Full name Harold Michael England Name Mike England Playing position Role Footballer | Years Team Height 1.88 m 1959–1966 Blackburn Rovers Position Defender | |
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Date of birth (1941-12-02) 2 December 1941 (age 74) Place of birth Holywell, Flintshire, Wales | ||
SFC40 Alumni Tribute: Mike England
Harold Michael "Mike" England, (born 2 December 1941) is a Welsh former footballer and manager.
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Playing career
Born in Holywell, Wales, Mike England was a tall commanding centre-half, who could also play effectively as a centre-forward. He played for Blackburn Rovers, Tottenham Hotspur, Cardiff, and for the Wales national team. At Spurs he won the inaugural 1972 UEFA Cup Final and was runner up in the same competition 2 years later; his goal in the first leg of the 1974 final unable to win the cup a second time for Spurs. England played in the North American Soccer League with the Seattle Sounders from 1975 to 1979. He retired as a player in 1979 after playing eleven games for the Cleveland Force of the Major Indoor Soccer League. He scored an unusual "hat-trick" in 1974, two own-goals and one goal to Burnley net.
England was overtaken as the youngest Wales permanent captain by Aaron Ramsey in 2011.
Management career
He managed the Wales national team from March 1980 to February 1988. In his first match in May 1980, Wales beat England 4–1 at Wrexham. Under his managership Wales came close to qualifying for several tournaments, most notably the 1986 World Cup. In the qualifying group Wales were drawn alongside Scotland, Spain and Iceland. They started with a 1-0 defeat away to Iceland before beating them in the return match at Cardiff. A 3-0 defeat away to Spain was followed by a 1-0 win against Scotland at Hampden and a 3-0 drubbing of Spain at Wrexham with Mark Hughes scoring a spectacular bicycle kick. That set up a final group match against Scotland which Wales had to win to qualify for the finals. A 1–1 draw was enough for Scotland, but their much loved manager Jock Stein had a heart attack in the dugout next to Mike England, and died shortly after. England was sacked as Wales manager on 3 February 1988 after failing to qualify for the 1988 European Championships. That was to be the final job he would ever have in football. He later managed a nursing home in North Wales, and then owned two nursing homes and ran his own timber business.
England was awarded an MBE for services to Welsh football in 1986.
He gave an interview to a Tottenham Podcast in 2012, where he talked extensively about football past and present, and remains in regular contact with his friend, Harry Redknapp.
Honours
Tottenham Hotspur