How many "years of hurt" is it now? As England World Cup hero Geoff Hurst relates in his evocative, challenging autobiography 1966 and All That hardly a day goes by without someone reminding him of the hat-trick he scored in the Wembley Final that brought football "home" the last time.

The referee had the whistle in his mouth ... Bobby Moore, untroubled and completely in control as usual, chested the ball down, played a short pass to Alan Ball, received the return and looked upfield to see where to play it next. I remember Jack Charlton screaming at him, "Kick the f****** thing out of the ground!"

Moore didn't, of course. With the final seconds ticking away he conjured a perfect pass to the galloping Hurst--the young West Ham striker with just seven international caps, who found himself spearheading Alf Ramsey's "wingless wonders" in English football's biggest ever game.

The rest you probably think you know, but 1966 and All That is far from a rehash of rosy memories of the glory days. Hurst reflects on the "Ramsey years" with a critical eye, relating it all with refreshing candour--Ramsey's fierce loyalty to his players, matched only by his failure to grasp the first principles of public and personal relations; the anguish of Jimmy Greaves, the man Hurst controversially replaced; England's rise and fall, which saw Ramsey sacked in 1974--along the way revealing sides of legends like Pele, Beckenbauer, Banks and the Charltons, that put flesh on the fables, including the inside take on one of the most bizarre stories in World Cup history, when England captain Moore was arrested for jewellery theft at the 1970 tournament.

There's also plenty of fascinating, forthright stuff on the "forgotten" Hurst--his phenomenal scoring record at club level, (though spending the bulk of his career at West Ham and Stoke kept medals to a minimum); a management career which will probably be best remembered for an acrimonious dismissal by Chelsea, that ended up in the courts; and his involvement in promoting England's 2006 World Cup bid, which provides a revealing glimpse at the political machinery driving football's world authorities.

Hurst has plenty to say--not least on the England players who have inherited the weight of expectation he helped create in 1966--and the status accorded to a living sporting legend gives him the licence to speak freely. It's a combination that makes for engrossing reading. --Alex Hankin

2008-03-26 A great read

Upon reading the other two reviews, I can concur that Geoff Hurst is most definitely a true gent as well as a sporting icon.The book served to remind me of the highly favourable impression Geoff first made on me when I had the pleasure and good fortune to meet him back in the early eighties whilst I was working in our family business. Geoff just happened to call in one day unexpectedly on business and unusually, my father was completely starstruck(which was in sharp contrast to his usual nature of being completely underwhelmed by most things in life!)My father and I had a good long chat with Geoff that day (we somehow managed to avoid talking about the Russian linesman and whether or not the ball was over the line for fear of boring him rigid)and what came over loud and clear was that Geoff Hurst is a very pleasant, genuine man with a warm, open nature and a great sense of humour. The autobiography only serves to underline this, firstly because it is written with a good deal of integrity as opposed to employing tittle tattle, gossip and recriminations to try and sell copy, and secondly, the authors many warm references to his wife and family are a welcome change to most football autobiogs,(Cloughie's being one notable exception)proving that despite some folks opinion to the contrary, there are actually more important things in life than football (aren't there??). None of this, however, makes the book dull or in any way self indulgent, in fact its packed full of interesting and humorous anecdotes (particularly Greavsies eating habits before a big game!) together with some relevant and insightful opinions on Englands lack of recent success and what is wrong with todays game.
Finally, I would just like to add that I was rather disappointed by the lack of reviews on here(one of them is even Geoff's agent!) This guy is a national sporting hero for heavens sake and the book itself is a top rate autobiography!!