Sport & Fitness

Derek Cattani, the FA’s official photographer and film librarian

‘As the FA’s film librarian I used to work alongside [manager] Alf Ramsey editing films of England’s performances and their opponents to help him develop tactics in the three years leading up to 1966. The FA was quite a stuffy, conservative place back then and I suppose I was at the cutting edge, which caused a bit of resentment, but there was great excitement about the World Cup. I remember the day the Jules Rimet trophy arrived at the FA’s old office in Lancaster Gate and all the staff in the office were able to take turns in holding it and having their photograph taken!

‘My relationship with Ramsey meant I got amazing access to England training sessions in Lilleshall where I’d take portraits of the players. I got one memorable shot of Alf and his team in hysterics watching one of my films of Nobby Stiles played backwards which ended up in the Daily Mail. That started my career really. Feature continues

‘It meant I was with the team all the way through the tournament. Before a match we’d leave Lancaster Gate or the hotel in the team bus, which was more like a school bus, really. I remember seeing happy faces, just a sea of people all smiling and cheering, there was a sense of a nation coming together, and as every match came, there’d be more people out.

\‘During the games I was pitchside with the other photographers, but I could pop in and do a few shots in the dressing room, which no one else could do, then get on the team bus afterwards. It was like a dream really. Words can’t really describe the feeling that my bit of editing of the footage that the England manager analysed might have helped along a free kick or a corner that they had in the World Cup final. After I’d taken my pictures to Fleet Street, I’d go back to Lancaster Gate and there would be piles and piles of sweaty shirts from the game the night before and two or three match balls down in the kit room. You can imagine how much they’d be worth now.

‘Tragically 98 per cent of my pictures were lost in a big fire – the only images I’ve got are from press cuttings and a few dusty prints lying around in boxes. But the memories are still very vivid.’

Ted Tilly, Wembley season ticket holder

‘I was 23 at the time, about the same age as most of the players, so it was a very big deal that England were playing the World Cup in my home city. Me and my friends were looking forward to it and feeling very good about the prospects.

‘The tickets were so easy to get. I worked in Fenchurch Street at the time and just strolled along to Keith Prowse a few months before and asked for a book of tickets for the World Cup. I can’t remember the price, but it seemed very reasonable. The build-up was nothing like now with all the publicity; we were obviously excited about it coming, but I don’t remember there being a huge buzz – there were no big screens and pubs weren’t a focal point for football fans. I think it kind of accelerated as the tournament went on and England started to do well.

‘On the final itself, me and my friend drove, but other times you went across on the train and walked up Wembley Way, which was always crowded with people getting excited. It was in the days when there was standing as well as sitting – we were in the cheaper section so we stood. The atmosphere was tremendous because there was no segregation, so you were standing with guys from all the different nations. One of the few things that I remember vividly from that game was that we stood next to some Spaniards who had a huge vessel of wine. And when the Germans equalised, they drank the wine down in celebration. I don’t know why they were supporting Germany, but when we scored in extra time, my companion grabbed that wine off them and we finished it off! It was all very good-natured though.

‘Afterwards we went home and linked up with our girlfriends, then went to a place called the Queens Hotel at Crystal Palace, where a lot of people were staying from other countries who had gone to the finals. In the bar were some Brazilians who were so pleased that we’d beaten the Germans that they had a replica of the Jules Rimet trophy in the bar that they had filled with champagne. They insisted that the four of us drank it all night. We were planning to go out on the town, but we stayed there drinking with Brazilians out of a replica of the old World Cup!’

James Mossop, journalist

‘I was based in Manchester at the time working for the Sunday Express, but I came to London for all the England games. The whole thing gathered pace: it started with a poor draw against Uruguay and they were booed off the pitch, but once England beat Mexico and France, suddenly the country was up for it. There weren’t as many flags on cars as there are now, but there was a sense things were moving.

‘The expectancy was incredible. Walking up Wembley Way to the final, you knew this was a very special day. I remember a little band of old men on the road who were busking, and they were playing ‘There Will Always Be An England’. I thought that was wonderful, it seemed so patriotic yet innocent in a way. Everyone was caught up in it. It was like the word cynical hadn’t been invented – now it’s all about money. The guys who won the World Cup received a £22,000 bonus for the squad, and so they got £1,000 each, which was then taxed. Alan Ball said the tax was so much he vowed never to vote Labour again.

‘After the World Cup final I went down to the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington where the England team were having their banquet and it was just gridlocked outside. No one was going anywhere – people trying to get into London, people stopping off to have a look when the players came out on to the balcony. It was the talk of everywhere for the next few days and weeks – it was heavily celebrated although if it was to happen again this year, it would be complete saturation. Then people did go back to work.

‘I celebrated too. When they came out of the banquet most of the rest of the players went to Danny La Rue’s club, but Jack Charlton suggested going out on the town. So we went to the Astor Club where a band were playing, and everyone recognised Jack immediately so bottles of champagne and whisky were coming over. We got invited to a party in Walthamstow and ended up sleeping on various sofas. I really can’t imagine any young reporter going out solo with an England player now.’

Joe Power, ground technician, Wembley

‘I started working at Wembley in 1963 aged 19 and I worked on what was called the track staff, which involved looking after the football ground and the dog track. I worked with the groundsman Percy Young, doing the lines, cutting the pitch and so on. There were six of us altogether. I’d always been interested in English football despite being an Irishman, so I’d been looking forward to the finals ever since I started.

‘During every match there were two of us allocated to be on duty in the royal tunnel. We used to be what you call the bucketmen, with two white buckets, some towels and rugs in case people were cold. We looked after the dignitaries on the royal platform and the match officials. I remember the quarter-final against Argentina was on an incredibly warm day – it must have been over 100 degrees on the pitch. They even took some panels out of the roof to get some air into the place, but it didn’t work. Maybe the heat contributed to the incident with Ratin [who was sent off and refused to leave the pitch for ten minutes]. After he got sent off there was some blood spilt because he punched the fourth official, and he upset a lot of other people and the police got involved and the match was held up. So the bucket of water we had was used to wash the official’s face of blood!

‘The following Saturday was the World Cup final and we were alarmed because the weather turned on Friday so the pitch was soggy when we started marking the lines on final day. At about 11 o’clock there was a clatter of thunder and we had hailstones. We went up into the stand and looked at the pitch getting whiter and whiter in the middle of July. Eventually it cleared and we finished our work, and everything was ready for the World Cup final, but if you look at the video of the final you can see that the pitch around where the final goal was scored looks like a ploughed field.

‘I finished at eight that night and walked home feeling very elated. You’re going to say to me I could have gone for a drink, but I was so tired. We’d got through a day that could have been disastrous, and I wanted to go home.’