00:05England was the place to be in the swinging 60s.
00:08The hair was getting longer, the skirts were getting shorter.
00:13Football's biggest names were becoming mainstream celebrities.
00:17But not even George Best was as big as World Cup Willie,
00:20the face of the 1966 World Cup.
00:25England had won the right to stage the eighth tournament
00:28over rival bids from West Germany and Spain.
00:31And when the 16 teams gathered in London,
00:34the nation got behind the three lions as never before,
00:39buoyed by the confident prediction of coach Alf Ramsey
00:41that England would win the World Cup for the first time.
00:45The Football Association was annoyed by Ramsey's confidence,
00:49feeling it put too much pressure on the team,
00:51especially as the clear favourites were the winners
00:54of the last two World Cups, Brazil.
00:57While other strong chances were given to West Germany,
01:00Uruguay and Hungary ahead of the local team.
01:04But England had a couple of things going for them
01:06which they'd never previously had.
01:08The first, obviously, was home advantage,
01:12playing all their group matches at Wembley
01:14in front of passionate home fans.
01:16And the second was the new level of professionalism
01:19Ramsey had brought to the team's preparation.
01:24Training camps were longer and harder,
01:26and he made it clear there would be no favourites in team selection.
01:31Despite an opening round draw against Uruguay
01:34and an injury to their best striker Jimmy Greaves
01:37in the third match against France,
01:39England topped their group without conceding a goal.
01:44Their task was helped when Brazil failed to progress from their group,
01:48virtually bullied out of the tournament
01:50by the hard-pressing tactics of defenders on Pelé,
01:53who was fouled so brutally and constantly
01:56that he vowed never to play at a World Cup again.
01:59A decision he fortunately rescinded.
02:04The West Germans had brought their A-game
02:06with captain Uwe Seyler and forward Helmut Haller in great form,
02:11and 20-year-old Franz Beckenbauer
02:13already showing the form that would make him a World Cup legend.
02:19A 0-0 draw between West Germany and Argentina
02:23left their group decided on goal difference,
02:26with England to play Argentina in the round of 16,
02:28and it was the replacement for Jimmy Greaves, Jeff Hurst,
02:32who scored the only goal in the 78th minute.
02:36The Argentines were convinced the goal was offside,
02:39but were even more incensed that they played the second half
02:42with ten men after captain Antonio Rattin
02:45received his second caution.
02:48Rattin had to be escorted from the field by police,
02:51and the match was the start of the bitter rivalry
02:53between the two nations.
02:57Bobby Charlton delivered a brace
02:59against Eusebius Portugal in the semi-final.
03:02A late penalty to the Golden Boot winner,
03:04the first goal Gordon Banks had conceded for the tournament.
03:08And when West Germany breezed past Uruguay and the Soviet Union
03:12to make the final, football's greatest stage was set.
03:1797,000 people paid over £200,000 to see it,
03:21the greatest soccer game ever played in these islands.
03:24England in red instead of their usual white,
03:26never before in the World Cup final,
03:28but playing a team who've never beaten us before,
03:30West Germany, who won the Cup in 1954.
03:35Greaves was ruled fit to return to the England team,
03:38but Ramsey decided to stick with the inexperienced Hurst.
03:42After Haller drew first blood 12 minutes in
03:45with his sixth goal of the tournament,
03:47the magnitude of Ramsey's decision would begin to unfold.
03:53Only six minutes after Germany's opener,
03:56Bobby Moore is fouled by Oberratt.
04:00Moore takes the kick,
04:02and Jeff has put England level.
04:09One all at half-time,
04:11the match settled into a doer struggle.
04:13Banks making several crucial saves
04:15before Martin Peters,
04:17one of three West Ham players in the team,
04:19alongside skipper Bobby Moore and Hurst,
04:22brought the crowd alive with a goal in the 78th minute.
04:27With that superb shot, England are in the lead.
04:31If they can hold on for 13 more minutes,
04:33the championship is theirs.
04:38Then, only 30 seconds from the whistle,
04:40a free kick for Germany.
04:49Weber has equalised.
04:50The World Cup has slipped from our fingers.
04:56Despite the emotional rollercoaster,
04:59England's players remained on their feet
05:01in the changeover,
05:02as Ramsey pointed to the tired Germans
05:04and instilled the belief
05:05that his men were the fitter team.
05:10Then came the incident still talked about to this day.
05:14Ball passes to Hurst,
05:16and he scores England's third.
05:22The referee had to consult the Russian linesman
05:24before awarding the goal.
05:26It was strongly disputed
05:27on the grounds it hadn't crossed the line.
05:29Another camera angle may help you
05:31to decide for yourself.
05:38Modern technology has determined
05:40to a reasonable certainty
05:41that the goal should have been disallowed.
05:53But the Germans had their chances
05:54to draw level again.
05:56But in the final minute,
05:57Moore's magnificent leadership in defence
05:59was crowned with a clearing pass to Hurst.
06:04And Hurst goes through on his own.
06:13With his third goal in the game,
06:15Geoff Hurst confirms the victory
06:17beyond any shadow of doubt.
06:23From the Queen,
06:25Bobby Moore receives the trophy,
06:26the golden symbol of international supremacy.
06:34Ramsey and his men celebrated wildly on the pitch,
06:37and the celebrations continued
06:39for hours back at the hotel,
06:41for days around the town,
06:43and for months and years after.
06:47Hat-trick hero Hurst's life changed that day,
06:51as did the life of Greaves,
06:53whose disappointment in missing selection
06:55for the final never left him.
06:59Greaves played 57 games for England,
07:02scoring 44 goals,
07:04the best strike rate
07:05of any of England's greatest scorers,
07:07and he still holds the record
07:08for the most hat-tricks, six.
07:10But Ramsey's belief
07:11that Hurst was the safer bet
07:13symbolised his time as England coach.
07:19Hurst himself has always modestly claimed
07:21Greaves was the greatest striker
07:23in England's history.
07:25Yeah, I never thought I'd play for England
07:27to start.
07:28I'm here today,
07:29so many people know me
07:30because of the hat-trick and so on,
07:31but I wasn't the best player at school,
07:33I wasn't the best player in my district,
07:34I wasn't the best player at West Ham,
07:35I wasn't the best player in England.
07:37So, but I had a chance
07:38when sadly, the great Jimmy Greaves,
07:41damaged his shin against the French
07:42in the last qualifying game.
07:44So I had the opportunity to come in.
07:47And it's about young players,
07:48and the same young players today,
07:50taking the opportunity
07:51which presents itself.
07:53More than 50 years later,
07:55England are still waiting
07:57for their next opportunity
07:58to replicate their finest moment
08:00on football's greatest stage.
08:02to be honest.
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