The Little Book of Yorkshire: Little Book of

The Guinness Book of Records called him the most successful football coach in history but English-born, George Raynor is the great unknown of British football. His remarkable successes (coaching 'amateur' Sweden to an Olympic Gold medal and a World Cup Final) were contrasted bizarrely by how he was treated by the English football community of the 1950s. Months after becoming the first Englishman to take a side to the World Cup Final, Raynor was scratching a living coaching Skegness Town in the Midland League. His death went unrecorded by the local and national press and even today references to him in football books offer little insight into his remarkable character: 'a little known clogger' according to one, and in a history of football tactics reference to Raynor is fleeting and disparaging, even his name is misspelt. Yet, Raynor unquestionably hold his position as a leading light of coaching and his impact is still relevant today.