Finney pays tribute to Sir Walter

Finney played 76 times under Winterbottom

Sir Tom Finney, who won all of his 76 international caps under Sir Walter Winterbottom, says he will remember the former England manager as a "lovely person".

Winterbottom, who died on Sunday aged 89, managed the England team for 18 years until 1962 and was the first ever manager of the national side.

"Walter was a person who would come and talk to you individually," said Finney.

"He used to say: 'You've been selected to play for England because we think you're good enough - just go and enjoy yourself and play your normal game.'"

His great strength was weighing up the opposition

Sir Tom Finney

Finney added that Winterbottom was widely respected as a shrewd observer of the game.

"He was well-regarded in Europe as a first class coach," he said.

"His great strength was weighing up the opposition and telling us all their strengths and weaknesses."

Finney admitted that the selection process when Winterbottom was manager must seem a strange concept now.

The squad was chosen by a selection committee including the 92 league chairmen.

The manager also had to get involved in the administrative side of the job, sometimes arranging hotel bookings for his players.

"Unless you knew what was going on, it was really a comical sort of situation," said Finney.

"The selection committee would select the team and then he would go through it with them and argue for the people he felt should be in the side."

Finney scored 30 times for England and was named English Footballer of the Year in 1954 and again in 1957.