Jimmy Armfield - his England career

Blackpool FC legend Jimmy Armfield dies after cancer battleThe full-back ended his career with 43 caps in a spell between 1959 and 1966, and captained his country on 15 occasions.

He was dubbed the best right-back on the planet during the 1962 World Cup and was widely regarded as the first overlapping full-back.

The pioneering defender used to get forward at every opportunity in an era where players in his position rarely ventured beyond the halfway line.

Armfield joined his local side Blackpool as a teenager in 1954, where he played behind the great Stanley Matthews. Matthews' aura gave the youngster an opportunity to attack as teams put two markers on the veteran.

Armfield’s international debut came against Brazil in 1959 in front of over 120,000 fans at the Maracana.

In the absence of regular skipper Johnny Haynes, he captained his country for the first time in September 1961 in a World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg.

With England qualifying comfortably, the following summer he was selected for the squad to travel to Chile for the 1962 World Cup finals.

Although England as a whole were far from impressive, Armfield had a fine tournament in Chile, enhancing his reputation as one of the finest full-backs in the game.

The team reached the quarter-finals, recovering from an opening game defeat to Hungary by beating Argentina and scraping through the group stage after a draw with Bulgaria.

In the last eight, they were comfortably beaten 3-1 by defending champions Brazil.

He was voted the best right-back in Europe between 1962 and 1964. However, a groin injury suffered in Blackpool's last match of the 1963/64 season against Ipswich Town ruled him out of the side for England's busy summer programme.

Fulham's George Cohen took the opportunity to establish himself as England's first choice right-back with a series of strong performances, and Armfield was unable to force his way back into the team.

He played two further matches in the warm-up to the 1966 World Cup and was included in the winning squad but a toe injury sustained in the pre-tournament appearance against Finland and Cohen's incumbency ensured he played no part in the tournament.

His appearance against Finland was his last for his country.

Despite his absence, Armfield - as a senior professional - was regularly asked for his opinion by manager Alf Ramsey.

In the 1966 World Cup final only the 11 players on the pitch at the end of the 4-2 win over West Germany received medals.

Following a FA-led campaign to persuade FIFA to award medals to all the winners' squad members, Armfield was presented with his medal by Gordon Brown at a ceremony at 10 Downing Street on June 10, 2009.