Rev Peter Crumpler is a Church of England minister in St Albans, Herts, and a lifetime Brentford FC supporter and regular Beesotted contributor… Here’s what he thinks of the looming World Cup.
“God has prepared me for this moment and, if he allows me, we will bring the sixth World Cup title to Brazil” – the words of Brentford’s Player of the Year Igor Thiago, preparing for global glory this month, as reported in a Bees matchday programme.
Personally, as a CofE vicar, I’m hoping the Almighty will be more focused on peace in Ukraine, the Middle East and other parts of the world…but I’ll be cheering on the England team and wanting the Brentford players to perform well on the biggest stage.
That Bees players are taking part in the World Cup seems a million miles away from the lower league team that many of us long-term fans experienced.
In the year that England won the World Cup in 1966, Brentford were relegated from the Third to the Fourth Division, after a season spent loitering in the relegation places.
And there’s another sharp contrast with today that England legend Geoff Hurst sums up in his brilliant autobiography ‘Last Boy of ‘66,’ published in 2024. He writes about the world-beating team making public appearances many years after the Wembley success.
He recalls: “We were wheeled out on many such occasions, all of us or some of us, often when there was another World Cup, and the broadcasters and newspapers wanted to hear how once upon a time it was won by England.”
‘Once upon a time…’ England winning the World Cup has become for maybe two generations of football fans a fairy tale. One that grandparents alive in 1966 can tell their grandchildren.
I still treasure a World Cup book my dad bought me on the opening day of the 1966 tournament, giving it to me at our home within earshot of Griffin Park. The publication, ‘officially approved by the Football Association,’ declares Brazil to be the clear favourites and hails Pele as ‘the world’s greatest footballer.’
Under a headline, ‘Can England Win?’ the book’s authors timidly declare “England for the World Cup is a definite possibility.’ So no raising of false hopes there.
I spotted England manager Thomas Tuchel at the GTech when the Bees fought out an entertaining draw with Chelsea on a Saturday night in September. I hope he has dropped in more often.
Arguably, Tuchel’s most surprising pick for the England squad this summer was Bees graduate Ivan Toney.
Toney, who had to endure away fans chanting ‘Toney, Toney, what’s the odds?’ at successive matches defied those odds to be summoned by Tuchel from his middle eastern exile. Some might describe that as redemption…
Either way, whether this summer’s tournament turns out to be a fairy tale for English fans, a triumph of faith for all believers in the beautiful game, or redemption for those players who thought their international careers were behind them…I wish all Bees fans (from all nations) an enjoyable World Cup.
If nothing else, it’ll pass the time until the Premier League begins again in August…
Rev Peter Crumpler
