On 30 July 1966, England beat West Germany 4-2 after extra-time at Wembley to win the World Cup; nearly 60 years later, five of the sports journalists who witnessed England lift the trophy for the first and only time met up to share memories over lunch…
By John Goodbody
Five of the few remaining journalists who covered the 1966 World Cup met for lunch on the eve of England’s latest failure to match the celebrated team of 60 years ago.
Several of those 1966 correspondents, who could not make the anniversary occasion for health or geographical reasons, sent their best wishes, together with their memories of the tournament.
The five, who gathered in a London restaurant, were: former SJA President Pat Collins (then with the Sunday Citizen and later with the Mail on Sunday); Michael Hart (then Hayters and later the Evening Standard); Bob Harris (then Thomson Newspapers and later the Sunday Mirror); John Jackson (Daily Mirror); and John Goodbody (then Exchange Telegraph and later The Times/ Sunday Times).
Recollections of dealing with Sir Alf Ramsey and the informal contacts with players – rather than the controlled press conferences of today’s competitions – were among the conversational topics of the occasion, which was kindly noted by the Football Association with a donation of two bottles of wine.
Norman Giller, with the Daily Express in 1966, was a last-minute withdrawal for a domestic reason. He also sent a bottle of champagne.
The final question at the gathering was how many of the inevitably diminishing number from 1966 will still be alive and able to celebrate the 70th anniversary – and if, by then, England will have achieved at least one more triumph in the world’s most popular game.
Further reading…
1966 and all that… but there’s more, in new book marking 60 years since England’s World Cup win (June 2026)
The guts of England’s glory: Duncan Hamilton’s ‘Answered Prayers’ re-examines 1966 World Cup (February 2024)
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