Ray 'Butch' Wilkins, who has died aged 61, was in the 1970s and 1980s a highly accomplished midfielder for England and a host of leading clubs including Chelsea, Manchester United and AC Milan.
Arguably, Wilkins was – to coin a phrase – an Italian player with the character of an English one. Blessed with tactical intelligence and an assurance unusual in British footballers, and making a virtue of retaining possession, he was sometimes under-appreciated by those on the terraces, though never by team-mates.
His habit of playing the ball square, often the safe option, led him to be mocked as “the Crab” at Old Trafford, where he played from 1979 until 1984. Yet there he was conforming to his role...