Classic Retro England Shirts
December 17, 2008 by edd
Filed under Classic Retro Shirts
From the highs of 1966 to the lows of Italia 90, we look at some iconic England shirts from the last 60 years. Since the success of beating West Germany at Wembly in ’66 England have run the whole gamut of emotions on the pitch. England have produced some great performances since winning the world cup, a 5-1 win over Germany in Berlin and a 4-1 over Holland in the 1996 European championships. There have been humiliations along the way too! Defeats by Croatia and Denmark stand out as real low points for the English game. But lets be positive and concentrate on those performances that made us proud to be English.
England 4 West Germany 2
So far the World Cup Final on 30th July 1966 is England’s greatest result to date. Playing in front of the home crowd at Wembley England lifted the ‘Jules Rimet’ Trophy after beating West Germany 4 ~ 2 after extra time. The unconventional formation employed by England became known as the “wingless wonders” with a narrow attacking formation, described at the time as a 4-3-3 (although the formation was nearer a 4-1-3-2).
The actual match still remains controversial to this day, largely down to the 3rd English goal which hit the crossbar and bounced into the net and back out again. The German players always stated that the ball did not cross the goal line, the Russian linesman that day disagreed and awarded the goal which made it 3~2 to the Allies England. The 4th English goal which broke German and Scottish hearts was scored in the last seconds of the match by Geoff Hurst, giving the player a very rare World Cup final hat-trick.
The controversial 3rd goal is often talked about, but few people remember that the 2nd West German goal appeared to strike the hand of Karl-Heinz Schnellinger whilst travelling through the penalty area. In Germany a ball that hits the crossbar and bounces in the net is known as a ‘Wembley-Tor” or Wembley goal! To English fans the game is best remember for the legendary commentators line “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!”. Get the England 1966 shirt ~ Click Here.
Germany 1 England 5
A 2002 World Cup qualify saw England tear Germany apart at the Olympiastadion in Munich on September 1, 2001. A German victory would have confirmed their qualification and seen England competing with Greece and Finland for a place in the qualification playoffs. Germany had been unbeaten at the Olympiastadion stadium since 1973. After just six minutes it seemed Germany would remain unbeaten at the stadium when Carsten Jancker was able to tap the ball past England’s goalkeeper David Seaman.
The lead did not last long, on the 12th minute, England were given a free kick. Nicky Barmby headed down to Owen, who volleyed the ball past Oliver Kahn. Just before the end of the half Steven Gerrard shot the ball into the corner of the German goal from 25 yards out, putting the score at Germany 1, England 2.
Three minutes after the kick-off, a cross from David Beckham found Emile Heskey, who headed the ball down to Michael Owen, who was unmarked. Owen hit the ball into right-hand corner of the net. Although Germany were able to create further chances in the second half, it was England who struck again in the 66th minute. Steven Gerrard’s successful tackle gave him possession, and he set up a great through ball for Owen, who sprinted into the box and fired the ball over Kahn’s head to give England a 4-1 lead. This made Michael Owen the first England player since 1966 World Cup winner Geoff Hurst to score a hat-trick against Germany.
England began to defend their heavy lead. However, in the 74th minute, they managed to extend it through a counter attack. Rio Ferdinand won the ball in defense and gave it to Paul Scholes. He progressed up the pitch through a one-two passing move with David Beckham. Scholes passed the ball to Emile Heskey, who sprinted past German defender Marko Rehmer and hit the ball low past Oliver Kahn to make it 5-1.
Holland 1 England 4
A European Championship Finals game at Wembley Stadium Tuesday June 18 1996 saw England were getting to grips with the game early on and were preventing Holland from playing their usual game. There was a scare though in the 20th minute when Cruyff flew past Anderton, but Pearce was able to prevent further danger when the ball deflected from him for a corner. The corner didn’t create anything for Holland but it did for England.
On the break from this play England charged forward through Sheringham and McManaman. The Liverpool winger found Ince who went past Blind. The Holland defender then turned after Ince and tripped him. The only action which could possibly have been taken was a penalty, which the referee awarded. Shearer coolly converted the spot-kick to break the deadlock.
England began the second period as they had started the first. Only six minutes had elapsed in the second half when from a corner, Sheringham headed the ball into the top of the net. There was jubilation around Wembley as England’s lead increased to two. Playing in control England didn’t sit back and defend but carried on trying to better their tally, and did so in the 57th minute. McManaman teamed up with Gascoigne for the Rangers star to find Sheringham, needing only to tap the ball to Shearer, who made no doubt of making the score 3-0. That was Shearer’s fourth goal in 3 games.
The scoreline was remarkable and still England kept going for more. The fourth came when a driving shot from Anderton flummoxed van der Sar, who couldn’t keep hold of the ball and Sheringham seized the opportunity of Holland’s mistake to give England a four goal margin over the Dutch. England were in defiant mood.
