1966-2025

Sorry but it is time for a slice of nostalgia......especially when English Football needs a boost. I have published this before, but slightly edited from my diary....I was 15.

 "July 30th 1966. Rain showers but mainly sunny and dry. Get up late, get food for the party and lounge about. John Bartlett had "dinner" with us, steak and kidney pie at my home in 21 Rectory Close, on "our" estate and in the afternoon we all went round his house (number 18) to watch the World Cup Final." 

His parents, Mr Bartlett was our local village Post Office Master,  and Mrs, were away on holiday, mine were at home and when ever England scored I phoned my Dad (Pulborough 278). When Geoff Hurst smashed in his third and England's final goal, we jumped out of his sitting room windows onto the front lawn and rolled around!

The party afterwards was fun although there was a lack of "girls"....in fact there were none.....
Such was life in Rectory Close, Pulborough at the age of 15.

32.3 million watched the game on BBC or ITV although only 15 million apparently owned a TV set. 400m were said to have watched the final globally in 75 countries. The red of England and the white of West Germany was imagined in shades of grey!

The night before the game Alf Ramsey took the players and his assistants to the Hendon Odeon to watch "Those magnificant men in the flying machines".
Name the players! Below....

Geoff Hurst was told he would be starting the game at the cinema and when he let out the secret to room mate, Martin Peters, he found out that his colleague would be starting too.

Bobby Charlton, the superb goal scorer, was instructed to man mark Beckenbauer.
Nobby Stiles went to Mass on the morning of the game while Alan Ball collected £1000 from the Adidas rep for wearing their boots.
Gordon Banks and a few team mates went shopping in Hendon High Street whilst Ray Wilson went to Golders Green to buy shoes for the reception in the evening.
George Cohen read the programme from cover to cover in the dressing room before the game.
If only Roger Hunt had knocked in the "rebound" as the ball bounced off the line when Hurst scored his "controversial" goal.
Jack Charlton had to give a urine sample immediately at the end of the game-his fourth sample in six matches. the doctors gave him a union jack hat with the Jimmy Riddle trophy written on the front.

Bobby Moore made a point of wiping his hands on his shorts and then the velvet cover on the royal box frontage, just before shaking hands with the Queen.

Alf could not be persuaded by his captain to join the pitch celebrations. The Dagenham born manager remained aloof from his players although his statement "Gentleman, most certainly we will win the World Cup"......rang true. Thank you, Sir Alf.

"July 30th 1966. Showers but mainly sunny and dry. Get up late, get food for the party and lounge about. John Bartlett had "dinner" with us, steak and kidney pie and in the afternoon we all went round his house to watch the Final. His parents were away on holiday, mine were at home and when ever England scored I phoned my dad. Whe Geoff Hurst smashed in his third and England's final goal, we jumped out of his sitting room windows onto the front lawn and rolled around!
The party afterwards was fun although there was a lack of girls"

32.3 million watched the game on BBC or ITV although only 15 million apparently owned a TV set. 400m were said to have watched the final globally in 75 countries. The red of England and the white of West Germany was imagined in shades of grey!

Helmut Haller, the opposing player, took the match ball at the end of the game.

The players wives were not allowed to join their partners for the post match reception at the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington.

They had to sit in an adjoining room to enjoy their own celebration. Six weeks they had been separated from their men! But the FA made up for that by presenting every one of the ladies with a celebratory pair of scissors.

The players having doffed their caps to the FA officials during the dinner joined their wives at the Danny La Rue club afterwards.

Jack Charlton then went onto Leytonstone with an old friend, stayed there for the rest of the evening and slept at his house. His pregnant wife, who didn't join him, and his mother Cissie ticked him off the following afternoon when he emerged. Dont expect the "fag" had much support either.
And Jimmy Greaves? So sad, never made it for the Final.....

GOLD WITH BRONZE

England defender Lucy Bronze has revealed that she played the entire tournament with a fractured tib. Lucy's mum, Diane Bronze, said the Chelsea full-back suffered the injury in June but she still started all six of the Lionesses' games in Switzerland and was a key reason for their success. "We've known all the time. We knew the medics had checked it, and they knew what they were doing," Diane Bronze told BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour. "I think a lot of the girls knew and not a whisper got out." 

What is a tibia fracture? Dr Mark Bowditch, President of the British Orthopaedic Association told BBC Sport that a tibia is, "the shin bone and the main weight bearing bone from the knee to the ankle"!!!

The consultant knee and sports surgeon added, "Fractures of the tibia range from partial break, such as a stress or fatigue split, through to a complete break and separation.  A complete break is the high-energy sudden injury from a fall from a height, twist or direct  blow, such as a studs-up tackle. You cannot continue to play on or even walk on a complete break." 

"Stress/fatigue fractures - which is likely to be the type Lucy Bronze has - are low-energy repeated injury and usually seen in athletes or army personnel. They normally present with pain after activity, rather than a sudden incident."

Following Sunday's final, England manager Sarina Wiegman said that Bronze, "had some issues with her tibia so of course we tried to manage that".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cwy5vvy275yo

Nick Worth, who was England men's under-21 team physiotherapist between 2000-2003, told BBC Sport that Wiegman's comments further corroborate the view that the defender's injury was a stress reaction, rather than a clean break. How could Bronze play with a fracture? The 33-year-old played 598 minutes across the tournament, with only Keira Walsh, Alex Greenwood and Hannah Hampton playing more for Wiegman's side.           Dr Bowditch called it, "remarkable" Bronze was able to play so much tournament football. "She probably has had to reduce the amount of training she has done in between games or train in a low weight-bearing environment such as a swimming pool or anti-gravity trainer," he suggested. "It's a great tribute to Dr Ritan Mehta and Lionesses medical team that they have managed to keep Lucy going."

Worth believes that Bronze's decision to play through her injury would have been based on a calculation of risk vs reward, made in collaboration with the Lionesses' medical team. "No doubt she's been exceptionally brave, you can't underestimate the mentality and resilience to do that," he added. "But it must be a manageable injury to enable her to do that." 'She'll not let the pain get in the way'

Bronze's aunt, Julie Tough, told BBC 5 Live: "Lucy wouldn't damage her body but she'll play through pain if she thinks she's not going to do anything worse to it. She'll not let the pain get in the way." Painkillers and anti-inflammatories may have helped Bronze manage her pain during games, as well as perhaps using different insoles in her boots to enable her to offload weight on the injured leg.

Bronze's mum Diane added: "The medics had checked it and they knew what they were doing, and so does she because she did a sports science degree. She reads research papers and things. She knows about injuries. That's how she can keep going."

The defender, who was England's oldest player at the tournament, managed 105 minutes in Sunday's showpiece final, before leaving the pitch in tears as she was forced off with a separate injury to her right knee. 

Wiegman praised her attitude afterwards, saying: "The whole team has a great mentality but she has a crazy mentality, it's unbelievable. Lucy has shown that bit extra - she's an exceptional individual, and not everyone would do that. She knows her own body, and t here is no doubt she would speak up if something isn't right." During the quarter-final against Sweden, Bronze was shown on camera self-strapping support around her right leg during a break in play. Worth suggested that this is unlikely to be related to her fractured tibia. What could Bronze's recovery look like? Worth suggested that Bronze should hopefully not face any long-term consequences after playing during the tournament, and the most important thing now will be rest. While she will need to offload the tibia a little bit, Bronze should be able to continue with work in the gym and the pool, and that weight-bearing can help the healing." "Bones heal in the lines of stress, so in a converse way, putting weight on a fracture at the right time can help with healing.

FROM BRANDO TO NISTELROOY

On July 28th in 1954, Marlon Brando starred in the film, "On the Waterfront" directed by Elia Kazan. (see photo). 

In 1976, around 240,000 Chinese inhabitants in Tangshan, lost their lives to a massive earthquake. On this day in 1993, Harry Kane was brought into this World! 

In 2005, on this day, the IRA announced they would pursue only "peaceful means" to achieve their "objectives". Today, the death of Tom Lehrer, acclaimed musician satirist, is announced. A child prodigy in mathematics, he graduated Harvard at just 19 years old, his darkly prophetic and cynical show tunes won him a cult following in the 50s and 60s.

In 2006, Ruud van Nistelrooy was on the end of the ruthless decision by Manchester United boss, Alex Ferguson, when he sold the Dutchman to Real Madrid.  The Dutchman was a very successful player but Ferguson was allegedy unhappy with Ruud's "reaction" to not being picked to start the League Cup Final against Wigan! Tetchy! Ruud was not used. 

Substitutes:
GK	1	Tim Howard
DF	3	Patrice Evra		83'
DF	15	Nemaji Vidic		83'
MF	23	Kieran Richardson		73'
FW	10	Ruud van Nistelrooy

Good transfer location eventually though...

CHARLTON, EUSEBIO AND KEEGAN.

My 1966 diary tells me that in the morning of July 26th, it was the school holiday, and I had a haircut at the village barber. I then went, with friends, to a Sussex County Schools U15 cricket match against Northamptonshire at Loder Road, Brighton, a school ground. It rained and the game was never played!! After lunch, we went home and my neighbouring friend was showing on his "telly", the World Cup Semi-final of England v Portugal, Eusebio and all, played at Wembley. Below is a mention of the game, except for the news that we lads had fish and chips for our tea.  

Bobby Charlton scored two and Eusébio one as England beat Portugal 2-1 at Wembley in the semi-final of the World Cup. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myG7PSY2auk#:~:text=England%20edge%20out%20Portugal%202-1%20to%20win%20their,the%20great%20Eusebio%20scoring%20a%20late%20penalty%20f

England would then play West Germany - who had beaten the Soviet Union 2-1 the previous evening at Goodison Park - in the World Cup Final. Eleven years later.....

26th July 1977         
Kevin Keegan's £500,000 transfer from Liverpool to Hamburg in June was a record for a British player. He made his debut for his new club on 26th July 1977 in a pre-season friendly against Barcelona and, as the picture shows, Barcelona players seem to be taking the pee out of the Hamburg colour scheme. But Hamburg had the last laugh, Keegan scoring in their 6-0 defeat of the Spaniards.

FOREST GREEN ROVERS-NEW VEGAN KIT

Forest Green Rovers have revealed new vegan football kits for the team's upcoming season, but the design has split fans' opinions with some branding it as "horrendous" and "out there".

The Gloucestershire team announced their players would be stepping onto the pitch for the new 2025/26 season in a fluorescent leopard-style print pattern "inspired by nature."

The new home shirt will be worn for two seasons as part of the club's commitment to reduce waste and lower the burden on fans to purchase a new design every year.

The recyclable material will then be remade into new products to help tackle the vast amount of textile waste, external generated by the sports industry each year.

Image source,Forest Green Rovers FC

Image caption,

The kit's print pattern is inspired by a barking tree frog will be worn for the next two seasons, with players competing in away games wearing bright pink

Alongside official teamwear partner Reflo, both organisations have been working with the Vegan Society to create what they claim to be the "world's first fully certified vegan kit".

The kit's pattern is inspired by a barking tree frog and is made from recycled mono-fibre materials which used plant-based dyes, club chairman Dale Vince said.

"In pursuit of the most sustainable football kit, we've experimented in previous seasons, with both bamboo and with coffee grounds," he continued.

"This season our new strip pushes the boundary again. I'm really pleased to unveil our bold, bright new kit that's inspired by nature and helping nature - that's pretty fabulous."

Image caption,

Club chairman Dale Vince said the club "like to push the boundaries on sustainability issues"

But not everyone is on board, with some sceptical fans describing the kit as "horrendous".

"Am I supposed to like that?" One supporter said. "How long are they going to be wearing that for?"

Another added: "I can't believe that - they wouldn't do that would they? I think I like the more traditional takes."

However, one fan enquired as to whether she could have the kit herself.

"I want one," she said. "Just to wear out anyway. I love leopard print."

Forest Green Rovers compete in the National League in the fifth tier of English football and recently appointed Robbie Savage as manager. The team's previous kit design for the 2024-25 seasons was fluorescent green with jagged stripes......

Image source,PA

Image caption,

What they really mean!! Ten and Alf meant "Animals"!

 "One of the game's real characters"....he's wearing an earring.

"He did everything but put the ball into the back of the net"....he can't finish!

"I'm happy with the squad I have got!"........they are not giving me any penny to spend on players.

"He's got a good footballing brain"...basically in there is what you will find in a football.

"He's a very experienced player"...... very old.

"Not afraid to take players on"..... doesn't notice team mates screaming for him to pass the ball.

"Makes a nuisance of himself in the box".....barges into opposing defenders and tramples on their feet.

"Temperamental player!"....nutcase.

"Looks to be struggling with his knee".......knows he's about to be substituted.

"There's more urgency in their play now".....They're panicking like mad.

On July 23rd 1966....Geoff Hurst, of West Ham replaced the injured Jimmy Greaves in the England side for the World Cup quarter-final match against Argentina at Wembley (England's 407th international match) – and scored the only goal. The photo shows England manager, Alf Ramsey, not allowing George Cohen swap match shirts with an Argentinan opponent. The Argentine captain, Antonio Rattín was sent off after 36 minutes and Alf didn't agree with the opposition's attitude and behaviour. Referee, Rudolph Kreitlein, a West German official, attempted to "snuff out" the over zealous tackling from the start, by using his "notebook". This seemed to incense the Argentine captain, Rattin, who had a running argument with the ref. on behalf of the Argentine side. Rattín's controversial dismissal, which involved his refusal to leave the field and prolonged protests, is a key moment in the history of the England-Argentina football rivalry. The match ended with a 1-0 victory for England, with Geoff Hurst (West Ham), scoring the only goal. At the end of the match, on the Wembley pitch, with 90,584 watching, Alf did not allow his players to swop shirts with the oppostion, whom he claimed were "animals", a word that the FA stuffed shirts persuaded Alf to withdraw, after some persuasion. 

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INTER-CONTINENTAL CLUB CUP

The Intercontinental Club Cup came into "being" in 1960, the brainchild of UEFA General Secretary, Henri Delaunay. This was to be a two-legged contest between the European Cup (as it was) winners and winners of the South American, Copa Libertadores. The ICC was a game of some status and excitement, contested annually until 2004. It is known from 1980 as the Toyota Cup for sponsorship reasons, of course....

In 1960, the first leg between Penarol and Real Madrid, resulted in a draw in Montevideo. Ferenc Puskas (Hungarian) and the Spaniard, Alfredo di Stefano, both of Madrid, shared three goals in the first 8 minutes of the return and their team won 5-0, to win the prize. In 1962, Pele of Santos, Brazil, scored 5 goals out of 8 for his club over two legs against Portugal's Benfica.

In 1963, the tournament final lost some favour as Santos and Milan had players sent off. Milan's goalkeeper, Balzarini needed stitches in his head and hand. Six players were sent off in 1967's bad tempered play-off between Racing Club and Celtic. In 1968, Manchester United had two players dismissed in two ties against Estudiantes. Estudiantes then excelled in the 1969 season by beating Milan, although there was a maelstrom of kicking and gouging. Three members of their team were jailed for the evening by an embarrassed Argentinian President. In 1970, Feyenoord's Joop van Daele had his  spectacles whipped off his nose by Estudiantes defender Oscar Malbernat, who passed them on to his team mate Pachame, who duly stamped on them!!

This relentless "antifutbol" convinced 1971 European Champions, Ajax, to withdraw from the tournament when they had the chance to compete. Nacional of Uruguay, undersome pressure for a lack of success at the "higher stage" and in the need of money, begged UEFA to persuade the Dutch club to compete but they refused. European Cup Runners-up from Greece, Panathinaikos took their place!

Ajax played the following year when Johan Cruyff had his ankle damaged by rough Independiente play so the Dutch decided enough was enough. For the next few seasons the European Champions, Ajax, Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Nottingham Forest declined "the invitation". Below Ajax 1972.........

From 1980, its format was changed to a single match traditionally held in Tokyo, Japan, due to its new sponsorship. 

The Intercontinental Cup was discontinued in 2004 in favour of the FIFA Club World Cup, which includes the champion clubs from all of the FIFA member confederations. The final Final, was won by 2004 European champions, Porto of Portugal, who beat Colombian side, Once Caldos by 8–7 in a penalty shoot out, after the match finished 0–0. A fitting finale!!

Honours: Liverpool 1981 and 1984 both Finals as Runners Up: Nottingham Forest one Final in 1980 as RU, Aston Villa one Runners Up 1982, Manchester United one Win in 1999, one RU 1968.

FOOTBALL ON PRESCRIPTION

 https://www.fgr.co.uk/news/the-beautiful-game-is-just-the-medicine/

https://wecanmove.net/football-on-prescription/

LIVE football will be made available on prescription to help alleviate symptoms of depression under a scheme being piloted by a Labour MP and Ecotricity-owner Dale Vince. 

The plans, drawn up by GP turned MP, Dr Simon Opher (Stroud) and Mr Vince, will see patients at surgeries in Gloucestershire given the chance to attend games at National League side Forest Green Rovers. Mr Vince has owned the club since 2010. The initiative is part of a move by Dr Opher who has pioneered offering social prescribing to patients with mild or moderate depression instead of anti-depressants. Both comedy and gardening have previously been prescribed to patients by Dr Opher!! He said, "On average, around four-in-five people tend to stick with prescribed activities, with one of the main benefits being tackling loneliness". 

Dr Opher said: “I do think there’s something about watching football which does give you a sense of community. “I think one of the biggest problems in our society is social isolation. “It’s really quite toxic, actually, and it’s created in the modern world by social media. “Pubs aren’t so popular, we don’t get out as much, we don’t live in extended families, so that is very bad for you. “You can quantify it, it’s the same health risk as smoking about 20 cigarettes a day. 

It’s really bad. Patients at a dozen surgeries in the county near Forest Green’s The New Lawn ground in Nailsworth will be given the chance to be referred to go to a game. Football gets people out and about, socialising. It will not be for everyone but it must help a good number of people struggling with mental and social issues. It must be better than taking anti-depressants, which by the way has increased in number by around 2% this year to around 8.7 million people in the country.

He said: “If you’ve got severe depression then I would always recommend antidepressants, but a large majority of people have got what they call mild to moderate depression, and the tendency at the moment is to give them tablets, because there’s no mental health support really, it can take six months to get it, and you feel like you need to do something. “That’s why we’ve got to a stage where we’ve got 8.7 million people on antidepressants, so we need to try something else.”  The initiative is planned to run for the whole season, beginning with the side’s first home game against Yeovil Town on August 16. The tickets are being donated for free by Forest Green. 

Mr Vince bought the club in 2010, and has since turned them into the world’s first vegan, and carbon-neutral football club!! Under his ownership the long-time non-league club reached League One, before suffering two back-to-back relegations. 

He said: “I think it’d be a great thing if football clubs up and down the country could reach out to people and do this. “Men typically don’t really talk about their issues, that’s the thing, and you get loneliness and things like that as well. In my life I’ve had periods in my life where I’ve been a bit fed up, and excluded … a bit "down" from time to time. It’s easy to spiral downwards when you’re not in contact with people and I just wanted to do something about that.”  

“Forest Green has been one of the best experiences of my life, and I’m keen to share that.” Dr Opher’s scepticism towards widespread antidepressant prescription came after he began his career as a GP in 1995.

A BUSY AND IMPORTANT FEW DAYS IN SPORT

 Lord Arthur Kinnaird was born in 1847 and unfortunately as an FA administrator, died before the new Wembley was opened in 1923. Born in Kensington, his father, Lord Kinnaird, and mother were Scottish, having a home in the family seat in Perthshire. He went to school in Cheam, then at Eton College and after at Trinity College, Cambridge University, becoming a banker for a bank that eventually founded Barclays Bank. Kinnaird played in the second FA Cup Final in 1873, for the Wanderers, as an outfield player (sometimes in goal) and then took part in a further 8 finals, either for the Wanderers or the Old Etonians. Indeed he played in the 1881 final against the Old Carthusians, (the old boys of Charterhouse School, once in London and now in Surrey) losing 0-3.

He played in the "unofficial" England internationals v Scotland in the early 1880s and also played for county sides and The North!
Kinnaird later joined the FA administration  and refereed (umpired in those days) two FA Cup Finals in 1887 and 1889.

Like all heroes in the Victorian period he was multi-talented, sprinting for his school, getting a Cambridge Blue at Real Tennis and he also represented Cambridge at Fives, swimming, enjoyed international canoeing and was a member of the MCC.
He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a member of the House of Lords, a JP, president of the YMCA and had various roles in the Royal Engineers and the Church of Scotland. He was of course a genuine amateur footballer....mind you he could afford to keep that status.

On July 20th 1885, the Football Association permitted "professionalism", something Kinnaird would have voted for. Before that many clubs made "payments" to some of their players to maintain the club's competitiveness. The original FA Rules formed in 1863 insisted on clubs abiding by the laws of the amateur FA code.

The Perth Golfing Society, Scotland, was founded in 1824 during a gathering of men at the local Salutation Inn. Kinnaird was not born then.
Its sixth captain was Lord Arthur Kinnaird, who, using his contact with Royalty, persuaded King William IV to give the golf society his patronage and so the golf club gained the status of the Royal Perth Golfing Society, the first in the country to gain this honour.

The 153rd Open Championship is played from July 17 to July 20, 2025, at Royal Port Rush Golf Club in Northern Ireland. Today is its final.

Various clubs have gained the Royal patronage; The Royal and Ancient, St Andrews in 1834, Royal Port Rush founded in 1888 was dubbed "Royal" in 1892. The Royal North Devon was honoured in 1864 and various clubs abroad in Australia, in Zimbabwe, the Czech Republic, Wales and of course England eg Liverpool 1871 have gained the honour! There are 66 clubs bearing the Royal title. 

Just to get another sport into this Blog, I heard that over arm bowling in cricket was first used officially on this day, some time ago. The Laws of Cricket "modernised" for the 1864 season. Law 10 was rewritten to allow the bowler to bring his arm through at any height providing he kept it straight and did not throw the ball. This completed the evolution of bowling and the overarm style has remained predominant ever since, though some conservatives (including W.G.Grace, no less) did continue to bowl roundarm till the end of their careers; and even underarm itself was still seen occasionally.

The giant of Victorian cricket, Dr W.G. Grace, was also a keen footballer who appeared for the Wanderers; Grace later became the first President of the Gloucestershire Football Association on its foundation in 1886 and also served as a referee.