England 1966 World Cup star ‘leaves staggering amount of cash – and match medal – to his household’ in his will

Ron Flowers, who was part of the England squad that won the World Cup in 1996, has left nearly £400,000 to his family in his will, according to a report.

The former midfielder, who was unused during the tournament but still claimed a winners’ medal – though in 2009 – passed away in 2021 at the age of 87, when he was the oldest remaining player from the squad.

Now, High Court records have shown that Flowers left £399,600 to his wife and children, which was reduced to £391,134 after costs and debts were settled, according to The Sun.

All of his possessions, including his winners’ medal, were left to his wife Yvonne, who he had been married to for 64 years.

Though he did not play during the 1966 tournament, Flowers, who was also the oldest member of England squad at the competition at the age of 31, was capped 49 times for England between 1955 and 1963, scoring 10 goals. He played in the 1962 World Cup, featuring in the quarter-final run in Chile.

He received a winners’ medal for 1966 16 years ago through a FIFA initiative that rewarded members of the squad who had not received medals at the time at 10 Downing Street.

England 1966 World Cup star Ron Flowers has left nearly £400,000 to his family following his death in 2021

Flowers received his winners medal in 2009, and left that to his wife of 64 years, Yvonne

Only the 11 players on the pitch at full-time had initially been awarded, with FIFA later giving medals to every non-playing squad and staff member from every country who won the tournament from 1930 to 1974.

There was a brief period where it had looked as though he may start the final – which England won 4-2 against West Germany – when Jack Charlton fell ill a matter of hours before the game.

Manager Sir Alf Ramsey had promised Flowers that he would take Charlton’s place in the team if he could not recover, but the Leeds defender would be fit in time for the game.

‘I knew it would take more than a cold to stop Jackie,’ Flowers said of the events in 2015. ‘So it wasn’t such a let down the next morning when I knew that I wouldn’t be playing.’

As a player, Flowers played for Wolves when they were champions of England in the 1950s and featured for England for the first time at the age of 21.

He made 512 appearances for Wolves in total, retiring in 1971. After his playing days, he would go onto open a sports shop which would be run by his two sons, and he was made an honorary vice-president of Wolves in 2015.