International Career
In April 1960, Wilson won his first cap for England in a 1–1 draw with Scotland. Over the next 12 months he became a fixture in the side. The FA selection committee put him in the squad for the 1962 World Cup in Chile and Wilson played in all three group games and England's elimination in the quarter finals at the hands of Brazil.
Wilson kept his England place under new manager Alf Ramsey after the World Cup, and with Ramsey successfully snatching sole responsibility for picking the team from the FA came a firm feeling that Wilson was Ramsey's highest-rated left back. Others, such as Liverpool's Gerry Byrne were given the odd chance but Wilson was Ramsey's first choice.
As hosts of the 1966 World Cup, England did not have to partake in a rigorous qualifying campaign and Ramsey experimented with other left backs as he shaped a squad for the tournament. As it neared, Wilson achieved some domestic success when Everton won the FA Cup at Wembley.
Their opponents were Sheffield Wednesday, who started the game as underdogs. Wilson was almost an immediate villain when the game started as he deflected a vicious volley from Wednesday's Jim McCalliog into the net after just four minutes, though McCalliog rightly claimed the goal as his own. Wednesday went 2–0 up but Everton fought back heroically to win 3–2.
Later the same year, Wilson was playing at Wembley on six more occasions, ever-present as Ramsey's England got through a World Cup group consisting of Uruguay, Mexico and France; a volatile quarter final against a violent Argentina and a semi final against the enigmatic Portuguese, which was Wilson's 50th appearance for his country.
The final against West Germany is part of football folklore, in England and globally. Wilson's weak early header fell to striker Helmut Haller who gave the Germans the lead as a result, but after twists and turns and a historic hat-trick from Geoff Hurst, England ran out 4–2 winners. Wilson was the oldest member of the team – in his 32nd year – and the victory crowned an especially good year for him, winning a major domestic honour and then adding the biggest prize in the game. Only Roger Hunt – a title winner with Liverpool in 1966 – could claim a similarly twofold success.
Ramsey continued to select Wilson as England progressed through the qualification process for the 1968 European Championships, ultimately going out in the semi finals and finishing third overall. Wilson's 63rd and final England cap came in the third-place play-off against the USSR. At the time of his final cap, he held the record for the highest number of appearances for an outfield player without having scored a goal, a record since broken by Gary Neville and Ashley Cole.
A knee injury suffered in the summer of 1968, coupled with the emergence of young Leeds United full back Terry Cooper (who would be as impressive in the 1970 World Cup as Wilson was in 1966, despite England's elimination in the last eight), ended Wilson's England career.
Read more about this topic: Ray Wilson (English Footballer)
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