Alf Ramsey - Playing Career

Playing Career

Ramsey was born in Dagenham, England. Having been a gifted amateur as a pupil and as a player for his army regiment, he played for Portsmouth in the London War League in 1942 before moving to Southampton from 1943 to 1949 (since 1944 as a professional), and Tottenham Hotspur after that. He was very successful with Spurs, playing as a right-back in more than 250 cup and league games, and in 1948 made his England debut against Switzerland; he went on to captain his country three times, all in games where the regular skipper Billy Wright was unavailable through injury. His last game for England was the 6–3 defeat by Hungary in November 1953, in which he scored a penalty. As a player Ramsey was considered slow, but had excellent positional sense, read the game better than most, had awareness, strength, and excellent distribution for a defender. He was also a specialist penalty kick taker; his coolness and ability to anticipate the goalkeeper earning him the nickname The General. All three of his England goals were scored from the penalty spot.