Les Rewarded At Last

Last updated : 23 May 2009 By Kevin Markey
The Football Association have confirmed that Les will receive a posthumous winner's medal in recognition of his role as one of the '66 side's main coaches.

He originally missed out on a medal because, until 1974, they were only given to the 11 men who played in each tournament's final.

But the world football's governing body, Fifa, have announced that it had minted 14 new medals for the boys of '66.

Eleven, said Fifa, would be awarded to the members of England's playing squad who did not appear in the final against West Germany.

The decision on who would get the other three, however, was left to the FA.

It has now said they will go to the families of manager Alf Ramsey, Les and the side's trainer, Harold Shepherdson, who have all passed away.

The announcement marks victory for the Yorkshire Evening Post's 'Give Les A Medal' campaign, launched in February last year.

The medals are due to be presented to representatives of Alf, Les and Harold's families on the pitch at Wembley before England's game against Andorra on June 10, when the former players will also receive theirs.

Fifa is producing new medals for the winners of each World Cup up to 1974.

Since then as many as 45 at a time have been given out to successful squads and their back-up teams.

Father-of-three Les, who died in 1979 aged 55, combined his England work with a coaching role at Leeds during the hugely-successful managerial reign of Don Revie.