An articulate and highly respected football theorist, he was a true pioneer in that he laid down a coaching blueprint that has survived through more than half a century of the game's evolution.

Yet he was also at the helm when England suffered three of their most humiliating defeats - a shock 1-0 loss to the United States during the 1950 World Cup in Brazil and the 6-3 and 7-1 maulings by Hungary in 1953 and 1954 respectively.

However, Lancastrian Winterbottom, who led the country through four World Cup Finals, always had to work for a Football Association that was resistant to change. Although he held the title of director of coaching as well as running the national side, he was restricted in his power.

He took over the England team in 1946 when the FA had its own international selection committee, whose tendency to select players from clubs to which it was attached was an obvious handicap. It effectively selected the England side.

Yet those players who did get the benefits of Winterbottom's polite but persuasive manner found him to be the consummate professional, with a fine attention to detail and marvellously innovative. One of those was Alf Ramsey, who succeeded Winterbottom and led England to World Cup glory on home soil in 1966.

But Winterbottom, who died on Saturday night in a Guildford hospital, had to handle a national self-delusion that England were unbeatable because they had given the game to the rest of the world.

Jimmy Armfield, one of Winterbottom's England captains, said last night: 'Walter was a gentleman. He was always organised and controlled.

'Even when we beat Scotland 9-3 at Wembley in 1961 he didn't go overboard. He rubbed his hands together and simply said he felt we had performed wonderfully.'

Winterbottom's record remains the most successful of any post-war England boss, with 78 wins, 33 draws and 28 defeats from his 139 games in charge between 1946 and 1962.