England: 1966 World Cup Winners

And don't we know it! Ever since that 'great' moment in 1966 the English media have kept the population educated about the actions of Hurst, Charlton and Co. Almost two generations have come and gone and at least every two years (Euro Championships and World Cups) we are reminded of that great Victory over the Germans, and how the present England team can return to such glory. Some however are not convinced.

World Cup Origins
The first World Cup took place in 1930 in Uruguay. Football having been excluded from the Olympics inspired FIFA president Jules Rimet to set about organizing the inaugural World Cup tournament. Despite only 13 nations volunteering to send teams, and ongoing political rivalries, this event proved to be the first of many.

England 1966 - No Shortage of Controversy
The England victory may worthy of applause. But just how much?? An air of controversy around the championship has put validity of the result in some doubt.

There are 3 significant points of controversy. One concerns the financing of the tournament. Some believe that, because this and previous World Cups were significantly more dependent on gate receipts, there was a tendency to 'help' the home nation as that would ensure biggers crowds. Strangely enough all England's games were at Wembley! Secondly there was the quarter final incident. In the England v Argentina game the Argentine captain, Antonio Rattin, was shown the red card for for 'violence of the tongue' despite the German referee knowing no Spanish. Finally, as any German will remind you, there is the questionable third goal in the final. Hurst, inside the box, struck the ball which hit the crossbar then bounced down and out of the goal. But did it cross the line? An unsure referee asked his linesman, and the rest is history... Oh, and let's not forget the pitch invasion during the scoring of the fourth english goal.

Not surpisingly the German's were not pleased. Like the Scots, Welsh, and other non-English they were never convinced by the decision about England's third goal, and felt robbed. However, researchers at Oxford University back up this belief with cold hard facts. Work in 1995 involving computer video analysis of the television footage, which gave new angles of view, showed that the ball had not crossed the line, so should have been disallowed. Ever since the Germans refer to a controversial goal resulting from a shot bouncing off the crossbar as a Wembley-Tor (Wembley goal).

A deserved victory? It doesn't seem to matter. None of the doubt or controversy seems to affect the English, who just won't stop going on about it after a whole 40 years!