lessons from the wormhole

All the wars that were won and lost,
Somehow don't seem to matter very much anymore.
​ ~ 'Living on a Thin Line' by the Kinks

​I can't believe it's been a week since me and the rest of the England Times team jumped through the Embankment wormhole to visit July 30, 1966. What a truly stupendous experience it was. Not just the iconic match itself inside the old Wembley Stadium but all the interactions our paradox inhibitors allowed us to have with the people, sights, sounds (and smells!) of the day. Top of mind for me is a conversation we had with a group of England fans in a pub on Wembley High Road after the game. One of the group, a young man who looked to be in early twenties, was saying how well he thought Alan Ball had played and how optimistic he was for the future of the English game. He rolled off some names of young players just breaking through in 1966 including John Hollins, Howard Kendall, Don Rogers and Frank Lampard (senior obviously!) to name a few. We would easily win the 1968 Euros he said and must be shoo-ins to retain the World Cup in Mexico. Waves of pity flowed through me for the guy over what would actually transpire for the Three Lions and their hexed fans over the next half century. I hope to god it never showed in my face.

Time traveler's delight - our view last weekend from the East End of Wembley Stadium (taken from Brian's mobile phone, disguised as a spectacles case!)

On leaving the pub to make our way back to King Edward VII Park and our time jump home we all fell silent as the reality of the "this was as good as it ever gets" moment sank in. Eventually though we felt the need to process our thoughts aloud and by the time we reached the jump point had enthusiastically bantered on numerous themes, the majority of them centering on one fairly predictable question - WHAT WENT WRONG? All the usual suspects got exhumed and debated - falling behind in technical skills, inadequate attention to young player development, growth in power of the Premier League, lack of a winter break, and on and on. As we circled around each issue again and again it was Brian, one of our research analysts, who broke in with a question. "At the end of 90 minutes Alf Ramsey called all the England team across to him at the touchline. He was really animated, wagging his finger at them like  crazy. Whatever he said worked. England really came out of the traps at the start of extra time. Anyone remember what he said?"

​"Yeah sure" Sue, our office manager, responded "You've won it once. Now you'll have to go out there and win it again!" 

We all mused on Sue's perfectly remembered restatement of Alf's famous gee-up speech to his charges after Wolfgang Weber had just snatched the World Cup from their grasp seconds before the end of normal time. Was that all it had taken? A motivational speech? Perhaps. Perhaps that and, in return from his captive audience of eleven, BELIEF. Ramsey could have delivered his lines with Olivier-like passion but if his team decided they didn't WANT it or NEED it enough the hoped for result would not occur. Bobby Charlton's tears in the Royal box are testament to how much he realized he had wanted and needed to bring football home.

A lesson in desire and reward from the Wembley pitch in '66: Alf Ramsey inspires England players to "win it again" (left) while Bobby Charlton's face during the post-match celebrations clearly exhibits how much he was prepared to give to ensure victory (right)

Maybe that was the key learning from our 1966 experience. Maybe it's not only about responding to the changes in the football environment of the Premier League era. Perhaps it's just as much about nurturing the desire to succeed and excel in an England shirt. Implement all the winter breaks you like but if England players can't get just a little closer to the chin trembling band-of-brothers fervor exhibited by our Welsh and Irish kinfolks at major tournaments then we'll likely still fall short. Take off the headphones and listen to what your country is asking of you. You've done it before. Go out there and do it again.