I bought a copy of the rather excellent “Three lions on a shirt” book last week.
I think it is brilliantly put together.
It really does tell the story of the England shirt from 1872 to present times.
It features great photos of the different shirts from games and times past.
As I flicked through, I was delighted to find that one of those related to Norwich City.
It was a shirt for the England World Cup team of ‘66 from Martin Peter’s testimonial game on 18th October 1978.
I remember going to that game which Norwich won 4-2 as a kid.
The England team listed in the programme was:
- Ron Springett
- Jimmy Armfield
- Norman Hunter
- Nobby Stiles
- Jack Charlton
- Bobby Moore
- Alan Ball
- Roger Hunt
- Bobby Charlton
- Geoff Hurst
- Martin Peters
- Jimmy Greaves.
Wow.
I really didn’t appreciate then how many legends of the game I was watching.
Collecting autographs
As a special treat afterwards, we stayed back after the game to collect a few autographs from the players as they left Carrow Road.
I didn’t do so well because many of the players didn’t stop for the fans that were waiting.
Afterwards, seeing my disappointment, my parents wrote to the manager John Bond.
He replied by sending me this sheet of player autographs and hoping for my continued support!.
It’s still one of my most treasured items.
Playing football with Martin Peters
Martin Peters was my first real footballing hero.
He was captain of the team when I first started going to games.
He was often the best player on the pitch.
Of course, he had scored for England in the World Cup final too.
A few years after he left Norwich, I was at the same school as his son Grant.
In turn, this led to Martin being invited to play in the school’s annual match between the 1st team and a collection of old boys.
The game was the highlight of the sporting calendar and I was lucky enough to be playing for the 1st team.
I can clearly remember the absolute silence when Martin Peters walked into our dressing room to get beforehand as we all knew we were in the presence of footballing royalty.
As it turned out, he was great company and still excellent on the pitch too as the school team recorded a solid 2-0 win.
Over the years, I’ve been very lucky to add some of his shirts to my own collection of memorabilia.
Also, the number 6 Norwich shirt from his testimonial game.
Wonderful times and great memories.