Philip Barker: Time to celebrate Bill Slater, a footballer with a unique British sporting history

Philip Barker_Athens_2004

Born in 1927, Bill Slater is the only British footballer who can be mentioned in the same breath as Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho, Michel Platini and Lev Yashin. All have graced the Olympic tournament and the World cup finals, but Slater was the first and so far only Briton to do so.

By 1952, Slater (pictured below left in 1960 and right in 2007) had already appeared in the FA Cup final (as an amateur with Blackpool).

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