Sir Alf's boys were a special team because of, never despite of, Sir Alf. He moulded, scolded and cajoled them. But, most of all, in adversity he stuck by them like no manager before or since - and that is why they loved and respected him.
In 1966 England beat France 2-0 and Stiles, the man revered at Old Trafford for his shrewd brain and ball skills but renowned elsewhere as the hardest, some said the dirtiest player in football, found himself reviled after a dreadful foul on French star Simon. FA officials demanded Ramsey drop Stiles. Ramsey merely retorted that if Stiles went so did he. End of story.
It was that fierce loyalty which was perhaps the most endearing quality in a man who was at times such a risible character. For all his assuredness with his players there was an inferiority, borne no doubt of his Romany background, that he never quite managed to overcome. He took elocution lessons in a bid to refine his Dagenham accent and it resulted in a clipped and correct tone which at times made him seem distant and aloof - a description none of his players would recognise, even though it was mimicked by the impressionists of the day. olleagues tell the story of him ordering a meal on a train on the way to a match and telling the waiter in his far-back crystal cut tones: “No, I don't want no peas." In many ways he was easy to mock but there was a steely humour about his nature.
Geoff Hurst, the only man to score a hat-trick in a World cup final, once left an England training session with the cheery call to Alf: "See you at the next training session." "Oh, you think you will, do you?" was Alf's reply, with a sharpness in his tone which left Hurst in no doubt that England hero or not there was no future in taking things for granted with Sir Alf. He could be hard and he could be ruthless - he didn't suffer fools gladly and he was often misunderstood.
But among some of the greatest players who have ever pulled on an England shirt you will not find a man who has a bad word for Sir Alf. Even when it came to those who had been on the receiving end of his ruthlessness.
That includes Jimmy Greaves - the prolific goalscorer who, to the surprise of a nation, was left out of England's World Cup-winning side. Greaves was never quite the same again and much of his subsequent alcoholic downfall was put down to Sir Alf's devastating decision. Yet Greaves has never held it against Sir Alf. Indeed, he made a career as a television pundit and an after-dinner speaker using a wealth of Ramsey material. For instance, Greaves was once carpeted after cajoling a group of England players, including of all people Bobby Charlton, to break a hotel curfew to go on a drinking binge. He received that familiar icy Ramsey glare and a simple: "I know where you were and never let it happen again." It didn't.
