Heroes, Hammers & Henry - 1500 to present day. Via 1966...

Everyone knows that West Ham United won the World Cup for England in 1966.

Let’s be honest here. Everyone I know knows. Moore, Hurst and Peters brought the trophy home for the country. Moore, the Captain, Hurst, the hat-trick hero and Peters the utility man and other goal scorer. All West Ham United Players. Most long standing Hammers fans will point out that Bobby Moore puts the ball down for the free kick, looks up and finds Geoff Hurst for the 19th minute equalizing goal in the final – just like they did every week at Upton Park.

Across the street opposite from the Ann Boleyn pub stands the statue that remembers this moment. Two great stories for you about that famous game:

Sir Bobby Charlton also played in that game too in 1966. He remembers the excitement of winning the game and the fun celebrations at Wembley. It wasn’t until he sat on the team coach traveling back to the England hotel headquarters that he fully grasped what they had achieved. For the Country. The road back was lined with people cheering and waving flags. He cried.

Sir Geoff Hurst, scorer of the hat-trick and most famously the final strike to the words of ‘some of the people are on the pitch, they think it’s all over – it is now’, recalls that very goal. He knew time was running down and was dribbling the ball down the field away from the English goal. He figured if he could hit the ball as far away as possible he would waste time. These were the days of one ball per game and no added time etc. It would take a couple of minutes just to get the thing back. Hurst looks up at the clock and tries to hit it. The rest is history. Funny though, it never works for me…'got the time gov? - oh look, there's a clock up there...'
Upton Park is officially The Boleyn Ground. In the 1500’s a castle stood on the current location and Ann Boleyn resided there. I’m not a historian but I am told Henry IIIV had a lodge east of the castle and a 13 mile underground tunnel for a quick visit and a spot of tiffin. They should have kept it and run a bypass to Millwall. That’ll have given us an escape route after a nights work at the Den. Or maybe one going north for the Spurs fans to slink away in. In the late 1800’s the Thames Ironworks were playing football – the working mens team moved and became West Ham United, hence the name ‘Hammers’ and the design of the club badge. You will still hear the crowd chant ‘come on you irons’ every week. For tweeters & texters that’s COYI…

So, I’m 42 years old today. And assumed the Hammers would beat Stoke in the cup because it is my birthday. Alas, the boys did not read the script. Now every player out there is younger than me. I was holding on to Teddy Sheringham’s ability to still play for a while. Even Paulo Maldini kept me in it. Not any more. They are all boys. Even Manchester United had some old bald bloke scoring for them this weekend with a couple of look-a-likes and a Mexican whizz kid upfront. It must drive Fergie mad to keep the club in pull-ups nowadays. The youth and level of fitness did really surprise me at West Ham two weeks ago. The first team players are extremely lean and fit. I wasn’t expecting them to be so lean – Scott Parker, Steven Gerrard do not have an ounce of fat on them. Maybe the camera does add ten pounds. Maybe my perspective was skewed by having seen Jimmy Floyd Hasslebank at Stamford Bridge v Leeds once. He does have a fat arse (sorry Jimmy – you’re a great player). I bumped into Benny McCarthy at the training ground, who has been battling with his weight, but blimey, he looked great! I wanted to ask him where the club expected him to lose a few pounds from. Maybe his wallet.

So, the club has great history. The players are leaner than a pork loin and we lost to Stoke today. Doesn’t matter, West Ham won the World Cup for England. We all know it.

Final thought. Just spelled check the document in MS Word and Millwall came up incorrect. Thanks Bill Gates. You’re a genius.