Geoff Hurst

Did You Know?

• Hurst played one first-class cricket match for Essex in 1962, scoring 0 not out and 0.
• He owned the Royal Oak Inn in Eccleshall while playing for Stoke City.
• In 2020 he offered to donate his brain after death for research into dementia.

Club career

Hurst began as an apprentice at West Ham United at age 15. He played in the 1959 FA Youth Cup final loss to Blackburn Rovers and later won the Southern Junior Floodlit Cup. Manager Ted Fenton gave him his senior debut in a Southern Floodlit Cup tie in December 1958; he turned professional four months later on £7 a week with a £20 signing-on fee. His first competitive appearance came in February 1960, an indifferent performance in a 3–1 defeat.

He made only two more appearances that season and considered focusing on cricket. Under new manager Ron Greenwood from April 1961, training emphasised skill over fitness. Hurst scored his first goal in a 4–2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in December 1961. After missing pre-season training due to cricket, he was dropped for being unfit early in 1962–63.

In September 1962 Greenwood moved him to striker, where he formed a partnership with Johnny Byrne; Hurst scored 13 goals in 27 First Division games that season. A 1963 pre-season tour of New York exposed him to top-quality opposition in the International Soccer League.

International career

Hurst made his senior England debut against West Germany on 23 February 1966. Performances against Scotland and Yugoslavia earned him a place in the 1966 World Cup squad, but mediocre warm-up displays meant Jimmy Greaves and Roger Hunt started the group games. With 15 minutes left, Martin Peters crossed from the left and Hurst glanced a near-post header past the Argentine keeper for a 1–0 win. Greaves remained unfit, so Hurst and Hunt started the semi-final against Portugal; England won 2–1 with two Bobby Charlton goals, the second set up by Hurst.

West Germany took an early lead through Helmut Haller, but six minutes later Bobby Moore's free kick found Hurst, who headed past Hans Tilkowski to level. With 12 minutes of normal time remaining, Alan Ball's corner led to a shot from Hurst that deflected to Martin Peters, who scored to give England the lead. Wolfgang Weber equalised late for Germany, making the score 2–2 at full-time.

Managerial career

After retiring as a player, Hurst spent three years as player-manager of Telford United in the Southern League. In 1977 Ron Greenwood recruited him into the England coaching set-up; he travelled with the team to UEFA Euro 1980 and the 1982 FIFA World Cup, where England failed to progress past the group stages both times. Hurst joined Chelsea in the Second Division before the 1979–80 season as assistant to Danny Blanchflower, then became manager when Blanchflower was sacked.

He raised £250,000 from player sales and spent £300,000 on three players, later acknowledging one signing as a mistake. The following season began well but Chelsea won just three of their final 23 league matches; Hurst was sacked on 23 April 1981 with the club finishing 12th. He then worked as an insurance salesman for Abbey Life before being tempted back by a generous salary from Kuwait SC. He disciplined club captain Saad Al-Houti but could not challenge Al-Arabi for the league title, leaving Kuwait in April 1984 to return to insurance.

Legacy

In 2003 Hurst was included in The Champions, a statue of the 1966 World Cup winning team by Philip Jackson, located near West Ham's former Boleyn Ground. He was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2004. A statue of Hurst was unveiled outside Curzon Ashton F.C.'s ground in 2010, alongside two other World Cup winners born in the area. In 2021 West Ham unveiled a statue outside the London Stadium depicting Hurst with Bobby Moore and Martin Peters, honouring the three and the club's 1965 European Cup Winners' Cup victory.