Geoff Hurst

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Lore & Background

Hurst's football career began when he was apprenticed to West Ham United at the age of 15. He played alongside Bobby Moore in the 1959 FA Youth Cup final team that lost to Blackburn Rovers. Manager Ted Fenton first selected him for a senior game in a Southern Floodlit Cup tie with Fulham in December 1958. He turned professional four months later, paid £7 a week with a £20 signing-on fee. His first competitive appearance came in February 1960, but he made only two further appearances that season. In April 1961 Ron Greenwood took over as manager and drastically changed training, focusing on footballing skill rather than physical fitness. In September 1962, Greenwood tried playing Hurst as a striker after deciding the defensive side of his game was a weakness. He formed a successful partnership with Johnny Byrne and scored 13 goals in 27 First Division games in the 1962–63 season. In the 1963–64 season, Greenwood named the same 11 players, including Hurst, in all the club's seven FA Cup fixtures as West Ham progressed to the final. At Wembley, Hurst scored his side's second equaliser with a header that bounced under the crossbar and ended up just over the goal line, as West Ham beat Preston North End 3–2 to win the 1964 FA Cup Final. The club's success won them a place in the European Cup Winners Cup for the 1964–65 season. They defeated TSV 1860 München 2–0 in the final at Wembley, with Alan Sealey scoring both goals, to give the club their first European trophy. Having scored 40 goals in 59 competitive games in the 1965–66 season and then won the World Cup with England, Hurst was the subject of a £200,000 transfer offer by Manchester United manager Matt Busby – the offer was rejected by Greenwood. Hurst scored six goals in a First Division match against Sunderland at Upton Park on 19 October 1968, which West Ham won 8–0.

In Their Own Story

In the 1966 World Cup final at Wembley, Hurst became the first player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final, as England recorded a 4–2 victory over West Germany. His third goal remains one of the most debated moments in football history, with questions about whether the ball crossed the goal line before being cleared by the German defense. The referee pointed to the center circle, and history was made.

Reader's Guide

Geoff Hurst scored 24 goals in 49 England appearances. As well as success in the 1966 World Cup, he also appeared at UEFA Euro 1968 and the 1970 FIFA World Cup. At club level, he scored 242 goals in 500 first team appearances for West Ham United, winning the FA Cup in 1964 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1965. He was sold to Stoke City in 1972 for £80,000, where he won the Watney Cup in 1973. He finished his Football League career with West Bromwich Albion in 1976, then played in Ireland for Cork Celtic and in the United States for the Seattle Sounders. He later managed non-league Telford United, coached in the England set-up, had a two-year stint as Chelsea manager from 1979 to 1981, and later coached Kuwait SC.

Did You Know?

• Hurst scored six goals in a First Division match against Sunderland at Upton Park on 19 October 1968, which West Ham won 8–0.
• He was once fined £1 for disturbing the peace after persistently kicking a football into his neighbour's garden.
• Hurst made one first-class cricket appearance for Essex in 1962, scoring 0 not out in the first innings and bowled for 0 in the second.
• He played under his father's management for Halstead Town reserves at the age of 'about 14'.
• Hurst took in new signing Alan Hudson as a lodger during his time at Stoke City to provide the troubled midfielder with a stable home.