George Raynor

George Raynor was one of the finest international football managers produced by England and, going into the 2020 Olympics, he remains the only Englishman to have won an Olympic football gold medal. Very few people in his home country, however, have heard of him.

Yorkshireman Raynor was nothing more than a mediocre footballer who played for Mansfield Town, Rotherham United, Sheffield United, Bury and Aldershot, but he went on to become an outstanding coach overseas. His first coaching job was in Iraq during service in World War II when he was asked by the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri al-Said, to form the first national football team, in order to play a series of friendly matches. On returning home, Raynor worked briefly as coach of the reserves at Aldershot but, despite advertising for work, could not get a position in England. Following the intervention of Sir Stanley Rous in 1946, however, Raynor got offered the job in charge of the Swedish national side. He led them to the 1948 Olympic title and then to third place in the 1950 FIFA World Cup, when three of their star players missing. Raynor followed that with an Olympic bronze in 1952 and then, in 1958, he enjoyed his finest hour when he took Sweden to the final of the World Cup on home soil following notable wins over Hungary, the Soviet Union and West Germany. In the final they met Brazil, and the 17-year-old Pelé, but lost 5-2 despite scoring an early goal through Nils Liedholm. For his services to Swedish football Raynor was made a Knight of the Order of Vasa, by King Gustaf VI.

Raynor had spells in club management with, amongst others, Swedish clubs AIK Stockholm and Djurgårdens IF, the Italian giants Juventus and Lazio and in England with Coventry City, Skegness Town and Doncaster Rovers. When he died, there were still few people in England who knew the name of George Raynor, the first Englishman to take a team to the World Cup Final and sadly, the British press did not afford him an obituary.