Gordon Banks
Banks, goalkeeper for England, won 73 caps and made 628 club appearances over a 15-year period. He also won the League Cup with Stoke and Leicester. Banks is also remembered for his stunning save from Pele’s header in England’s 1970 World Cup clash with Brazil. After helping Stoke to the 1972 League Cup in 1972, Banks lost one eye in a car accident in October that year. This ultimately ended his professional life. He did a brief managerial stint at Telford. Banks announced in 2016 that he was suffering from kidney cancer for the second consecutive time. Banks, who had served as Stoke president since 2000 died in February 2019, at the age 81.
George Cohen
Cohen, Fulham’s defender, was forced by injury to retire at 29 having played 459 matches for Craven Cottage club. Cohen was diagnosed with bowel cancer in the 1980s after he suffered from it for 14 years. He later opted to sell his World Cup winner’s medal, although Fulham purchased the item to display at Craven Cottage. England won the Rugby World Cup in 2003 thanks to Ben Cohen, his nephew. In 2000, the MBE was awarded.
Jack Charlton
Jack Charlton, the older brother of Charlton, made 629 appearances in Leeds and won 35 England caps before turning his attention to a successful managerial job. After stints with Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton was appointed to lead the Republic of Ireland to the quarter-finals of World Cup 1990 in Italy. Charlton was given an OBE in 1974. He was also made a freeman of Dublin in 1994. Charlton, who was also suffering from dementia and lymphoma, died in July 2020 at the age 85.
Bobby Moore
Widely accepted as England’s greatest centre-half and one of the best of all time, World Cup-winning captain Moore died from bowel and liver cancer in February 1993, aged 51. Moore, who won 108 international caps, helped West Ham lift the FA Cup in 1964 and the European Cup Winners’ Cup the following season. The defender was also a Fulham player and in the North American Soccer League before he retired in 1978. He had brief managerial stints at Oxford City as well as Southend. In 1993, his widow Stephanie created the Bobby Moore Fund to raise funds for research into bowel carcinoma and public awareness about the disease.
Ray Wilson
England’s left-back Wilson kept the lowest profile of the 1966 winners. Wilson built a successful undertaker’s business in Huddersfield after his football career, eventually retiring in 1997. Wilson was a Huddersfield resident and played more than 250 games for the Terriers. He also played for Everton where he won the 1966 FA Cup, Oldham, and briefly Bradford. He died aged 83 in May 2018 from Alzheimer’s disease.
Nobby Stiles
The midfield enforcer of Alf Ramsey’s team, Stiles helped nullify the threat of Eusebio in the semi-final against Portugal – and memorably danced on the pitch with the Jules Rimet Trophy after England’s extra-time triumph over West Germany. Part of Manchester United’s 1968 European Cup-winning team, Stiles, capped 28 times by England, made 392 appearances for the Red Devils, leaving for Middlesbrough in 1971. Following a coaching career, Stiles worked two seasons at Preston before returning to West Brom. Stiles also served as a coach at United for a time, helping to develop the famed class of 92. In October 2020, Stiles died aged 78 following a long illness, having previously suffered a stroke, being diagnosed with prostate cancer and later Alzheimer’s.
Alan Ball
Ball, who was just 21 years old, was the youngest member of the team. The midfielder went on to join Everton, becoming part of the Merseyside club’s ‘Holy Trinity’ alongside Colin Harvey and Howard Kendall as they won the 1970 league title. Ball later joined Arsenal and reached the 1972 FA Cup final. Before retiring, he also worked at Southampton, the United States, and at his former club Blackpool. He had a 15-year managerial career, most notably with Portsmouth, Manchester City and rival Southampton. Ball, 61 years old, died after suffering a heart attack while trying light a bonfire outside his home.
Bobby Charlton
Jack’s younger brother Bobby made his career at Manchester United, where he would later sit on the board of directors. Bobby won 106 international caps between 1958 and 1970, and was England’s record goalscorer until overtaken by Wayne Rooney, who also eventually bettered Charlton’s club tally. A survivor of the Munich Air Disaster in 1958, Charlton, who had claimed the Ballon d’Or in 1966, helped to rebuild the club in the wake of the tragedy – and scored two goals as United beat Benfica to win the 1968 European Cup. After his retirement, Charlton had brief managerial stints with Preston & Wigan. His wife, Lady Norma (83), confirmed that Charlton had been diagnosed with dementia in early November 2020. This was just two days following the death of Stiles.
Martin Peters
Renowned as being the complete midfielder, Peters – who scored England’s second goal in the final – played alongside Moore and Geoff Hurst at West Ham. In 1970, he joined Tottenham and won the UEFA Cup, as well as the League Cup twice. He then moved to Norwich where he made over 200 appearances and later became a player-coach at Sheffield United. Peters, who was capped 67 times for England in cap, retired to work in the insurance industry, but he maintained ambassadorial links with his former clubs. Peters died aged 76 in December 2019, having been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease three years earlier.
Geoff Hurst
Hurst was still the only man to score the hat-trick during a World Cup final. He played more than 400 games for West Ham, joining Stoke as a player in 1972, and later playing in the USA. Hurst retired in 2004 and worked in the insurance industry like Peters. He also managed Telford, Chelsea, and Kuwait. The 79 year-old knight now lives near Cheltenham. Hurst, who won 49 England caps in 1966, continues to promote charity work for the fight against various diseases that have affected his 1966 team-mates.
Roger Hunt
Liverpool striker Hunt made over 400 appearances for Liverpool and won the title twice as well the FA Cup. He also held the club’s scoring record until it was broken by Ian Rush. Having won 34 caps for England, later playing for Bolton and a short spell in South Africa, after retiring from football Hunt joined his family’s haulage business. Hunt was awarded an MBE in 2000, inducted into England’s Hall of Fame six years later and lived away from the football spotlight in Lancashire. Liverpool announced Hunt’s passing on September 28th 2021 after a long battle.
Sir Alf Ramsey
Ramsey, an ex-sophomore full-back for Tottenham and Southampton, had his managerial roots with Ipswich. He led the club from the Third Division South to the First Division champions in 1962. Ramsey led England to the 1970 World Cup quarter-finals, where they were defeated 3-2 by West Germany. They had been 2-0 ahead. Ramsey quit his job at the Football Association after England failed to qualify for 1974 World Cup. He later worked at Panathinaikos in Greece and Birmingham. Ramsey spent his retirement in Ipswich. He died in April 1999, aged 79, having suffered a stroke as well as battling Alzheimer’s disease and prostate cancer.