Research Fellow in Sport and Leisure Culture, Mark Perryman, said: “It is not for us to debunk ’66. But perhaps the most famous line from the finals ‘…some people are on the pitch…they think it’s all over…’ shows just what a myth 1966 has become. No referee in the world should have allowed a goal when a pitch invasion was underway!
“And why was official tournament mascot ‘World Cup Willie’ wearing the Union Flag rather than the cross of St George?”
All of these issues and more will be explored at a symposium at the university’s Eastbourne campus on Thursday 12 May.
Discussions will draw on research for a new book 1966 and Not All That that includes the first oral history of the 1966 tournament as well as a look back at how the media covered the finals and a German, Argentine and Scottish perspective then and now.
1966 and Not All That edited by Mark Perryman and with contributions from other º£½ÇÒùĸÂÒÂ× lecturers Mark Doidge, Rob Steen and Alan Tomlinson is published by Repeater Books on 19 May.