If you asked me to name England's goalkeepers winning caps in the 1960s, I would start with Gordon Banks obviously. Ron Springett (Sheff W) and Peter Bonetti (Chelsea) would also get a mention having been in the 1966 World Cup squad. In 1962 they would be Alan Hodgkinson (Sheff Utd) and Ron Springett (QPR then Sheff Wed) again.
Going one era back, in 1958 Colin MacDonald (Burnley) and Eddie Hopkinson (Bolton W) stood in net. But if you look at the playing record through the Sixties,
Banks held the position mostly with 73 caps 1963-72; died February 2019. Bonetti died in April this year; won 7 caps from 1966-70. Springett died September 2015; 33 caps 1959-66 Hodgkinson died December 2015; 5 caps from 1957-60
In 1964 Tony Waiters played in goal only five times for England; he died today aged 83.
Waiters was born in Southport in 1937 and I knew about Tony because he played for local Blackpool over 250 times and the Seasiders were my favourite team when I was in "single figures". Waiters was an England international ( a back up for Gordon Banks in 1966), played in NASL Championship when USA Soccer got started and he took his skills over the Atlantic and ended up as the National Coach for Canada, taking them to the 1986 World Cup.
His clubs started with Bishop Auckland in the North-east in 1957 and at this time he played for the England Amateur team when at Loughborough College.
He then went to Macclesfield Town (very much in the news now, with their precarious place in the National League), Blackpool from 1959-67, as back up for the ageing George Farm. Blackpool were relegated from Division One in 1967 and Waiters "retired". He joined local Burnley, at the end of his English playing career in 1970 and was brought out of retirement to play in their goal in an emergency and he then managed Plymouth Argyle from 1972-7.
As a coach he worked for the English FA and coached the England Youth squad in Italy in 1973. He helped Plymouth Argyle to promotion from the Third Division in 1975 and went abroad!
He was with Vancouver Whitecaps from 1977-9, topping the New York Cosmos in the NAS League and managed the Canadian National side from 1981 for ten years, taking them to the 1984 Olympics. Although the Canadian World Cup side didn't score a goal in the qualification process his team only lost to France 0-1.
Waiters then ran the "World of Soccer" Company, introduced ACE Coaching Cards, headed Total Player Development, launched Byte Size Coaching and worked for NSCA America.
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