The death of former Birmingham City and England goalkeeper Gil Merrick was announced yesterday; he won 23 caps for England and played in the 1954 World Cup finals tournament, his final international appearance coming in the 4-2 quarter final defeat against Uruguay. Sporting a pencil moustache and slicked back hair during his playing days, he is probably best known as the ‘keeper who played in the 6-3 and 7-1 defeats against Hungary at Wembley in 1953 and Budapest the following year although the margin of defeat wasn’t his fault: at that time the Hungarians were playing football from another world.

Merrick was an old school one club man, making almost 500 appearances for the Blues between 1938 and 1960; the club renamed the Railway Stand after him at the beginning of this season.