Host: Murray Norton (MN)
Guests: Gordon Banks (GB) & Roger Hunt (RH)

MN: Hello, I'm Murray Norton, welcome to the show. Of course we've had the excitement of the FA cup, four-three; what a result. Feel sorry for West Ham though. We feel sorry for Arsenal as well who tried so hard in the European final and didn't quite make it. However, all is not lost yet because of 'Come on England'. We've got the World Cup only days away. We're all getting pretty excited about it all and we're just as excited about winning a few quid here and there, the odd bet, you never know. Littlewoods are giving away three million pounds in a thing called 'Goal Rush' where, if you pick the eight highest scoring matches, the money could be yours. We'll tell you more about that in just a second because at the bottom of your screen there is a little box. You can fill in your question and you can ask it to, quite frankly, one fifth of the '66 World Cup winning squad and that is Gordon Banks and Roger Hunt who are alongside me. Gentlemen, good to have you with us, thanks for joining us today. I'm getting pretty excited about this year's World Cup. I don't know whether it's the forty years since you guys did it but I've got this real good feeling about it.

RH: Well, I think it is. I mean, we've been very busy, you know, doing different functions and I think it is a combination of forty years and we've great expectations for England, especially playing in Europe. You know, I think we've got a great chance this year and it would be nice to kind of seal it with the forty years and then they can forget us then.

MN: Would that be something like getting the monkey off you guys back a bit because there's a lot of pressure on every England team since you did what you did and, whilst you must enjoy it, being the only England squad to lift the trophy, you wouldn't mind seeing it being done again, I assume.

GB: Oh no, we're Englishmen, we want to see England win it and we're like everybody else that sits behind the screen watching the matches. We're rooting for England to win and if they win we'll be delighted. We'll be absolutely thrilled to bits.

MN: Question in from Pete, thank you, Pete. He's in Hampshire and there's a question in from Pete which says, 'Why have the team, since '66, been so unlucky in World Cups?' We have been the 'Nearly' men so many times. I think of '70 and maybe we'll draw a veil over that one for you, Gordon, but it was a tough old time for everybody in many different ways. But we've been so close so many times.

RH: Yeah, we have, I mean we've been to the semi-finals in 1990 and lost the semi-final in a penalty shoot-out. Bobby Robson was in charge of an excellent team. You know, we looked as though we could win that one but unfortunately, we haven't had the luck and you do need luck in the World Cup. You need the breaks and we had it.

MN: Were you lucky in '66?

GB: I don't think so. I suppose when we played Uruguay you could say well, they might have scored a goal and we'd have lost that game or if Portugal had got an equaliser. But I don't think there's any specific reason why England has been unlucky in the semi-finals.

RH: We probably were a bit lucky with the Argentina game. I know the fellow got sent off but they were a very good team and I think that was our hardest game so you could say, if we had any luck, that was it.

MN: Maybe we're just due a rub of the green this time.

RH: Well, we are.

GB: I hope so.

MN: Do you think Germany have got an advantage? Paul's sent in a question to us about home territory. Do you think that plays a great part in the World Cup?

RH: Oh, I do. I think home advantage, yeah, I think definitely. You've got your own fans and ...

MN: What was it like travelling to the games for you guys? Because the momentum must have picked up as the games went on.

GB: Yeah, the closer you get to Wembley, the crowds are converging and fortunately for us we were playing at home. You're right and you do feel that little bit more comfortable but wherever you're playing, whomever you're playing, you have to win the games and that's what it's all about. It's getting the results to get you through each time to win that World Cup and I suppose, yeah, we did feel comfortable playing at Wembley whereas some of the opposing teams didn't. But Germany still have got to prove that they're good enough if they're going to win it on their own soil.

MN: Sure. The pressure could be on them more than anything else.

GB: Yeah.

RH: Yeah. Sometimes it works the other way.

MN: Alright. We've got many more questions coming in. A question from Wayne, 'What did it feel like when you won the World Cup and is that the best memory for you of the whole tournament?'

RH: Well we were talking about this before and I was at a function last night with some of the rugby players from 2003 and everyone seems to think - the feeling when you've won the World Cup is of relief. That's the first emotion because of the whole journey and the kind of worry about it. Whether you're going to get in the team and finally, when you've done it all and won the World Cup it doesn't really sink in straight away. It's just relief that you've finished, it's over and you've won it.

GB: Yeah, I don't think you get any higher than winning the World Cup because you've played against the best countries that have qualified to get there in the world. The best players in the world will be playing for those countries and to beat the teams that you've played and then to win it, you can't get any better ... so it was for me a thrill.

MN: It's a great high, is there a great low from that as well because what is there after that?

GB: Well, you look for the next one I think.

RH: The hype forty years ago wasn't the same as now. I mean after the World Cup, we're talking before about the evening we did an interview with ITV and then everyone just dispersed and went home. And I was playing for Liverpool a fortnight later in the Charity Shield so I was back training two days after the World Cup so it was down to earth straight away. It's only as the years go on that you start realising what you did, yeah.

GB: That's right.

MN: We've got Dave from Sheffield, thank you Dave for your question. Dave has been asking about our team and says 'What do you think our chances are of doing it this year?'

GB: I think we've got a good chance, I really do. I think we've got a good defence, a good midfield. We just lack, I think, a little bit up front. But if we can start the tournament by not conceding and grabbing that goal then that'll give them confidence as it goes on. I think we've got a good chance.

MN: So if we can just change Ronaldinho's passport or something like that?

(Laughter)

RH: But I think, to answer that question, we've got to make more use of Gerrard and Lampard from the midfield area because they're both goal scorers. So rather than kind of keeping one of them back in defence if we can use one of them a bit more for going forward especially while we've got injuries for the strikers.

GB: Sure, and I'd like to see Beckham wide, knocking ...

MN: That bent ball in.

GB: ... absolutely fantastic cross that goalkeepers hate and defenders hate because it's going between the two of them, it's curling away from the goalkeeper, it's coming towards the goal that the defenders are running towards. They don't like that and I think he's got to be out there knocking this superb cross in.

MN: Mike's question was, 'Who do you think is going to make a name for themselves in Germany?' Are there players that you've already circled on the paper and said, 'they're the ones that we've got to look out for'?

GB: Out of the England team or anybody?

MN: Well, you choose.

GB: Well, Ronaldinho. I mean, wherever he plays, whether it's Barcelona or Brazil he lights everything up and he's either creating goals or he's scoring goals and I don't care whether you like him or hate him, the guy's just magic.

MN: He is a genius, isn't he?

GB: He is, he's fantastic, I mean I can't wait to see him play, I really can't.

RH: There was a player that played for Barcelona against Chelsea, Messi I think his name was. Now he's only about eighteen and they reckon he's been sensational for Barcelona. Now he should be fit for the World Cup soon. He plays for Argentina so he should be one to watch.

GB: Henry, who we've seen play really fabulous with Arsenal, he'll be playing for France so he'll be great, it's lovely, I can't wait to see him.

MN: How are you guys going to be spending the World Cup time? Do you get the big plasma screen, sit there and beer, crisps, 'Nobody talk to me for the whole of the tournament?' Is that how you are?

GB: For me it will be.

RH: No, that's how I like to watch it rather than in a crowded area but I'm going out there for the first game of the tournament. Not England's first game but the opening ceremony and Germany's first game on Friday.

MN: Oh, fantastic. So you get a bit of the flavour of it and then come back.

RH: Yes, yeah.

MN: Now we've got a chance to win three million pounds, which is not to be sneezed at by anybody, and that's from Littlewoods in this thing called 'Goal Rush'. You've got the pick the eight highest scoring matches. You can have as many goes as you want and if you get the eight highest matches then you're in with a shout of the money. We've set you guys a little task of picking your eight highest scoring matches.

RH: That's right, yeah.

MN: What have you got, you've got some paper around here somewhere.

RH: This is where I have to put my glasses on. Yeah, put the specs on. I mean this should be interesting because everybody likes goals apart from this fellow.

MN: I was going to say, you've got no interest whatsoever.

GB: I'm alright for England scoring but I hate them going in my end.

RH: Yes, so we've been doing a bit of studying. I think England and Trinidad and Tobago have potential, like we said earlier, with their high scoring.

MN: Sure. /p>

RH: And then we've picked different ones. I've got one in Group D, Iran and Angola.

MN: Interesting, you obviously have inside information on both of these teams, you know them well, don't you?

RH: Well, inside information on the qualification and the results and the goals they've scored so that's the reason I've picked that one.

MN: Right, Gordon, what have you got down on your sheet?

GB: I've got Germany to do Ecuador.

MN: Germany and Ecuador, four, five-nil, something like that?

GB: You know, Ecuador might get one, about four-one, something like that. If you're expecting five, if you're hoping to get five, you're not going to be far off, are you?

MN: Are you guys any good at predicting by the way? Have you had results in the past?

RH: Oh well, you see we're on the Littlewoods Pools panel so we're experts.

(Laughter)

RH: If you can believe that.

MN: Away win.

GB: Experts!

RH: So I've got one here, USA and the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic was one of the first teams to qualify.

MN: Strong side as well.

RH: Scored a lot of goals so there'll be about eight goals in that game.

MN: Strong side, yeah.

GB: Another one of mine is Portugal and Angola. Portugal have scored eleven and had two against and Angola has had eight against and so that might be another one.

MN: Okay, there's some good predictions there.

RH: Yeah, Brazil, Australia, that could be interesting.

MN: Brazil, Australia. Australia will either play brilliant or ...

RH: Yeah, Australia has got some decent players, yeah.

MN: Okay well, we'll see how you all go with those, we'll keep all these bits of paper and just - after the World Cup we'll give you a ring and say 'These are rubbish.'

(Laughter)

RH: No, we're taking these away.

GB: Well actually, everyone's got as much chance of winning as everyone else. I mean, three million pounds, crikey, it's not to be sniffed at, is it!

RH: But it's also a change, isn't it.

MN: I think we've got some shots of what it all looks like. If you keep watching the screen you'll find out that we've got a layout of the screens and we'll have a look at that and ...

RH: Oh, there it is, look.

MN: So there's our layout of the screen, there you go. So it's going to be quite simple. You just click onto where you need to click onto, the 'Goal Rush' there and all the information about the stats and fill it in as you go and of course you can have as many go's as you want and you're in with a chance. So as many high-scoring games as possible. Good opportunity for people to take part in it in a different way.

RH: Well, it is. You know, everybody's interested in the World Cup so this is an extra thing for them to do, isn't it, an extra interest. Especially with it being goals.

MN: Yeah, do you shout at the screen? Are you a bit vocal?

GB: Occasionally, occasionally.

MN: Was he vocal when he was in goal? Because most goalies are a bit mouthy, aren't they.

GB: Oh yes, oh yes, I wanted to make sure those defenders were in the right position because I did not want goals going against me and if I could see somebody, a forward free, I'd be ... oh dear, 'get it picked up.'

MN: So you were one of these ferocious keepers that defenders used to get an ear-bending from?

GB: Oh, definitely!

MN: Gordon, I've got to ask you - I've got to ask you both a question which is quite personal to both of you which relates to World Cups. Roger, you're first, which is '66. We've seen the digital imaging now which kind of proves that the ball was on the line, not over it. You were fairly close to it at the time.

RH: Oh yeah, I was very close.

MN: In fact you jumped up in the air, I thought you were going to head it in.

RH: I did, I mean it's strange that in England we're trying to make the ball not in, you know, where most countries would say, 'Oh, well it was a goal.' But really the Germans were playing a man-for-man marking system and Weber was marking me. I'd actually got in front of him because when Geoff Hurst hit the ball and I ran - I lost Weber and I was actually four yards away from goal. Now you've been a footballer haven't you?

MN: Yeah, allegedly.

RH: So I was hoping, being a striker that if it doesn't go in the net, it comes off the bar and I'm going to knock it in. It's the World Cup and I want to score at every game. So I was so convinced it was over the line, I thought it had gone into the roof of the net. So automatically I turned with my arm raised. The ball then goes away at a crazy angle and whether I did it over the bar line so the referee couldn't see and obviously, the linesman, whether he could see or not ...

RH: So I was hoping, being a striker that if it doesn't go in the net, it comes off the bar and I'm going to knock it in. It's the World Cup and I want to score at every game. So I was so convinced it was over the line, I thought it had gone into the roof of the net. So automatically I turned with my arm raised. The ball then goes away at a crazy angle and whether I did it over the bar line so the referee couldn't see and obviously, the linesman, whether he could see or not ...

RH: Well, yeah he did.

MN: Obviously, had a perfect view.

GB: I was in a great position, I've always said.

(Laughter)

MN: Okay, so as far as you're concerned - goal.

RH: I still say, goal, end of!

MN: Here endeth whether it was a goal or not. Gordon, the goal, probably I think the favourite, I never get tired of watching this and you know what I'm going to ask you. Ten years ago I asked you about this. That save against Pele in '70 was just ... I still watch it and I still don't know how you kept it out.

GB: Yeah, everybody talks about that one, don't they. I'd done a lot of work out there because I wasn't happy with the flight of the ball, the rarified airs, you know the altitude in Mexico. It was coming through very clean and I'd had some extra work to allow for (inaudible) people to knock balls at me and I'd now got to suddenly dip a ball and seeing how it kicked up off the surface and here's where I had to use that bit of extra training that I'd had. And when he headed it, the speed it came off his head, I had to get over there double quick but the hardest part of the save was because it wasn't going to bounce on time and (inaudible) going to bounce in front of my dive, I'd now got to anticipate how high it's coming over on the hard surface and as I reached back, you know, I got my hand to it and it spun over the bar.

MN: Did he say anything to you about that save?

GB: No, he just shouted 'goal!' when he headed it! He thought it was a goal.

MN: Unlucky.

GB: Unlucky for him.

MN: Great save still.

GB: Thank you.

MN: Still the best thing I've ever seen from a goalkeeper ever.

GB: Thank you.

MN: Question actually from Alex, Alex has just sent us a question, Alex in the potteries, so it's aimed at you, Gordon. He said to Gordon, 'You've been watching 'Soccer Aid'. Robbie Williams of course is captain of the England side. He must be the first Stoke lad since you to represent the country.

(Laughter)

RH: That's right.

GB: Very true, yes, good luck to him, very true.

MN: Good spar that one. Thank you for that one. Well spotted. It's probably about right as well, isn't it.

GB: Yes, he does a lot for charity, bless him and he'll be great for Stoke, yeah.

MN: Alright we've got another one from Stu, who says, 'Which goalkeeper are you most looking forward to seeing in the World Cup? Which one impresses you the most?

GB: Well there are two. I like the lad who plays for Chelsea; I think he's a terrific goalkeeper.

MN: Petr Cech.

GB: Very agile for a big man, he knows his angles, he's brave, good goalkeeper. The other one is the Spanish goalkeeper, I like him, he's playing well.

MN: They are so the team that never plays well in a World Cup, aren't they, Spain.

GB: Exactly.

MN: They're unbelievable.

RH: Yeah, they go well so far and then ...

GB: But again, you just never know, they might just come good; they might just come good.

MN: It's in Europe so they don't travel well but maybe this is about right for them. Is there a keeper that you wouldn't fancy playing against, or a defenders you wouldn't fancy playing against?

RH: Defenders, defenders. Well, I didn't used to like the man-for-man marking. It's the worst for a forward because this person ...

MN: There's no space there.

RH: No, so I suppose Germany will probably stick to the rigid tactics so I probably wouldn't like to play against their defence.

MN: Sort of disciplined side, they are.

MN: It's all different now anyway.

RH: It's all different.

MN: Do you compare the games of '66 and 2006? They're different games aren't they?

RH: No.

GB: No, different games, different ball, pitches are different.

MN: Different tactics.

RH: Well the game's speeded up, hasn't it. The rules have changed, haven't they. They've got the offside rule. I can't see that anybody would the offside rule.

MN: I still don't know the offside rule; please don't ask me to explain it because I feel very unsure.

GB: Does anybody know? Ha-ha.

MN: No, I don't think they do. Jason's got a question for us, thank you very much, we're rapidly running out of time. I think we've got about five minutes left. Jason's got his question in which is to both of you. 'Theo Walcott, his chances in the World Cup, will he play do you think and do you think it's a wise decision to take him?'

RH: Well, I doubt whether he'll play, well I don't think he'll play a full game. He may come on at some stage. I would have thought that he would have brought somebody on with a bit more experience like Defoe or Benn that's scored goals in the Premiership because Eriksonn hasn't even seen him play. So it is quite a shock choice, yeah.

RH: Well, I doubt whether he'll play, well I don't think he'll play a full game. He may come on at some stage. I would have thought that he would have brought somebody on with a bit more experience like Defoe or Benn that's scored goals in the Premiership because Eriksonn hasn't even seen him play. So it is quite a shock choice, yeah.

GB: It could be good, it could be bad. I mean bringing him in, giving him the experience of the pressure of World Cup football.

MN: Pele came in at seventeen, didn't he.

GB: Yes he did. No the disadvantage obviously is that he's not played Premiership football and that's a big ...

RH: Pele had already played international football before.

MN: Yeah, he got a great goal, didn't he.

GB: Two, oh, that one that he flicked over ...

MN: Flicked over and then volleyed in. Come on that was a bit special, wasn't it.

RH: Oh, that was fantastic. Seventeen years old.

MN: That was a bit special and I wasn't even born then and I still remember it.

(Laughter)

MN: Dan wants to know, 'What are England's chances now that Rooney's almost certain to miss?' We don't know he's certain to miss, he might make it yet.

RH: No we don't. He might make it and they're a bit more optimistic now that he might be available for the later stages.

MN: Could be a good thing because he wouldn't get booked in the early stages.

RH: Course it could. In the group that we have got, I think that we can get through that group and then it looks as though the form might be that we play either Germany or Poland in the next stage.

GB: But we shouldn't rely on one man, should we, anyway. We shouldn't rely on one man.

MN: The '66 squad didn't rely on one man, it was a very squad thing, wasn't it.

RH: Well, like Gordon was talking earlier, it's a squad and it's a team effort, so really we've got players that have enough ability and we could still win the cup without Rooney. It's better with a fit Rooney.

GB: I was thinking before he got injured that if I was an opposing manager, I'd put man-for-man like you were talking about to put him out of the game anyway. So he could have been a dead duck anyway if he'd played the first match by somebody marking him out of the game.

RH: Which is difficult.

GB: Yeah, it is difficult.

RH: Yes, you'd have to take people away and it's not the type of game you like, is it.

GB: No, he likes to be involved.

MN: Alright, we've got another question left to go and this is from Brian. Brian thank you for the question and for those we haven't been able to squeeze in today, our apologies. A lot of the questions are the same actually or very similar so we tried to put them all into one so if your questions have been answered under a different name that's the reason. Brian says, 'What are your tips for Paul Robinson, Gordon, if England have to take a penalty shoot-out this summer?' Let's face it, it's likely to happen, isn't it.

GB: Well yeah, but I've seen he's made a couple of ...

MN: He's a good penalty scorer actually, isn't he.

GB: Yeah he's doing okay.

MN: It's a win-win for a goalkeeper, isn't it.

GB: Oh, yeah.

MN: If you save it you are a hero, if you didn't, well, you weren't expected to.

GB: But you know, he's a big lad and these guys now, they're all way over six foot and they've got the reach to get the ones in the corners now. So I mean, you've got to gamble, as a goalkeeper you have to gamble and so if he selects the right way there's every chance that he could win us the World Cup in a shoot-out.

MN: What were you like at penalties yourself?

GB: Crap!

MN: Really?

GB: Yeah, I was. I made one very, very important penalty save for Stoke City in the semi-final against West Ham and that was the only one.

MN: Yeah, I think we all remember that one. That was the only one, was it?

GB: Well I made the odd one but not very many. I was pretty poor at penalties actually.

MN: Might as well. Incidentally, talking about that, how much was your appearance money, playing for England in the final? It wasn't much, was it.

RH: No well, we got sixty pounds and then there was a share-out afterwards.

GB: A thousand pound.

RH: A thousand pound each the squad got before tax.

MN: Heady money eh? Those were big days. Gordon, Roger, thank you both very much indeed.

GB: Thank you.

RH: Thank you.

MN: Thank you very much for watching us as well and don't forget if you want to play 'Goal Rush' with Littlewoods afterwards, it's very easy. There is a website to go to, it's www.worldcupgames.com, it's all one world, www.worldcupgames.com. Happy playing and Come on England! We'll see you soon, 'bye-bye.