England in World Cup 1966
Squad Records

World Cup 1966 Final Tournament
11 - 30 July in England

No substitutions were permitted for any reason during the tournament.  Four squad members had birthdays during the tournament,  Connelly his 28th on July 18, Springett his 31st on July 22, Flowers his 32nd  on July 28 and Hunt his 28th on July 29.

Notes

The squad was the product of a rather protracted winnowing process.  FIFA required that each national side provide a list of 40 players before the end of May, 1966 and a final squad of 22 players--who, oddly, need not have been among the original 40--by July 3, eight days before the tournament began.  Manager Alf Ramsey named his provisional list of 40 players on April 7, almost two months earlier than required to give as much notice as possible to the affected clubs.  The 40 included the 22 who eventually were named to the final squad, listed above, plus these 18:  Gordon West, Everton FC; Tony Waiters, Blackpool FC; Keith Newton, Blackburn Rovers FC; Chris Lawler, Liverpool FC; Paul Reaney, Leeds United AFC; Gordon Milne, Liverpool FC; Marvin Hinton, Chelsea FC; John Hollins, Chelsea FC; Tommy Smith, Liverpool FC; Terry Venables, Chelsea FC; Barry Bridges, Chelsea FC; Peter Thompson, Liverpool FC; Peter Osgood, Chelsea FC; Derek Temple, Everton FC; John Kaye, West Bromwich Albion FC; Fred Pickering, Everton FC; Joe Baker, Nottingham Forest FC; and Gordon Harris, Burnley FC.  

Ramsey made another squad announcement on May 6, 1966, naming the 28 players who would report for pre-tournament training at the Lilleshall national recreation centre in Shropshire on June 6.  In addition to the 22 who did survive the final cut, the list of 28 included Peter Thompson, Gordon Milne and Keith Newton from the original list of 40 and three replacements--Bobby Tambling, Chelsea FC, for Barry Bridges; John "Budgie" Byrne, West Ham United FC, for Fred Pickering; and Brian Labone, Everton FC, for Marvin Hinton.  The remaining 12 players from the initial list of 40--West, Waiters, Lawler, Reaney, Hollins, Smith, Venables, Osgood, Temple, Kaye, Baker and Harris--were given stand-by status.

Labone withdrew from the squad because of injury, and so only 27 players reported for training at Lilleshall on June 6.  At the close of the training session on June 18, Ramsey cut five players--Tambling, John Byrne, Thompson, Milne and Newton--although asking them to remain in training at their club facilities in the event of an emergency.  Following a break for a short last visit home, the 22-man squad embarked on a four-match pre-tournament tour of Europe.  On July 3, the day of the third match of the tour, in Copenhagen, Ramsey formally announced the England squad to FIFA and the press.  The numbers Ramsey assigned to the squad generally reflected his preferences, Nos. 1-11 constituting his first team and Nos. 12-22 the second string players.  The squad as named remained intact; no replacements were needed.

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