England’s 1966 World Cup-winning right back George Cohen has died aged 83, his former club Fulham announced on Friday.
Cohen made his international debut in 1964 and went on to represent his country 37 times, playing a key role in England’s only World Cup triumph when it beat West Germany 4-2 after extra time at Wembley in the final.
He was one of only three surviving members of that World Cup-winning squad, along with Bobby Charlton and Geoff Hurst.
“Very sad to hear my friend and team mate George Cohen has died,” Hurst said on Twitter. “Everyone, without exception, always said that George was such a lovely man.
“He will be sadly missed, my heartfelt thoughts are with George’s wife Daphne and his family.”
He spent the whole of his club career with one team, Fulham, making 459 appearances for the west London side.
“Everyone at Fulham Football Club is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of one of our greatest ever players - and gentlemen - George Cohen MBE,” Fulham wrote on the club’s official Twitter account.
Cohen was integral to England’s style of play in 1966, with the onus on full-backs to get forward in coach Alf Ramsey’s system.
Having helped England keep clean sheets in their first four matches in the tournament, Cohen started the move that led to the winning goal in the 2-1 semi-final victory over Portugal.
Only three players in history have made more appearances for Fulham than Cohen: Johnny Haynes (658), Eddie Lowe (511) and Les Barrett (491). His playing days were cut tragically short at the age of 29 after a nasty knee injury.
In 2016, Fulham erected at a statue of Cohen outside their Craven Cottage stadium in celebration of the 50th anniversary of him lifting the World Cup, while he was awarded an MBE in 2000 for his services to football.
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