Sir Geoff Hurst, who memorably scored a hat-trick against West Germany to win the Three Lions’ lone major title to date, addressed a gathering at the town’s Grosvenor Casino on Thursday, May 23.
It was part of Colin Murray’s 52, a podcast series produced by the current Countdown host in which he asks sports personalities five questions using a unique set of 52 playing cards.
Only five questions are asked, and some are unrelated to the sport the guest has played.
After the five questions have been answered, members of the crowd can then get their query put forward.
Speaking at the event, Hurst, 82, who scored 24 goals in 49 games for England, told the Reading Chronicle: “In 1970, we had around six or seven players from the ’66 team still there, along with the introduction of several new players to add to our strength.
“We are 2-0 up against West Germany in the quarterfinals.
“But we took Bobby Charlton off with 20 minutes left because we felt the game was finished.
“The decision was made to rest Bobby Charlton for the next game due to the heat and altitude [since the match was staged in Mexico].
“However, they can come back and defeat us 3-2 in overtime.
“It was one of the darkest times of my life.
“Something occurred at the time, and then I was playing with the best custodian I’d ever seen, Gordon Banks.
“And few people know that he came down with a stomach bug the morning of the game.”
“Peter Bonetti, who replaced him, was a Very good custodian, but Gordon was the finest at the time.
“I believe that had a significant impact on the outcome.”
“So, how did I feel afterward?
“This is not good.
“It was a sad disappointment.
“For about six or seven years, we were the team to beat worldwide.”
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