One club men are hard to find – George Cohen, England ’66 and West Germany

GEORGE COHEN’s passing is another reminder that time is getting on, leaving us with just Geoff Hurst and Bobby Charlton from the triumphant 11 and five from the England squad of 22 from that glorious summer of 1966.

Cohen’s football career is well documented, his cheery disposition very notable in all media discussions about England’s World Cup victory. Fulham was his only club, Cohen may have been one of the less celebrated figures at the time of England’s success, but at Craven Cottage, he remained a club icon. Full backs are rarely in the spotlight, but his name rolled off the tongue in every attempt to name the “boys of 66”- Banks, Cohen, Wilson… and so on.

Cohen was a one club man, not unusual in 1966, but nevertheless, a stable, reliable and determined footballer. In that 1966 squad, there were other similarly loyal figures: Bobby and Jack Charlton, Roger Hunt, Ian Callaghan, Terry Paine, Bobby Moore, Nobby Stiles, Norman Hunter, Ron Flowers and Peter Bonetti. Not all were one-club men by the time their playing days ended, but most spent peak career with a single employer. Sadly, his later career was plagued with injury and he had to retire before he was 30. The only medal was the World Cup winners’ medal of 1966. At club level, he won nothing. He was not alone in the England squad – Ron Springett, Jimmy Armfield and Terry Paine all ended their careers without a medal from domestic football, but only Cohen played in the final.

The most decorated player in Sir Alf Ramsey’s squad of 1966 didn’t line-up in the final against West Germany. Ian Callaghan of Liverpool won 11 major prizes, including five league titles and four European trophies. Between them, the winning side of 1966 won 28 top prizes with their clubs, but because some played for relatively unfashionable clubs, their trophy haul was modest. This underlines how football has changed in the years since 1966 – top players are supposed to win prizes, as evidenced by the medal cabinets of the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, among others.

Only five of the England team that lifted the Jules Rimet trophy won the Football League title: Nobby Stiles, Jack Charlton, Bobby Charlton, Alan Ball and Roger Hunt. Legendary players like Bobby Moore, Alan Ball, Gordon Banks and Geoff Hurst won surprisingly little in their club careers. Furthermore, few members of the 22-man squad – Jack Charlton, Jimmy Armfield and Alan Ball – made a mark in management.

In recent years, time has caught up with the boys of 1966 and 10 have died in four years. Their opponents at Wembley in July 1966 have fared much better. While there are five members of the squad still with us, there are 14 West Germans still enjoying their autumn years, including seven of the starting 11. Perhaps this is due to lifestyle or the difference in social conditions in Germany. Possibly it has something to do with the way elder statesmen are treated after their playing time is over. According to some professionals from the 1960s and 1970s, they were kept playing by dozens of pain-killing injections and as a result, they become riddled with arthritis or rheumatism in old age. Was that any different in West Germany? Perhaps they simply lead healthier lives? Cohen battled illness after his career finished, eventually being given the all-clear on bowel cancer in 1990.

He remains one of only 11 Englishmen to play in the World Cup final, a feat that has eluded countless groups of England hopefuls. He was also an outstanding footballer, rated England’s finest right back with an attacking style that proved to be very influential. His name will live on. He may have won just one medal, but what a medal that was.

The Premier League new boys – how long does the honeymoon last?

THE New season is well underway and the teams that won promotion to the Premier League at the end of 2021-22 have experienced mixed results. Taking the history of the competition as a benchmark, there is a good chance one or two promoted clubs will suffer relegation in their first campaign back in the top flight. In the last four seasons, seven of the 12 clubs have gone down immediately, in 2022 it was Norwich City and Watford. The other new boys, Brentford, finished 13th and won many friends for their approach and attitude.

Staying the course is hard for the new boys, but if they can survive in year one, they will have benefitted from the financial rewards of Premier League membership and be in a better position in year two. In 2019-20, for example, Fulham, Leeds United and West Bromwich Albion were all promoted. All three clubs generated turnover of between £ 53 to £ 58 million. Their wage bills were unsustainable, with Fulham and West Bromwich Albion paying out 125% of income and Leeds a very concerning 144%. This scenario is not unusual by any means, but having pushed the boat out to reach the Premier, wages went even higher in 2020-21 for the three clubs, but given the significant rise in income, less of a burden. However, for Fulham and West Bromwich Albion, the jump from Championship to Premier proved too much once more.  Fulham’s revenues totalled £ 116 million, but this was still way below the level of even mid-table clubs like Everton (£ 193m), Aston Villa (£171m) and Newcastle (£ 140m). Given that Leeds are a bigger club in terms of support than their two promotion partners, it was no surprise their income was as high as £ 171 million. Fulham, who have been going through a yo-yo existence for the past five years, returned to the Premier in 2022-23, hoping they finally acclimatise in the right way.

The average lifespan of a promoted club is 3.8 seasons – 14 clubs in the Premier constitution have been promoted to the league at some point.

Nottingham Forest’s return to the Premier League will be welcomed by many but they may find life a lot more challenging since 1999 when they were last in the division. When Forest were relegated, their turnover amounted to £ 17 million, just one million lower than they generated in 2020-21. This certainly emphasises the difference between life in the Premier and a place in the Championship. Conversely, while wages in 1999 were £ 11.8 million, Forest were paying more than double their revenues to their squad in 2020-21. Forest do have good support and they appear to have a very promising coach in Steve Cooper, but will they invest the money they will receive in 2022-23 wisely? They have spent heavily in the summer, more than £ 100 million, and their outlay is higher than Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester United and Newcastle United (source: Transfermarkt). Their new signings include Jesse Lingard, a free from Manchester United, Union Berlin’s Taiwo Awoniyi for £ 18.5 million and Neco Williams from Liverpool for £ 18 million. Awoniyi scored for Forest against West Ham to record their first victory of the season.

Forest’s eagerness to bolster their squad does highlight that clubs are well aware they have to strengthen rather than rely on the players that won promotion. But it has to be executed sensibly. In 2018, Fulham acquired almost a new squad and it was clear they hadn’t done their homework particularly well. They plummeted like a stone in the Premier in 2018-19, much of their squad assembled using the so-called moneyball strategy. However, they are back again with a decent group of players that may just hold their own after three promotions and two relegations in five seasons. Fulham cannot be accused of not giving their fans a roller-coaster ride in recent seasons and for six years, they have moved from division to division. They have generous ownership which has enabled them to pay top wages when they were in the Championship, but there may be more expectation this year after continued investment on and off the pitch.

Fulham have been fairly aggressive in the transfer market over the past five seasons. Between 2018-19 and 2022-23, their net spend has been the 10th highest in English football at £ 188 million. On a gross basis, they have spent £ 242 million. Much of their hopes rest on striker Aleksandar Mitrović, who has disappointed in his previous Premier campaigns. In his last two Championship seasons, Mitro has netted 69 goals in 84 matches, but in 2020-21, Fulham’s previous Premier outing, he scored just three times in 27 goals. If nothing else, he has a point to prove and at 27, he should be at his peak. He’s started the season well. Fulham sold a couple of players, notably Fabio Carvalho to Liverpool, but they’ve also acquired João Palhinha from Sporting Lisbon (£ 20m) and West Ham’s Issa Diop (£ 17.8m).

AFC Bournemouth’s past labelled them as a small entity, but they are also a progressive club and before relegation in 2020, they had spent five years in the Premier League. The sceptics didn’t really expect them to return in a hurry, but they are back. Prior to promotion in 2015, Bournemouth’s turnover was a mere £ 12.9 million, but by 2017, this had jumped to £ 136.5 million. During their first Premier stint, Bournemouth’s wages also climbed dramatically from £ 29.6 million in 2015 to £ 111 million in 2019. Relegation meant the club had to regroup and as income fell to £ 72 million, wages also halved. In 2020-21, after four years of losses, Bournemouth made a profit of close to £ 17 million. While winning promotion was credible, Bournemouth face a challenge to compete at a higher level and there are question marks about their ability to survive. Their owner, Maxim Demin is a Russian-born businessman and a UK citizen, hence he was not sanctioned by the British government like others. Bournemouth spent around £ 27 million ahead of 2022-23 on two players, £ 15 million on Feyenoord’s Marcos Senesi and £ 11.9 million on Marcus Tavernier of Middlesbrough.

Since the Premier League was inaugurated in 1992, the average lifespan of a promotion club is 3.8 seasons. Fourteen of the current 20 clubs have won promotion at some point (just six are ever-presents – Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham) and the current longest run is Manchester City, who have spent 21 seasons in the Premier since returning. West Ham and Southampton are in their 11th season, while Crystal Palace are on 10.

Whatever happens to the new boys, some clubs, such as Fulham, Bournemouth and in past seasons, Watford and Norwich, have shown they are resilient after relegation and bounced back. Obviously helped by parachute payments to some extent, it also shows that with determination and focus, relegation can be dealt with.