Ron Atkinson: England will "never win the World Cup again"

Former Manchester United boss Ron Atkinson believes that England will "never win the World Cup again".

The last time the Three Lions lifted the trophy was in 1966 under Sir Alf Ramsey. Since then the furthest any England team have reached was the semi-finals in 1990.

Atkinson wrote in his column in the Daily Star: "We'll never win the World Cup again. I've been saying that for a long time, too. Since the turn of the ­millennium, everyone has talked about the golden generation of English ­football.

"But I have never subscribed to that. I've always thought we have had some excellent ­players. Some super midfielders. Decent defenders.

"But we have always lacked front players in the modern era. The only chance we have ever had was in 2004 at the European Championships in ­Portugal."

England take on Montenegro on Tuesday in their next 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign fixture.