Leeds United's World Cup heroes of 1966 remembered
“It’s incredible to imagine those legendary figures coming back home to Leeds after playing their part in a campaign that’s become one of the cornerstones of English football history”
Leeds United’s World Cup winning heroes are being remembered by the city’s librarians as the England men’s current crop prepare to kick off their bid for glory this summer.
An inspirational photograph of 1966 legends including Jack Charlton and Norman Hunter being welcomed back to Leeds after The Lions’ historic triumph is going on display at Leeds Central Library alongside a book featuring the signatures of other Elland Road icons.
The book and photograph date from August 3, 1966 when then Lord Mayor of Leeds, Alderman Joshua S Walsh, hosted a prestigious civic reception honouring the victorious players at Leeds Civic Hall.
The players received a hero’s welcome after the remarkable 4-2 extra time win over West Germany saw them lift The Jules Rimet Trophy at Wembley Stadium – to this day the only time the England men’s team have ever won international football’s most prestigious prize.
As well as starting centre half Charlton and Hunter, who despite not playing provided key defensive cover in the squad, also in attendance at the reception were revered Leeds United manager Don Revie and hugely respected Whites coach Les Cocker, who combined his work at Leeds with a role as England boss Alf Ramsey’s trusted assistant.
Newspaper reports at the time stated that Alderman Walsh confessed to his esteemed guests that he had never watched a football match until that year’s final, a spectacle which nevertheless had him glued to his television “with tremendous excitement.”
Visitors to the library will be able to see the book and photograph on display in the heritage and research section from today.
Antony Ramm, Leeds Central Library’s special collections librarian, said: “It’s incredible to imagine those legendary figures coming back home to Leeds after playing their part in a campaign that’s become one of the cornerstones of English football history.
“It was clearly a matter of huge pride for the city that some of Leeds United’s stars of the 60s had such a significant role in England’s victory, and we’re lucky that this amazing moment was immortalised by the Lord Mayor of the time.”
He added: “Hopefully reliving this historic moment at the library will help get everyone that bit more excited about this summer’s tournament too and we can see football come home again.”
England’s World Cup campaign begins with a clash against Croatia on Wednesday, June 17 in Arlington, USA.
Councillor Asghar Khan, Leeds City Council’s executive member for communities, customer service and community safety, said: “This was a truly historic moment for Leeds and for England and this image captures what must have been a very special time of celebration for the entire nation.
“It’s wonderful that library visitors will get the chance to relive it and hopefully it will be just the start of a memorable summer for football.”
As well as being available to view at the library, the World Cup image can be viewed as part of the vast Leodis gallery, an online photographic archive curated by Leeds Libraries which features more than 75,000 images of Leeds taken over the centuries.
Leodis is free to access via: www.leodis.net