WE asked readers of The Bolton News for their memories of England's 1966 World Cup triumph. Here are some of their recollections.

IN 1966, I and my girlfriend Glennis were students – I was studying medicine at Edinburgh, and she was taking a Teacher Training course at Charlotte Mason College, Ambleside.

At that time certain train journeys were offered at much reduced rates to students to give them the opportunity to travel abroad, and Glen and I decided to travel to Chiavari, not far from Genoa in Italy, where the parents of a student friend of mine lived. We were invited to go and stay in their flat for a couple of weeks.

We had to break the journey and stay overnight in London so, as impoverished students, we tried to find the cheapest accommodation possible – which essentially meant finding a Youth Hostel. We found, however, that all the Youth Hostels we tried were already fully booked.

With the sort of blind optimism that young people have we nevertheless set out for The Big City, confident that we would find somewhere that we could afford. The Tourist Information Service in London, after much head-scratching and phone-calling, eventually told the two scruffy students who wanted to stay anywhere for virtually nothing that they had found a Youth Hostel in North London, but that it was a hostel for German students visiting London.

The Hostel, however, still had accommodation available for one male and one female in the dormitories, and we could take the places if we wished.

We snatched the opportunity and set off for the German Youth Hostel.

It says much about our virtually total ignorance of the footballing world that we simply didn’t realise that this, 30 July 1966, was the day on which the famous England – Germany World Cup final was being played.

As a partial excuse, perhaps, it was true that we had just spent two glorious weeks undertaking voluntary work in a remote part of the Isle of Mull, where we had heard no news and were out of touch with the world at large, and we had travelled straight from there to London.

It was an interesting experience to be the only Englishman in a dormitory full of young German lads who were, of course, confident that the English team would be thrashed.

Although my German is good, I could only pass for a real German if I kept to very short, simple sentences, so my contribution to the Germanic good humour and enthusiasm all around me was rather monosyllabic. Glen, in the ladies’ dormitory pretended to be unable to speak because of a very bad laryngitis.

Needless to say, her speechlessness became even more acute and my monosyllabic contributions became even shorter in the evening, when the Germans came back crestfallen, miserable, and not in a particularly anglophile frame of mind after a 4-2 drubbing by the co-nationals of the two rather quiet strangers – who pretended to be asleep in their bunks rather early that evening.

We survived.

In fact, our one experience of international football seems to have provided us with survival skills; next year Glen and I celebrate our Golden Wedding anniversary – in English, of course.

Robert and Glennis Aston

Foxholes Road, Horwich

I WENT to the final as a 15-year-old with my father, Albert Howcroft, his friend Ron Bickerstaffe (a prominent local referee) and a friend of Ron. We drove down the day before and stayed at the YMCA hostel in central London. That evening we attended the 3rd / 4th place play-off match at Wembley, my first visit to the iconic stadium. However, the match itself was a dour affair between Portugal and the Soviet Union which Portugal won 2-1.

The day of the final was a bit of a blur. I seem to recall that we did a bit of sightseeing but I can't remember what we saw. All I could think of was the match.

I remember my father reading a newspaper story that remarked that England had never lost to Germany, including football! A jingoistic comment that would, no doubt, be frowned upon today. By contrast, the atmosphere before and during the game was wonderful with fans in a happy mood swapping jokes, scarves and generally enjoying one another's company.

The big debate was who would lead the England attack. Jimmy Greaves was the fans favourite but Alf Ramsey selected the relatively unknown Geoff Hurst who, of course, went on to score a hat-trick.

Again, the game itself seems to have passed in a blur. The agony of going a goal down quite early. Then the joy of England leading 2-1 with just minutes to go, the World Cup almost within reach. Agony again as West Germany (as they were then) equalised with seconds left.

The controversy of the Hurst's second "goal" - did it cross the line. The discussion between the Swiss referee and the Russian linesman seemed to last forever. Finally, the relief as Hurst scored England's fourth goal. There was no coming back from that.

We paid £15 (a fortune in my eyes) for a package of 10 tickets that allowed us to see all six group matches at Old Trafford and Everton's Goodison Park together with the quarter final, semi final, 3rd place play-off and the final.

That evening we strolled around the capital watching the celebrations, enjoying the atmosphere including everyone splashing around in the fountains in Trafalgar Square. Great memories of a great World Cup.

Keith Howcroft

MY memories of the 1966 World Cup are still very vivid. I was only 10 at the time and watched it at my uncle's in Westhoughton.

Very nervous all the way through, till the final whistle and as always I went outside with my football and replayed the whole match in the back street. But the highlight of the world cup for me was when my dad took me to Goodison Park Everton to watch Brazil lose to Portugal 3-1.

Watching the late great Eusebio and Pele play still sends shivers down me. Priceless. Oh and even in 1966 there was plenty of "Mind your car mister"

Mike Greenhalgh, Atherton

I REMEMBER July 1966 very well. At the time I was working at the Inland Revenue Valuation Office in Salford. They decided to have an office sweepstake. You have probably guessed it. I drew West Germany to win. As the rounds progressed I would wind everyone up by cheering on West Germany. Then it got to the final. It was a win-win situation. I had to relent and say that it would have been good to win the money, but under the circumstances I wasn’t really that bothered.

Roy Caswell

Beverley Road, Bolton

MY fiancee at the time and I were choosing her wedding ring at Muir`s the Jewellers on Bradshawgate.

On leaving the shop I stopped in the middle of the road to tie my shoelace.

There wasn't any traffic in sight and people were huddled round shop windows watching the match on televisions.

It was like a ghost town!

I think we arrived home to see the last few minutes of the match including Geoff Hurst's goal!

J. Marcus Rigby