The I have seen England win a World Cup in England thread

[Fungus]

I was in the kitchen doing my Airfix kit when the 66 final was on, while my dad and godfather were in the lounge going mental.

Can't believe I wasn't interested then (age 8), even though they tried to get me to watch it. Mind you, I remember going on a day trip to London, and bursting into tears because I didn't have enough money for a World Cup Willie sticker. A bit embarrassing, but I must have had some passion.

 

[Blackadder]

My dad was Polish and he decided to take us all over to Poland for 3 weeks to meet our uncles, Gran etc.

He asked my mum to take the kids for a walk during the final.

When we returned, I asked my dad if England had won.

"Oh yes, son" He replied with a big smile. (Obviously Germany still weren't that popular in Poland in 1966)

"Oh Good!" I replied. As an 8 year old, I assumed we always won it!

 

[Brovion]

One of the things that will surprise modern fans was that it was incredibly easy to get tickets. Wembley was actually 12,000 under-capacity for the opening ceremony and the subsequent England v Uruguay game! Not sure about the final itself but even for the semi-final there was no difficulty in getting tickets and there MAY even have been pay-on-the-gate.

Different era of course and televised football was a novelty, so many made the decision to watch it all at home.

 

[Biscuit]

I never have and I never will.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I found myself stuck in North Wales on the day of the final and managed to watch some of the game (not the finish) through the window of a TV shop.

I did attend the three Group matches at Villa Park, though:- Argentina v Spain; Argentina v West Germany; West Germany v Spain. Like most neutrals in Birmingham, I became quite a fan of Argentinian flair, only to change my mind when they met England in the QF. Their supporters were great, though.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

One of the things that will surprise modern fans was that it was incredibly easy to get tickets. Wembley was actually 12,000 under-capacity for the opening ceremony and the subsequent England v Uruguay game! Not sure about the final itself but even for the semi-final there was no difficulty in getting tickets and there MAY even have been pay-on-the-gate.

Different era of course and televised football was a novelty, so many made the decision to watch it all at home.

Indeed. Tickets for the games at Villa Park were sold through a booth in Birmingham city centre, on a turn up and buy one basis. No queues, pay on the day if you wanted. I don't recall any segregation of fans, either.

 

[FamilyGuy]

I was 13 and in the 3rd year of Grammar School - it was great!
Even my dad watched it on TV

 

[Daffy Duck]

I was a student nurse at Southlands hospital at that time and my very kind ward sister gave me a split shift cos she knew I was football mad. So had to work in the morning, had the afternoon off to watch the footie, and then back to work for the evening.
I had to watch the extra time on the ward and when I got back, the sister had moved all the beds around the telly (only one tv per ward then) so that the patients and staff could all watch it.
Always will feel very fortunate to have seen it.

 

[Snowy]

My Dad said "this lot are too good for us" after the Germans scored first. He always was the pessimistic type!

 

[MOG]

I watched it at home and when Geoff Hurst scored his third goal I literally jumped out of my armchair. I landed on the arm of the chair (it still brings tears to my eyes thinking about it). I seem to remember that when I told them about it in the pub that evening I didn't get much sympathy for some reason.

 

[Gwylan]

I
The 'press' were wankers, exactly the same as they are today....( England were slated after only drawing the first game 0-0).

Not my recollection at all. I was only 9 so my memory might not be perfect on this but there was none of the gung-ho "golden generation" nonsense going into the tournament. People thought that England had a chance but there was none of the press hype that we have now. Consequently, a 0-0 draw with a decent team like Uruguay was not really treated as a failure but as a reasonable result. It was a boring game though - there was plenty of comment on that.
This continued throughout the WC: we were expected to beat Mexico and France but most press thought we'd struggle against Argentina and Portugal.

Like others I have said, we kids thought it was obvious that England were going to win - we thought it was the natural order of things - we couldn't understand why it was taken as such a shock. 1970 was as rude a shock to me as Hungary in 1953 must have been to an earlier generation.

One thing that is astonishing is how restrained the press coverage of England's win was.Today, 90% of a tab would be about the WC victory: the NOTW had about 4 or 5 pages IIRC and the heavies scarcely mentioned it.

 

[clippedgull]

I was only 9 and not into football then, so it went right over my head!! I do remember 1970 though, Bobby Moore getting arrested on suspicion of nicking a bracelet!!

 

[Brovion]

Not my recollection at all. I was only 9 so my memory might not be perfect on this but there was none of the gung-ho "golden generation" nonsense going into the tournament. People thought that England had a chance but there was none of the press hype that we have now. Consequently, a 0-0 draw with a decent team like Uruguay was not really treated as a failure but as a reasonable result. It was a boring game though - there was plenty of comment on that..

Certainly there was none of the gung-ho, OTT bollocks hype that so blights England campaigns now, but I think most people were expecting us to beat Uruguay. Afterwards there was bit of press criticism and the match itself was called the 'scoreless shocker'. However, yes, people were conscious that we'd never got past the quarter-final stage before so as you say most people said we had a 'good chance' as opposed to thinking 'yeah we'll win'.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Like others I have said, we kids thought it was obvious that England were going to win - we thought it was the natural order of things - we couldn't understand why it was taken as such a shock. 1970 was as rude a shock to me as Hungary in 1953 must have been to an earlier generation.

Indeed. That was the natural order.

Ours was not a football house - and I don't remember seeing other games. But we watched the final - without giving it any real significance.

Like others - 1970 was the first proper tournament for me. Bloody Leon. Bloody Bonetti.

 

[Icy Gull]

Like others - 1970 was the first proper tournament for me. Bloody Leon. Bloody Bonetti.

Had that one in the bag, I went off to do other things at 2-0 up as it was getting a bit boring and one sided...

 

[cjd]

Just read an interesting article on the '66 World Cup.

It was suggested that Alf Ramsey built his side around West Ham as they had a bit more steel than the Tottenham players. Apparently, Spurs had NO players sent off, between Oct 1928 and Dec 1965...!

 

[fire&skill]

I was six weeks old but distinctly remember being 'burped' in front of the box when that fourth goal went in. Honest.

 

[Fungus]

Had that one in the bag, I went off to do other things at 2-0 up as it was getting a bit boring and one sided...

Are you really Bobby Charlton?

 

[fire&skill]

The book 'Fatty Batter' has a very amusing piece about what the author was doing when England were winning it

 

[The Hon Sec]

Went to the game against Argentina. Bumped into Jimmy Greaves and a hoard of press/admirers outside the ground. Didnt occur to us at the time that he shouldnt have been there but in the dressing room. He'd been dropped in favour of Geoff Hurst!
Today I am upset that my sons will not have the chance to witness a world cup in our country like I did.