Ron Springett

Ronald "Ron" Deryk George Springett (born 22 July 1935) was a football goalkeeper for Sheffield Wednesday, QPR and England.

Career

Springett made 33 appearances for England, then the most by any Sheffield Wednesday player. He held this record for 26 years. He made his England debut against Northern Ireland in 1959. He had been the first choice goalkeeper during the 1962 World Cup in Chile when England reached the quarter finals. His final cap was against Norway in 1966 shortly before the World Cup finals. He was a non-playing member of the England squad, that won the 1966 World Cup. On Monday 26 November 2007, it was announced by FIFA that all non-starting members of World Cup winning squads (1930-1974 competitions) would receive a winners medal. This list included Ron Springett.

Springett began his career at QPR before moving to Wednesday for £10,000. While he was at QPR, he was selected to play in the Third Division South representative team in 1957. He made 384 appearances for Wednesday before returning to QPR in May 1967. As part of the deal his brother, Peter also a goalkeeper moved to Wednesday from QPR.

In the 1966 World Cup final only the 11 players on the pitch during the 4-2 win over West Germany received medals. Following a Football Association led campaign to persuade FIFA to award medals to all the winners’ squad members, Springett was presented with his medal by Gordon Brown at a ceremony at 10 Downing Street on 10 June 2009.

Springett was a member of the Sheffield Wednesday team beaten 3-2 by Everton in the 1966 FA Cup Final at Wembley.

Honours

• World Cup: 1966

Testimonial

Sheffield Wednesday held a testimonial for Ronald Springett on Sep 25th 1967 at Hillsborough Stadium. (A Sheffield United XI beat a Sheffield Wednesday XI 3-2) The game was watched by 23,070 fans.

External links

• Sheffield Wednesday Official Site
• Englandfanzine