BOLTON Wanderers’ leading appearance maker Eddie Hopkinson travelled with the England squad to the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.
With 519 appearances for the Whites, Hopkinson entered the tournament on the back of the FA Cup final victory over Manchester United.
But it was a frustrating experience for the Wanderers man who did not see action in any of the three group games.
He was joined by fellow Wanderers team-mate Tommy Banks in a very inexperienced national side.
Billy Wright, Tom Finney, Johnny Haynes and Ronnie Clayton were the only players to travel with more than seven caps.
Hopkinson played second fiddle to Burnley’s Colin McDonald who went into the tournament with just one cap to his name, five less than the Burnden Park favourite.
McDonald played in all three group games – all draws – against the Soviet Union, Brazil and Austria which was not enough to see them progress to the knockout stages.
Hopkinson went on to make a further eight appearances for England before hanging up his international football gloves in 1959.
After making his debut for Oldham Athletic at 16 years old in 1952 he joined Bill Ridding’s Bolton later that year where he spent the rest of his career until he retired in November, 1969, after 17 years of service.
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