The House | England’s wait for another World Cup final victory continues, but I was there in 1966

England captain Bobby Moore carried by his team mates holding the World Cup trophy in 1966 (Associated Press/Alamy)

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Most will not recall 26 July 1966 but for me it was the start of a schoolboy adventure that ended four days later at Wembley Stadium. I, along with my parents, had just watched England beat Portugal 2-1 in the World Cup semi-final with two goals from the Harry Kane of his day, Bobby Charlton.

After the game, my father made his way down the road to the Hainton Recreation Club, the working men’s club where he was the chairman. A short time later he returned to say that he had been talking to someone who had got a full set of tickets to all of the England games including – as it turned out – the final, but he wasn’t able to go.

As a schoolboy it didn’t, of course, enter my head as to the cost. I do remember my father saying, “He wants a fiver for them”. I was never sure whether he meant each or for both, and then there was the train fare, which in 1966 cost around £2.

Dad went back to the club; would he return with the tickets? An hour passed. Nothing. Then, after what seemed like a lifetime, he appeared with the tickets. Their face value was 25 shillings (£1.25) each.

The day came and we were up early to catch the 06.53 to King’s Cross. The journey itself was exciting for a schoolboy trainspotter; alas I can’t give you the number of the locomotive, but around that time it was most likely an English Electric Class 37.

From King’s Cross it was onward to Wembley and as we walked along Wembley Way I was able to buy a rosette, a World Cup tie and, of course, the matchday programme, which cost just half-a-crown (12.5p). The seats didn’t have a fantastic view but it was enough to be there.

The players emerged, the national anthems sung and eventually it was kick-off. It was soon obvious that this was going to be a real battle with teams that both played the more physical European-style game rather than the continental style that we had witnessed from Brazil and other South American teams.

After around 10 minutes, West Germany took the lead. Helmut Haller scored – he had been a threat throughout the tournament. Thankfully Geoff Hurst equalised. So, all square at half-time and as the game progressed my thoughts were that we might not make it – but Hurst’s fellow West Ham colleague Martin Peters scored a 78th minute goal. Would that be enough, could we hold out for another 12 minutes? Sadly not, and Wolfgang Weber scored a last minute equaliser. Extra time beckoned.

Dad went back to the club; would he return with the tickets?

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Soon after the restart, Geoff Hurst scored our third goal – or did he? Perhaps we will never know unless technological advances are somehow able to see through the crowds of players and check whether the ball did indeed cross the line. What mattered on the day was whether the linesman Tofiq Bahramov considered it had. I could see him give a clear nod of the head when the referee approached him.

(Mr Bahramov had, as I found out many years later, on a parliamentary visit to Azerbaijan, had become something of national hero and the national stadium in Baku is named after him.)

Had the game ended 3-2, the cry from the Germans would doubtless have been that “we was robbed” but in the 90th minute there was to be another goal in the dying seconds of the game. Hurst it was again, completing his hat-trick and bringing forth from the BBC’s Kenneth Wolstenholme those immortal words, “Some people are on the pitch, they think it’s all over”, and as the ball hit the back of the net, “it is now.”

For a 15-year-old schoolboy to witness England win the World Cup was something I’ll never forget. And for further proof that dreams can come true, I even got to see my own home team of Grimsby Town play at Wembley stadium and win the Auto-Windscreen football league trophy in 1998.

Football, like all sport, can give us some great memories. Needless to say, 30 July 1966 is among mine. 

Martin Vickers is Conservative MP for Brigg and Immingham