Walter Winterbottom

Sir Walter Winterbottom CBE (31 March 1913 – 16 February 2002) was the first manager of the England football team (1946–1962) and FA Director of Coaching. He resigned from the FA in 1962 to become General Secretary of the Central Council of Physical Recreation (CCPR) and was appointed as the first Director of the Sports Council in 1965. He was knighted for his services to sport in 1978 when he retired. The Football Association marked the 100th anniversary of Winterbottom's birth by commissioning a bust which wasunveiled by Roy Hodgson at St Georges Park on 23 April 2013 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the development of English football.

Born in Oldham, Lancashire, Walter Winterbottom was the only son of James Winterbottom, a ring frame fitter in a textile machine works. At the age of 12 he was awarded a scholarship to Oldham High School where he excelled. He won a bursary to Chester Diocesan Teachers Training College,graduating as the top student in 1933 and took a teaching post at the Alexandra Road School, Oldham. Whilst teaching he played football for Royton Amateurs and then Mossleywhere he was spotted by Manchester United. He signed for United as a part-time professional in 1936but continued teaching. In his first season (1936/37) at Manchester United he showed great promise, playing 21 first team League games and 2 FA cup games, appearing as wing half and centre half.But in the following two seasons he made only 4 first team appearances. and 41 Central League appearances, his playing career effectively ended by a spinal disease, later diagnosed as ankylosing spondylitis. Whilst still playing for Manchester United he left his teaching position to study at Carnegie College of Physical Education, Leeds. On graduating he was appointed as a lecturer.

During World War II Winterbottom served as an officer in the Royal Air Force, reaching the rank of wing commander and working at the Air Ministry with overall responsibility for training PE instructors at home and overseas. He was also a guest player with Chelseaand ran coaching courses for the FA at grammar schools in London. In 1946 Stanley Rous, who was the secretary of The Football Association, persuaded the FA council to appoint Winterbottom as The FA's first Director of Coaching and suggested he take on the additional responsibility of being the first England team manager.

Walter Winterbottom has the distinction of being England's first, youngest and longest serving England team manager; he is also the only England manager to have had no previous professional managerial experience.In all matches in which he was in charge, England played 139, won 78, drew 33, and lost 28; goals for 383, against 196. At home England lost six matches in sixteen years. England won the British championship in thirteen out of his sixteen seasons (seven times outright and six times sharing top place). In the World Cup tournament England qualified on all four occasions, reaching the quarter finals twice, playing 28 matches, winning 15, drawing 7 and losing 6; goals for 75 against 35 (including World Cup qualifying matches).

Although he had coaching and managerial responsibilities, Winterbottom never had the power to pick his own team (it was chosen by a selection committee). Over time his technical knowledge increasingly influenced selectors. Finally, prior to Alf Ramsey's arrival in 1962, he convinced the FA that the team manager must have sole control of selection. During his time Winterbottom repeatedly warned the English football establishment that countries in Continental Europe and South America were overtaking England and that English football had to change. His sixteen years as England team manager helped greatly in creating a modern and competitive national team and four years after his departure in 1966 England won the World Cup. His innovations included the introduction of England B, Under 23, youth and schoolboy teamsproviding players with continuity and experience in international football before being selected for the full England team.

Notable victories during his era were 10-0 away to Portugal in 1947, 4-0 away to Italy in 1948, 4-2 at home to Brazil in 1956 and 9-3 at home to Scotland in 1961. Notable defeats were losing 1-0 to the USA in the 1950 World Cup and 6-3 at home to Hungary in 1953 when England lost their unbeaten home record to a foreign team, followed by a 7-1 away defeat to the same team in 1954.

Winterbottom led England to four consecutive World Cup finals, a record subsequently equalled only by Helmut Schön of West Germany. England entered the World Cup for the first time in 1950, qualifying for the tournament in Brazil by winning the British Home Championship. England had never before played in South America. They beat Chile by 2-0 but lost 1-0 to the USA and 1-0 to Spain to be eliminated in the first round. Winterbottom again led England to qualification in Switzerland in 1954 by winning the British Home championship. A 4-4 draw against Belgium and a 2-0 victory against Switzerland took them to the quarter finals where they were beaten 4-2 by the defending champions, Uruguay.

In 1958 England qualified for the tournament in Sweden with wins over the Republic of Ireland and Denmark with a team that had lost only once in 17 games. Three months before the tournament began the Munich air disaster robbed the team of key players from Manchester United:Roger Byrne, Tommy Taylor and Duncan Edwards died.England drew against the USSR, Brazil and Austria but lost to the Soviet Union in a playoff for a quarter-final place.

Winterbottom again led his team to qualification for the 1962 finals in Chile with wins over Portugal and Luxembourg.After progressing from their group on goal average, England reached the quarter-finals but were beaten 3-1 by the eventual winners, Brazil.

Although Winterbottom is best known as the England team manager, it is in coaching that he made important contributions to the development of English football. He made no secret of his belief that his job as Director of Coaching was the more important of his two roles at the FA.

When he joined the FA in 1946, club directors, managers and players were cynical about the need for coachingbut Winterbottom had a passion for coaching and a vision of how it should develop. He soon created a national coaching scheme with summer residential courses at Lilleshall, Shropshire, and persuaded some of his international players to take the courses that led to exams for the FA preliminary and full coaching badges. This gave the scheme credibility. They developed their teaching skills by coaching in schools and then moved into part-time coaching positions in junior clubs. He gathered around him a cadre of young FA staff coaches: men like Bill Nicholson, Don Howe, Alan Brown, Ron Greenwood, Dave Sexton, Malcolm Allison, Joe Mercer, Vic Buckingham, Jimmy Hill and Bobby Robson.Over time a new breed of managers emerged in the League clubs and began to change attitudes to coaching.

Winterbottom's courses were expanded to include professional players, referees, schoolmasters, club trainers, schoolboys and youth leaders. In addition to Lilleshall they were held at Loughborough College, Carnegie College, Bisham Abbey and Birmingham University.In 1947 three hundred had taken the full coaching award and the numbers of qualified coaches grew each year.

The courses attracted international participation and praise. Winterbottom was regarded by many as a leading technical thinker and exponent of association football, of his generation, in the world and lectured internationally.

He inspired a new generation of managers, most notably Ron Greenwood and Bobby Robson, who graduated through every level of coaching, both eventually becoming England team manager.

In assessing Winterbottom's tenure as England manager, Goldblatt writes that "[Winterbottom] introduced a measure of tactical thinking and discussion to the England squad, though his inability to anticipate or learn significantly from the Hungarian debacle suggests that his grasp of tactics and communication with the players was limited."William Baker writes that Winterbottom, because of his "upper-class origins [sic]", could not "effectively instruct, much less inspire, working-class footballers." Football journalist Brian Glanville said in an interview: "I got on very well with Walter Winterbottom, but he was a rotten manager."

Winterbottom was also responsible for the publishing at the FA. The first coaching bulletin was launched in 1946 and this became the FA Bulletin and then the FA News. The FA Year Book was introduced in 1948 along with the FA Book for Boys annual.The first coaching films and film strips followed in 1950.

An important landmark was the publication of Winterbottom's book, Soccer Coaching, the first modern soccer coaching manual.This was followed by three more books, Skilful Soccer, Modern Soccer and Training for Soccer.

In 1962 Winterbottom resigned from the FA and took up an appointment as General Secretary of the Central Council of Physical Recreationand two years later became the Director of the newly formed Sports Council. He stepped onto the wider stage of sport and emerged to have a profound effect on sport in Britain during the second half of the twentieth century.

At the CCPR Winterbottom worked to provide coaches and better facilities for sports governing bodies. He soon became involved in the ongoing political debate about the recommendations of the 1960 Report of the Wolfenden Committee on Sport, which had recommended the establishment of a Sports Council responsible for distributing government money to sport.He was in favour but the CCPR was divided on the issue. In 1965 the Government under set up a Sports Council and Winterbottom was seconded to become the first Director of the Sports Councilwith Denis Howell as his chairman.

Winterbottom believed that participation in a sport played a much more important role in society that was generally accepted. For 16 years he battled to win significantly more investment in sport from national and local government to support a Sport for All campaign.Despite a harsh economic climate great progress was made in providing new facilities. In ten years 499 sports centres were built and 524 new swimming pools.Under his leadership sports governing bodies were helped to develop more professional organisations and provide more coaches. He conceived the idea of the Sports Aid Foundation, raising money from industry to back young elite sportsmen and women with Olympic medal winning chances.

He was a member of the Council of Europe and Chairman of the Committee for the Development of Sport and was influential in the acceptance of the Sport For All concept by Canada and UNESCO.

In 1978, after reaching the age of 65, Winterbottom retired from the Sports Council and was knighted for his services to sport. He became an advisor to the British government on ways in which British manufacturers of sports equipment could work with foreign firms.In 1979, he visited Australia and New Zealand to help their governments to support sport in the community.

He was head of the FIFA Technical Studies Group for the World Cup in 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978 and a member in 1982.In 1985 The Winterbottom Report, an FA enquiry into artificial playing surfaces was published and in 1987–89 he was a member of the Football League enquiry into artificial pitches.

He died in the Royal Surrey Hospital after an operation for cancer on 16 February 2002.He was 88 years old. A memorial service was held at St. Nicolas Church, Cranleigh, Surrey on 1 March 2002.

England Matches under Winterbottom

England Match Record 1946–1962
#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Competition
1946
1	28 September	Windsor Park, Belfast	Ireland	7–2	1947 British Home Championship
2	30 September	Dalymount Park, Dublin	Republic of Ireland	1–0	International Match
3	13 November	Maine Road, Manchester	Wales	3–0	1947 British Home Championship
4	27 November	Leeds Road, Huddersfield	Netherlands	8–2	International Match
1947
5	12 April	Wembley Stadium, London	Scotland	1–1	1947 British Home Championship
6	3 May	Highbury, London	France	3–0	International Match
7	18 May	Hardturm, Zürich	Switzerland	0–1	International Match
8	25 May	Estádio Nacional, Lisbon	Portugal	10–0	International Match
9	29 September	Heysel Stadium, Brussels	Belgium	5–2	International Match
10	18 October	Ninian Park, Cardiff	Wales	3–0	1948 British Home Championship
11	5 November	Goodison Park, Liverpool	Ireland	2–2	1948 British Home Championship
12	19 November	Highbury, London	Sweden	4–2	International Match
1948
13	10 May	Hampden Park, Glasgow	Scotland	1–0	1948 British Home Championship
14	16 May	Stadio Comunale, Turin	Italy	4–0	International Match
15	26 September	Idrætspark, Copenhagen	Denmark	0–0	International Match
16	9 October	Windsor Park, Belfast	Ireland	6–2	1949 British Home Championship
17	10 November	Villa Park, Birmingham	Wales	1–0	1949 British Home Championship
18	10 November	Highbury, London	Switzerland	6–0	International Match
1949
19	9 April	Wembley Stadium, London	Scotland	1–3	1949 British Home Championship
20	13 May	Råsunda Stadium, Stockholm	Sweden	1–3	International Match
21	18 May	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo	Norway	4–1	International Match
22	22 May	Stade Colombes, Paris	France	3–1	International Match
23	21 September	Goodison Park, Liverpool	Republic of Ireland	0–2	International Match
24	15 October	Ninian Park, Cardiff	Wales	4–1	1950 British Home Championship
25	16 November	Maine Road, Manchester	Ireland	9–2	1950 British Home Championship
26	30 November	White Hart Lane, London	Italy	2–0	International Match
1950
27	25 May	Hampden Park, Glasgow	Scotland	1–0	1950 British Home Championship
28	14 May	Estádio Nacional, Lisbon	Portugal	5–3	International Match
29	18 May	Heysel Stadium, Brussels	Belgium	4–1	International Match
30	25 June	Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro	Chile	2–0	1950 FIFA World Cup
31	19 June	Estádio Independência, Belo Horizonte	United States	0–1	1950 FIFA World Cup
32	2 July	Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro	Spain	0–1	1950 FIFA World Cup
33	7 October	Windsor Park, Belfast	Northern Ireland	4–1	1951 British Home Championship
34	15 November	Roker Park, Sunderland	Wales	6–2	1951 British Home Championship
35	15 November	Highbury, London	Yugoslavia	2–2	International Match
1951
36	14 April	Wembley Stadium, London	Scotland	2–3	1951 British Home Championship
37	9 May	Wembley Stadium, London	Argentina	2–1	International Match
38	19 May	Goodison Park, Liverpool	Portugal	5–2	International Match
39	3 October	Highbury, London	France	2–2	International Match
40	20 October	Ninian Park, Cardiff	Wales	1–1	1952 British Home Championship
41	14 November	Villa Park, Birmingham	Northern Ireland	2–0	1952 British Home Championship
42	28 November	Wembley Stadium, London	Austria	2–2	International Match
1952
43	5 April	Hampden Park, Glasgow	Scotland	2–0	1952 British Home Championship
44	18 May	Stadio Comunale, Florence	Italy	1–1	International Match
45	25 May	Praterstadion, Vienna	Austria	3–2	International Match
46	28 May	Hardturm, Zürich	Switzerland	3–0	International Match
47	4 October	Windsor Park, Belfast	Northern Ireland	2–2	1953 British Home Championship
48	12 November	Wembley Stadium, London	Wales	5–2	1953 British Home Championship
49	26 November	Wembley Stadium, London	Belgium	5–0	International Match
1953
50	18 April	Hampden Park, Glasgow	Scotland	2–2	1953 British Home Championship
51	17 May	Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires	Argentina	0–0	International Match
52	24 May	Estadio Nacional, Santiago	Chile	2–1	International Match
53	31 May	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo	Uruguay	1–2	International Match
54	8 June	Polo Grounds, New York	United States	6–3	International Match
55	10 October	Ninian Park, Cardiff	Wales	4–1	1954 British Home Championship
56	21 October	Wembley Stadium, London	FIFA XI	4–4	International Match
57	11 November	Goodison Park, Liverpool	Northern Ireland	3–1	1954 British Home Championship
58	25 November	Wembley Stadium, London	Hungary	3–6	International Match
1954
59	3 April	Hampden Park, Glasgow	Scotland	4–2	1954 British Home Championship
60	16 May	Partizan Stadium, Belgrade	Yugoslavia	0–1	International Match
61	23 May	Népstadion, Budapest	Hungary	1–7	International Match
62	17 June	St. Jakob-Park, Basel	Belgium	4–4	1954 FIFA World Cup
63	20 June	Wankdorf Stadium, Bern	Switzerland	2–0	1954 FIFA World Cup
64	26 June	St. Jakob-Park, Basel	Uruguay	2–4	1954 FIFA World Cup
65	2 October	Windsor Park, Belfast	Northern Ireland	2–0	1955 British Home Championship
66	10 November	Wembley Stadium, London	Wales	3–2	1955 British Home Championship
67	1 December	Wembley Stadium, London	West Germany	3–1	International Match
1955
68	2 April	Wembley Stadium, London	Scotland	7–2	1955 British Home Championship
69	15 May	Stade Colombes, Paris	France	0–1	International Match
70	18 May	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Spain	1–1	International Match
71	22 May	Estádio das Antas, Porto	Portugal	1–3	International Match
72	2 October	Idrætspark, Copenhagen	Denmark	5–1	International Match
73	22 October	Ninian Park, Cardiff	Wales	1–2	1956 British Home Championship
74	2 November	Wembley Stadium, London	Northern Ireland	3–0	1956 British Home Championship
75	30 November	Wembley Stadium, London	Spain	4–1	International Match
1956
76	14 April	Hampden Park, Glasgow	Scotland	1–1	1956 British Home Championship
77	9 May	Wembley Stadium, London	Brazil	4–2	International Match
78	16 May	Råsunda Stadium, Stockholm	Sweden	0–0	International Match
79	20 May	Olympic Stadium, Helsinki	Finland	5–1	International Match
80	26 May	Olympic Stadium, Berlin	West Germany	3–1	International Match
81	6 October	Windsor Park, Belfast	Northern Ireland	1–1	1957 British Home Championship
82	14 November	Wembley Stadium, London	Wales	3–1	1957 British Home Championship
83	28 November	Wembley Stadium, London	Yugoslavia	3–0	International Match
84	5 December	Molineux, Wolverhampton	Denmark	5–2	1958 FIFA World Cup qualification
1957
85	6 April	Wembley Stadium, London	Scotland	2–1	1957 British Home Championship
86	8 May	Wembley Stadium, London	Republic of Ireland	5–1	1958 FIFA World Cup qualification
87	15 May	Idrætspark, Copenhagen	Denmark	4–1	1958 FIFA World Cup qualification
88	19 May	Dalymount Park, Dublin	Republic of Ireland	1–1	1958 FIFA World Cup qualification
89	19 October	Ninian Park, Cardiff	Wales	4–0	1958 British Home Championship
90	6 November	Wembley Stadium, London	Northern Ireland	2–3	1958 British Home Championship
91	27 November	Wembley Stadium, London	France	4–0	International Match
1958
92	19 April	Hampden Park, Glasgow	Scotland	4–0	1958 British Home Championship
93	7 May	Wembley Stadium, London	Portugal	2–1	International Match
94	11 May	Partizan Stadium, Belgrade	Yugoslavia	0–5	International Match
95	18 May	Lenin Stadium, Moscow	Soviet Union	1–1	International Match
96	8 June	Ullevi, Gothenburg	Soviet Union	2–2	1958 FIFA World Cup
97	11 June	Ullevi, Gothenburg	Brazil	0–0	1958 FIFA World Cup
98	15 June	Ryavallen, Borås	Austria	2–2	1958 FIFA World Cup
99	19 June	Ullevi, Gothenburg	Soviet Union	0–1	1958 FIFA World Cup
100	4 October	Windsor Park, Belfast	Northern Ireland	3–3	1959 British Home Championship
101	22 October	Wembley Stadium, London	Soviet Union	5–0	International Match
102	26 November	Villa Park, Birmingham	Wales	2–2	1959 British Home Championship
1959
103	11 April	Wembley Stadium, London	Scotland	1–0	1959 British Home Championship
104	6 May	Wembley Stadium, London	Italy	2–2	International Match
105	13 May	Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	1–4	International Match
106	17 May	Estadio Nacional, Lima	Peru	1–2	International Match
107	24 May	Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Mexico City	Mexico	1–2	International Match
108	28 May	Wrigley Field, Los Angeles	United States	8–1	International Match
109	17 October	Ninian Park, Cardiff	Wales	1–1	1960 British Home Championship
110	28 October	Wembley Stadium, London	Sweden	2–3	International Match
111	18 November	Wembley Stadium, London	Northern Ireland	2–1	1960 British Home Championship
1960
112	9 April	Hampden Park, Glasgow	Scotland	1–1	1960 British Home Championship
113	11 May	Wembley Stadium, London	Yugoslavia	3–3	International Match
114	15 May	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Spain	0–3	International Match
115	22 May	Népstadion, Budapest	Hungary	0–2	International Match
116	8 October	Windsor Park, Belfast	Northern Ireland	5–2	1961 British Home Championship
117	19 October	Stade Municipal, Luxembourg City	Luxembourg	9–0	1962 FIFA World Cup qualification
118	26 October	Wembley Stadium, London	Spain	4–2	International Match
119	23 November	Wembley Stadium, London	Wales	5–1	1961 British Home Championship
1961
120	15 April	Wembley Stadium, London	Scotland	9–3	1961 British Home Championship
121	10 May	Wembley Stadium, London	Mexico	8–0	International Match
122	21 May	Estádio Nacional, Lisbon	Portugal	1–1	1962 FIFA World Cup qualification
123	24 May	Stadio Olimpico, Rome	Italy	3–2	International Match
124	27 May	Praterstadion, Vienna	Austria	1–3	International Match
125	28 September	Highbury, London	Luxembourg	4–1	1962 FIFA World Cup qualification
126	14 October	Ninian Park, Cardiff	Wales	1–1	1962 British Home Championship
127	25 October	Wembley Stadium, London	Portugal	2–0	1962 FIFA World Cup qualification
128	22 November	Wembley Stadium, London	Northern Ireland	1–1	1962 British Home Championship
1962
129	4 April	Wembley Stadium, London	Austria	3–1	International Match
130	14 April	Hampden Park, Glasgow	Scotland	0–2	1962 British Home Championship
131	9 May	Wembley Stadium, London	Switzerland	3–1	International Match
132	20 May	Estadio Nacional, Lima	Peru	4–0	International Match
133	31 May	Estadio El Teniente, Rancagua	Hungary	1–2	1962 FIFA World Cup
134	2 June	Estadio El Teniente, Rancagua	Argentina	3–1	1962 FIFA World Cup
135	7 June	Estadio El Teniente, Rancagua	Bulgaria	0–0	1962 FIFA World Cup
136	10 June	Estadio Sausalito, Viña del Mar	Brazil	1–3	1962 FIFA World Cup
137	3 October	Hillsborough, Sheffield	France	1–1	1964 European Nations' Cup qualifying
138	20 October	Windsor Park, Belfast	Northern Ireland	3–1	1963 British Home Championship
139	21 November	Wembley Stadium, London	Wales	4–0	1963 British Home Championship

• Graham Morse: Sir Walter Winterbottom - The Father of Modern English Football, Kings Road Publishing, 2013.