The '66 World Cup Final was a great game because they were mates of mine that were playing. Alan Ball had been a mate of mine since Bolton days, we were at Bolton together before he moved on. Alan wrote off for trials, got on at Blackpool, and then became the first £100,000 player when he moved to Everton. I was at the game, in '66, and I was straight behind the Russian linesman, although I think he was from Kazakhstan, and for anyone wondering Geoff Hurst’s shot was definitely over the line !
I was sat down for the match. Wembley was fantastic. I had taken my fiancée and future wife Catharine to London with me and I promised that we were going to the theatre later on. A play called The Owl and the Pussycat, and then we were going to The Talk of the Town to see Johnny Mathis. There were no mobiles then so when finally Germany equalised and it went into extra time, I realised the theatre would have to be missed out and I couldn't get in touch with Cath.
Anyway, we made it to the Talk of the Town later on and London was a buzz with cars driving with horns going 'de de dedede dededede England' all of London was like that. That was a fantastic night for me and for English football !
Gordon Taylor OBE, Chief Executive, Professional Footballers' Association
Comment added by Pete Moss: The Russian linesman was Tofiq Bahramov (not spelt that way in the WC Final programme). He came from Azerbaijan. In 1993 the year he died they renamed the stadium in Baku in his honour. This ground is used by FC Qarabag where Spurs played last season in the Europa league.
Memory added on August 29, 2016
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