WORLD CUP 1966
LET US REMEMBER 50 YEARS AGO
The Draw
The Build Up
The England Squad
The Group Stage
Quarter Finals
Semi Finals
Third Place Play Off
The Final








England 1966
 
Toonology
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Toonology
FIFA awarded the World Cup 1966 final tournament to England at the 32nd FIFA Congress in Rome on 22 August 1960 during the Olympic Games.

England were challenged to hosting duties by the German Federal Republic after Spain had withdrawn from the bidding process. England won the vote with 34 votes to GFR's 27.


THE DRAW 6th January 1966

The sixteen participating teams were divided into four groups, in which all four teams will play each other once, at The Royal Garden Hotel in London on 6 January 1966. FIFA used a seeding system designed to place the four South American teams in separate groups and to keep holders Brazil and hosts England apart.  The teams were put into four pots for the draw:
South America Europe Latin Rest of the World
Brazil (seeded) England (seeded) France Bulgaria
Argentina Hungary Portugal DPR Korea
Chile USSR Spain Mexico
Uruguay West Germany (seeded) Italy (seeded) Switzerland

Letts Diary
THE BUILD UP

Sir Alf Ramsey17 June: Alf Ramsey named a squad of 22 for the four-match European tour, from the 27 that had been training at Lilleshall for the past two weeks.

20 June: The Times announced the financial rewards on offer to the England squad, if they were successful in the World Cup.

"Each member of the England World Cup team will receive a minimum of £1,000 if they win the Jules Rimet Trophy at Wembley next month. They will share a bonus of £22,000. If they lose the final, each man would receive a match fee of £60." - The Times

24 June: Following another three days training at Lilleshall, the 22-man squad arrived in Helsinki for the first match of the tour.

"It is not because they are softhearted or particularly patriotic that bookmakers show England as second favourites behind Brazil for the championship. It is simply because they know England are fully capable of winning the World Cup." - The Times.

26 June: England beat Finland 3-0, in Helsinki.

"England's strikers again miss the boat - chances wasted by fumbling finishing.
"They were too clumsy, too hurried and sometimes, to be fair, downright unlucky." - The Times

28 June: Ramsey made ten changes for the second game of the tour, against Norway. Only Roger Hunt kept his place.

29 June: England beat Norway 6-1, in Oslo.

"Greaves banishes doubts with four goals - brilliant England XI humble Norwegians'
"Finishing power, control, anticipation - Greaves produced them all in as complete an example of forward play as one could find anywhere." The Times

1 July: Joe Mears, chairman of the Football Association, collapsed in an Oslo street and died from a heart attack, at the age of 61. He had previously suffered a heart attack in March, when the World Cup trophy was stolen and a ransom demand was sent to the FA.

3 July: Ramsey confirmed that the tour squad would be the World Cup 22. England beat Denmark 2-0, in Copenhagen.







 

66 Squad

Position
Player
 Career
1 GK
Gordon
                                            Banks

 Born 30 December 1937 (aged 28)
England Leicester City
He joined Chesterfield in March 1953, and played for the youth team in the 1956 FA Youth Cup final. He made his first team debut in November 1958, and was sold to Leicester City for £7,000 in July 1959. He played in four cup finals for the club, as they were beaten in the 1961 and 1963 FA Cup finals, before winning the League Cup in 1964 and finishing as finalists in 1965. During this time he established himself as England's number one goalkeeper, and played every game of the nation's 1966 World Cup victory. Despite this success, he was dropped by Leicester and sold on to Stoke City for £50,000 in April 1967. He made one of the game's great saves to prevent a Pelé goal in the 1970 World Cup, but was absent due to illness as England were beaten by West Germany at the quarter-final stage.  He was Stoke's goalkeeper in the 1972 League Cup win – the club's only major honour. He was still Stoke and England's number one when a car crash in October 1972 cost him both the sight in one eye and his professional career. He did though play in the United States for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in 1977 and 1978. He briefly entered management with Telford United, but left the game after he was sacked in December 1980.
2 DF
George
                                            Cohen
Born 22 October 1939 (aged 26)
England Fulham
Cohen spent his entire playing career at Fulham where he proved his worth as a committed and strong full back, especially adept at supporting wingers with overlapping runs.
He joined Fulham professionally in 1956 and remained a dependable performer for 13 years thereafter, though his chances at international level seemed to be restricted to a handful of caps at under-23 level, mainly due to the presence of Blackpool's Jimmy Armfield, who was the regular incumbent at No. 2 and played in the 1962 World Cup in Chile. Cohen was awarded the MBE in 2000, along with four team-mates from 1966 after a campaign from sections of the media who were surprised that the quintet had never been officially recognised for their part in England's success.

3 DF
Ray Wilson
Born 17 December 1934 (aged 31)
England Everton
Wilson became an apprentice railwayman on leaving school but was spotted playing amateur football by a scout at Huddersfield Town. He began a combination of working on the tracks by night and training with Huddersfield by day, before being called up for national service. In 1964 Wilson joined Everton, by which time he had played 30 times for England, and remains to this day Huddersfield's most-capped England international. Wilson's fortunes declined at Everton following another injury, and he was granted a free transfer to Oldham Athletic in 1969, missing out on Everton's First Division title in 1970. He retired in 1971.  He served as caretaker manager at Bradford City from September 1971 to November 1971 after the departure of Jimmy Wheeler.
4 MF
Nobby
                                            Stiles
Born 18 May 1942 (aged 24)
England Manchester United
 He was born in Collyhurst, Manchester.  Stiles played for England for five years, winning 28 caps and scoring 1 goal. He played every minute of England's victorious 1966 FIFA World Cup campaign. His best performance in an England shirt was probably the semi-final of that tournament against Portugal, where he was given the job of marking the prolific Eusébio. His tough performance resulted in Eusébio being practically nullified for the entire game. Stiles also played very well in the final, which England won 4–2 against West Germany. His post-match celebration has become one of the most famous images in English sport history. The sight of Stiles dancing on the Wembley pitch, holding the World Cup trophy in one hand and his false teeth in the other, has lived for decades.
Stiles played the majority of his club career for Manchester United, spending eleven years at Old Trafford, where he became renowned for his tough tackling and ball winning qualities. With the Red Devils, he won two League titles and one European Cup. Stiles is one of only three Englishmen, alongside Bobby Charlton and Ian Callaghan, to have won both the FIFA World Cup and European Cup.  He also had short spells with Middlesbrough and Preston North End.

5 DF
Jack
                                            Charlton
Born 8 May 1935 (aged 31)
England Leeds United
Born into a footballing family in Ashington, Northumberland.  Approaching his 30th birthday, he was called up by Alf Ramsey to play for England against Scotland at Wembley on 10 April 1965.  The game ended 2–2 despite England being forced to end the game with nine men after picking up two injuries; he assisted his brother Bobby for England's first goal Ramsey later said that he picked Charlton to play alongside Bobby Moore as he was a conservative player able to provide cover to the more skilful Moore, who could get caught out if he made a rare mistake. He only played for Leeds United ( 629 appearances) and England (35 Caps). Went on to manage  1973–1977     Middlesbrough, 1977–1983     Sheffield Wednesday, 1984     Middlesbrough (caretaker)
1984–1985     Newcastle United and 1986–1996     Republic of Ireland

6 DF
Bobby Moore (captain)
Bobby
                                            Moore
Born 12 April 1941 (aged 25) Died 24 February 1993
England West Ham United
Robert Frederick Chelsea "Bobby" Moore OBE (Died 24 February 1993)  .Moore was born in Barking, Essex. He captained West Ham United for more than ten years and was captain of the England team that won the 1966 World Cup. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time, and was cited by Pelé as the greatest defender that he had ever played against.  Moore is a member of the World Team of the 20th Century.  He won a total of 108 caps for the England team, which at the time of his international retirement in 1973 was a national record. This record was later broken by 125-cap goalkeeper Peter Shilton. Moore's total of 108 caps continued as a record for outfield players until 28 March 2009, when David Beckham gained his 109th cap. His club career was 1958–1974     West Ham United     544 Appearances, 1974–1977     Fulham     124  appearances, 1976     → San Antonio Thunder     24  appearances, 1978     Seattle Sounders     7  appearances and 1978     Herning Fremad     9 appearances. He went on to manage at 1980     Oxford City, 1981–1982     Eastern AA and 1984–1986     Southend United
7 MF
Alan Ball
Born 12 May 1945 (aged 21) Died 25th April 2007
England Blackpool
 He was the youngest member of England's 1966 World Cup winning team and played for various clubs, scoring more than 180 league goals in a career spanning 22 years. His playing career also included a then national record £220,000 transfer from Everton to Arsenal at the end of 1971. After retiring as a player, he had a 15-year career as a manager which included spells in the top flight of English football with Portsmouth, Southampton and Manchester City.
8 FW
Jimmy
                                          Greaves
Born 20 February 1940 (aged 26)
England Tottenham Hotspur
He is England's fourth highest international goalscorer (44 goals), Tottenham Hotspur's highest ever goalscorer (268 goals), the highest goalscorer in the history of English top-flight football (357 goals), and has also scored more hat-tricks (six) for England than anyone else. He finished as the First Division's top scorer in six seasons. He is a member of the English Football Hall of Fame.
9 MF
Bobby
                                            Charlton
Born 11 October 1937 (aged 28)
England Manchester United
He is regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, and an essential member of the England team who won the World Cup in 1966, the year he also won the Ballon d'Or. He played almost all of his club football at Manchester United, where he became renowned for his attacking instincts and passing abilities from midfield and his ferocious long-range shot. He was also well known for his fitness and stamina. He was cautioned only twice in his career; once against Argentina in the 1966 World Cup, and once in a league match against Chelsea.
10 FW
Geoff
                                            Hurst
Born 8 December 1941 (aged 24)
England West Ham United
 A striker, he remains the only man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final as England recorded a 4–2 victory over West Germany at the old Wembley in 1966. He began his career with West Ham United, where he scored 242 goals in 500 first team appearances. There he won the FA Cup in 1964 and the European Cup Winners' Cup 1965. He was sold to Stoke City in 1972 for £80,000. After three seasons with Stoke he finished his Football League career with West Bromwich Albion in 1976. Hurst went to play football in Ireland (Cork Celtic) and the USA (Seattle Sounders) before returning to England to manage non-league Telford United. He also coached in the England set-up before an unsuccessful stint as Chelsea manager from 1979 to 1981. He later coached Kuwait SC before leaving the game to concentrate on his business commitments.
11 FW John Connelly
John Connelly
Born 18 July 1938 (aged 27) Died 25 October 2012
England Manchester United
He played as an outside forward and was capped 20 times for his country.   Connelly made his England international debut whilst still a Burnley player, on 17 October 1959, against Wales at Ninian Park. He played twenty games for England in all and scored seven goals. He was a member of the England squad that was sent out to Chile to take part in the 1962 FIFA World Cup, but he was not selected to play during England's participation in the tournament. Four years later he was a member of the England squad which won the 1966 FIFA World Cup. He played in the opening game against Uruguay at Wembley Stadium, but the match was a goalless draw and England were disappointing. For subsequent games Alf Ramsey, the England manager, decided to drop Connelly and later do without wingers. This proved to be his last international game. Connelly was one of four England players to play for England in the tournament without playing in the final itself, the others being Jimmy Greaves, Terry Paine and Ian Callaghan.  Connelly was presented with his medal by Gordon Brown at a ceremony at 10 Downing Street on 10 June 2009. 
12 GK Ron Springett
Ron Springett
Born 22 July 1935 (aged 30)  Died 12 September 2015
England Sheffield Wednesday
He was a football goalkeeper for Sheffield Wednesday, QPR and England. Springett made 33 appearances for England, all while at Sheffield Wednesday and until then the most appearances by any Sheffield Wednesday player. He held this club record for 26 years. He made his England debut against Northern Ireland in 1959.[2] He had been the first choice goalkeeper during the 1962 World Cup in Chile. His final cap was against Norway in 1966 shortly before the World Cup finals. He was a non-playing member of the England squad, that won the 1966 World Cup by beating West Germany by 4 goals to 2.  on 10 June 2009, Springett was presented with his medal by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at a ceremony at 10 Downing Street. Springett was a member of the Sheffield Wednesday team beaten 3-2 by Everton in the 1966 FA Cup Final at Wembley.
13 GK
Peter
                                            Bonnetti
Born 27 September 1941 (aged 24)
England Chelsea
He is a former football goalkeeper for Chelsea, the St. Louis Stars, Dundee United and England. Bonetti was known for his safe handling, lightning reflexes and his graceful style, for which he was given the nickname, "The Cat". He was one of several goalkeepers  who specialised in a one-armed throw which could achieve a similar distance to a drop kick.  Bonetti's international career was somewhat unfortunate. He emerged in an era of talented English goalkeepers and thus faced stiff competition for a place in the side, particularly from Ron Springett and Gordon Banks, and later on Peter Shilton, which limited him to just seven caps. He was a member of England's successful 1966 World Cup squad, but didn't make an appearance. His career with the England national side is also largely remembered for one match – the 1970 FIFA World Cup quarter-final against West Germany in Mexico, when he was thrust into the starting line-up as a late replacement for Banks, who was suffering from food poisoning. During the match England let slip a 2–0 lead and lost 3–2 after extra time, with Bonetti one of the scapegoats, although he could be reasonably faulted for only one of the three goals conceded. That game was his only ever World Cup appearance. He conceded one goal in his other six international matches.In the 1966 World Cup final only the 11 players on the pitch at the end of the 4–2 win over West Germany received medals.   Bonetti was presented with his medal by Gordon Brown at a ceremony at 10 Downing Street on 10 June 2009
14 DF Jimmy Armfield
Jimmy Armfield
Born 21 September 1935 (aged 30)
England Blackpool
He is an English former professional football player and manager who currently works as a football pundit for BBC Radio Five Live. He played the whole of his Football League career at Blackpool, usually at right back. Between 1954 and 1971 he played 627 games in all competitions, scored six goals, and spent a decade as the club's captain. He also captained the England national team fifteen times. Armfield won 43 caps for England between 1959 and 1966, and captained his country on fifteen occasions. He made his international debut on 13 May 1959, against Brazil in front of over 120,000 fans at the Estádio do Maracanã. He played in the 1962 World Cup in Chile, where he was acclaimed as "the best right-back in the world".  He was also voted "best right-back in Europe" between 1962 and 1964. However, a groin injury suffered in Blackpool's last match of the 1963-64 season, against Ipswich Town ruled him out of the side for England's busy summer program. Fulham's George Cohen took the opportunity to establish himself as England's first choice right-back with a series of strong performances, and Armfield was unable to force his way back into the team. He played two further matches in the warm-up to the 1966 World Cup and was included in the winning squad but a toe injury sustained in the pre-tournament appearance against Finland and Cohen's incumbency ensured he played no part in the tournament. His appearance against Finland was his last for his country .   Armfield was presented with his medal by Gordon Brown at a ceremony at 10 Downing Street on 10 June 2009.
15 DF Gerry Byrne
Gerry Byrne
Born 29 August 1938 (aged 27) Died 28 November 2015
England Liverpool
He spent his entire playing career at Liverpool Football Club making 274 appearances. Byrne won two international caps for England. He made his international debut on 6 April 1963, in a British Home Championship match against Scotland at Wembley.  The Scots won 2–1 in a game which saw fellow Liverpool team-mate Jimmy Melia make his England debut.  His second (and last) cap came in a friendly match preceding the 1966 World Cup.  England won 6–1 against Norway. Byrne stayed on at Anfield until 1969 when injury ended his career. Byrne was presented with his medal by Gordon Brown at a ceremony at 10 Downing Street on 10 June 2009
16 MF
Martin
                                            Peters
Born 8 November 1943 (aged 22)
England West Ham United
 Born in Plaistow, Essex) he played club football for West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur, Norwich City and Sheffield United. He briefly managed Sheffield United before retiring from professional football in 1981. Alf Ramsey had seen Peters' potential quickly, and in May 1966 he gave the young midfielder his debut for England against Yugoslavia at Wembley. England won 2–0 and Peters had an outstanding debut. Nearly scoring twice he set up chances for Jimmy Greaves and for others. In the final preparation period for Ramsey prior to naming his squad for the World Cup, Peters played in two more of the scheduled warm-up games. Against Finland, he scored his first international goal in what was only his second appearance, and subsequently he made Ramsey's squad for the competition . Though Peters did not play in the opening group game against Uruguay, the drab 0–0 draw prompted Ramsey into changes. The England coach had been toying with using a system which allowed narrow play through the centre, not operating with conventional wingers but instead with fitter, centralised players who could show willing in defence as well as spread the ball and their runs in attack. Peters therefore had become an ideal player for this 4–1-3-2 system, elegant in his distribution and strong in his forward running, yet showing the stamina, discipline and pace to get back and help the defence when required. This system was dubbed "the wingless wonders".   He made 67 appearances for England though his career with his country ended, on 18 May 1974, as England lost 2–0 defeat against Scotland at Hampden Park
17 DF Ron Flowers
Ron Flowers
Born 28 July 1934 (aged 31)
EnglandWolverhampton
Flowers won 49 caps for England and scored 10 goals. His international debut came on 15 May 1955 in a 0–1 friendly defeat to France. He went on to appear in the 1962 World Cup and scored two goals from the penalty spot in the group stage. From November 1958 (his second international appearance) until April 1963, he appeared in 40 consecutive England international matches; only Billy Wright has appeared in more. He also has the distinction of scoring England's first goal in a European Football Championships game - in the qualifying round first leg against France at Hillsborough on 3 October 1962.
His last England cap came before the finals (a friendly win over Norway). Hwas the oldest and earliest-capped member of the 1966 World Cup Squad. Flowers narrowly missed out on playing in the final itself. Jack Charlton who was due to play, caught a cold on the eve of the West Germany match. Flowers was approached by his manager, Alf Ramsey, the night before the final and told that if Charlton had not recovered by the morning he was on. After a sleepless night, it turned out that Charlton was fine in the morning and, ultimately, Flowers never kicked a ball at the tournament. Flowers was cited as England's best ever penalty taker (shared with Alan Shearer). He converted all six of the penalties he took for England.

18 DF Norman Hunter
Norman Hunter
Born 29 October 1943 (aged 22)
England Leeds United
played for Leeds United, Bristol City, Barnsley and England. He was part of the 1966 FIFA World Cup winning squad, receiving a winners medal in 2007. He has since been included in the Football League 100 Legends. Known for his tackling, he was nicknamed "Bites Yer Legs" Hunter. The nickname originated from a banner held up by Leeds United fans at the 1972 F.A. Cup final against Arsenal; the banner simply read "Norman bites yer legs". Brian Clough effectively popularised the nickname by referring to it during the pre-match discussion in the TV studio. Hunter made his debut for the England team in 1965, but the existing partnership between Jack Charlton and Bobby Moore meant that he spent much of his international career as an understudy, winning 28 caps in total. He was in the squad which won the 1966 World Cup but never kicked a ball. Hunter scored the winning goal against Spain in England's quarter-final qualifying round for the 1968 European Championships, he then started in both the 1–0 semi final defeat to Yugoslavia and the 2–0 victory over the Soviet Union in the bronze medal match. He spent a short part of the 1970 season injured but he was in Alf Ramsey's squad for the summer's World Cup in Mexico, however his only appearance in the tournament was coming on as a late substitute in the 3–2 defeat by West Germany.
19 FW Terry Paine
Terry Paine
Born 23 March 1939 (aged 27)
England Southampton
 Originally from Winchester, Paine is best known for his career with Southampton, for whom he made over 800 appearances (a club record) in 18 seasons with the club. He later played for Hereford United, and briefly worked at Cheltenham Town as a player-manager. He played primarily as a winger, but was also comfortable in other midfield positions and as a forward.  Paine was recognised at England Under-23 level and scored in an England Under-23 match against Holland in March 1960. After 4 games with the Under-23, in 1963 he won his first full cap and later that year he scored a hat trick at Wembley against Northern Ireland to become the first outside-right to score three goals for England since Stanley Matthews in 1937. Furthermore, no forward wearing the no. 7 shirt had ever scored a hat-trick at Wembley.
Paine featured in England manager Alf Ramsey’s plans and he was one of the 22-man squad for the 1966 World Cup. He played in only one match, against Mexico, and was injured in his 19th and, as it turned out, his last international. Ramsey, of course, had now found little use for “old-fashioned” wingers. Paine was one of four England players to play for England in the tournament without playing in the final itself, the others being Jimmy Greaves, John Connelly and Ian Callaghan.
 Paine was presented with his medal by Gordon Brown at a ceremony at 10 Downing Street on 10 June 2009

20 MF Ian Callaghan
Ian Callaghan
Born 10 April 1942 (aged 24)
England Liverpool
He holds the record for most appearances for Liverpool totalling 640 as well as 4 caps for England.  Still revered by the Anfield faithful, he was voted in at No.15 in the '100 Players Who Shook The Kop' poll in the summer of 2006.  Callaghan played in the group game against France which England won 2–0, but ultimately was left out of the side as it progressed. Callaghan was presented with his medal by Gordon Brown at a ceremony at 10 Downing Street on 10 June 2009.  Callaghan became one of only three English footballers to have a World Cup and a European Cup winner's medal, following Manchester United's Bobby Charlton and Nobby Stiles. He retired at the age of 39 in 1982
21 FW
Roger Hunt
Born 20 July 1938 (aged 27)
England Liverpool
Hunt was capped 34 times for his country, with his debut given to him by Walter Winterbottom whilst he was still a Second Division player on 4 April 1962 He then went to the 1962 World Cup finals in Chile, but was not selected to play.  In the 1966 World Cup Finals Hunt played in all six games, scoring three times.
Roger Hunt is the player whom strike partner Hurst always mentions when discussing his controversial second goal in the final when the ball hit the crossbar and bounced down - Hurst always says that Hunt, the closest player to the ball, would have followed up to score himself if he'd been in any doubt, but he turned away in celebration of a certain goal. Back in the domestic game, Shankly's Liverpool team of the 1960s was beginning to age and be replaced, and this included Hunt, who after 492 appearances and 245 goals was allowed to leave on 16 December 1969 to join Bolton Wanderers, with whom he played 76 games and scored 24 goals. Only Ian Rush has since surpassed his goalscoring total for Liverpool, though Rush scored fewer League goals than Hunt, who still holds that particular Liverpool Football Club record. He retired from football in 1972

22 MF George
                                          Eastham
Born 23 September 1936 (aged 29)
England Arsenal
 He is known for playing for Newcastle United, Arsenal and Stoke City, as well as a non-playing member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning squad. However, he is also notable for his involvement in a 1963 court case which proved a landmark in improving players' freedom to move between clubs. It was at Arsenal that Eastham's international career flourished; he joined the England squad for the 1962 FIFA World Cup as an uncapped player, but did not play in the tournament; his England debut finally came on 8 May 1963, against Brazil. His final game for England came in a warmup game for the 1966 FIFA World Cup, against Denmark in Copenhagen on 3 July 1966, scoring in a 2–0 win. Eastham was also part of the squad for the 1966 World Cup Finals, but did not play a single minute of England's win in the tournament.
Eastham was presented with his medal by Gordon Brown at a ceremony at 10 Downing Street on 10 June 200

World Cup WillieGROUP STAGE 1 Matches

Team P W D L F A GD Pts
England 3 2 1 0 4 0 +4 5
Uruguay 3 1 2 0 2 1 +1 4
Mexico 3 0 2 1 1 3 -2 2
France 3 0 1 2 2 5 -3 1
11 July 1966 - 7:30pm BST
England 0 Uruguay 0 [0-0]
Empire Stadium, Wembley (87,148)
 

ENGLAND FRUSTRATED BY CONTRACTING DEFENCE

"...England were...bashing their heads against a powerfully knit, cleverly organized Uruguayan defensive wall.
"Every English player certainly fought and bestirred himself to the last breath..." - The Times, 12 July 1966.
13 July 1966 - 7:30pm BST
France 1 Mexico 1 [0-0]
Empire Stadium, Wembley (69,237)
Hausser
Borja
15 July 1966 - 7:30pm BST
Uruguay 2 France 1 [2-1]
White City Stadium, Shepherd's Bush (45,662)
Rocha, Cortés
de Bourgoing (pen)
16 July 1966 - 3:00pm BST
Mexico 0 England 2 [0-1]
Empire Stadium, Wembley (92,570)
R.Charlton, Hunt

ENGLAND LEAN HEAVILY ON MORALE

"If their technique and imagination is limited, their morale and fitness are certainly at a peak."...latent explosive qualities of R. Charlton...

"For nine-tenths of the match they attacked, bashing their heads against a deep wall..." - The Times, 18 July 1966

19 July 1966 - 4:30pm BST
Uruguay 0 Mexico 0 [0-0]
Empire Stadium, Wembley (35,000/61,112)
 
20 July 1966 - 7:30pm BST
France 0 England 2 [0-1]
Empire Stadium, Wembley (98,270)
Hunt (2)

WEST HAM PLAYERS EXCEL AGAINST FRANCE
"...only side in the field that has not yet conceded a goal.
"...too often were Greaves and Hunt caught off-side...
"...Moore...was completely masterful, binding the rearguard together in its dangerous moments, yet finding the time to support the fluent Peters..." - The Times, 21 July 1966


The Second Phase
23 July 1966 - all 3:00pm BST
England 1 Argentina 0 [0-0]
Empire Stadium, Wembley (90,584)
Hurst
Rattin
West Germany 4 Uruguay 0 [1-0]
Hillsborough, Sheffield (40,007)
Haller (2), Beckenbauer, Seeler
Troche, Silva
Portugal 5 DPR Korea 3 [2-3]
Goodison Park, Liverpool (40,248)
Eusébio (4 (2 pens)), José Augusto
Park Seung-Jin, Lee Dong-Woon, Yang Sung-Kook
USSR 2 Hungary 1 [1-0]
Roker Park, Sunderland (22,103)
Chislenko, Porkujan
Bene

TRAVESTY OF FOOTBALL AT WEMBLEY
"
...crowd hooted and booed, cheered and laughed in succession as the travesty of pushing, jostling, chopping, holding and tripping unwound.
"West Ham United, united in thought and action, had done the trick for England.
"...at one moment it seemed the whole Argentina side was about to march off...
"If it had not been sad, it would have been as funny as some Crazy Gang show." - The Times, 25 July 1966

Quarter Finals

Semi Finals
25 July 1966 - both 7:30pm BST
Germany 2 USSR 1 [1-0]
Goodison Park, Liverpool (38,273)
Haller, Beckenbauer
Porkujan
Chislenko
26 July 1966
England 2 Portugal 1 [0-0]
Empire Stadium, Wembley (94,493)
R.Charlton (2)
Eusébio (pen)

WORLD CUP MATCH TO SILENCE CYNICS


"...Wembley will remember for a long time to come.

"...scientific, flowing football...
"...22 minutes before the referee blew for the first infringement...
"England won by a hair's breadth..." - The Times, 27 July 1966

 
 

Third Place Play off

28 July 1966 - 7:30pm BST
Portugal 2 USSR 1 [1-1]
Empire Stadium, Wembley (70,000/87,696)
Eusébio (pen), Torres
Malafeyev

 


The 1966 Final





Final programme

Alf Ramsey
                                                  Caricature




Wembley 66
30 July 1966 - both 3:00pm BST
England 4 West Germany 2 [1-1] AET [2-2]
Empire Stadium, Wembley (93,802)
Hurst (3), Peters
Haller, Weber
England have won football's World Cup for the first time since the tournament began in 1930.
A crowd of 93,000 spectators - including the Queen and Prince Phillip - filled London's Wembley Stadium to watch the host nation play West Germany in the final game of the 1966 championships.
Another 400 million people around the world watched the keenly fought match on television.
In the final moments of extra time Geoff Hurst powered home his third goal to give England a 4-2 victory and to become the first man ever to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final.
After Germany had taken an early lead, Hurst levelled the score for England by half time with a header from a free kick taken by captain Bobby Moore.

Victory in sight
England came out with courage and determination after the break and glimpsed glory thirteen minutes from time as Martin Peters took their second goal.
But a free kick to Germany 15 seconds from full time gave Wolfgang Weber a close-range shot into Gordon Banks' goal and took the score to 2-2.  In the crucial minutes before the decisive half hour of extra time England manager Alf Ramsey was heard to rally his team, saying: "All right. You let it slip. Now start again."

A dubious goal by Hurst - glanced off the line by Weber and only given after consultation between the Swiss referee and Soviet linesman - put England ahead in the last 15 minutes, before the striker's third goal put the game out of Germany's reach.

Bobby Moore went up to the royal box to collect the solid gold Jules Rimet trophy from Queen Elizabeth.

In the largest World Cup ever - numbering 70 countries - England were among the favourites and got as far as the semi-final, against newcomers Portugal, before conceding a goal.
 Geoff Hurst's second goal and the decision of referee Gottfried Dienst have continued to be controversial.

But photographic technology has so far been unable to offer decisive evidence about whether or not the ball crossed the goal-line and Hurst remains the only player to score a hat-trick in the World Cup finals.
England have failed to reach the World Cup final since 1966 and did not even qualify for the last rounds of the tournament in the US in 1994..
ENGLAND SURMOUNT FINAL TEST OF MORALE
"If England, perhaps, did not possess the greatest flair, they were the best prepared in the field, with the best temperament...
"...rich with excitement and some passing controversy that tested the stamina and willpower of both sides...
"...Moore and his men rose magnificently to the challenge.
"How some of them found the resilience and the stamina...was beyond praise.
"All were heroes...
"Was it over the line or not? It was all a matter of speed of eye. It looked good." - The Times, 1 August 1966


A VICTORY FOR FOOTBALL
"It was a triumph of skill, courage, and stamina - and an emphatic vindication of the policy and planning of the team's manager, Mr. Ramsey.
"...a linesman was fortunately well placed to see that the ball came down inside the goal.
"Would it, in matches of this standing, be worth while to have two extra "linesmen" posted, say, just behind the goals?
"Ramsey: 'We were the fastest and the strongest side in the World Cup, but I do not think we can ever match the individual techniques of the Latin-Americans or the Latin-Europeans. We play a different kind of football. I was a little worried before the series started that English football was behind the rest of the world. But now we have won the cup, and it can be inferred that we have caught up. It has taken English football 100 years to realise that football can be played differently from the way it was when it was originated, but we have now caught up.' " - The Guardian, 1 August 1966