Heaven’s XI

Requiems for heavyweights: sporting history’s seven super-dupers who died in 2006 were, at 79, football’s Ferenc Puskas, cricket’s Fred Trueman (75) and Sir Clyde Walcott (80), US boxer Willie Pep (84) and his compatriot, double Olympian Bob Mathias (75), rugby’s sprinter Ken Jones (84), and Dr Kevin O’Flanagan (86), who played international tennis and golf for Ireland and also, uniquely, both rugby and soccer (for Arsenal, no less), as well as holding the national record at the 100 yards and long jump.

An old year bites the dust-to-dust and as ever, with it, so does the roll-call of those whose final Christmas was last year’s. Only the spectral fields of Elysium now; no smell of the liniment nor roar of the crowd up there: I logged, by apt fluke, 11 famous footballers who died in 2006, and a jolly good XI they make: in goal Ted Ditchburn (84); full backs Giacinto Facchetti (64), thrice an Italy World Cupper, and Roger Griffiths (61), only local boy in Hereford United’s fabled FA Cup run of 1972; at centre-half, stalwart Brian Labone (61), alongside scholarly midfielders John Lyall (66) and Ron Greenwood (84); and wow! some forward line: the incomparable Jimmies, Johnstone (61) and Leadbetter (78), slinging them over from either wing for Charlie Wayman (83), Peter Osgood (59) and the onliest Puskas to take it in laughing turns to score.

Probably because their game’s obituarists are more diligent, you can field two cricket XIs of those who died in 2006; well balanced teams, too: lamented Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie (72) could captain Dennis Brookes (90), Gordon Barker (74), Eddie Barlow (64), Wasim Raja (54), Sir Clyde (w.k.), Geoff Rabone (85), Johnny Sullivan (61), Eric Bedser (87), Alec Coxon (90), with true-great Trueman chuntering, affronted, at having to bring up the rear; and Walter Hadlee (91) would lead out Budhi Kunderan (66), Polly Umrigar (80), Hanumant Singh (67), Graham Roope (60), Jake Seamer (92), Michael Barton (91), George Dawkes (86, w.k.),