‘And here comes Hurst, he's got... Some people are on the pitch! They think it's all over! It is now!’​

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The most famous line in British sports commentary, now almost clichéd, was uttered by the BBC’s Kenneth Wolstenholme as Geoff Hurst blasted the ball into the German goal on a balmy afternoon in July 1966. England led by four goals to two. With only seconds left on the clock they had secured football’s most coveted prize – doing so on home soil at the old Wembley Stadium. Hurst had been at the centre of media scrutiny throughout the tail end of the tournament, having only gained his place in the team due to a shin injury picked up by the prolific Jimmy Greaves in the round of 16. Calls to replace Hurst with a half-fit Greaves for the final quickly faded, and his goals proved beyond any doubt that manager Alf Ramsey had made the right decision to select the less favoured striker.  

 

After Hurst’s hattrick and the final whistle rapturous applause bellowed around the stadium. The English team, led by captain Bobby Moore, made their way up the gantry to collect their medals from the royal box. The most sophisticated and well-dressed of all the football fans in Wembley greeted Moore at the top. Queen Elizabeth II, wearing a bright yellow overcoat and matching fur hat, accompanied with pristine white, satin gloves, outstretched a hand to Moore before handing him the Jules Rimet Trophy.

 

Images of the handshake reverberated around television sets in English living rooms. The final had attracted the largest ever UK television audience. According to the BBC around 32.2m Brits tuned in to watch the match, given that the population of the UK at the time was only 54.65m, that accounts for 59% of people. To give some context, in the summer of 2021 when, confusingly, England contested the delayed 2020 European Championships final with Italy, only 44% of the population tuned in. To this day the 1966 final remains the most viewed event on British television – even beating Boris Johnson’s first COVID-19 Lockdown speech. Not only does the Queen’s handshake represent the pinnacle of English football, but also one of the most shared experiences in twentieth century Britain.
 

Wistful remembrance from modern football pundits, or when David Baddiel and Frank Skinner reflected on the ’30 years of hurt’ in their 1990s ballad Three Lions, it is clear that all English football fans long for is another victory at an international tournament. Perhaps the longing for another footballing triumph is not that far away? Most will look towards the men’s World Cup Finals in November this year. But there could be one even sooner at the women’s 2022 European Championship.  

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​Often contemporary women’s football is overlooked because of the, sometimes incessant, televised coverage of the men’s game; and the study of women’s football is also something of a historiographical lacuna. The careers of Lily Parr, rumoured to have scored over 800 goals for Dick, Kerr Ladies in the 1910s in front of crowds of up to 50,000, were cut short by an FA ban on women’s football in 1921. They claimed that ‘the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged.’ Shockingly the ban was not lifted until 1971. By which time Parr was 66, so pretty unlikely she would re-lace her boots! The increased broadcasting of the men’s game directly after the successful coverage of the 1966 triumph and the continued ban cemented the men’s gain far above their female counterparts.

But it is not all bad news. 48 years after the lifting of the ban, the 2019 women’s World Cup final showed that it too could draw massive audiences. Attracting 28.1m people. Clearly the sport has come some way and been able to untether itself from its misogynistic past. There is an argument to be made that the leadership shown by a female monarch for 70 years would have aided the growing respect the game has achieved.

So, whether the English women are successful this year, or the men can ape the achievements of Hurst and Moore, one thing is very clear. The shared experience of the 1966 World Cup final and the then unprecedented television coverage which it received is unlikely to be bested any time soon – by men or women’s teams. And, English football achievement, like all British history in the past 70 years, sees Queen Elizabeth II at the centre of it all.