55 Years apart - Wembley for the Euros Final and the World Cup of 1966

England reaching the final of the 2020 European Football Championships  has brought back all those memories of 1966. Yes, it is now 55 years (at the age of 21) since I stood on the terraces with my friend Ray. I wrote about "The Lost Tickets" on my post of the 8th May 2010. Then I had to go back to 5th May 2007 to find a photo of the programmes. 

Included in that post was the following note.

When my friend Ray showed me the advert in the Evening Standard for world cup tickets, we were amazed that we could buy a season ticket for all the games at Wembley (where England played all their group matches) including the the quarter final, semi final AND FINAL. So we sent off our applications, and back came all the tickets in a nice little cellophane holder. Although I kept all mine, unfortunately they have been lost over the years. But I still have the programmes as the photograph above.

I missed one game. A friend at work (Rowena - her father had given me the second half of a Chelsea season ticket in 1964 when his work ar Reuters took him abroad) held a party to celebrate her 21st birthday on the same day England played Mexico. So I watched most of the game on their tv with her father. So Ray and I exchanged tickets, so I had his for the France v Uruguay game at White City, a most unusual venue, and took my friend Trevor.

Of course the final was fantastic. We were in our normal position behind the goal opposite the players entrance, the one where Geoff Hurst scored our third goal from a cross by Alan Ball. The celebrations after the match were tinged with a little sadness. We had followed England through all their games and now it was all over.

From someone who went to nearly all the games England played, the most emotional was the Quarter Final when Argentina's captain Antonio Rattin was sent off, the chanting a's and singing was unremitting. England were by far the superior team until that moment. But then, as is so often playing against ten men, their play faltered. Only a wonderful header thirteen minutes from the end by Geoff Hurst ( only playing as Jimmy Greaves was injured) from a cross by Martin Peters won the game.

One last thought and that was the first league match of the following season. At the time I supported Chelsea and went to see their opening game against West Ham at Upton Park. I remember vividly that the three West Ham players who played in the final, Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters, came out first to deafening cheers.  

Of course, Wembley has changed dramatically from that old stadium with the running track and wide steps that allowed two people to stand one in front of the other.. Nothing like that on any other stadium. Now it is an all seater modern edifice. I cannot say it's not an improvement.