CHAMPIONSHIPS
on the phone from his home in Cheshire.
“You wanted to play for your country in whatever situation it was. But the truth is that I would probably have been sent off pretty quickly if I had been sent on as a sub.
“It was a frightening situation, a really dirty game, even for football back then, which is so different to now.
“In those days there was much more physical contact but it was a rarity for a player to be sent off. It hardly happened.
“You had to look after yourself in those days.there was no rolling around pretending to be injured. You couldn’t do that.you just got up and played on.
“And when the FA decided to give Mullery a £50 fine for being sent off,alf paid the money out of his own pocket. That showed the kind of man he was.”
Summerbee, like all the England players of that generation, remains in awe of
World Cup winner Ramsey, who had given him an international debut in the final qualifying group game for the 1968 Euros, a 1-1 draw against Scotland at Hampden Park.
The Manchester City winger also played in the first leg of the quarter-final triumph against Spain and in a warm-up match for the semi-final, a 1-0 defeat againstwest Germany in which Geoff Hurst was injured.
“Sir Alf was such a great manager,” says Summerbee, now 78 and still active as club ambassador of City. “He really knew players. I remember him telling us Osim was the main danger from Yugoslavia.
“We had theworld Cup stars and new players like me coming through. It was a very good England side. I thought I had a chance of playing but he chose Norman Hunter.”
Quite early in the match
Osim was crunched by a fierce tackle from Hunter, which left him limping through the game. There is no footage of that. You can find only a brief clip of Mullery’s retaliation, the goal by Djazic and a long-range shot from Moore.that’s it.
Current referee Michael Oliver recently took a look at the infamous
Chelsea v Leeds match and said he would have sent off 11 players if the game was played now. “It would be the same I’m sure for the Battle of Florence,” says Summerbee.
“I’d love to have a look back at this game. Maybe somebody looked at the footage and decided it was best to keep it hidden and not show it again.
“It would have been an experience to see it. Sometimes people tell me about tough matches and I always say, ‘You should have been in Florence to see this game.’”