I never tire of reminding my German friends of 1966. I was in the Wembley crowd on that glorious day. I accept that the ball almost certainly didn't cross the line for England's third goal! I was behind the goal where Hurst's shot hit the bar and the one thing I am sure of is that the Assistant Referee was not in a position to be certain that the ball had crossed the line!
There are also big question marks about two other goals: 1) It was a very dubious decision to award Germany the free kick that led to Germany's second goal, Karl-Heinz Schnellinger appeared to handle the ball after the free kick and he might have been offside. 2) England's fourth goal should not have been allowed because, as the BBC commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme said, "Some people are on the pitch, they think it's all over".
Incidentally the term "Wembley Tor" (Wembley goal) has passed into German football vocabulary and is used to describe a situation when the ball strikes the bar and then bounces on or very close to the goal line.
To illustrate my determination not to let my German friends forget 30 July 1966, the personal part of my car license plate is "WM 66". I am sure you will believe that I am doing my best to ensure that every German knows that in this case WM 66 means Weltmeister 1966 (1966 World Champions)!
As we are talking about Wembley Stadium and ancient histry, I have a question for my readers: Who was the last person to save a penalty at the original Wembley Stadium? There's a small prize for the first correct answer by telephone call or email (my contact details can be found via a link available on the home page of this site).
R.I.P. the late, lamented 1966 heroes:
Sir Alf RamseyLong live the three surviving members of the 1966 squad:
#10 Sir Geoff Hurst MBER.I.P. my other late heroes:
Ken Buchanan MBE