World Cup 1966

Minimeister · January 2, 2014

Just watching 'Football's Greatest - Eusebio' and there's loads of coverage of the 1966 world cup and of the grand old lady herself. What I never knew was that it said the semi final between England and Portugal should have been played in Liverpool and not Wembley but the FA moved it. Is anyone old enough to know the story behind this? Should it have been at Goodison and if so why was it moved?

Merseyzig · January 2, 2014

Just watching the same thing! Great seeing 1960s Goodison in colour. As for the FA moving the match to Wembley, not sure about that, I think that might be an excuse that the Portuguese made up. I note the editing didn't show the Portuguese kicking lumps out of Pele!!!

Minimeister · January 2, 2014

Great programme though wasn't it mate. Would of loved to have followed the Koreans through that World Cup.

allezlesbleus · January 2, 2014

I was at one of the group games, saw pele kicked to bits but remember little of the match. And at Portugal North Korea. It was ace.

Merseyzig · January 2, 2014

Anybody here at the semi-final? A World Cup semi final at Goodison Park....

Toffeelover · January 2, 2014

I was at the Goodison games but so long ago now to remeber much but can recall we were treated to some great football.

allezlesbleus · January 2, 2014

Merseyzig said:
Anybody here at the semi-final? A World Cup semi final at Goodison Park....

Not me personally but my French mate was. He loved Goodison Park.

royalblue66 · January 2, 2014

Remember Hungary had a Centre Forward named Florian Albert, the Goodison crowd knew a Centre Forward when they saw one
And the crowd were chanting Albert,Albert, right through the game,and I remember the Brazil player they called Little Bird scoring with a free kick at the Park end, there was silence for a split second before the crowd realised the ball was in the back of the net, a very colourful occasion with all the National flags down Goodison road,and draped from the stands, if I remember right when the fans purchased their tickets for the games at G P most fans thought the semi final was to be played at G P, but it seemed this wasn't the case, it was to be played at H Q, what I remember most about it all was the atmosphere and all the drum beats and how friendly everyone was, I also seem to remember we collected stubs going to watch Everton running up to the World Cup which gave us priority for the the W/C matches at Goodison,

ToffeeDan · January 2, 2014

Yep England were meant to play at Goodison in the semi.

Toffeelover · January 2, 2014

uncle bill's moggie said:
Remember Hungary had a Centre Forward named Florian Albert, the Goodison crowd knew a Centre Forward when they saw one
And the crowd were chanting Albert,Albert, right through the game,and I remember the Brazil player they called Little Bird scoring with a free kick at the Park end, there was silence for a split second before the crowd realised the ball was in the back of the net, a very colourful occasion with all the National flags down Goodison road,and draped from the stands, if I remember right when the fans purchased their tickets for the games at G P most fans thought the semi final was to be played at G P, but it seemed this wasn't the case, it was to be played at H Q, what I remember most about it all was the atmosphere and all the drum beats and how friendly everyone was, I also seem to remember we collected stubs going to watch Everton running up to the World Cup which gave us priority for the the W/C matches at Goodison,

Now that has brought back some memories, cheers Cat of Unca Bill.

Little Ralphy · January 2, 2014

My Dad went to all of the games at Goodison and then the final at Wembley. The boss of his work bought a book of tickets for all of the group games and the semi final and final, cos he wanted to take his son to the final or something, and you had to have so many stubbs. He gave all the tickets to my Dad and his mate for the group games and then his son got sick and couldn't go the final anyway, so he gave them those tickets as well. After the FA Cup Final that same year, that must have been some Summer.

It's been a while but I think the FA argued that there would be safety issue if England played at Goodison, so they changed the semi-final to Wembley as it was so much bigger. Most people felt it was a blag and they just wanted to give England more of an advantage.

Minimeister · January 2, 2014

Little Ralphy said:
My Dad went to all of the games at Goodison and then the final at Wembley. The boss of his work bought a book of tickets for all of the group games and the semi final and final, cos he wanted to take his son to the final or something, and you had to have so many stubbs. He gave all the tickets to my Dad and his mate for the group games and then his son got sick and couldn't go the final anyway, so he gave them those tickets as well. After the FA Cup Final that same year, that must have been some Summer.

It's been a while but I think the FA argued that there would be safety issue if England played at Goodison, so they changed the semi-final to Wembley as it was so much bigger. Most people felt it was a blag and they just wanted to give England more of an advantage.

I wondered if England did not finish top of the group and therefore follow the route planned out early on that should of seen them play at Wembley? It did say in the programme that the Portugese were confident of winning if it was at Goodison!

The Esk · January 2, 2014

My Grandfather went to all the games at Goodison - he was the son of "Dickie" Boyle the Everton player and Captain in the late 1890's and early 1900's.

In the official FIFA film of the '66 World Cup there's the scene where Pele gets fouled twice in as many seconds v Portugal - he started the game not really fit and after several fouls spent the last hour hobbling, almost unable to walk let alone run. The You-tube link is below. Fast forward to 24 minutes 45 seconds, Pele gets the double foul and the camera focuses on an old guy (25 mins 7 seconds) with a very lined face, starring intently as Pele is injured on the ground. That's him my Granddad, the greatest blue I have ever met, he didn't miss a game at Goodison in nearly 50 years until his death in the 70's

[video=youtube;ro_dp4s1gAE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro_dp4s1gAE[/video]

Great film to watch if you have the time - the Goodison scenes are fascinating, as is the whole film....

Minimeister · January 2, 2014

Cheers for that mate, saved to watch for a rainy day. That's great that, an iconic moment like the tackles on Pele and for your grandad to be part of it.

hullefc · January 2, 2014

the esk said:
My Grandfather went to all the games at Goodison - he was the son of "Dickie" Boyle the Everton player and Captain in the late 1890's and early 1900's.

In the official FIFA film of the '66 World Cup there's the scene where Pele gets fouled twice in as many seconds v Portugal - he started the game not really fit and after several fouls spent the last hour hobbling, almost unable to walk let alone run. The You-tube link is below. Fast forward to 24 minutes 45 seconds, Pele gets the double foul and the camera focuses on an old guy (25 mins 7 seconds) with a very lined face, starring intently as Pele is injured on the ground. That's him my Granddad, the greatest blue I have ever met, he didn't miss a game at Goodison in nearly 50 years until his death in the 70's

[video=youtube;ro_dp4s1gAE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro_dp4s1gAE[/video]

Great film to watch if you have the time - the Goodison scenes are fascinating, as is the whole film....

Me dad took me to see this when it was shown on the cinema.