Reliving fond memories

2:51pm Tuesday 5th December 2000

It's an image ingrained in the mind of every self-respecting England football fan. An image that brings goose bumps to the back of the neck, to some maybe even a tear to the eye.

The date is July 30, 1966 and Sir Alf Ramsey's legendary England side have just lifted the Jules Rimet trophy after beating West Germany 4-2. Nobby Stiles skips across the Wembley turf, socks around his ankles. Bobby Moore rides on the backs of his team-mates with football's greatest prize in his hands.

And somewhere in the melee is the trademark sweep-over hairstyle of arguably England's greatest player to date Sir Bobby Charlton.

With 106 caps and a record 49 goals for his country, Sir Bobby would be one of the first names down on the team sheet of England's all time select XI.

And last Thursday, the Manchester United legend visited Hendon's Garth Hotel to speak at a dinner in aid of Barnet Sports Development Ltd, which is behind an ambitious plan to build a youth academy for Barnet FC at Copthall Stadium in Mill Hill.

It was something of a return to the area for Sir Bobby who stayed at the Hendon Hall Hotel with England during the 1966 campaign. And despite ludicrous Latin American claims last week that England's victory was rigged, Sir Bobby has fond memories of the event and stopping at the hotel in Ashley Lane, Hendon.

"Of course winning the World Cup was one of the high points of my career. I've just been to the Hendon Hall Hotel for a coffee. It's very nice and I do it quite often.

"We stayed there every England match and they used to look after us a treat at Hendon. It was a great hotel nice and private."

Sir Bobby has been openly critical of the Football Association's decision to appoint Sweden's Sven Goran Eriksson as the new England coach. But he is cagey about which homegrown manager should have been given the job.

"I have nothing personal against him [Eriksson]. I just think we should be good enough to produce our own manager. There are a lot that never even put their names forward."

When asked about the credentials of Sir Alex Ferguson, manager of his beloved Manchester United, for the England job, Sir Bobby is understandably evasive. "We have got a manager now there is no point in going on about it."

However, he is more open about Barnet's recent appointment of Tony Cottee as player-manager. "It's a bit of an adventure for the club and to get a big name is always good news.

"Do I think he will do a good job? Well I don't know. I've never worked with him before but he has been under some good people and he's been in the game a long time. If he has picked up the right sort of stuff I see no reason why Barnet shouldn't do okay."

And in the week that Rio Ferdinand completed his £18million switch to Leeds United from West Ham United to become the world's most expensive defender, Sir Bobby believes minnows like Barnet can still survive.

"There's always hope. At least there is a route. In the old days when you were non-league you had no chance but Barnet have got here through that route and there's a road to get through to the top.

"The big cities like London will always have the best clubs and if you have the big clubs you attract the best players. You need money but you need the functions like this to raise the money."

Sir Bobby, who was knighted in June 1994, was a key figure in England's much-maligned campaign team which lost its bid to bring the 2006 World Cup to these shores.

England's £10million presidential-style campaign was widely regarded as over-funded and over-hyped, a "sorry tale" in the words of the Rothmans Football Yearbook. Ironically the Germans won.

"It's gone now," said Sir Bobby. "There's no use crying over spilt milk we had the best bid. It's a very big event and you have got to spend money to support your cause."

In a playing career that spanned 752 games as a playmaker, winger and striker for Manchester United, Sir Bobby scored 247 goals and won the European Cup, FA Cup and three league championships.

His testimonial against Celtic was attended by a record 60,538 people.

"I didn't have a career low," he admits. "I was lucky. I didn't have any injuries and I did well wherever I went." But what has been his career high? "Being here today I'm 63," he laughed.

Explore News Shopper