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| Did the 1966 World Cup change England? | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: 24 Jul 2016, 09:56 PM (186 Views) | |
| daib0 | 24 Jul 2016, 09:56 PM Post #1 |
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Did the 1966 World Cup change England? BBC Sport England's victory in the 1966 World Cup is now a part of the national legend - an almost mythical time when the nation's footballers could rightly claim to be the world's best. But the England of the 1960s was quite a different place from today. How did it change the country and what was it like to live through it? http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-36858767 An in depth look at the 1960s from the football angle and its social influence - an excellent piece of journalism in my opinion, well worth reading it through though it is extensive ... |
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| daib0 | 27 Jul 2016, 03:49 PM Post #2 |
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World Cup win breathed life into a moribund country - if only for two weeks, writes Jim White in today's Telegraph: "The collective memory of July 30 1966 is one rich in colour: the scarlet of Bobby Moore's shirt, the primrose yellow of the Queen's hat, the green of the pitch. Plus the gold of the Jules Rimet trophy, flourished aloft by the captain to mark the moment England became world champions. Which is odd, as for everyone bar the 100,000 lucky souls gathered at Wembley, the 1966 World Cup Final was an event experienced entirely in black and white. As many as 32 million people - the biggest audience in British broadcasting history - sat in front of a screen that sunlit afternoon. And, with colour television still a distant prospect, what they saw was an unedifying smudge of grey. As they peered through the murk, trying to work out which one was Geoff Hurst, few can have realised quite what history they were witnessing. This was not the start of something, this was not the harbinger of lengthy English football domination, this was not the first of many. What they were watching unfold was the very high water mark, a unique point of success, still remarkable in its isolation half a century on. And how it was celebrated. According to the news reports, the country had seen nothing like it since VE day. From the moment victory was confirmed, people poured onto the streets. A communal sense of exuberance filled the nation, from the fountains of Trafalgar Square to the pubs of Newcastle, everywhere roared in delight. Everywhere but in Scotland, obviously. The reaction was understandable. After all, there was little else to cheer. Even as the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, and his Chancellor, James Callaghan, joined Alf Ramsey and the players at their celebratory banquet, the country was facing unprecedented crisis. With a prices and incomes freeze in place, with output sinking almost as fast as inflation was rising, the economy was poised on the lip of bankruptcy. This was a country where joy was not the prevailing sense. Not that the football had initially seemed much of a remedy. When England won the right to host the tournament, there was none of the hullabaloo that accompanied the securing of the London Olympics. Despite Wilson's claim that sport was 'essential to Britain's economic and social development', his Sport Minister, Dennis Howell, would later reveal that the Prime Minister had no idea that England was about to host the competition until it kicked off. Indeed, in 1965 a leading article in The Observer commented that the World Cup had been 'a shabby story of neglect and dithering over four years.' Compared to the billions of public funds committed to the 2012 Games, the Government's involvement was thin gruel: its contribution to 'help build a permanent reminder for the nation' was £500,000. Even as the tournament kicked off there seemed to be very little discernible wider economic kickback. There was, for instance, no tourism bonanza. Liverpool's hotels made 20,000 rooms available, but filled just 800. In Middlesbrough, the council formulated plans to billet visiting fans with local families: none took up the opportunity. After all, not many travelled from North Korea. And, compared to the commercial splurge of 2012, the associated marketing now appears quaint to the point of naivety. The main symbol of the tournament was World Cup Willie, a cuddly lion in a Union Jack waistcoat. There were around 150 officially licensed products bearing his image. Between them, they contributed a grand total of £16,000 in licensing fees to the Football Association coffers. Mind, there was also the income for the official World Cup Willie song by Lonnie Donegan, the skiffle singer whose star had peaked a decade earlier. That it flopped in the charts now hardly seems a surprise. Perhaps the most telling moment in the build-up came 12 days before the tournament., when the trophy itself was stolen. It was on unguarded display in the corner of a philatelic exhibition. That it was found days later abandoned in a hedge by a dog was somehow appropriately downbeat. Being British, the dog became instantly renowned: that summer, Pickles was a name as familiar as Pele. Not that the mutt's intervention gave much of an initial boost to the box office. Group matches at Old Trafford, Ayresome Park and Roker Park were played in front of half empty stands. Even Wembley was 20,000 short of capacity for England's opening match against Uruguay. Which was probably as well. It was a turgid goalless draw, which gave little hint of what was to come. 'When one remembers that there are better defences than this lying in wait for Mr Ramsey's men in the later stages of the competition, one's hopes tend to sag', wrote Donald Saunders in this newspaper. It was not until the semi-final victory over Portugal that the nation appeared to notice what was going on. This team were modern, sleek, sophisticated. Which, in truth, were not adjectives readily associated with the man in charge. Compared to Mick Jagger and Pete Townshend, whose images have latterly become representative of the times, Ramsey appeared to be a figure from another era. But when victory came against West Germany, Ramsey's contribution was evident. Hugh McIlvanney wrote that 'England's glory was the result of the most patient, logical, painstaking almost scientific assault on the trophy that has perhaps ever been.' And the moment of success roared across the land. For those fearing post-war decline it was the perfect antidote: England was back on top of the world. 'Pay may be frozen, but they have lifted our hearts', wrote The Observer. But the triumph turned out to be less of a signifier of permanent uplift than the last hurrah of the summer. By the middle of August the nation was shrouded once again in economic gloom. 'Nothing has changed,' Bernard Levin wrote. 'Nothing is better for England because the World Cup has been won.' Actually, Levin was wrong. One thing was made permanently better: over the years, the memories of that glorious afternoon have become ever more colourful." |
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| Zip | 27 Jul 2016, 07:18 PM Post #3 |
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Very enjoyable read. As a six year old in 1970 I collected the pictures of the players in that World Cup. I think Esso were doing a promotion at the time. On the front of this collectors book was a picture of the late but great Bobby More lifted ahigh by his colleagues holding the World Cup with a beaming smile on his face. That image endured. I wanted to be Bobby Moore. He was my first sporting hero. Edited by Zip, 27 Jul 2016, 07:49 PM.
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| Darlington | 27 Jul 2016, 08:03 PM Post #4 |
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The problem here is that should have been England's second World Cup win. The were robbed in 1958 due to the Munich Air Disaster that took away the left back, the centre forward and most importantly the greatest player to have ever played football. Due to this they played a wing half up front and it just wasn't the same as Taylor who was a prolific scorer for United and England (he had scored 16 times in 19 games for England). They then lost Roger Byrne who was the left back. What made Byrne great was he could play left or right back but more importantly left wink half or outside left because he was strong, quick and versatile. The biggest loss came though with Duncan Edwards who I still maintain is the best thing on two legs ever to play football to this day. He was strong and could play at the back or in front of the back four. He could be used as an attacking mid or if required could go up front and score. He worried opposing teams because he won balls, was hard to get the ball from and scores and he was just too good. Anyone at the time said the loss of those three cost England and with them Russia would not have kicked them off the park in a blatant display of fouling. Edwards would have flattened them. But for the air disaster England would have dominated world footy for a few years. |
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| daib0 | 27 Jul 2016, 08:27 PM Post #5 |
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I can only say ... if only |
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| daib0 | 27 Jul 2016, 09:55 PM Post #6 |
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1966 - ah, and my parents bought their first TV shortly after as they were so peeved at missing the final ... |
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| daib0 | 28 Jul 2016, 07:31 AM Post #7 |
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I'm told - back in 66 Ramon Wilson had to change his name to Ray to be considered English... |
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| Darlington | 28 Jul 2016, 09:26 AM Post #8 |
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One presumes your having a laugh there as Ramon "Ray" Wilson is as English as Fish n Chips and was born in England. Edited by Darlington, 28 Jul 2016, 09:26 AM.
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| daib0 | 28 Jul 2016, 10:00 AM Post #9 |
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Yep, of course, I don't doubt that for a minute. I was only talking about the christian name itself, Spanish Ramon is English Raymond or so I always believed ... |
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| daib0 | 30 Jul 2016, 03:38 PM Post #10 |
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Just an anecdote - Most fans wore a suit and tie to watch the 1966 World Cup Final. ![]() |
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