BOYS OF '66

In this book, David Miller recaptures the days of summer 1966, when England won the World Cup at home. It evokes the eager anticipation with which Britain awaited the arrival of the world's best teams, and examines how the team and its tactics took shape in the preceding season, the new "wingless" formation, the wide-spread criticism from press and public alike, and the general pessimism which gave way to mass adulation as England, under Bobby Moore, vindicated the revolutionary tactics of manager Alf Ramsey. The book provides profiles of the England players and of Ramsey, and assesses the formidable opposition from Europe and South America. It then recounts the progress of the team, the consternation caused by the injury to Greaves and Ramsey's "animals" remark, and follows Moore, Charlton, Stiles and the others through each round to the final against West Germany. The story is enriched with personal recollections from players themselves and is illustrated by archive photographs and period ephemera. It ends with an assessment of the way in which Ramsey's triumph changed the world game.