So, on the 30th July 1966 the whole Nation was transfixed on a game at Wembley against West Germany. It did not matter where you were or what you were doing, everyone was talking about one thing only. Could we win the World Cup? In the history of football the Germans had never beaten England, but stats would never matter on a day like this. The first bit of good news on the day was that despite Jimmy Greaves recovering from a gashed leg, Alf Ramsey was sticking with Geoff Hurst. Spurs fans were angry but the decision was to lead to the most monumental triumph in British sporting history and to an event that West Ham fans, nearly 50 years later, still reminisce with pride.
Any football fan that saw the game that day could recite the team eleven that England fielded that day. Many younger fans probably can as well. What some people did not know was the reason England played in red that day and the Germans were able to play in their near identical kit to the home Nation’s white shirts and dark shorts? Technically, Wembley was a neutral venue so there had to be a toss of a coin to decide what team changed their strip. West Germany won the toss.
As England came out on that sunny day the whole of Wembley was awash with flags and banners. The World was watching and three of our boys were there. Bobby Moore a proud captain who had lifted trophies at Wembley in successive years prior to 1966. Martin Peters who Alf Ramsey had described as “ten years ahead of his time.” And of course Geoff Hurst, who would write his own history in the game over the following two hours.
However, it was the Germans that took the lead in the 12th minute with a goal from Helmut Haller. Any negative fears or thoughts were soon extinguished when West Ham, I mean England, scored an equaliser just six minutes later. Bobby Moore had been fouled by Overath out on the left and Bobby took a quick free kick, gliding a perfect cross to the near post for Geoff Hurst to head home. Again, a typical West Ham goal that both players would have spent hours rehearsing back at club training sessions. So it was all level at half time and everything was on a knife edge. In the 78th minute West Germany failed to clear their lines and Hurst had a chance to score again. His shot rebounded into the air off a defender and Martin Peters was there to score. He was later to say that it seemed an eternity for the ball to come to him and that he remembered what Ron Greenwood had told him many times before when in a similar predicament – keep your knee over the ball so as to keep the shot down.
As the last few minutes slowly rolled by it looked as though Ramsey’s prediction of England winning the World Cup was coming true. But in the last minute of normal time Wolfgang Weber scored a goal that was to snatch victory away and ensure extra time. The momentum now appeared to be fully with the Germans. But after the final whistle blew, it was they that were lying on their backs calling for trainers to rub their sore calves. Ramsey saw this and told his players “look at them, they are finished. You have won it once – now go and win it again.” Ramsey encouraged all his players not to sit down but to keep moving. Ten minutes into the first half of extra time Geoff Hurst scored probably the most controversial goal in WC history. His shot hit the underside of the bar and came down either on the line or behind it. Todays technology has still not completely settled the argument but after several minutes of consulting the Russian linesman, the referee gave the goal. The Germans were furious and in the final minutes of the game pushed further and further forward. In the dying moments Bobby Moore got the ball deep in his own half. Everyone was screaming at him to put the ball in the stand but instead he picked out Hurst who had a clear route to goal. Kenneth Wolstenholme’s famous commentary of “some people are on the pitch. They think it’s all over – it is now,” were rendered just as Hurst blasted the ball into the back of the net. He had scored his hat trick in a WC final, a feat still not equalled to this day. West Ham had won the World Cup!! Our captain Bobby Moore mirrored all that was good about sport back in those days. In what must have been the most exhilarating time of his life, he still showed grace and humility as he wiped his hands before accepting the Jules Rimet trophy from the Queen.
To this day it still is the greatest achievement of any English sporting team. The feeling around the country was extraordinary. I remember going to our youth hall a few months after the game as they were showing a rerun of the match on a colour tape. The hall was packed to the rafters – I think every kid in Loughton and Debden was there! The noise we made was at least the equal of Wembley. There was definitely a siege mentality about the game in England. It was only 21 years after the war and defeat would have been unbearable.
Each England player earned 60 quid for each game. Only the players who played in the Final got medals. The FA decided to give the team a 22,000 pound bonus and it was to be divided between the players depending on how many matches they had played in the tournament. The players over ruled this decision by saying that all players in the squad had contributed to the WC win in some way or another. The sum was divided equally. Each player got 1,000 pounds. It will be a very different story when the 2014 WC starts in a months time. How times have changed since West Ham won the World Cup.