| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Harold Michael England | ||
| Date of birth | 2 December 1941 | ||
| Place of birth | Holywell, Flintshire, Wales | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1959–1966 | Blackburn Rovers | 165 | (21) |
| 1966–1975 | Tottenham Hotspur | 300 | (14) |
| 1975–1976 | Cardiff City | 40 | (1) |
| 1975–1979 | Seattle Sounders | 106 | (6) |
| 1979–1980 | Cleveland Force (indoor) | 11 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 1962–1975 | Wales | 44 | (4) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1979–1987 | Wales | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Harold Michael "Mike" England, MBE[1](born 2 December 1941) was a popular Welsh footballer and manager.[2]
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Born Holywell, Wales, Mike England was a tall commanding centre-half, who could also play effectively as a centre-forward. He played for Blackburn Rovers, Tottenham Hotspur, Cardiff, and for the Wales national team. At Spurs he won the inaugural 1972 UEFA Cup Final and was runner up in the same competition 2 years later; his goal in the first leg of the 1974 final unable to win the cup a second time for Spurs. He retired as a player in 1979 after playing eleven games for the Cleveland Force of the Major Indoor Soccer League. He scored "weird" hat-trick: two own-goals and one goal to Burnley net. It was in 1974.
Mike England was recently overtaken as the youngest Wales permanent captain by Aaron Ramsey. .[3]
He managed the Wales national team from 1979 to 1987. In his first match, Wales beat England 4-1 at Wrexham. Under his managership Wales came close to qualifying for several tournaments, most notably the 1986 World Cup. That year, Wales faced Scotland in a World Cup qualifier, which Wales had to win to qualify for the finals. A 1-1 draw was enough for Scotland, but their much loved manager Jock Stein had a heart attack in the dugout next to Mike England, and died shortly after. This affected Mike very much, as he has admitted freely, and he quit football management shortly afterwards to manage a nursing home in North Wales. England was awarded MBE for services to Welsh football.
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