They think it's all over

Oh, Jeff ... I love you too ... but ...

It’s been too long.

‘And here comes Hurst, he’s got ... some people are on the pitch, they think it’s all over.’

You were my schoolboy hero. The first World Cup I really followed was the 20th anniversary of England’s win in 1966. To mark the occasion, in the build-up to Mexico ’86, they ran a day-by-day recap of the tournament. The Italians pelted with tomatoes. My beloved Roker Park. Bobby Charlton. Nobby Stiles. Bobby Moore. And, of course, your hat-trick in the final (and of course the third goal was over the line, and even if it wasn’t we scored a fourth anyway so who cares?).

Schoolboy me lapped it up. I loved that old footage. I watched the videos again and again. I memorized the commentary, mum hid the tape. And I waited for England – my England, this time – to do it again.

Twenty years became 30 years of hurt. I kept on dreaming. A golden generation tarnished. I kept on dreaming. The rugby team did it, then the cricketers, we even had a Brit win at Wimbledon. But in the football, it was near misses, penalty shoot-outs, beaten Euro finalists. Twice.

I’m trying to keep that dream alive. But I’m sorry, Geoff. You and me. It’s gone on too long. I can’t keep living on a dream that came true 10 years before I was born.

‘They think it’s all over ... it is now! It’s four (decades, and counting)’.

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Note: England’s World Cup goal hero is Geoff Hurst, not Jeff, as everyone knows. But, until Liechtenstein wins the World Cup, he’ll have to go by both.

By the time 30 years of hurt had become 40, I met Hurst. He was on media duties to promote his autobiography. He’d obviously done a lot of book signings and meet-and-greets by then, and was probably bored of answering the same set of questions about one afternoon decades earlier. It wasn’t one of my best interviews, nor one of my best features. Sometimes it’s better not to meet your heroes.

This is my third entry into Raymond G. Taylor's challenge. Earlier takes included one contemporary PoV.

A timeless tune:

And, of course, the challenge itself: