The 1966 World Cup Final in 1966 was on Saturday 30 July and I was there. Well, sort of there, as I watched it on television but not just any old television and I cheered by mistake when West Germany scored first.
Little Ian Willsher, me, was just ten years old and on holiday with my parents in San Remo, Italy. It was a sunny Saturday and the match was going to be on the hotel television. As I run down the gravel slope to the TV room I slipped and badly cut my knee which had to be treated and bandaged so I got to the room late, just after kick off and I had missed the match build up. The television was up high in the corner of the room and had poor reception, an Italian commentry and only a black and white picture and to my surprise the room was full of West German supporters. What I hadn’t noticed was that West Germany were the team playing in white shirts. In all of England’s qualifying matches it was England who played in white so when the first goal was scored by a player in a white shirt I cheered along with the German supporters. It took me a couple of minutes to work out that England were the team playing in red, or the darker shirts on the black and white television picture. What a match and what a result. I was a very happy young boy and, no doubt, had a bottle of Fanta to celebrate.
