The England Football Miscellany [antikvár]

9 FOREWORD BY GARY LINEKER When I was a young boy growing up in Leicester during the 1960s I was liice all other boys at the time, football crazy. I would play football on my way to school, at lunchtime with my mates and after school. Although I was just five-years old at the time, my most cherished England memory is, without doubt, the 1966 World Cup Final when we beat West Germany 4—2 in extra time to win the Jules Rimet Trophy and be crowned world champions. I can still see Nobby Stiles of Manchester United doing a victory jig in the late afternoon sunshine. Those memories are mine to keep forever, and yours to look back on and enjoy. And so to my own England career. I will always remember my first appearance for my country. I was a Leicester City player at the time, and we played Scotland at Hampden Park on 26 May 1984 in a British Home International Championship game. I came on as a substitute for Tony Woodcock in a 1—1 draw, and I was very honoured to have been given a further 79 caps by my country. I would have loved to have equalled the legendary Sir Bobby Charlton's England goalscoring record of 49 international goals, but will look back fondly on the 48 I was lucky enough to score. And to all those players I played alongside for my country, I would just like to say a special thank you to each and every one of you for your camaraderie. We went through a lot together but I wouldn't change any of it, well apart from the infamous "Hand of God" goal! Today I am like many others, an avid England fan who wants us to repeat the success of 1966. I am very much looking forward to this summer's World Cup finals in Germany. I know the team we send over there will give a very good account of themselves. As a proud Englishman, I was delighted when John asked me if I would write the foreword for his book. It is packed with interesting facts, stories, records, statistics and events from when England played an official match for the first time in Glasgow on 25 November 1872, drawing 0-0 with Scotland, right up to the qualification for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany. And so here you have it, 133 years of our international team's history in one delightful book. Gary Lineker, QBE (England 1984-1992) February 2006