Review: An Audience with Sir Geoff Hurst, King’s Hall, Ilkley

“And here comes Hurst. He's got.......some people are on the pitch. They think it's all over!” (Geoff Hurst scores to put England two goals ahead in extra time) “It is now. It's Four!” The immortal words of BBC TV commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme as Hurst clinched England’s victory over West Germany in the FIFA World Cup Final at Wembley, on Saturday 30th July 1966.

Hurst made 499 League and Cup appearances with West Ham United and scored 248 goals for the Hammers. His idol was the great Bobby Moore, West Ham Captain for over ten years. Sir Geoff describes Moore as “an immaculate guy who even emerged from the showers looking dry”.

It was however as a striker in the England team under Moore’s captaincy and scoring a winning hat-trick in the legendary 1966 Final that transformed Hurst into a worldwide football icon. On 19th October 1968, another record was smashed. Hurst scored SIX in the Hammers 8-0 thrashing of Sunderland at the Boleyn Ground, Upton Park. A few hands shot up when genial compere Jed Stone asked if there were any Hammers in the audience.

Sir Geoff is now an agile 82-year-old; forthright and chipper in his detailed replies to Jed’s gentle questioning. An occasional expletive is thrown in, especially on the subject of that legendary World Cup Final day. When Queen Elizabeth, wearing long white gloves, presented the Cup to Moore, team mate Martin Peters said: “What happens if it gets stolen? There’ll be no ******* fingerprints!”

Sir Bobby Charlton’s death in October 2023 made Sir Geoff sole surviving player of the Class of ‘66. The football legend now looks at those joyous post-match team pictures “with great sadness”.

What are his views of the England side since then? “Unquestionably, Brian Clough should have been Manager, but his face didn’t fit the FA. There have been bad choices, although Southgate did very well”. And his thoughts on Leeds United’s hard tackling ferocity in those “medieval” days, as Sir Geoff refers to the 60s and 70s football era: “I was never seriously injured, so I figure that Jack Charlton and Norman Hunter must have liked me.”

During the interval, an auction of England 1966 Team photos and shirts signed by Sir Geoff, raised nearly £1000 for Beatrix's Heart Journey.

A nostalgic and thought provoking evening.