4 Sir Alf Ramsey

Sir Alf Ramsey made his mark by leading Ipswich town from the third division south of English football to the top flight and winning the league championship in his first season in the top division, despite being tipped almost universally for relegation. Despite working with a squad of journeyman professionals, Ramsey had a remarkable grasp of tactics, which he would later utilise as England manager and got the very best out of his players. He went on to become England manager and experimented tactically, devising a formation without the traditional wingers in order to strengthen the middle of the park from a defensive perspective and to out-wit opposing teams more used to dealing with wingers by attacking through the centre. He predicted publicly that England would win the 1966 world cup and - despite some scepticism - went on to win the world cup in '66, beating a talented Argentina side that he branded 'animals,' Portugal with Eusebio and West Germany along the way. The final against Germany was one of the most thrilling football matches of all-time with a hat-trick from Geoff Hurst, who had started as a second choice striker in the tournament and who was left in by Ramsey at the expense of Jimmy Greaves in a tactical masterstroke. Ramsey's maxim was, 'never change a winning side' and it may have been this principle as well just as much as a tactical consideration that resulted in his selection of Hurst. Ramsey was widely praised for his tactical nous, his selection of a young Bobby Moore as captain and ultimate world cup victory. He was knighted subsequently. He was seen by many as an aloof man and didn't show a great deal of warmth in public, which meant the supporters didn't always take to him as they did other managers. The 1968 and 1970 European championship and world cup campaigns were moderately successful with semi-final and quarter-final defeats respectively. Having failed to qualify for the 1972 and 1974 European championship and world cup finals, Sir Alf was sacked by the FA and never went back into football management. He is remembered as someone who achieved the impossible at Ipswich before he gave England its greatest footballing honour - something no one else has ever achieved.

British league champions: 1
Foreign league champions: 0
European cup: 0
World cup: 1