THIS COULD END THE LONGEST RUNNING DEBATE IN FOOTBALL ...SCOUTS HONOUR
PRESUMABLY, all those people marvelling at Manchester City’s bench, game in, game out, are not the ones who wanted to give Pep Guardiola the option of making five substitutions in a
Premier League match.
IT IS the longest running debate in football.
Now 55 years later, we might be able to put the argument to bed once and for all. Groundbreaking technology is being used to make a remastered, full colour version of the 1966 World Cup final.
Former West Germany players still question whether the ball crossed the line on Geoff Hurst’s second goal to give England a decisive 3-2 lead in extra time.
It has all come down to a Russian linesman’s view… until now.
Specialist film-makers in New Zealand and Los Angeles have uncovered remarkable new pictures.
There are four Boy Scouts sitting on the edge of the pitch with an unrivalled view and now there is a campaign to find the youngsters.
They might be in their 70s now and the Scout movement are also on board with a national appeal to find them.
Simon Carter, of the Scouts, said: “From their position on the touchline they would have had an uninterrupted view of the goals as they went in – perhaps they could tell us if Sir Geoff Hurst’s goal really did cross the line!
“The problem is we don’t have any records of who these four young men were and we would love to find out more. We know from their uniforms they would have been aged 15 to 18 in 1966. We’d love to speak to them.”
The film, entitled Final Replay, is being remade from the original FIFA archive and will be available on DVD.
It is also helping to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society. Many of England’s ’66 football heroes have been afflicted by the disease.
The film-makers will provide five DVDS to anyone giving information leading to the identification of the scouts.
The film is available to pre-order here: www. finalreplay.tv while people can also get in touch via the website, the Scout movement or the Daily Mirror.