A blue England 1950 World Cup Tournament cap, inscribed WORLD CUP, 1950, TOURNAMENT; sold together with a signed letter from Walter Winterbottom to Ji
£800 - £1,000
A blue England 1950 World Cup Tournament cap, inscribed WORLD CUP, 1950, TOURNAMENT; sold together with a signed letter from Walter Winterbottom to Jim Taylor dated 11.7.1950 expressing his thanks to Taylor for his ''loyalty and willing co-operation in training routine even though you did not take part in any of the three games played by England''; a signed letter from Stanley Rous 12.7.50 requesting that Taylor complete a F.A. expenses claim form for the World Cup; and four good luck telegrams sent to Jim Taylor in Brazil (7) The Football Association had ignored the World Cup since its inception in 1930 and although finally entering a team in 1950 they still displayed an ambiguous attitude towards the tournament by arranging a goodwill tour of Canada (see previous lot) at the same time. This deprived England coach Walter Winterbottom of the opportunity of selecting a number of key players, most notably Stanley Matthews, who arrived in Brazil from Canada after the first game had been played. This was also the case for Fulham's Jim Taylor, although he was not selected for any of England's matches during the debacle that reached its nadir with the shock 1-0 defeat to the USA.