Remember it well.. Watched the match in a boarding house in Blackpool, the annual family holiday.. 8 years old at the time, cracking match, I think the whole nation were glued to their black and white telly's..
I was 7 and vaguely remember watching. Do remember being upset when the Germans equalised. Was in B&W in oor poor hoose!! Bart
Only one of the quarter-finals was on TV 1966 was a much smaller tournament than the modern World Cups, with only 16 teams competing. Even so, not all of the games were on television. It seems inconceivable in an era where Fifa re-jigged the 2014 draw a little to give England-Italy in Manaus a better time-slot for Europe, but in 1966 all four quarter-finals kicked off at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon. Getty please log in to view this image The full England 1966 World Cup squad Both ITV and the BBC showed the controversial England-Argentina game live. Only highlights of the other three games were shown. 2. Greyhounds were apparently more important than football to Wembley The plan was for all of the games in England’s group to be staged at Wembley. However, France v Uruguay was due to be staged on a Friday. This clashed with the regular Greyhound Meeting. So obviously the World Cup game had to move. What? Getty please log in to view this image These guys were more important than World Cup footballers back then, apparently Can you imagine submitting that now in a FIFA bid document? Although, to be fair, Qatar won their World Cup bid promising to stage the final in a city that is yet to be built, so we guess anything goes these days. White City stadium, which had hosted the 1908 Olympics, stepped in to host the France and Uruguay game. 3. Where were the other teams from the British Isles? None of the other British teams made it through qualification. Northern Ireland narrowly finished second in their group, behind Switzerland, but ahead of the Netherlands. Wales finished second in their group, behind the Soviet Union. Scotland went in to their last qualifying games, a home and away double-header with Italy, knowing that a win and a draw would be enough to see them head south of the border for the finals. They won the first match in Glasgow, but a 3-0 defeat in Naples in December 1965 meant Italy, not Scotland went to the World Cup. The Scots would have to wait until 1967 to “win the world cup”. Across the Irish sea the Republic of Ireland had a curious qualification programme. They were drawn in a group with Spain and, puzzlingly, Syria. Syria withdrew, so the group simply consisted of home and away matches between the Republic and the Spanish. Ireland won 1-0 at home. Spain thumped the Irish 4-1 in Seville. But goal difference wasn’t used to separate teams in this qualification tournament, and so the two teams met again in a play-off. Held in Paris in November 1965, Spain edged past the Irish 1-0. But, why did Syria withdraw? Well... 4. The 1966 World Cup was boycotted by African teams And that inadvertently led to cult heroes North Korea taking part. please log in to view this image A North Korea player signs an autograph at Lime Street Station in Liverpool for nineteen year old Jenny Smith, 24th July 1966 Fifa’s original plan was that the 15 nations from Africa and the Middle East taking part would be put into 6 groups. The 6 group winners would then play-off to reach a final round, where three of them would play in a group with the winners of the Asia/Oceania contest for one spot at the finals. Confused? Yes, we are too. Angry at not having a direct route guaranteeing one African team at the finals, everybody from the continent decided to withdraw in protest. Meanwhile, North Korea and Australia ended up being the only teams taking part in the Asia/Oceania bit of qualifying. A 9-2 aggregate win saw North Korea on their way to England, and that famous 1-0 victory over Italy at Ayresome Park. This map starkly shows the effect of the African boycott on participation. please log in to view this image 5. History repeated itself in 2010 Sort of. Not the “England winning the World Cup” history we were hoping for. But hosts South Africa were drawn in a group with Uruguay, France and Mexico, just as England were in 1966. It didn’t turn out to be a good omen for Bafana Bafana. It seems that Mexico & France love drawing each other, and the hosts, in the World Cup. The two countries were in the same group in first World Cup in 1930, and again in 1954, 1966 and 2010. France were drawn against the hosts in 1966, 1978 and 2010. And Mexico have faced the hosts at the group stage in 1950, 1958, 1966, 2010 and 2014. 6. In 1966, England didn’t concede a goal until they reached the semi-final Eusebio’s late consolation penalty in the semi-final was the first time England had conceded in the tournament. Helmut Haller’s early opener for West Germany in the final was the first, and only, time England had been behind. 7. And if those Geoff Hurst extra-time goals hadn’t gone in...? You’d know the script for a modern England side. Come back from behind, go in front, then concede a late equaliser so the game goes to extra-time. It has “plucky defeat on penalties” written all over it. Not possible in 1966. If Geoff Hurst hadn’t scored for England in extra-time and the game had finished 2-2, then England and West Germany would have reassembled at Wembley the following Tuesday for a World Cup Final replay. Bobby might have ended up kissing the cup under floodlights. please log in to view this image Bobby Moore kissing the Jules Rimet trophy after winning the World Cup 8. The final wasn’t England’s most crucial victory over West Germany In 1960 the decision over who should host the 1966 World Cup was a two-horse race between none other than the eventual finalists. When Fifa voted in Rome, England beat West Germany by 34 votes to 27 to secure the right to stage the tournament. please log in to view this image The scoreboard at Wembley, showing Fifa’s vote to allow England to host the World Cup 9. There was barely a St. George’s flag to be seen Look carefully at the photos of England’s victory at Wembley in 1966 and you’ll spot one of the biggest cultural shifts in British and English identity over the last couple of decades. please log in to view this image Fans making their way to Wembley for the 1966 World Cup Final In 1966 nearly everybody was waving the British Union Jack, not the English St George Cross. No wonder the English get called arrogant by the other bits of Britain. Still, some things never change, fans were dancing in the fountains at Trafalgar Square until the early hours of the morning. God knows what they would do if England ever win the damn thing again. please log in to view this image Fans dance in the fountains at Trafalgar Square at 1am in 1966, after England’s World Cup victory
I was at work that day, catching snippets on the transistor radio, and the reception was crap but got the gist of it, everybody was happy that day.
excellent read that Comm, cheers. Loads of interesting info. North Korea knocked out Italy, who'd have thought it.
My workmates Dad played at the 66 World Cup Final. He was in the Royal Marines Band and played on the pitch at half time.
No it bloody well wasn't RAF Leconfield, (near Beverley), had it's open day that day. All leave had been canceled. The CO, an Irishman had been told/warned/ begged, by various Erks to have the date changed. No chance. He was a Rugby Man and firmly of the opinion that England would be out of it well before the final. Come the day, an amazing number of people chose to wander round an RAF Station, rather than watch the Game. MOST of the RAF people had to miss it. The exception was a small group of Accounts Clerks who had 'borrowed' their Flight Sgts TV and rigged up a temporary aerial on the Headquarters roof. (Not hard. It was a flat roof). We didn't mind the other HQ staff popping in, from time to time to find out how the game was going, but when the CO started to do it, it was a bit much. Still, it WAS his station and his HQ.
Just like 1973 I'm absolutely sick to death of hearing about 1966 ............ it's like clinging onto dreams of your first girlfriend, pathetic.
Nope. Germany were based in the midlands and the other semi-final was at Villa Park so they and us made a gentleman's agreement to stay where we were to avoid an upheaval of both camps.
Not really pathetic, the only two trophies won by your club or country in your lifetime means something to other fans who maybe care more.
I doubt there's any fans who care more than me ........ but this endless examination of the minutiae of the games is ludicrous imo. "Which film was on BBC2 when the 1973 FA Cup Final was being played?" Just go and win something ffs and stop clinging onto the distant past.
It's perhaps the most famous game in the history of English Football. Mostly because of the occasion but also because it was a cracking game full of real tension and excitement. And I stress the National nature of it. Here in Sunderland we may well talk a lot about 1973 but it's a local thing. I doubt it gets much of a mention in Leeds!!!! And I'm very sad to here that your first Girlfriend was pathetic. I hope thing improved for you from then onwards.
