Geoff Hurst

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Hurst and West Ham stumbled through the start of the 1963–64 season, finishing a lowly 14th in the league, but the FA Cup became their stage. A comfortable 3–0 home win over Second Division Charlton Athletic was followed by another 3–0 victory over East End rivals Leyton Orient — though only after a tense 1–1 draw at Brisbane Road. Greenwood kept faith in the same 11 players, including Hurst, for all seven FA Cup matches as West Ham marched to the final. Hurst scored twice against Orient, and added another in the fifth round as West Ham beat Second Division Swindon Town 3–1. Burnley tested them in the quarter-finals, but a 3–2 home win sent the Hammers to the semi-finals, where they faced Manchester United at Hillsborough. West Ham won 3–1, Hurst scoring the final goal after a pinpoint pass from Bobby Moore. In the 1964 FA Cup Final against Second Division Preston North End at Wembley, West Ham came from behind twice to win 3–2. Hurst scored the equaliser with a looping header that bounced under the crossbar and just over the line — a goal that still sparks debate about whether it fully crossed. The cup win earned West Ham a place in the European Cup Winners' Cup for 1964–65. They edged past Belgian side K.A.A. Gent 2–1 on aggregate, then overcame Czechoslovak side AC Sparta Prague 3–2 on aggregate despite Moore's absence. After beating Swiss team FC Lausanne-Sport 6–4 on aggregate in the quarter-finals, Hurst had yet to score in the competition, playing a deep role behind Byrne. In the semi-finals, West Ham defended a 2–1 home win over Real Zaragoza with a gritty 1–1 draw at La Romareda.

In Their Own Story

Having scored 40 goals in 59 competitive games in the 1965–66 season, Hurst was on fire. But the 1966 World Cup would change everything. England manager Alf Ramsey had watched him closely, and after a trial run in a friendly against Argentina, Hurst was called up to the final 22-man squad. He didn't start the tournament — Jimmy Greaves was the first-choice striker — but an injury to Greaves in the group stage opened the door. Hurst scored the winner in the quarter-final against Argentina, a glancing header that sent England into the semis. In the final against West Germany at Wembley, with the score locked at 2–2 and extra time looming, Ramsey pulled Hurst aside and told him, 'You're going to win it for us.' Hurst did exactly that: he volleyed home in the 101st minute, then completed his hat-trick with a thunderous left-footed strike in the dying seconds, as commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme uttered the immortal line, 'They think it's all over... it is now!' Hurst became the first and only man to score a hat-trick in a men's World Cup final. He returned to West Ham a hero, but his greatest moment had already been written.

Reader's Guide

Geoff Hurst's West Ham career spanned from his apprenticeship at age 15 through to his sale to Stoke City in August 1972 for £80,000. He scored 242 goals in 500 first team appearances for the club. He won the FA Cup in 1964 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1965. His partnership with Johnny Byrne was key to his development as a striker, after Greenwood decided Hurst's defensive game was a weakness in midfield. Hurst's six-goal performance against Sunderland on 19 October 1968 remains one of the most remarkable individual displays in the club's history. He was the subject of a rejected £200,000 bid from Manchester United after the 1966 World Cup. His penalty save by Gordon Banks in the 1972 League Cup semi-final was a defining moment — a powerful shot into the top corner that Banks somehow deflected over the bar. Hurst later acknowledged that playing for a team that could score seven one day and four the next was "really quite good fun," and asked, "When job satisfaction is that high, why would you want to play for anyone else?"

Did You Know?

• Hurst scored six goals in a First Division match against Sunderland on 19 October 1968, which West Ham won 8–0.
• He was once fined £1 for disturbing the peace after persistently kicking a football into his neighbour's garden as a teenager.
• Hurst played one first-class cricket match for Essex in 1962, scoring 0 not out in the first innings and bowled for 0 in the second.
• He turned professional at West Ham at age 15, earning £7 a week with a £20 signing-on fee.
• Hurst's penalty in the 1972 League Cup semi-final against Stoke was saved by Gordon Banks, who deflected the ball over the bar.