England's Unsung World Cup Heroes - The players that made the 1966 success possible - As England embark on another attempt to win the World Cup, the comparisons with the heroes of 1966 become inevitable.
Grainy television images of Gordon Banks, the Charlton brothers, Geoff Hurst and captain Bobby Moore lifting the Jules Rimet Trophy will serve as a reminder to the current England squad of the standards required if they are to emulate their only success in the biggest tournament of all.
Sir Alf Ramsey's wingless wonders remain the benchmark for any England side, but who were the unsung heroes of that famous triumph? Who were the players whose unselfish work allowed the others to flourish?
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England full-back Ray Wilson takes on West Germany's Willi Schulz during the 1966 final 17/5/13 By pa.press.net
Left-back Wilson was already an England veteran by 1966 having been an ever-present during the disappointing World Cup campaign in Chile four years earlier, which ended with a quarter-final exit to eventual winners Brazil.
Wilson fought off competition from Liverpool's Gerry Byrne to establish himself in Ramsey's England line-up despite playing for unfancied Huddersfield, where he developed into a strong and pacy overlapping full-back under manager Bill Shankly. He remains Huddersfield's most-capped player even to this day after earning 30 caps there prior to a move to Everton in 1964, and he warmed up for World Cup year in 1966 by winning the FA Cup at Wembley against Sheffield Wednesday.
Everton lifted the cup that year despite Wilson deflecting an early shot past his goalkeeper and he suffered a similar mishap in the World Cup final when his weak early header enabled striker Helmut Haller to give West Germany an early lead.
Fortunately for Wilson, the oldest member of the squad at 32, Hurst memorably struck a hat-trick to clinch England's victory and their place in soccer history, but he lost his place to Terry Cooper for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico and retired the following year to set up an undertaker's business in Huddersfield.
Wilson's status as the World Cup winner with perhaps the lowest profile was underlined by the fact he was one of only five members of England's historic side - Cohen, Nobby Stiles, Alan Ball and Roger Hunt were the others - to have missed out on official recognition of the 1966 triumph. That was rectified in 2000 when England's unsung five received an MBE for services to football - many years after the rest of the team and Ramsey had received their gongs - following a high-profile media campaign.
Fellow full-back Cohen made a late run into England's successful World Cup line-up having played the role of understudy to the highly-rated Jimmy Armfield for many years. Cohen, who spent his whole career at Fulham, was given his chance in 1964 as a reaction to England's embarrassing defeat by Scotland at Hampden Park. Ramsey reacted to that setback by giving Cohen his debut later that year against Uruguay and he retained his place for 21 of the next 23 internationals after Armfield suffered a long-standing injury.
Both Cohen and Wilson were expected to add extra width to the midfield while three of the four midfielders - Ball, Bobby Charlton and Martin Peters - alternated between operating down the flanks and through the centre.
Cohen retired in 1969, but left the game with a glowing tribute from the late George Best. The Northern Irishman claimed Cohen was "the best full-back I ever played against". Cohen returned to the public eye in the 1980s when he fought and won a battle with cancer. He suffered further personal tragedy in 2000 when his brother Peter, the father of former England international rugby union player Ben, died. However Cohen's nephew Ben completed a unique family double in 2003 as part of the England side which lifted the rugby union World Cup for the first time.
Of all England's 1966 heroes, perhaps the player who was most pivotal in implementing Ramsey's tactics during the tournament was Manchester United midfielder Stiles, in many ways the prototype to the holding midfielder in the modern game. Given his debut in the 2-2 draw against Scotland in 1965, by the time the World Cup began the following year Stiles was established in England's line-up and was an ever-present during the tournament.
He was particularly effective in the semi-final victory over Portugal, snuffing out the threat of Eusebio so effectively the hosts progressed to the final with a 2-1 victory, and celebrated the 4-2 triumph over West Germany by doing a jig on the Wembley turf with the trophy.
Since retiring, Stiles had spells as manager of Preston and West Brom and as Manchester United's youth coach - when he nurtured the skills of players including David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and the Neville brothers, Gary and Phil.
England's hopes of emulating the heroes of 1966 are likely to depend on the current squad matching their predecessors' rich attacking pedigree. Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard may all be jealously coveted by other sides for their ability to open up international defences, but they all have some way to go before they match the 1966 line-up.
In Bobby Charlton, England had an outstanding midfield player, who finished with a stunning scoring record of 49 goals from 106 internationals while Hurst established himself in World Cup folklore as the only man to score a hat-trick in the final.
Alongside Stiles and Charlton in midfield were Ball and Peters - the heartbeat of the team who often get overlooked when the 1966 line-up are heralded as England's best-ever team. Ball, at 21, was the youngest member of the World Cup-winning line-up and provided seemingly tireless energy to England's midfield either centrally or down the right flank.
Despite playing for an unglamorous side at Blackpool, Ball's industry, stamina and distribution was noticed by Ramsey, who gave him his international debut the year before the World Cup. He delivered a stunning display in the final against West Germany, continuing to work and track back when many of his team-mates were struggling for stamina in the highly-charged Wembley atmosphere.
One of the iconic images of the final is Ball's endless running, with socks rolled down by his ankles, which enabled him to set up England's controversial third goal. His performances in that tournament secured a record £110,000 move to Everton later that year, where he was instrumental in their championship-winning side of 1969-70, and finished his career at the age of 37 at Bristol Rovers having also played at Arsenal and Southampton.
He went on to manage, with differing success, at Portsmouth, Exeter, Southampton and Manchester City and sold his World Cup winner's medal and commemorative tournament cap at auction for £140,000 in 2005 to raise money for his family, before sadly passing away in April 2007.
Peters was equally important to England's tactics in midfield and was almost as inexperienced as Ball at international level, having only made his debut in May of that year in a 2-0 Wembley victory over Yugoslavia. His performance was impressive enough to earn a further warm-up appearance against Finland, which he marked by claiming his first international goal and secured his place in the 22-man World Cup squad.
Overlooked for the opening 0-0 draw with Uruguay, Peters was installed for the next match and his strong running and distribution helped England secure a 2-0 victory over Mexico and he was an ever-present for the remainder of the tournament. Famously dubbed as being "10 years ahead of his time" by Ron Greenwood, his manager at West Ham, for his ability to time his runs into the opposition's penalty area, Peters saved his most influential performance for the World Cup final.
Peters' eye for goal earned England a 2-1 lead with just 15 minutes remaining, but it was West Ham team-mate Hurst who grabbed the headlines after West Germany equalised to take the final into extra time by scoring a hat-trick to seal a memorable triumph.
As one of the first goal-scoring midfielders, Peters was in big demand and moved to Tottenham for £200,000 in 1970, where he won two League Cups and the UEFA Cup, before moving on to Norwich and finishing his career with Sheffield United in 1981.
Of all the unsung heroes of 1966, Roger Hunt was possibly the most established in the England team as Ramsey's first-choice striker having finished as top scorer in the First Division in both 1964 and 1966. Such were his predatory instincts in front of goal, Hunt played in every match of the 1966 World Cup and scored twice in the group victory over France. He also played a key role in England's controversial third goal in the final against West Germany, with Hurst insisting Hunt would have followed up to score himself as the closest player had the ball not crossed the line after crashing down off the crossbar.
Hunt retired after scoring 285 goals for Liverpool, a record only bettered by Ian Rush, formed a successful haulage company and became a sitting member of the pools panel.
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