Lions in the Wilderness

Lions in the Wilderness traces the travails of England’s football team in the 1970s, a decade that saw the end of their reign as world champions, momentous managerial upheavals and the Three Lions’ failure to appear in another major tournament until 1980. On the plus side, there was a growing recognition of black players.

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Lions in the Wilderness: England's Decade of Decline traces the trials and tribulations of the England football team in the 1970s.

It was a decade that began with the Three Lions being deposed as holders at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, and ended with them failing to appear in another major tournament until the 1980 European Championship. Manager Sir Alf Ramsey, who led England to their famous 1966 World Cup Final triumph over West Germany at Wembley, lost his job in the wake of his side's calamitous failure to qualify for the 1974 tournament, while ultimate successor Don Revie walked out in highly controversial fashion to take charge of the United Arab Emirates and leave Ron Greenwood to pick up the pieces of his country's shattered reputation.

Lions in the Wilderness also focuses on the personalities who shaped English football in the 70s and charts the growing emergence of black players, culminating in right-back Viv Anderson becoming the first black player to win a senior England cap.