Hat-trick changed my life'

They say that everyone remembers where they were when Kennedy was shot.

Ask any English football fan old enough where they were on July 30, 1966 and the answer will be the same.

The hopes of a nation fell at the feet of one man on that glorious afternoon at Wembley and, as his father-in-law rightly predicted, Sir Geoff Hurst didn't disappoint.

"My father-in-law told my wife that I was going to score a hat-trick in the final but I just thought it was highly amusing. It was quite quirky really that I managed to do it," said Geoff, at the launch of his new book '1966 And All That' at Brent Cross Shopping Centre.

Sir Geoff not only scored in England's 4-2 World Cup final victory over West Germany he scored the most magnificent hat-trick in English sporting history.

But he openly admits it could have been different had the predatory Jimmy Greaves been fit for the final.

He said: "It was a hugely disappointing day for Jimmy as for anybody who wasn't playing but especially for Jimmy, as he was expected to play."

As it was, Geoff received all the plaudits. "The hat-trick changed my life. I think when you score a hat-trick in the World Cup final, which is one of the biggest sporting occasions we have had in this country ever, then it tends to elevate the people involved with the day to a different level.

"Added to the fact it's the only time we've won the World Cup it puts you in a special category as a team."

And it is this which Geoff sees as the dividing factor between his team of '66 and the current crop of World Cup hopefuls.

He said: "You cannot make a comparison between the two teams for the simple reason that in '66 we won the competition and as we sit here today the England team has only just qualified for the World Cup and haven't won it, so there is no comparison.

"But I would say the young players they have got today are probably the best bunch of young players we've had for some time."

Despite his optimism for the future of the England team, Geoff believes the current crop are still some way short of having the five world-class players he played alongside, namely Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore, Jimmy Greaves, Gordon Banks and Ray Wilson.

"Who would get in our team? I would have to say Michael Owen and if he were to replace anyone it would be me," Geoff said modestly.

"Bobby Moore was the greatest player I ever played with. I don't think we have had anyone who has come close to him in that position of captain, sweeper, and reader of the game.

"Pele was the greatest player I played against, which is not surprising, as many people regard him as being the best of all time," explained Geoff.

Reminiscing about the golden period in English football, Geoff points out some of his happiest memories were of staying in the Hendon Hall Hotel in Great North Way, Hendon, prior to England's games at Wembley between 1966 and 1972.

Memories of those times are more than enough to sustain the former West Ham striker, something he recently displayed by selling his World Cup winner's medal to the club he loves.

"It's something I looked at for some time because it would have been very difficult for me to split it between my three daughters.

"It just transpired that West Ham had just built the new stand, are opening a new museum in June, and they've got Bobby Moore's and Martin Peters' medals there.

"I just felt it was appropriate having the three medals there at West Ham so the fans can have the chance to see three World Cup winners' medals."

And what of his controversial second goal in the epic final of '66? Were the Germans robbed? Was the Russian linesman bribed? Tell us Geoff, was it over the line?

"About a metre," he says, unequivocally.

December 17, 2001 14:01

KEVIN BURCHALL