all draw with Uruguay opened
02:26England's campaign and would set the tone for overly defensive showings from opponents. They
02:32got past an undisciplined Argentina and highly fancied Portugal in the knockouts. And the stage
02:40was set for the final against West Germany, a team which had never beaten England in five
02:45previous encounters. And that trend continued. West Germany scored first, but goals to Jeff
02:55Hurst and Martin Peters gave England the lead, before Wolfgang Weber equalized in the 89th minute.
03:02But it was Hurst's heroics, two goals in extra time, that delivered England the holy grail.
03:09And while Hurst was hailed, so was Ramsey. Defensive midfielder Nobby Stiles proclaimed,
03:16it was you Alf, you did it. We'd have been nothing without you.
03:23Ramsey would continue for eight more years, taking them to the semi-finals of Euro 1968
03:28and the quarter-finals of the 1970 World Cup. But after failing to make it to the final four of
03:37the Euros in 72
03:38and then missing out on qualification for the 74 World Cup as well, Ramsey was sacked.
03:45He took a sabbatical from coaching until September 1977, when he took over as caretaker manager at Birmingham
03:52City. But he stayed for only four months, quitting for good in 1978. During the 1998 World Cup,
04:02Ramsey suffered a stroke and passed away in April 99, aged 79. But Alf Ramsey's legacy lives on,
04:12the man who made England's dreams come true for the very first time, on football's greatest stage.
04:18Lost in April 99, ardentst duoside.
04:18The isaac Xod execvic años.오å
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