My World Cup, 1966

Did I dream it? Did it really happen? And did Mum really say “Well, I’ve never seen anything like that…..the poor chap,” as the North Korean player in one of the qualifying rounds came back on the pitch – momentarily, it has to be said, with his arm in a sling. Nobody else remembers anything about it but if it happened at all it must have been on the 19^th July 1966 – when the secretive state, in one of the upsets of the tournament, put out Italy 1-0. (Is this an omen for today’s Euros?) Dad must have been at work, probably on ‘stand-by’ in case of a gas leak  – he was certainly out anyway and Colin would have been pulling pints as a barman at the Kingswood Hotel as he always did when he was home for the holidays, so Mum and I were the only ones watching. We had not missed a match all the way through from the edgy opener, nil-nil against Mexico. Mum said she would miss it when it was all over.

Robert Demmery in West Germany in the 1960s

In those days no subs were allowed, hence players were either stretchered off – for a serious injury, or remained, ‘a passenger on the wing’, where they could do least damage. And another thing: you could tell from the formation, 1- 2- 3- 5, who every man on the field was. There was ‘inside left’ and ‘outside right’ and backs rarely scored. Bold innovations like 4-4-2 were in their infancy and anyway, belonged ‘on the Continent’ though by 1966 we had adopted ‘natty shorts’ in  favour of the old baggy Stanley Matthews’ gear.

But…….England got through all the way to the Final and on Saturday, 30^th July 1966 the TV build-up in our house started shortly after breakfast and remained through dinner which as usual went on the table promptly at twelve noon. As soon as this was cleared away, a guest arrived in the slight, owlish and chippy frame of Colin’s mate, Robert Demmery. He and I sometimes knocked spots off each other. I should have expected controversy, but walked straight into War. Demmery……. (this is no disrespect: all Colin’s school friends called each other by their surnames)….. anyway, Demmery said the unspeakable.

Our old black and white TV looked something like this

With order restored, but in an atmosphere of high expectation tempered with apprehension, the family sat down to view the match.

The best seats in the house faced the rented TV – black and white, obviously, which was in the corner of the largest room in the house we called ‘the kitchen’.   The three of us ‘young ones’ bagged the settee which was to the right of the fireplace. Dad turned his easy chair round to face the box, and I’m ashamed to say it, but Mum sat on a hard chair in the middle of the arc.

Kick-off, 3 p.m. Having already bubbled over, I began to feel the pressure once again, a state of anxiety which changed to disbelief when after twelve minutes, the tow-haired, stocky Haller scored for West Germany. But, four minutes later Hurst put the ball into the net for the equaliser. Breathe again. That was better, but only just. It was hardly enjoyable. Half-time and the score remained level. The teams went in and came back out. More of the same, nails digging into the palms of my hands, until…….the 78^th minute. Martin Peters scored for England! 2-1. Jubilation! If we’d had sweaty caps, we’d have flung them into the air. All we had to do now was to hang on and we did…….oh, how we did, until, with one minute to go the Germans were awarded a free kick. We held our collective breath. Everybody in the England team seemed to be in the penalty area in defence. But the  German shot thundered through the lot of them and settled into the back of the net. I thought I should be sick. The whistle went for full time. Another 30 minutes of purgatory loomed. Extra Time. It was all too much for me. After a few seconds I ran upstairs, hell-for-leather and for the rest of the match I lay on Mum and Dad’s bed with my fingers in my ears.

So, I did not hear Ken Wolstenholme’s immortal line

Some people are on the pitch. They think it’s all over ……It is NOW!”

.…but like everybody else I have heard it a thousand times since.

Robert Demmery 1944-2021, RIP.

After all this, Mum made us egg and chips and we went ‘up the top’ – the pub at the top of the road, The Black Horse, where Dad met his cronies every night of the week. But not Mum – she only went with him once a year, on Christmas Eve. In any case, she said “I’ve had enough excitement for one day. I shan’t sleep tonight as it is. You go and enjoy yourselves.” So we did. We were euphoric. We thought it would be the first of many triumphs.

How wrong we were.

NB. I’m the only one left now, apart from Welsh Ron who I can’t speak for, as I never saw him again.   Rob and I later made it up, of course, but “when your sister threw Demmery out on the day of the World Cup” passed into a kind of folklore among Colin’s mates. In his twenties Rob emigrated to Canada. We always met when he returned home on visits and remained in touch. He died earlier this year.

Postcript: Cliff Woolley, RIP

There was a howler in my post about the World Cup, 1966. I said glibly that in the first game in Group One, England played Mexico and the result was a 0-0 draw. Cliff Woolley, the webmaster of Bristol & Avon Family History Society emailed me on 18th July, gently chiding me for my mistake. It was of course Uruguay with whom we drew 0-0. We later beat Mexico 2-0.

Cliff kindly said he enjoyed the article, but added some of his own memories. His German uncle was staying with his family in ’66 and they attended the games at Villa Park, met some of the German players – and got their autographs. He was then a lad of fourteen.
He added “I have a picture of my Dad and Uncle asleep in the living room after the final – I suspect the beer may have had something to do with it !”

I responded to Cliff that he “must be one of our younger members” – we are an ageing FHS and as he was 69, this is probably true.

Today I learned to my sorrow that Cliff died suddenly on 24th July, a week after our exchange of emails. He will be very much missed by the Society but most of all by his wife Gaynor and family.