9 things that sum up football in the 60’s
Bobby Moore – look in at the local
Looking back now, the 60’s was a more innocent time and this advert shows how. Bobby Moore and Martin Peters nip into their local pub and meet up with their wives!
Players mingled with the fans in those days, some caught the train to the ground with the fans on the way to the game. You could even meet the players after the game as well in the local pub (as the video suggests!). Today’s football is completely different with players keeping well way from the fans and drive in cars with blacked-out windows. Training grounds are gated off and security roam the perimeter, unlike the 1960’s when fans could come along and watch from the sidelines.
Manchester United & Celtic Kings of Europe
European competitions started in the late 50’s and British teams started to take them seriously from the early 60’s. Tottenham won the 1963 European Cup Winner’s Cup and four years later, Celtic won the European Cup.
The Scottish side beat Inter Milan in Lisbon, earning the name ‘The Lisbon Lions’ in the process. 12 months later it was Manchester United’s turn as they won 4-1 after extra time against Benfica at Wembley.
1966 World Cup
How can the 1960’s and football both be mentioned in an article and the 1966 World Cup not get a mention?
England were the hosts and won the tournament, beating West Germany 4-2 in the Final. All the England players made a name for themselves, including Geoff Hurst who scored a hat-trick in the Final. Several of the squad got a knighthood.
Rattles
The sound of wooden rattles could be heard throughout all football grounds in the 1960’s. Fans still took them into grounds later on into the 70’s and 80’s but they were seen and heard everywhere in the 60’s.
Rosettes
Standing on the terraces, you couldn’t look 10 metres away from you without seeing a fellow fan wearing a rosette. They were as commonplace and scarves and are sadly consigned to the past now, hopefully one day they might make a return.
Muddy pitches
These days, football is played on some lovely surfaces that are similar to the tennis courts at Wimbledon. However, after September in the 60’s, you’d see mud everywhere!
Match of the Day makes its debut
Liverpool vs Arsenal in 1964 was the first game ever broadcast on Match of the Day. Liverpool won 3-2 and the show has been hoing from strength-to-strength ever since.
The first show was hosted by Kenneth Wolstenholme who was also the main commentator with former player Wally Barnes was the co-commentator.
In those formative years, one game was shown on Match of the Day. The highlights would last 55 minutes and no other games were shown.
Maximum wage uplifted
Former professional footballer Jimmy Hill campaigned tirelessly for the maximum wage to be abolished for professional footballers.
Players had a maxumum wage of £20 per week until 1961 when the maximum wage was abolished. Jimmy Hill campaigned tirelessly for this to be abolished and he finally got his way in 1961.
Johnny Haynes of Fulham became the first £100 per week footballer as a result of the abolishment.
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