How did the humble son of a mill-working family in Oldham go from teaching to modernising English football and coaching into the likes we see today?

"It's a wonderful story - you have to pinch yourself to believe it", the devoted son-in-law of the late Sir Walter Winterbottom, Graham Morse, said.

Sir Walter was a passionate teacher and educator - but he was also the first-ever director of coaching and manager of the England team and went on to not only revolutionise the game, but inspire generations of coaching that had never been seen before.

It all began at number 31 Stafford Street, Werneth, where Walter was born in 1913.

Instead of following in his family's footsteps to the mills, he pursued an education instead but played football throughout his young adult life, including throughout his training at Chester Teacher Training College where he graduated in 1934 before returning home to Oldham to teach at his former school.

While playing locally for Royton and Mossley, he then was spotted by Louis Rocca, England's football administrator and scout, who convinced Walter to play for Manchester United for £10 a week in 1936.

A spinal injury cut his playing career short and he served in the Royal Air Force during the second world war during which time he also met and married his wife, Lady Winterbottom, whom he had three children, Janet, Brenda and Alan with.

But education persisted as he went on to work as a lecturer after graduating from the Carnegie College of Physical Education in Leeds.

Stanley Rous, who was the secretary of the Football Association (FA) at the time, then asked Walter to help him create a national football coaching course and although FA offered Walter the job, the pay was too low.

Undeterred, Stanley negotiated a unique position for Walter that the FA approved.

"So he became de facto manager of the England football team", Graham said.

The move was met with resistance from players who were less than keen on the idea of a manager - and even less in favour of a coach as they mocked the idea of being 'taught' how to kick a ball and dribble.

But despite the challenges, Walter implemented huge changes including the introduction of European tours, a B team, an under-23 team and a switch in tactics to the 4-4-2 formation.

Graham added: "He was an innovator - a pioneer in terms of the England team changes and he wasn't even able to pick the team."

His success was demonstrated when England got to two quarter-finals in the 1954 and 1962 World Cup - and his work is largely considered instrumental in the victory of 1966.

But Graham said coaching remained Walter's most important job, influencing thousands and sparking a whole new generation of coaches. 

Graham explained: "It's incredible now to believe there was no coaching in English football until he came on the scene.

"Players would just run around the pitch, and that was it."

Graham also said players "laughed" when Walter instructed them to practice throw-ins, but said there are now dedicated throw-in coaches.

"I just think, wow. It shows how foresighted he was.

"That's why he is the father of football coaching", Graham added.

When asked about how he imagined Walter would feel seeing the current England squad at the World Cup in Qatar, Graham said he could only speculate but imagined he would be "very impressed" by the level of skill and fitness of the players.

"He'd be very impressed with how a player can get the ball and just control it as though it's glued to his body. That didn't used to happen in the old days.

"He thought to win a World Cup, you need five or six players who are really world-class, not just good, world-class.

"A manager can't make that happen, you either have them or you don't, but it's possible Southgate's got four or five world-class players, so I think he would be very hopeful that England could go all the way."

Janet also said Walter was a "super dad", even though he was away a lot.

"Our education came before everything, even when we were in bed ill with measles and mumps, he would come home with maths worksheets.

"But we did have fun.

"It's only in hindsight that I look back now and I just took it for granted.

"We were always very proud of him - he was almost secondary to the Prime Minister.

"In fact, most working-class people probably knew more about the England manager than they did the Prime Minister at that time", she added.

Graham added that Walter was simply a "wonderful person" who was kind, caring, generous and "a natural".

"He was just the kind of person that, whoever you were, he made you feel important and valuable, whether he's talking to you, a football player or the Duke of Edinburgh.

"He was always trying to bring the best out of people and that's what made him such a great coach."

Despite Walter's incredible legacy to football and his knighthood in 1978, Graham, who has written a biography about Walter's life, said he is largely forgotten in his Oldham hometown.

Petitions to erect a blue plaque in Walter's memory have so far been unsuccessful.

Sir Walter Winterbottom died aged 89 to cancer in 2002.