On 25 March 1970, Sir Alf Ramsey announced a 28-man provisional squad to take to Mexico.  A week before the World Cup Finals kicked off, the final 22 man squad was confirmed, and six returned home: Peter Shilton, Leicester City; Bob McNab, Arsenal; Ralph Coates, Burnley; Brian Kidd, Manchester United; David Sadler, Manchester United; and Peter Thompson, Liverpool (who completed an unenviable hat-trick, having also been discarded prior to the 1962 and '66 tournaments, though he was a member of England's 1968 European Championship squad in Italy).

A lot could have happened in two months, and Sir Alf named a further twelve reserves.  All these twelve were inoculated and received medical certificates for one simple reason; any one of them could be called in an emergency.  Those given 'reserve' status, as well as the required jabs, were Mike Bailey of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Everton's Colin Harvey and Joe Royle, Chelsea's John Hollins and Alan Hudson, Leeds United's Mick Jones, Roy McFarland of Derby County, Arsenal's Bob McNab and Peter Simpson, Manchester City's Alan Oakes and Mike Summerbee, and, finally, Sunderland goalkeeper, Jim Montgomery.

The biggest surprise was the exclusion of Leeds United's Paul Madeley from the entire forty-man pool.  But this was soon rectified, when Paul Reaney was carried off the Upton Park pitch unconscious in an early April 1970 League match, and being a part of the likely World Cup Squad, his place went, not to Bob McNab, as many expected, but Paul Madeley.  In the meantime, having been excluded totally, Madeley had made family commitments for the summer of 1970, and thus turned down the chance to join the Finals squad.  The full-back place, thus, finally, went to McNab, at the third time of asking, only for the Arsenal defender to return home as one of the unlucky six who were surplus to requirements.