Where are they now?: Bert Williams

EACH TIME England meet the United States at football, Bert Williams relives the same moment. There are eight minutes to half-time and in the English goal he has a rare shot to deal with. He has the ball covered, but then it is deflected, involuntarily some still say, by the head of Larry Gaetjens. A second later, Williams is retrieving the ball from the netting, and the stadium at Belo Horizonte in Brazil is in uproar. It is 29 June 1950 and the World Cup is about to witness one of its greatest upsets.

Williams, drawn from the great Wolves side of the day, can still make no sense of the result. 'It should have been England 8, USA 1. There was certainly no lack of endeavour from our players, but we just could not score. As for their goal, it was one of those things you could do nothing about: I had no chance.'

A career encompassing FA Cup and League championship medals as well as 24 international caps would earn a fortune today. No such riches were available then, but Williams built wisely on his prestige when he retired in 1957. He turned an empty warehouse into one of the first multi-sports centres, developed a thriving sports equipment business, then diversified into engineering and later property, with which he is still involved today.

Aged 71, he lives 'in valued privacy' three miles outside Shifnal, Shropshire. He has been married to Evelyn for 52 years and they have three children, two of whom are directors of the family firm.

(Photograph omitted)