The King's Hall in Ilkley last month was the venue for an 'An Audience with Sir Geoff Hurst', Geoffrey Mogridge reviews for Your Ilkley.
“And here comes Hurst, he’s got..... some people are on the pitch. They think it's all over!” (Geoff Hurst scores to put England two goals ahead in extra time) “It is now. It's Four!” These are the immortal words of BBC commentator, Kenneth Wolstenholme, as Hurst clinched England’s victory over West Germany, in the FIFA World Cup Final at Wembley, on Saturday 30th July 1966.
Hurst made 499 League and Cup appearances with West Ham United and scored 248 goals for the Hammers. His idol was the great Bobby Moore, West Ham Captain for over ten years. Sir Geoff describes Moore as, “an immaculate guy who somehow even managed to emerge from the showers looking dry”.
As a striker in the England team under Moore’s captaincy, Hurst scored a hat-trick in the 1966 Final. Instantly, he a became a worldwide football icon. On 19th October 1968, another record was smashed. Hurst scored SIX in the Hammers 8-0 thrashing of Sunderland at the Boleyn Ground, Upton Park. A few hands shot up when genial compere Jed Stone asked if there were any Hammers in the audience.
Sir Geoff is now an agile 82-year-old with a million memories to recall. He is amusing and forthright in reply to Jed’s gentle questioning. An occasional expletive is thrown in, especially on the subject of that legendary World Cup Final day. When Queen Elizabeth, wearing long white gloves, presented the Cup to Moore, team mate Martin Peters had said: “What happens if it gets stolen? There’ll be no ******* fingerprints!”
Sir Bobby Charlton’s death in October 2023 left Sir Geoff as sole surviving player of the Class of ‘66. The football legend now looks at those joyous post-match team pictures “with great sadness”.
What are his views of the England side since then? “Unquestionably, Brian Clough should have been Manager, but his face didn’t fit the FA. There have been bad choices, although Southgate did very well”. And his thoughts on Leeds United’s hard tackling ferocity in those “medieval days”, as Sir Geoff refers to the 60s and 70s football era: “I was never seriously injured, so I figure that Jack Charlton and Norman Hunter must have liked me.”
During the interval, an auction of England 1966 Team photos and shirts signed by Sir Geoff, raised nearly £1000 for Beatrix's Heart Journey.
This informative and entertaining Audience with Sir Geoff Hurst was presented by Bradford Theatres on 24th September 2024.
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