George Eastham, England 1966 World Cup winning squad member who criticized apartheid, dies at 88

LONDON (AP) — Former England midfielder George Eastham, a member of the country’s 1966 World Cup winning squad who was better known for his social activism, has died. He was 88.

Soccer club Stoke City announced Eastham’s death late Friday, saying it was “immensely saddened” to lose a “club legend.” It did not specify a cause of death.

Eastham made 19 appearances for England, following the path set by his father, George Eastham senior, though the last of those games was before the 1966 World Cup. He did not feature at the tournament itself, where he was the only Arsenal player in the ultimately successful England squad.

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 squad members of previous finals.

Eastham was signed by Stoke shortly after the World Cup and went on play 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 started his playing career in Northern Ireland for semi-professional side Ards, where his father, a former Bolton and Blackpool forward, was the player-coach. Both father and son made their debuts for the club in the same match because of injuries to first-team players.

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

But Eastman was better known for his role in ending the so-called “slavery rule,” by which a club could refuse to allow a player’s transfer even if his contract with the club had expired. Newcastle had refused to allow his transfer to Arsenal. Eastman’s campaign saw the retain-and-transfer regulations altered in favor of players.

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

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