When England Players Were Told To Do Nothing: Alf Ramsey’s Radical 1966 World Cup Plan
26.05.26, 08:00 Updated 20.05.26, 23:25
Grant Bage
It is now 60 years since Alf Ramsey managed English men’s football to its single significant trophy: the 1966 World Cup. And as Thomas Tuchel and his players start thinking about this summer’s tournament some interesting questions emerge about how their predecessors clinched success. For example, on this exact day in late May 60 years ago … what were Alf Ramsey and his England players actually up to?
The perhaps surprising answer is: absolutely nothing.
In early April 1966 Alf and his key FA ally, former trade union leader Denis Follows, ordered their England squad to start getting ready for the country’s first ever hosting of a major football tournament. They did so, perhaps unusually, by ordering, in their own words, ‘all players to have a complete rest’. From 15 May until 5 June, Alf’s chosen few were told to do … precisely nothing. English league competitions had ended on 7 May, when Liverpool clinched the League Championship. A week later the FA Cup Final capped the domestic season and was won by their neighbours Everton.
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Grant Bage Historian and author with a modern perspective on England’s identity. Brings depth, research and a long-term view of where the national side has come from and where it is heading.