LONDON: George Eastham, a member of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning squad, has died at 88, his former club Stoke City said on Friday.

Son of England international George Senior, midfielder and inside forward Eastham played for Newcastle United, Arsenal and Stoke City in the English top-flight league in a professional career spanning two decades, and earned 19 international caps.

He did not play in England’s 1966 campaign on home soil but the Blackpool-born winger was part of Alf Ramsey’s squad that lifted the World Cup.

Known for his lethal left foot and creativity, Eastham is a legend at Stoke, famously scoring the winner in the 1972 League Cup final, helping the club win their first major trophy in a 2-1 victory over Chelsea.

Eastham made 194 league appearances for Stoke over eight seasons, and went on to manage the club between 1977-78.

He is also remembered for his crusade against the old ‘retain and transfer’ system which allowed a club to keep a player’s registration as a means to force them to stay.

When Eastham’s contract with Newcastle expired in 1959, he went on a strike for eight months to force the club to let him join Arsenal.

Eastham also moved the High Court against the ‘retain and transfer’ system, where a judge found it to be unreasonable, leading to major reforms in the British transfer market and the establishment of a tribunal to deal with disputes.

He received the award of an ‘Officer of the Order of the British Empire’ (OBE) in 1973 for his services to football and later emigrated to South Africa where he was a football coach for local black children.

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2024