47 years ago today

OzMike said:

I was 6 years old and England won the world cup, I saw it on TV.

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Goldstone Rapper said:

Tony Blair, writing before the 1997 General Election:

"My love affair with football really began in 1966. On June 30 to be precise, the day England won the World Cup at Wembley and fired me and thousands of schoolboys like me with an enthusiasm that will last all of our lives. Not that I knew anything about Kenneth Wolstenholme's now famous television commentary. I was in France and had no idea people were on the pitch. But i knew it was all over - such was the elation of what was a day of nail-biting drama that I can still remember, more than 30 years later, the thrill of victory, the rush of adrenaline, the pride and hero-worship I felt for Bobby Moore and the rest of the terrific side."

(Chances are, this back story is probably completely made up and young Tone was probably completely indifferent to the events of summer '66).

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Gwylan said:

I'm very far from being a Blair lover (I think he should be tried as a war criminal) but he's clearly a big football fan, there have been plenty of independent comments about his love of the game. I see no reason to doubt his account (apart from the date being wrong). Everyone was gripped by the World Cup - even my mum watched the final and she's neither English nor a football fan - and I see no reason to doubt Blair's account.

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Mo Gosfield said:

I assume you are referring to that little match at Wembley....July 30 1966.
Watched all the build-up ( in black and white of course ) and then the match itself. Heart stopping stuff. A goal down, then seconds from winning and then victory snatched away. The controversy in extra time and then the ultimate triumph.
The memories are still as sharp today as then...
1) Bobby Moore...truly magnificent. A leader amongst men. Superb free-kick finding Hurst in space for his first and then, in the dying seconds, with the whole nation screaming for him to boot it into the stand, he looked up and dropped a 60 yard ball over Geoff Hurst's shoulder, into his path and the rest is history.
Wiping his hands, before he shook hands with the queen...." its only 12 inches high but its made of solid gold and it means...etc " Being hoisted aloft by his teammates. They all knew how good he was and they loved him.
2) Alan Ball...just ran and ran and ran. Never stopped. If the game had lasted 3 hours, Bally would still have been running his heart out....When Hurst slammed in the 4th, only one player was within 20 yards of him. Bally...who leapt straight into his arms. MOM for a lot of people.
3) Alf Ramsey...the man who said we would win the World Cup and was laughed at. The man who insisted on picking his own team and not allowing an FA committee to do it. The man who stuck by Nobby Stiles when the FA wanted him dropped for his appalling tackle against a Frenchman in the group..." if he goes, I go " The man who had the courage to leave out possibly the best striker in Europe ( Greaves ) from the Final and play the journeymen Hunt and Hurst together. The man who saw all his players sitting shattered on the turf at the end of normal time and went round all of them, dragging them to their feet. He pointed to the Germans, still sitting and told his players..." look, they're finished....you've won this once, now go out and do it again. The man at the end who stayed seated, drained of everything. The man who didn't join in the celebrations with his players..." its their moment " The man who took himself quietly down the tunnel and into English football immortality.

And now they are gone from us...the manager, the captain and the man of the match....nine still stand. Geoff Hurst gets most of the glory but above all, it was a fantastic team effort lead by an extraordinary manager. A man who had the courage of his convictions. A man who knitted some ordinary players around world class talent ( Banks/Moore/Charlton R ) A man who had the courage to change more than once during the tournament. Starting with wingers, perming different wide-men and then abandoning two wingers altogether. A man who deployed his best player ( Bobby Charlton ) to man-mark Franz Beckenbauer in the Final. Charlton was bitterly disappointed but he did it for Alf and the team.
They all pulled together as one. They were doing it for Alf. They would have run through brick walls for him. They loved him.
Thanks for the greatest day in English football. RIP.

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knocky1 said:

Liar, Liar, Liar. Was it his mistake to say June 30 1966? How many football fans support Sunderland AND Newcastle? Where was his constituency? Which teams do they support? How does a public schoolboy appeal to northern working class? Watching football or going to the dogs, which he duly did.

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Mo Gosfield said:

I assume you are referring to that little match at Wembley....July 30 1966.
Watched all the build-up ( in black and white of course ) and then the match itself. Heart stopping stuff. A goal down, then seconds from winning and then victory snatched away. The controversy in extra time and then the ultimate triumph.
The memories are still as sharp today as then...
1) Bobby Moore...truly magnificent. A leader amongst men. Superb free-kick finding Hurst in space for his first and then, in the dying seconds, with the whole nation screaming for him to boot it into the stand, he looked up and dropped a 60 yard ball over Geoff Hurst's shoulder, into his path and the rest is history.
Wiping his hands, before he shook hands with the queen...." its only 12 inches high but its made of solid gold and it means...etc " Being hoisted aloft by his teammates. They all knew how good he was and they loved him.
2) Alan Ball...just ran and ran and ran. Never stopped. If the game had lasted 3 hours, Bally would still have been running his heart out....When Hurst slammed in the 4th, only one player was within 20 yards of him. Bally...who leapt straight into his arms. MOM for a lot of people.
3) Alf Ramsey...the man who said we would win the World Cup and was laughed at. The man who insisted on picking his own team and not allowing an FA committee to do it. The man who stuck by Nobby Stiles when the FA wanted him dropped for his appalling tackle against a Frenchman in the group..." if he goes, I go " The man who had the courage to leave out possibly the best striker in Europe ( Greaves ) from the Final and play the journeymen Hunt and Hurst together. The man who saw all his players sitting shattered on the turf at the end of normal time and went round all of them, dragging them to their feet. He pointed to the Germans, still sitting and told his players..." look, they're finished....you've won this once, now go out and do it again. The man at the end who stayed seated, drained of everything. The man who didn't join in the celebrations with his players..." its their moment " The man who took himself quietly down the tunnel and into English football immortality.

And now they are gone from us...the manager, the captain and the man of the match....nine still stand. Geoff Hurst gets most of the glory but above all, it was a fantastic team effort lead by an extraordinary manager. A man who had the courage of his convictions. A man who knitted some ordinary players around world class talent ( Banks/Moore/Charlton R ) A man who had the courage to change more than once during the tournament. Starting with wingers, perming different wide-men and then abandoning two wingers altogether. A man who deployed his best player ( Bobby Charlton ) to man-mark Franz Beckenbauer in the Final. Charlton was bitterly disappointed but he did it for Alf and the team.
They all pulled together as one. They were doing it for Alf. They would have run through brick walls for him. They loved him.
Thanks for the greatest day in English football. RIP.

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