George Eastham: 1936-2024

We are saddened to learn that England 1966 World Cup winner George Eastham OBE passed away at the age of 88 on Friday 20 December.

Born in Blackpool, and son of George Eastham Senior who also played for the Three Lions, Eastham was the 820th player to be capped for England when he debuted against Brazil in an FA Centenary match at Wembley on 8 May 1963, a game which ended 1-1.

He went on to win a total of 19 caps and scored two goals in his international career, marking his final appearance for England with a goal in a 2-0 friendly win over Denmark in Copenhagen ahead of the 1966 World Cup on home soil.

As a member of the England squad for the 1966 World Cup who didn’t play in the tournament, he received his winners’ medal at Downing Street in 2009 following a campaign to award medals to all squad members.

A skilful midfielder or inside-forward, he began his career in Northern Ireland with Ards, where his father was player-manager before joining Newcastle United in 1956.

Four years and over 120 appearances later, as well as England U23 recognition, there was a controversial departure from St. James’ Park as Eastham moved south to the capital and had a year out of the game before he signed for Arsenal where he further cemented his reputation with six years and over 200 appearances for the Gunners.

It was while at Highbury that Eastham began to make his mark in the international game, with his debut against Brazil having already travelling to the 1962 World Cup as an uncapped player.

After captaining Arsenal for his final three seasons there, he joined his third English club by moving to Stoke City in August 1966, just weeks after the World Cup victory.

And it was with the Potters where he picked up his only domestic honour, as he scored in their 2-1 win over Chelsea to secure the League Cup title in 1972.

Following his retirement from playing in 1974, Eastham was awarded an OBE for his services to football and moved into coaching, initially as an assistant manager to Tony Waddington at Stoke. He then took on the role of manager in 1977 for a short spell before his departure in 1978.

Eastham emigrated to South Africa shortly after leaving Stoke, where he ran a business and coached local youngsters as well as becoming chairman of the South African Arsenal supporters’ club.