Very sad news today on the BBC: Martin Peters: 1966 World Cup winner and West Ham legend dies aged 76
Very sad to hear he is gone. The film Goal was my first exposure to soccer, and it's still a favorite. As a result of watching it I have always been especially fond of the 1966 cup squad and have rooted for England in every competition since. The '66 eleven have had some sad times since. Several of them, including Peters and Nobby Stiles, have suffered from dementia. Moore and Banks are gone now, also Ray Wilson and I think maybe Alan Ball. I gather that Jack Charlton is pretty frail these days.
Being only 4 at the time of the '66 final, it is definitely a black and white memory.....I watched it on BBC1 as we couldn't get ITV. I have some dim memory that there was a thunder storm nearby and my Mum unplugged the TV so I actually missed the Peters' goal... but luckily I did get to see extra time. Also, when you look back at his goal, I immediately think offside but then you see that a German defender stayed on the line next to the goalie... that being said, a nice finish. A brilliant player at WHU no doubt but I was sort of underwhelmed - as an 8 year old - when he transferred to Spurs in early '70 but then learnt to love him at the Mexico World Cup when he and Spurs team mate Alan Mullery scored to take England comfortably through to the semis to take on Italy and then I would be able to watch that late night game due to a general election taking place on the Thursday and thus a school holiday because my primary school doubled as a polling station.. oh wait !! Will tip my hat to Martin Peters at today's game in north London. Two of Peters' goals here - in a losing cause though in Europe against Liv.... plus ca change
One extra bit of sad news - it is being suggested that his Alzheimer's was the long term result of heading heavy leather footballs.
Alan Shearer has recently been looking in to this potential consequence of heading a football on a regular basis: BBC - Alan Shearer: Dementia, Football And Me - Media Centre
To me it was the most unpleasant welcome in London in Mid 1966 But I stayed in the country until 1970 and watched both Chelsea and Fulham. Still, both Chelsea and Liverpool are my favorite English teams. 21 years after the end of WW2 I was never treated in a bad way or named a bl.... Jerry. Thank you Brits. Stefan.
I am up in Northumberland - back home - presently. Jack Charlton lives very close to where I grew up and my in-laws know him to chat to. They haven’t seen him for a while. My father-in-law says he last saw him at Waitrose and after chatting for a while, Jack said, laughing, that he couldn’t remember what he’d gone into Waitrose for. Article here: Jack Charlton admits he is losing his memory but will never forget World Cup win I attended a work motivational gathering in 1996 at Knebworth and Jack was the speaker. He said that at the time he was drafted into the England 1966 World Cup squad, he was probably the sixth best English centre half and didn’t expect to be selected. Apparently, Alf Ramsey had looked at all the contenders and asked them a couple of questions. Everyone of them said Bobby Moore was the best English central defender. Alf then asked them, if the opposing team crosses a ball into the England penalty area and Bobby Moore is best situated to go for the ball what would you do. Jack said he’d go for the ball too and clear everyone out with it. He got picked to play alongside Bobby Moore. I can only guess that the other contenders said they would leave it for Bobby Moore.
I went to the first leg of the semi-final against Spurs at Anfield and then the first leg of the final. Martin Peters was a wonderful player, class and skill in abundance. I watched the World Cup final in 66 on the telly as a 13 year old and remember it like it was yesterday. A brilliant day for the country.
