The Unseen Sir Alf : A Different Kind of Hero

Author: Bage, Grant

Biography: sport

Published on 1 September 2025 by Pitch Publishing Ltd in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 352 pages
162 x 242 x 34 | 538g

The Unseen Sir Alf tears up the traditional narrative of Sir Alf Ramsey's life and career. Using new evidence to tell Alf's story afresh, it changes everything we thought we knew about England's 1966 World Cup-winning manager.

Alf despised most journalists, was kind to fans, often rude to his FA employer but loved his players. He looked conformist but was really a radical. Yet this odd, complex character became a national hero after England's 1966 World Cup win, and he should be one again.

Written by a history academic with a deep love of football, this groundbreaking book:Reshapes our understanding of English football's only World Cup-winning managerUses fresh historical evidence in every chapter to rethink Alf's story for new generationsShows how Alf's life issues have ties to the stories of modern football figures such as Gareth Southgate, Gary Lineker and Hope PowellReveals how Ramsey faced and overcame many barriers: a racist nickname, prejudice against 'gypsies', poverty, snobbery, war, being a banned Sunday footballer, not playing professionally until 26, and probable neurodiversityDemonstrates how Alf's success has lessons not only for anyone who feels different, but for modern England as a nationSo, who really was Alf Ramsey, and what might modern England learn from him? This book holds all the answers.