JULES RIMET GOES ‘BACK HOME’ – England win the 1970 World Cup…………

[email protected] April 1, 2021

On Friday 12 June, twenty-four hours after defeating Czechoslovakia 1-0, a Group Three 1970 World Cup fixture, thus ensuring qualification to the competition knockout stage, the England squad gathered for a light training session before returning, shortly before midday to the team hotel, the Guadalajara Hilton.

The reigning world champions had not played well in defeating the Czechs and finishing second in the group behind tournament favourites Brazil, to whom they had lost 1-0 the previous weekend, meant England now faced a last eight meeting with West Germany. But to play this repeat of the 1966 World Cup Final they had to undertake a five-hour coach drive to Leon where the quarterfinal was being staged – the journey taking place tomorrow before the match on Sunday.

Sensing tension in the camp as their most important match for four years approached and with the prospect of travelling for most of Saturday, as the players began to disperse after lunch captain Bobby Moore and senior player Bobby Charlton, who between them had won almost two hundred international caps, followed manager Sir Alf Ramsey to his room with a suggestion on behalf of the squad on how the afternoon might be spent.

What they proposed was a visit to the palatial Guadalajara Country Club on the outskirts of the city, a venue boasting an Olympic sized swimming pool, a plush, air-conditioned lounge and stunning views across to the La Primavera Forests – but most importantly a change of scenery for a group becoming increasingly bored by their confinement.

At first Ramsey seemed unlikely to accede, stating the time could be better spent by the players taking to their rooms to rest, but to the surprise of Moore and Charlton, who had rarely seen the manager change his mind on anything, the wish was granted – although on the strict provisos nobody was to eat anything through fear of food poisoning, there was to be no conversing with any journalists who came upon them and nothing stronger than beer was to be imbibed.

Aware of the partiality of his captain to a lager or two, Ramsey addressed Moore directly when he said: ‘But Bobby this is not to turn into a booze-up, you understand – couple of beers and that’s it.‘

Moore smiled, but keen to inform the others their excursion had been approved the two players turned and made for the door. They were halted at the point of Charlton turning the handle when Ramsey said from behind them, ‘on second thoughts think I’ll come along as well. Getting out of here for a couple of hours won’t do me any harm either. Tell the squad to assemble in reception – everybody is to go.’

For Moore and Charlton, it was now a good news/bad news equation – play time was on, but the headmaster would be keeping an eye on the class………..

II

On arriving at the country club, a few players took a stroll around the gardens, but in the face of intense afternoon heat soon joined the others who had congregated in the shade of a terrace just outside the French doors leading into the bar.

Sitting around circular tables in groups of four, the mood among them already appeared more relaxed, their demeanor improved further by coming across some familiar faces from home with first division managers Joe Mercer (Manchester City), Dave Sexton (Chelsea) and Don Revie (Leeds United) all based at the complex while England had been contesting the group games.

‘Don’t know how you deal with it Alf,’ said Revie starting a conversation Ramsey would prefer not to have had at that moment as twenty yards away across the patio, but behind a potted cactus tree, he could hear Moore taking charge of the drinks order. ‘Hell of a responsibility being manager of the national side with a huge game coming up – not sure I could deal with all that expectation.’

Ramsey nodded passively but offered only a handshake in bringing the brief exchange to an end, appearing beside a table hosting goalkeeper Gordon Banks, full-backs Tommy Wright and Keith Newton and midfielder Alan Ball, just as a waiter was meticulously handing out four glasses of beer from a tray – Banks receiving the last one that came in a slightly different shaped glass.

‘Any room at the inn, gentlemen?’ said Ramsey looking down on them in their seats, Newton and Wright already taking sips of their refreshment. ‘Alright Alf,’ remarked Banks, ‘sit here if you want – have that drink, I can soon get another.’

‘Very kind of you Gordon, much appreciated.’ As the two men changed places Ball whispered to Banks, ‘bloody hell Banksy you must be desperate to play on Sunday, giving Alf your seat and beer,’ the goalkeeper responding with a playful nudge. On listening to the chatter and laughter emanating from the tables Ramsey concluded the decision to allow the players an afternoon of gentle socialising had been sound – right up to the point of breaking out in a profuse sweat, that he initially put down to the heat, but it came in tandem with chronic stomach pains.

When Ramsey attempted to stand in going to the toilet he gripped the table edge to correct his stagger.

‘Pissed again Alf?’ quipped Ball, but on seeing how flushed the manager looked quickly called over team doctor Neil Phillips, who immediately expressed concern at Ramsey’s condition and called an end to a function he had not been in favour of anyway – the players told not to touch another drop and head straight back to the coach as Ramsey needed to be examined in the privacy of a hotel room.

III

Ramsey looked a stricken man during the arduous coach trip to Leon, going straight to bed when the team arrived at their new headquarters around teatime the next day. On the morning of the game, he declared himself fit enough to name the team and address the players, the sixteen on duty that day assembling in the cramped conditions of his room – only to part hastily as Ramsey moved with great intent toward the bathroom, from where he could not be summoned even when it was time to leave for the stadium.

‘Poor old Alf must have eaten or drank something that seriously didn’t agree with him,’ remarked Moore to Charlton as they sat on the coach en route to the match, ‘he must be really under the weather to miss a game of this importance. Any ideas on what we do from here.’

‘Well we know the team,’ replied Charlton waving in response to an England flag being carried towards the ground by supporters, ‘let’s just see how it goes and do what we see fit.’

Despite the searing overhead sunshine and absence of Ramsey on the sideline, England began the match in composed manner taking a deserved lead when Spurs midfielder Alan Mullery swept home from close range. After the break they continued to play in assured fashion, the West Germans having no answer to a sweeping 49th minute move that ended with Mullery’s White Hart Lane team-mate Martin Peters increasing the lead.

With less than 25 minutes remaining and while an injured German player was receiving treatment, Moore and Charlton went into conference on the edge of the England penalty area.

‘We’ve got this game won if we keep our heads,’ said Moore, ‘you feeling alright Bob, don’t need to go off with the semi-final being on Wednesday?’ Charlton shook his head while wiping sweat away from above his eye-brows, ‘I’m fine Mooro. But what we could do is swap Colin Bell for Franny Lee, Colin’s the fittest player in the squad and could come on and be busy in the middle of the park. I’ve also noticed Terry Cooper is beginning to struggle against Grabowski – could bring on Emlyn Hughes there. Emlyn is quick and can tackle so should shut down that problem.’

Substitutions made, there are twenty minutes left when West German talisman Franz Beckenbauer manages to give both Mullery and Charlton the slip to set up a shooting opportunity and although his low drive is on target, as befitting the best goalkeeper in the world Banks dives to make a routine save. There is another moment of alarm for England when German skipper Uwe Seeler sends a looping header goal-ward, but Banks is perfectly positioned to gather. Indeed, as the match drifts to a conclusion England return to the ascendancy, hat-trick hero of the 1966 final Geoff Hurst only inches away with a glancing header.

Place booked in a midweek semi-final against Italy, on the back of their commendable 2-0 triumph over the West Germans when the England players arrive back at the hotel, Moore and Charlton are delegated to give Ramsey the good news. On entering his room, they tell him the result, describe how the game went and explain the why and when of their substitutions.

‘You’d have been.…….’ searching for the right word Moore opted for ‘pleased‘ as he had rarely known Ramsey show delight, ‘pleased with what you saw Alf. We were better than the Germans from first minute to the last.’

‘I’m sorry to have missed it,’ said Ramsey still looking washed out from his sickness bout, ‘but laying here all afternoon I’ve kept thinking about that beer I had at the Guadalajara Country club on Friday. Wasn’t it fortunate I had it rather than Gordon.’

IV

With the semi-final meeting against Italy scheduled for the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City (where the final would also be played), it was decided the England party would fly to the Mexican capital and with Ramsey declared fit to travel they began the two hour flight buoyed by news their World Cup song ‘Back Home‘ had gone back to Number One following the defeat of West Germany, knocking ‘In The Summertime‘ by Mungo Jerry from top spot.

Indication the manager was returning to somewhere near full health came during the airplane journey when Andrew Stephen, chairman of the FA, asked if he could attend the team-meeting before the semi-final. ‘Certainly chairman,’ Ramsey replied, ‘if, of course, the players can attend your next committee meeting.’ Stephen returned to his seat correctly assuming he had been rebuffed.

Despite a UK General Election taking place the same week, the main preoccupation of Fleet Street was the England v Italy World Cup semi-final. Predictably one tabloid evoked the crime-comedy film ‘The Italian Job‘ made the previous year, skipper Moore depicted as the Michael Caine ‘Charlie Croker‘ brains of the outfit figure with Hurst, Peters and striker Peter Osgood shown as the Mini Cooper getaway drivers.

For the semi-final on Wednesday 17 June Ramsey named an unchanged team, the match proving a tense, uncompromising affair, neither side able to break down the resolute defence of the other. England found more energy when Bell replaced calf-strain victim Charlton with twenty minutes to go, but to the 90th minute and then through extra-time a stalemate prevailed. With the clock ticking down BBC commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme began explaining to the late-night television audience what would unfold should neither side score a late goal – the method of separating teams involved in a drawn knockout game that of drawing lots.

At the final whistle the players engaged in a respectful, if confused round of handshakes and shirt-swapping, the England team, having exchanged their white shirts for blue Italian ones arriving back in the dressing room to discover the procedure for deciding the winners would be happening upstairs in the stadium press suite, but not for another hour – the decision already taken the England party would return to their nearby hotel in order to learn the outcome.

When asked by FA secretary Dennis Follows if he was staying at the ground to find out what fate had in store for them, Ramsey managed a cold stare even in the green house conditions of a stadium corridor. ‘No. I shall leave that to you gentlemen,’ he remarked while looking across disparagingly at the FA delegation, ‘my responsibility is being with the players.’

Back home, given the seven-hour difference, the time was approaching 2am Thursday when television channels went back live to the Azteca Stadium for the draw to decide who would face Brazil in a World Cup Final now less than four days away.

On a table in front of Guillermo Canedo de la Barcena, the Mexican chairman of the tournament organising committee, was a bowl the size of a domestic fish tank in which were two miniature black and white Telstar footballs.

In the full glare of television cameras and newspaper photographers, he pulled out one of the balls and slowly unscrewed it. Taking out the small piece of enclosed paper he revealed the name of the country who would proceed – pausing a few seconds before saying:

‘INGLATERRA.’

V

Amidst bleary-eyed euphoria in England, the UK went to the polls on Thursday June 18, the conclusion of drawn World Cup matches an even bigger talking point than deciding the next government. On a lunchtime radio programme an academic and sports journalist discussed the two overriding news issues of the day, the BBC football reporter stating that sometime in the future World Cup knockout games ending in a draw would be decided by the taking of penalties – to which the Cambridge Don agreed, adding if in twenty years a World Cup semi-final was to be decided in such a way, England would be well suited to the eventuality given the national trait of being calm under pressure.

In a final round of electioneering Labour argued a Tory victory would bring a showdown with the unions which in two years would lead to power cuts and imposition of a three-day working week due to fuel shortages, claims Conservative Central Office dismissed as ‘scaremongering.’ In the event Harold Wilson was re-elected prime minister as Labour won with a 25-seat majority – although the new cabinet would not be confirmed until next week when Wilson returned from Mexico after giving England his support at the World Cup final on Sunday.

VI

As the match, billed as a clash between Brazilian flair and English pragmatism, approached many references were made to the recent group game between the teams, Brazil winning an enthralling contest by the only goal. Showing typical cussedness toward the press, Ramsey maintained it was a different match with new challenges for both teams. As his final pre-match audience with reporters came to an end the England manager was asked if he had any thoughts on the referee.

‘The referee?’ he said cautiously, treating the enquiry as a trick question, ‘why would I have any thoughts on the referee?’ With that he up and left, muttering under his breath, ‘as long as he’s not Scottish I couldn’t care less.’

On the morning of the match the entire England party of players and officials gathered in the hotel dining room for breakfast. At the table housing members of the FA there was annoyance at not being informed of the team and concern England may be concentrating more on winning than putting on a good show. As one senior figure was recounting how the manager refused point-blank to tell him the team yesterday, he was hushed by another on sight of Ramsey coming across the room.

‘I do hope you’ve selected a side that represents the true spirit of the game,’ said one replacing his cup in its saucer, ‘nothing wrong with being gallant losers.’

‘Gentlemen,’ began Ramsey, appearing to choke on the word, ‘it’s the team I’ve come to talk to you about. Could you put that cigar out, they’re trying to eat their breakfast.’ Ramsey walked away and was out of range when a comment of ‘that’s his trouble, he puts the players’ interests before those of the committee,’ was made.

Expecting the ground to be gripped by fervor and unavoidable activity when they arrived, Ramsey decided to give his team-talk in a meeting room at the hotel. As Charlton was not fully fit he would be among the substitutes with Bell selected alongside Mullery in midfield. In pointing out positions taken by certain Brazilian players during the match, he offered the advice, ‘if they move, kick ’em.’ At the back of the room Hughes whispered to Osgood, ‘didn’t William Holden say that in the western we watched last night?’

‘No, what he said,’ replied Osgood keeping his voice down, ‘was if they move ‘kill em’. At least Alf hasn’t gone that far.’

In bringing things to a conclusion Ramsey stressed the importance of what was at stake. ‘The World Cup gentlemen is the Holy Grail, it’s the gold……’

While he searched for the right word, Moore ventured ‘bracelet‘ in reference to the item of jewellery he had been accused of stealing, on trumped up charges, from a shop in Bogota, Columbia where England had made a pre-tournament stop – the players unable to stifle their laughter at the quip made by the captain.

VII

With the England players changed and ready to leave the clammy confines of the dressing room, Ramsey delivered one final tactical instruction. Still incensed by Brazilian gamesmanship in the group game, when they stayed in the dressing room almost five minutes longer than permitted at half-time while the England players stood around in the heat waiting to start the second half, Ramsey ordered the team to line up for the post-match formalities beside the dug-out in the shade of the stand.

When the teams emerged Brazil made their way onto the field in preparation for handshakes with FIFA dignitaries, soon realising the England players were no longer beside them – those in white shirts lined up only a yard or two from the tunnel out of which they had just emerged.

In front of a six-figure capacity crowd and worldwide television audience of countless millions, the tournament organising staff moved quickly to deal with the confusion, the FA officials high up in the stand as equally nonplussed. As Ramsey explained calmly but firmly his players would not be standing out in the baking heat prior to kick-off a second longer than necessary, so under no circumstances would they be moving, in faraway Solihull a four-month-old future England World Cup winning captain being cradled by his mother seemed enraptured by flickering images from across the room – the national anthems subsequently taking place with the two lines of players facing each other some thirty yards apart.

Despite soaring temperatures of a literal kind, the match quickly settles into a pattern of strike and counter-strike, Brazil having more possession, England the better chances. The deadlock is finally broken five minutes before the break when the great Pele rises to score with a powerful header, Banks on this occasion unable to thwart him as he had done with a miracle save in the group game of two weeks before.

After half-time England have to absorb another spell of Brazilian pressure but when they broke away did so with purpose – and when an opening is created for Lee he levels with a low drive. Just after the hour Brazil regain the lead when England are helpless to repel an attack that saw inspirational midfield man Gerson break through to score, yet by continuing to attack in flamboyant manner they leave gaps in defence and in committing too many players forward once too often are punished when Peters drifts into an empty space to head home with ten minutes left.

Headline writers in the years ahead would refer to England’s goalscorers when a duo named ‘Peters & Lee‘ would have a UK number one hit, but the everlasting accolades would ultimately go to the oldest player on the pitch.

Involved for just two minutes after coming on as substitute, when the ball falls to Charlton twenty yards out he rifles a shot past Brazilian goalkeeper Felix to score the World Cup winner with his last ever kick of a ball in international football. The reign of England as world champions is ensured when Banks saves brilliantly from Brazilian captain Carlos Alberto – and once again the team scoring first lose the World Cup final.

Amid the pandemonium of the final whistle prime minister Wilson shouts to an aide, ‘you see we only win the World Cup under a Labour government.’ After they share an embrace he adds, ‘first thing when we get back to London, Bobby Moore is knighted.’

‘Is that wise Sir with this Bogota thing still to be cleared up?’ asks the aide as down the pitch the England players begin forming a line behind their captain in readiness to receive the trophy. ‘If some of those wastes of space in the House of Lords can be a ‘Sir” replies Wilson, applauding the England team, ‘there’s no reason he can’t.’

VIII

An hour after the match, with celebratory noise audible through the wall of the England dressing room, Ramsey is taking questions in the passageway outside.

‘What does winning the World Cup again mean Sir Alf?’

‘It means,’ responded Ramsey with the faint glimmer of a smile, ‘the country can have a fine time celebrating today, go to work in good spirits tomorrow and I can start planning for the 1972 European Championships and 1974 World Cup without you gentlemen telling me how to do my job.’

Across England on a warm sunny evening there is widespread joy, with celebrations not just confined to the home front – in a rare show of unity, brothers Ray and Dave Davies and their fellow Kinks are asked to leave a New York theatre showing a telecast of the match, their raucous revelry including high spirits to mark the 26th birthday of brother Ray.

Back at the Azteca a Fleet Street old hand says ‘1974‘ with a sigh in taking down what Ramsey has just said.

‘I know’ says a colleague wistfully, ‘by then the music papers will have forgotten all about this weird Bowie bloke, The Beatles will be back together and, best of all, England first in the hat for West Germany.’

‘Can’t imagine that,’ came the reply, ‘England not qualifying for the World Cup.’

AUTHORS NOTE:

In writing something as fanciful, not to say long, as this, in the back of my mind, believe it or not, a plausibility barometer is at work.

From the match footage and various accounts, English and German, including a fine chapter in the excellent Leo McKinstry biography ‘Sir Alf‘, there seems little doubt had Gordon Banks not been stricken with a stomach bug and played against West Germany, England would have won the 1970 quarter final.

That said, it is by no means certain they would have beaten Italy in the semi-final and less likely still to have overcome Brazil in the final, although most agree England were the strongest opposition a brilliant Brazilian team faced in winning the competition and on another day might well have taken a point off the subsequent champions.

Drawing on McKinstry’s book to capture Sir Alf’s persona, I have tried to capture his tetchiness, particularly in Mexico, with the press and although the FA member/cigar incident is taken slightly out of context, it was based on one of his several clashes with FA vice-chairman Sir Harold Thompson, who McKinstry (and Wikipedia) depict as a thoroughly dislikeable character.

In regard to things being out of context, on reflection it seems unlikely Sir Alf would have gone so deliberately against protocol in telling the players where to stand before the final, but he was furious at the Brazilians bending the rules with regard to half-time in the group game – and in the interests of balance, the England players did go to the Guadalajara Country Club, there was a singing duo named ‘Peters & Lee‘ and The Kinks did watch the final in a New York theatre.

As for babe-in-arms Martin Johnson being anywhere near a television set on June 21 1970 that, like the entire article, is pure conjecture.

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