Sir Alf

I thought I knew Alf Ramsey. A post war international for England who played in the infamous 1-0 loss to the USA in the 1950 World Cup; as an innovative manager who took lowly rated Ipswich from the 3rd Division to the 1st Division championship using his withdrawn wingers and twin strikers; to become the only Manager to take England to it's only Word Cup Championship. But this biography takes you so much further like McKinstry's earlier biography of the Charlton Brothers JACK AND BOBBY. If Ramsey did not participate in the book, McKinstry dug really deeply to get to the real story, halos warts and all. Ramsey was a complicated personality with deeply hidden demons, able to make enemies at the tun of a phrase. Please, if you do not know the story of the 1966 World Cup, or even if you do, this book needs to be in your library, well worn!

I was only 9 when Ramsey was sacked as England manager and the first England game I remember watching was the 3-1 defeat by a Netzer inspired W Germany two years earlier when things were starting to turn against him so I don't remember the glory days.....This book with its extensive quotes from Ramseys peers (probably one or two too many in all honesty especially from people who were forgotten 50 years ago..) tells a decent story of Ramseys journey from a child in Dagenham to England manager and beyond. Really good read and difficult to put down once the story reaches Ramseys England appointment. I do have one criticism which stops me giving it 5 stars. There was so much detail about everything Alf achievedin his life right upto his last 4 years as England manager. I feel the last 4years following the Defeat in Leon to the Germans right upto his sacking in April 1974 were a tad rushed and covered in 35 pages when considering this book is 500 pages long disappointed me. Still a good book and well recommended..

Read this book some time ago, and enjoyed it very much. As it was a good deal I went ahead and bought it, so looking forward to reading it again.

this is an excellent book about Sir Alf Ramsey but it sad the way the FA sacked him in 1974 then completely shunned him altogether it is a sad sad story getting back to the football side I think Ramsey should've completely changed the England side after the loss to West Germany in 1970 it's not as if there weren't good players around back then there was but he chose to persevere with the old guard and this is what eventually cost Ramsey dearly he simply wouldn't change with the changing times of international football after 1970 and his 442 system was becoming completely outdated

Very informative history of how football developed over several decades and associated social changes. Lesson in knowing when to move on when at peak of success rather than staying on too long - loyalty seldom rewarded.