Geoff Hurst – författare

The Sunday Times bestsellerFOUR FOR ENGLAND. THREE FOR HURST.'Images of us celebrating have taken their place in the nation’s photo album. Trophy aloft, smiling into our future.Banksy, George, Jack, Mooro, Ray, Nobby, Bally, Bobby, Martin, Roger. My ten teammates. My old friends. They’ve now all gone. Heroes from an era that is slipping into sepia.'But it isn't all over. Not yet. One of them is still here, and before he goes, Geoff wanted to get down his final thoughts about 1966. He talks about Alf Ramsay - his vision, his drive, his loyalty. Also his shyness, even awkwardness. About his teammates, about Jimmy Greaves - hard workers, cool heads, dedicated pros. Geoff tells their collective story, digging below the surface, reflecting on their victory, its impact on their lives.It was a bittersweet onward journey for the Boys of '66. Their legacy was squandered and their team uncelebrated. But the eleven of them shared something that no other Englishman has ever experienced. Here Geoff brings them all together, one last time, to see them make history.

And here comes Hurst. He's got... Some people are on the pitch. They think it's all over. It is now. It's four!Geoff Hurst's extraordinary hat trick turned him into a global superstar overnight. There is no player in the history of the game so universally identified with a single match.But the full story of the nation's biggest ever sporting victory is about much more than those final moments. Here Geoff remembers his teammates, the times they spent on and off the pitch, the extraordinary journey they went on together, what football meant to each of them, their work ethic, their culture of team loyalty, their continued bond over the decades.The enormous salaries paid to today's Premier League stars means that when they finish playing, few will ever have to work again. The 1966 team never had that option. They were payed £60 per match, and received a £1,000 bonus for winning. Most tried, and failed, to become successful managers, with Jack Charlton being a notable exception. Twenty years after they scored the England goals in the final, Geoff and Martin Peters were selling motor insurance. Ray Wilson was an undertaker.Yet all remained aware they achieved something on 30th July 1966 which may never be repeated, and did so staying close to their roots. The day after the final Alan Ball stopped at a motorway cafe on the M6. One or two people asked to see his winner's medal, then left him to his egg and chips. Geoff mowed the lawn. 'That's what you did on a Sunday'.In Last Boy of 66 our 1966 hat-trick hero takes us back to those very different days. A definitive and important eye-witness account, to be treasured by fans and historians for generations to come.

1966 legend Sir Geoff Hurst is the only footballer in history to score a World Cup final hat-trick. To mark his 80th birthday, he has named the 80 sportsmen who most inspired and motivated him throughout his life. Sir Geoff, who scored 24 goals in 49 England games, also had a talent for cricket, and has an in-depth knowledge of all the major sports. His A to Z of sporting heroes covers multiple sports and decades, from Muhammad Ali to Zinedine Zidane. The book is filled with surprising facts, and Sir Geoff challenges you to count how many times you exclaim, 'I didn't know that!' when reading his entertaining and enlightening breakdown on his sporting idols. Writing in collaboration with renowned sports historian Norman Giller, who reported Sir Geoff's West Ham debut in 1960, Hurst personalises each profile with anecdotes that offer a unique insight into the individual. Pitch Publishing are planning a similar book on the greatest post-war sportswomen, but for now enjoy Sir Geoff Hurst discussing his 80 greatest sportsmen.