George Eastham, 1966 champion and apartheid critic, dies at 88

Former England midfielder George Eastham, a member of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning team who was best known for his social activism, has died. He was 88.

Stoke City Football Club announced Eastham’s death on Friday night, saying they were “extremely saddened” to lose a “club legend”. The cause of death was not given.

Eastham made 19 appearances for England, following in the footsteps of his father, George Eastham senior, although the last of those appearances came before the 1966 World Cup. He did not play in the tournament itself, where he was the only Arsenal player in the England squad that eventually won the title.

Eastham had to wait for a World Cup winner’s medal until 2007, when FIFA ruled that medals should be awarded retrospectively to non-playing team members from previous finals.

Eastham was recruited by Stoke shortly after the World Cup and played for the club for eight seasons, including loan spells elsewhere. His personal highlight with Stoke was scoring the winning goal in a 2–1 victory over Chelsea to win the 1972 League Cup at Wembley Stadium.

Eastman began his playing career in Northern Ireland for semi-professional team Ards, where his father, a former Bolton and Blackpool striker, was player-manager. Both father and son made their debuts for the club in the same match due to injuries to first-team players.

Eastman joined Newcastle United in 1956, Arsenal in 1960 and then Stoke in 1966. He also later coached the latter.

But Eastman was best known for his role in ending the so-called “slave rule”, under which a club could refuse to transfer a player even if his contract with the club had expired. Newcastle had refused to allow his transfer to Arsenal. Eastman’s campaign saw the retention and transfer rules changed in favour of players.

Eastman finished his playing career in South Africa, where he also coached. He became an outspoken critic of apartheid, the racist system of segregation in effect in the country at the time.