England World Cup 1974

England 1973

Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index
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England 1974
What if Argentina sent this team to Sweden 1958

By 1973, Bobby Charlton and Gordon Banks were no longer with the English national team.  Nevertheless, England was still viewed as a super power.  However, because of an away defeat against Poland on June, 1973, England needed to beat Poland at home in order to qualify on October, 1973.  Due to two bloopers by Norman Hunter and Peter Shilton, England surrendered an unlucky goal in the match and failed to qualify for the 1974 World Cup Finals. Poland went on to finish third at the World Cup Finals.  Grzegorz Lato, Wladyslaw Zmuda, Jan Tomaszewski and Kazimierz Deyna all became international stars.  It could have been England's glory in 1974 if either Hunter or Shilton did not commit his mistakes.

This is my selection of England for the World Cup Finals in 1974. Only 22 players were on the official roster back then.

 England vs Poland 1973

Team
GK: Peter Shilton (Leicester City)
Peter Shilton is considered one of the greatest keepers ever.  He is England's all-time cap record-holder with 125.  He earned his first cap in 1970 and his last 20 years later in 1990.  He took England to 4th place in WC 1986.  He also won two straight European Cups in 1979 and 1980 with Nottingham Forrest.
Peter Shilton 
GK: Ray Clemence (Liverpool)
He won 3 European Cups and 2 UEFA Cups in the 1970's with Liverpool and 1 UEFA Cup with Tottenham Hotspurs.  He was voted as Liverpool's greatest keeper.  For the national team, he was locked in a battle of number 1 with Peter Shilton.  He made 61 appearances for England.

GK: Paul Parkes (Queens Park Ranger)
Parkes began his career atWalsall, turning professional in 1968, he made over 50 appearances in the Black Country before moving to Queens Park Rangers.  He also played for West Ham and Ipswich Town. He was capped once for England in 1974.

RB: Peter Storey (Arsenal)
Storey spent 15 years at Arsenal , winning the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1970, the First Division title in 1970–71, and the FA Cup in 1971. He also was a losing finalist in the 1968 and 1969 League Cup and the 1972 FA Cup Final. He also won 19 caps for England between April 1971 and June 1973. He was transferred to Fulham in March 1977 before announcing his retirement eight months later.
Peter Storey 
RB/LB: Mick Mills (Ipswich Town)
Mills holds the record for appearance with Ipswich Town.  He became the captain of Ipswich in 1971, where he formed a close relationship with manager Bobby Robson.  He also played with Southampton and Stoke City.  Mills was capped 42 times.  He captained England at the 1982 World Cup Finals.  

CB: Bobby Moore  (Fulham)
Captain of the 1966 WC winning team. Regarded one of the greatest defenders of all time.  He played mainly for West Ham, but also had a stint in the NASL.  He won a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup with West Ham.  He won a total of 108 caps for the England team, which at the time of his international retirement in 1973 was a national record.
Bobby Moore  

CB: Roy McFarland (Derby County)
McFarland was one of the top defenders in the late 1960's and early 1970's.  He played for Tranmere Rovers, Derby County and Bradford City. He was a key player for the great Derby side under Brian Clough. He played 28 times for England and was a part of the team that did not qualify for the WC in 1974.
Roy McFarland

CB/DM: Norman Hunter (Leeds United)
Hunter was known as one of the hardest tackler ever came out of English football. His nickname was "Bites Your Leg" Hunter.  He was one of Don Revie's key players at Leeds United, forming a strong partnership with Jack Charlton. He was PFA Player of the Year in 1974.  He won the WC in 1966 as an unused player.  He went to Mexico 1970, but only made a single appearance.

Norman Hunter

CB: Colin Todd (Derby County)
Started his career with Sunderland, but his most famous stint was with Brian Clough's Derby.  His transfer fees in 1971 to Derby was a record for a defender in England.  He would win the league title in his first season with Clough. He was PFA Player of the Year in 1974 after Derby won their second league title in 1974. He earned 27 caps for England.

CB/LB: Emlyn Hughes (Liverpool)
He was at one point thcaptain of England and Liverpool.  He was considered to be one of Liverpool's most important defenders.  He played under Bill Shankly in the 1970's where he won two European Cups, four League titles and a single FA Cup. He was FWA Football of the Year in 1977.  He earned 62 English caps. 

DM/LB: Paul Madeley (Leeds United)
Madeley signed for Leeds from non-league Farsley Celtic in May 1962 and became a regular in the team from 1966 onwards.
In his Leeds career, he played in every position on the pitch except goalkeeper. Capped 24 times.  He declined to be a stand-in player for the 1970 WC Finals.

CM: Alan Ball  (Arsenal)
Ball was the youngest member of the WC winning team in 1966. He started his career with Blackpool.  He also played with Everton, Arsenal, Southampton and various clubs in North America and Hong Kong.  He played 72 times for England and was a key player at the WC finals in 1966 and 1970.  He missed the ill-fated match vs Poland in 1973 due a suspension.
Alan Ball
CM: Martin Peters (Tottenham Hotspurs)
Peters was an all-round midfielder who played for West Ham, Tottenham Hotspurs and Norwich. He earned 67 caps between 1966 and 1974, and was a part of the 1966 WC-winning team.

CM: Colin Bell (Manchester City)
Bell is considered to be Manchester City's greatest ever player.  He won the league in 1967-1968, FA Cup in 1969 and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1970. While Bell is considered to be one of England's greatest midfielder, he was unable to showcase his talents in the world stage.  He was remembered as the substitute for Bobby Charlton at the WC Finals in 1970 against West Germany.  In 1973, he was a part of the ill-fated national team that failed to qualify for West Germany 1974.
Colin Bell 

RW/FW: Mike Summerbee (Manchester City)
Summerbee made his league debut playing for Swindon Town in 1959 at the age of 16. He made more than 200 appearances for the Wiltshire club, scoring 38 goals. In 1965, Manchester City signed Summerbee.  Playing on the right wing, Summerbee was one of the most influential players in the Manchester City side which won four trophies in three seasons from 1968–70. Capped 8 times.

AM: Tony Currie (Sheffield United)
Currie started with Watford in 1967.  He was transferred to Sheffield United in 1968 and went on to score 54 goals in 313 appearances and was also made captain by manager Ken Furphy in March 1974. In September 2014, as part of the club's 125th Anniversary celebrations, he was named Sheffield United's Greatest Ever Player. In 1976,  he moved to  Leeds United.  His curling shot against Southampton F.C. In 1978 won ITV's The Big Match Goal of the Season that year.  Capped 17 times.


ST/SS: Kevin Keegan (England)
Two-time European Footballer of the Year in 1978 and 1979. He won the European Cup in 1977 with Liverpool. He also found successes in the Bundesliga with Hamburger SV.  He later played for Southampton and Newcastle United. He had 63 caps for England. However, his WC appearance was limited to 20 minutes against Spain at the WC Finals in 1982. 
Kevin Keegan 
FW: Rodney Marsch (Manchester City)
A youth product for West Ham United before he made his professional debut with Fulham in March 1963.  He transferred to Queens Park Rangers in 1966. He helped the club to the 1967 League Cup and to consecutive promotions through the Third Division and Second Division. In March 1972 he was sold to Manchester City.  He played for Tampa Bay Rowdies.  Capped 9 times.

ST: Kevin Hector (Derby County)
Hector joined Derby County in 1966 and he was a key player in their success under the management of Brian Clough and Dave Mackay over the next few seasons. He played for the Rams for a total of 12 years, during which time they won the Football League First Division championship twice and reached the semi-finals of the European Cup, FA Cup and the League Cup. He also played for Vancouver Whitecaps, winning the 1979 NASL title. Hector played twice for England, his debut coming as an 88th-minute substitute in the fateful World Cup qualifier against Poland at Wembley in October 1973.

ST: Mick Channon (Southampton)
Channon played notably for Southampton from 1965 and 1977, and then from 1979 and 1982.  Between the two stints, he played for Manchester City. At the age of 34, he joined Norwich, where he played form 1982 and 1985. He was capped 46 times, but England failed to qualify for the World Cuo Finals during his career.

ST: Allan Clarke (Leeds United)
Earlier in his career, he played Walsall, Fulham and Leicester.  In 1969, he joined Leeds United, where he was a part of Don Revie's team.  Clarke won its second Fairs Cup in 1971 – scoring in the final against Juventus.  Clarke was capped 19 times.  He made his debut during the 1970 WC Finals in Mexico.
Allan Clarke 

ST: Martin Chivers (Tottenham Hotspurs)
Started with Southampton, he moved to Tottenham Hotspurs.  During the 1971–72 campaign, Chivers hit the best form of his career, netting 44 times in 64 first team appearances. He scored eight times in 11 UEFA Cup matches in 1972, in which Tottenham became champion.  Capped 24 times.
Martin Chivers 

Player Pool 
Alex Stepney, Jimmy Rimmer, Malcolm Macdonald, Trevor Brooking, Dave Watson, David Nish, Jeff Blockley, John Richards, Malcolm Macdonald.

Squad Explanation
-- Only 22 players were on the World Cup Finals' roster back in 1974.
-- England switched to Admiral for jersey supplier in 1974.  The new Admiral jersey made its debut on October, 1974 after the World Cup Finals.  The Admiral jersey was associated with Don Revie.  In real life, he was appointed as England's manager on July, 1974.  Sir Alf Ramsey would have remained on his job ig England qualified for the World Cup Finals.  They would have continued with the old jersey.  All photos on this blog were of the old jersey. 
-- The third keeper was a difficult decision.  Shilton and Clemence have kept their position throughout the period.  Alex Stepney and Jimmy Rimmer were also active keepers in 1974 who have earned caps for England, but I chose Paul Parkes who actually played for England that year.
-- Bobby Moore was dropped after his mistake against Poland in the first match(not the decisive match in Wembley) by Sir Ramsey, but Ramsey assured that Moore would be going to the World Cup Finals.  Ramsey told him: "Of course not, I need you as my captain at the World Cup next year." Moore's form also dropped while playing for West Ham right before the WC Finals in 1974. He left the club early in 1974.
-- Colin Todd was not used for the World Cup Qualifiers, but he had been in the players' pool before 1974.  He probably got ahead of Dave Watson.  
-- Both Hughes and Madeley were the starting left backs during the World Cup Finals. David Nish was left out.
-- Both Trevor Brooking and Dave Watson made their debut in April of 1974 against Portugal as a result of England's failure to qualify. If England qualified, Brooking and Watson might not have gotten their chance. On the other hand, Paul Parkes also made his debut on that day(his only cap).  Parkes went because England had limited options on keepers.  
-- Kevin Keegan was seldom used during the World Cup Qualifiers.
-- The final spot was between Kevin Hector and Malcolm Macdonald.  I chose Hector because Ramsey did not use Macdonald during the World Cup Qualifiers.  Hector at least made a single appearance.

Formation
The starting eleven is the most common lineup used by Sir Ramsey during that period.  Moore was briefly replaced by Norman Hunt during the World Cup Qualifier, but Sir Ramsey indicated that Moore would start in the World Cup Finals.






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