Wilson, Ray - Derbyshire's World Cup Winner

World Cup winner Ray Wilson in his Everton days

RAY WILSON is one of the select group of men born in Derbyshire to have played association football for England.

Indeed he is the most-capped of that breed, making 63 appearances at left-back between 1960 and 1968. He is further distinguished for being a member of the celebrated England team which won the 1966 World Cup.

He was born in Shirebrook, in North East Derbyshire, on 17 December 1934, being given the unusual Christian name Ramon, later habitually abbreviated to Ray.

He left school with no formal qualifications and at age 15 became an apprentice railwayman, repairing wagons and cleaning locomotives.

He began playing football with Langwith Boys Club and Langwith Junction Imps, and was spotted by a scout from Huddersfield Town. He joined the ground staff in 1952 but was called up for his two years National Service before making his debut.

He served in the Royal Artillery in Egypt in the build-up to the 1956 Suez Crisis. After his two year army posting he signed professional for Huddersfield Town and made his debut in 1955. By the time he moved to Everton in 1964 he had played 266 League games for Huddersfield.

Although most closely associated with Everton, Wilson actually played less games there, making 116 appearances before his transfer in 1969 to Oldham Athletic. A year later he made a final brief move to Bradford City, and retired from football altogether in 1971.

Of all the 1966 World Cup-winning side, Wilson kept the lowest profile. He ran a successful undertakers business near Huddersfield until his retirement in 1997.

In 2000 he received a much-belated MBE, but generally shied away from the limelight. As at 2007 he was living in the isolated whitewashed farmhouse near Halifax that had been his home for over forty years.

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