There are many things to look forward to before the holidays - but there is also one to look back on. So, before you dig into today’s news and odds in your favourite soccer betting app, take a moment and join West Ham United’s official webpage in wishing Sir Geoff Hurst a happy 80th.
A long and fruitful career
Geoff Hurst was introduced to football at a very early age - his father, Charlie Hurst, was himself a professional player, having played with the likes of the Bristol Rovers and Rochdale at the time. As you might expect, he grew up obsessed with football, so his career choice to become a pro shouldn’t come as a surprise.
He joined West Ham as an apprentice in 1957, at the age of 15, and signed a contract with the club a year later. At the same time, he represented England in half a dozen youth matches. His salary was 7 quid a week at the time (close to £140 today) and he received a £20 (around £390 today) signing fee.
His career with the Hammers was the textbook example of “long and fruitful”. Between 1958 and 1972, he played in more than 400 league games as a striker and scored 180 goals in the process, along with more than 80 other games, so his total before leaving the Hammers for Stoke City was 500 matches and 242 goals. He won three West Ham United Hammer of the Year awards and won the European Cup Winners' Cup in the 1964-1965 season with the team.
The Three Lions
Geoff Hurst made his first appearance as part of the Three Lions in 1966, in a match against Germany. This was followed by further games against Scotland and Yugoslavia, both in which he performed well - this ensured his place in England’s FIFA World Cup squad. He was sidelined for most of the tournament due to his poor performance in warm-up games but returned to the turf in the quarter-final against Argentina, where he scored England’s winning goal. He ultimately remained part of the English offence. The match ultimately ended with England’s resounding victory against West Germany, even with one of the goals - a ghost goal - still being subject of controversy to this day. Hurst scored a hat-trick in the match - to this day, this remains the only hat-trick scored in a World Cup final.
Sir Geoff Hurst scored his last goal for West Ham nearly five decades ago but he remains to this day one of the most beloved and legendary players to ever set foot on the turf in West Ham Stadium. We wish him a Happy Birthday!
Comments
insurance salesman
I was visiting a customer in the 80's and invited him for lunch. He suggested a pub south of Bury near Whitefield as he put it"your a West Ham fan, there's a good chance of seeing Geoff Hurst there"
And sure enough he was there, clearly busy having a business meeting with some guy. I was dying to have a chat with him but it never happened. To this day, if I ever I got the chance to met him, the one question I would never ask "Was it over the line" :o)
I hope West Ham look after him better than they did with Bobby Moore. A very caring guy, recall the story of him and his family taking in Alan Hudson when at Stoke who had his demons and also a hell of a good footballer.
He dropped into my pub
About 23 years ago, he had a boot full of his photos of him scoring the winning goal in the world cup, he signed one for me.