Ronald Flowers (28 July 1934 – 12 November 2021) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

, who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, and was most known for his time at

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club' ...

. He was a member of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

's victorious

1966 World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...

squad. He was the elder brother of John Flowers.

Club career

Flowers began in the

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

academy, where his father played semi-professionally. Whilst he flourished on the pitch at Belle Vue, he also trained as an apprentice at the Doncaster rail sheds, at his father's insistence that he learn a trade outside of football. He was later released by Doncaster and joined the Wolves' nursery side Wath Wanderers, where he soon came to the attention of the highly successful Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Stan Cullis. Within a year, he was moved down to Molineux and soon broke into the first team, making a scoring debut against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and is ...

on 20 September 1952. Prior to this time, he had served in the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

and became an Aircraftman Second Class. Initially playing as an attacking midfield player (in modern terminology) at

, he won three league championships and an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

. After the death of

Gerry Harris Gerald William Harris (8 October 1935 – 28 July 2020) was an English professional footballer. He spent the majority of his league career with Wolverhampton Wanderers, with whom he won two league championships and the FA Cup. Career Harris w ...

, he was the last surviving member of the 1960 FA Cup Final team. In total, he made 515 appearances for the club, scoring 37 times. In the latter stages of his career he played a more defensive role. He left Wolves in September 1967 to join

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

, where he later became player/manager. He ended his playing career at non-league Wellington Town (latterly known as Telford United) as player-manager. Whilst manager there, they won the

1970–71 FA Trophy The 1970–71 FA Trophy was the second season of the FA Trophy. The competition was set up for non-league clubs which paid their players and were therefore not eligible to enter the FA Amateur Cup. First qualifying round Ties Replays 2nd repl ...

. After being sacked in 1971, he retired to run a sports shop in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

International career

England national football team, 11 April 1959

Flowers won 49

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for

and scored ten goals. His international debut came on 15 May 1955 in a 1–0 friendly defeat to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. He went on to appear in the

1962 World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the seventh edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile. The qualification rounds took place bet ...

and scored two goals from the

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penal ...

spot in the first two games of the group stage. From November 1958 (his second international appearance) until April 1963, he appeared in 40 consecutive England international matches; only Billy Wright has appeared in more. He also has the distinction of scoring England's first goal in a

European Football Championships The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is conte ...

game – in the qualifying round first leg against

at Hillsborough on 3 October 1962. He scored all six penalties that he took for England. Although his last England cap came before the finals (a friendly win over

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

), he was a member of the squad that won the

, being the oldest and earliest-capped member of the squad. Flowers narrowly missed out on playing in the final itself.

Jack Charlton John Charlton (8 May 193510 July 2020) was an English footballer and manager who played as a defender. He was part of the England national team that won the 1966 World Cup and managed the Republic of Ireland national team from 1986 to 199 ...

who was due to play, caught a cold on the eve of the West Germany match. Flowers was approached by his manager, Alf Ramsey, the night before the final and told that if Charlton had not recovered by the morning he was on. After a sleepless night, it turned out that Charlton was fine in the morning and, ultimately, Flowers never kicked a ball at the tournament. In the

1966 World Cup Final The 1966 FIFA World Cup Final was a football match played at Wembley Stadium, London, on 30 July 1966 to determine the winner of the 1966 FIFA World Cup, the eighth FIFA World Cup. The match was contested by England and West Germany, with En ...

only the 11 players on the pitch at the end of the 4–2 win over West Germany received medals. Following a

Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...

-led campaign to persuade

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

to award medals to all the winners' squad members, Flowers was presented with his

medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony ...

at a ceremony at

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and executive office of the first lord of the treasury, usually, by convention, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Along w ...

on 10 June 2009. In an article in the England international Official Match-Day Programme for the World Cup qualifying match against

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

on 1 April 2009, Flowers was cited as England's best ever penalty taker (shared with

Alan Shearer Alan Shearer CBE DL (born 13 August 1970) is an English football pundit and retired football player and manager who played as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest players in Premi ...

). He converted all six of the penalties he took for England.

Personal life

Flowers' younger brother, John Flowers, and his uncle, George Flowers both played over 100 games professionally for

. In March 2017, Flowers' grandson, Harry, was signed by

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

side

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Br ...

on a contract until June 2018. His sister-in-law is former

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the bo ...

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Maureen Flowers Maureen Flowers (nee Hancock, born 5 December 1946 in London) is a retired English professional darts player and was in the 1980s the world number-one female darts player. Early life Flowers grew up in Norton Green, Stoke-on-Trent. She learnt ...

, the wife of his brother John. He had a wife and two sons. Flowers was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2021 New Year Honours The 2021 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to football. On 12 November 2021, it was announced that Flowers had died aged 87.

Honours

Wolverhampton Wanderers * First Division: 1953–54, 1957–58, 1958–59; runners-up: 1954–55, 1959–60 *

: 1959–60 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier L ...

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

(shared),

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

(shared) *

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

: runners-up 1966–67 England * World Cup:

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Flowers, Ron 1934 births 2021 deaths People from Edlington Footballers from Doncaster English footballers England international footballers England under-23 international footballers 1962 FIFA World Cup players 1966 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup-winning players English Football League players Association football midfielders Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Telford United F.C. players Telford United F.C. managers English football managers English Football League representative players Members of the Order of the British Empire FA Cup Final players English Football League managers Royal Air Force airmen