Happy birthday to Nobby Stiles, who turns 70 today. We don’t celebrate the birthday of every England player or even every legendary England player, but this one is a little bit special for obvious reasons.
Stiles and Bobby Charlton are the only two Englishmen to play in and win the World Cup and European Cup finals, and the tough and energetic midfielder famously celebrated the former with a distinctive dance that still echoes through the ages. He’s a fitting inspiration for the name of this site, and was the obvious choice to kick off the England Greats series.
He only played in the FIFA World Cup in 1966, but what a World Cup it was for England. Two years later, he helped Manchester United to the European Cup and represented his country at another major tournament, the UEFA European Championships.
Manchester-born Stiles also played for Middlesbrough and Preston North End before turning to a decade-long management career at Deepdale, Vancouver Whitecaps and West Bromwich Albion.
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