00:02In the years before England triumphed on football's greatest stage, the stuffy and traditional
00:08English 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
00:20going to the 1962 World Cup, because they didn't think there was anything to prove.
00:27But they did go, and an earlier than expected exit brought swift change.
00:36Manager Walter Winterbottom resigned after 16 years at the helm, and a proven new mentor,
00:43Alf Ramsey, was enlisted.
00:47Ramsey was a tough, dependable defender, nicknamed the General for his leadership and tactical
00:53nows. He was a member of Tottenham's first division winning team of 1951, and captained
00:59England in three of his 32 games with the national team.
01:05But it was when he retired in 1955 to become manager of third division side Ipswich Town,
01:11that he found his calling. He lifted them to division one within six years, becoming English
01:17champions in 1962, their first stint in the top flight.
01:25Ramsey only accepted the England role when promised complete control of team selection,
01:30a 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
01:43was ever built on that.
01:48Under the total control of Ramsey, so dawned a new era. He became England's first proper
01:55manager. And perhaps it was their first proper chance to win a World Cup. Using a new narrow
02:02formation dubbed the wingless wonders, the team bonded with a common goal. He trained them
02:09harder and for longer than ever before, and set them ambitious targets.
02:16We will win the World Cup was his bold proclamation. An uneventful nil-all draw with Uruguay opened
02:25England's campaign and would set the tone for overly defensive showings from opponents. They got past an
02:32undisciplined Argentina and highly fancied Portugal in the knockouts. And the stage was set for the
02:40final against West Germany, a team which had never beaten England in five previous encounters.
02:48And that trend continued. West Germany scored first, but goals to Jeff Hurst and Martin Peters
02:55gave England the lead, before Wolfgang Weber equalized in the 89th minute. But it was Hurst's heroics,
03:03two goals in extra time, that delivered England the holy grail.
03:08And 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.
03:22Ramsey would continue for eight more years, taking them to the semi-finals of Euro 1968 and the quarter-finals
03:29of the 1970 World Cup. But after failing to make it to the final four of the Euros in 1972,
03:37and then missing out on qualification for the 1974 World Cup as well, Ramsey was sacked.
03:44He took a sabbatical from coaching until September 1977, when he took over as caretaker manager at
03:51Birmingham City. But he stayed for only four months, quitting for good in 1978. During the 1998 World Cup,
04:01Ramsey suffered a stroke and passed away in April 1999, aged 79.
04:08But Alf Ramsey's legacy lives on, the man who made England's dreams come true for the very first time,
04:15on football's greatest stage.
04:18So far, we'll be right back to the next one.
04:18We'll be right back to the next one.
