My brother in law and I had the seven match block booking for the North East games, we saw all except the Russia v Chile game at Roker Park for which I still have the tickets.
On the morning of the Quarter Final we received a letter from the F.A. offering us tickets for the final. We assumed that this was because many of the fancied teams like Italy and Brazil had not taken up their allocation. We decided to wait to see which teams got through to the Semi Finals, and in the event sent off for our tickets. I was in the process of moving into a new house, and my wife went out and left me sat on a deck chair in front of a television on a tea chest watching the England v Portugal Semi Final. As you can imagine my shouting and cheering really echoed around that empty room, and I think the sound is still embedded in the walls.
We went to the Final with a few other friends, and the events of that weekend are burned into my memory forever. I still have my programme and ticket stubs and have since had the final ticket signed by Gordon Banks and Sir Geoff Hurst. I have other memorabilia such as a catalogue of referee's equipment and World Cup Willie beer mats all of which my grand daughter has laid claim to so I know it will all stay in the family. I have been called on each time the World Cup comes round to give a talk about it all at the local primary school, and the emotion of it all comes welling back up every time.
Alfred Howe
Memory added on September 1, 2016
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