Wayne Rooney and Terry Butcher lead hero worship of England’s 1966 World Cup winners
Three Lions skippers past and present say Moore and Co are more than legends for landing greatest sporting achievement
WAYNE ROONEY has led the tributes to England’s 1966 heroes by saying: Thank you.
Three Lions players from down the years were queuing up to say what winning the World Cup 50 years ago meant to them.
Another former skipper, Terry Butcher, went as far as to call the Wembley victors “gods”.
Geoff Hurst hit his famous hat-trick against West Germany and Bobby Moore lifted the Jules Rimet trophy.
Current national skipper Rooney said on yesterday’s anniversary: “It is a huge achievement and they deserve all the praise they have had over the years for making history in this country.
“As an England player and captain and an England fan, I’d like to say thank you.”
Players from Alf Ramsey’s triumphant team attended a Golden Anniversary Gala Dinner at Wembley yesterday to mark the day.
Hurst, George Cohen and Gordon Banks were among the guests of honour, with 60s’ singing icon Lulu providing the entertainment.
Butcher probably summed it up best by saying Ramsey’s lads were MORE than legends.
The centre-back, 57, who wore the armband at the 1990 World Cup, said: “The boys of ’66 mean so much to me. They are not icons, they are not legends — they are gods.”
“Up on a pedestal, up on Mount Olympus, wherever you want to put them. They are the best in the world and always will be.”
Another huge fan is David Beckham, 41.
And Becks said: “The reason I wanted to play the game and why I wanted to represent my country was because of these guys.
“It’s an incredible moment to celebrate, so congratulations to all the guys. You really did create history.”
No England team has come close to winning it since — getting to the semi-final in Italy 26 years ago being the only sniff of glory.
Sam Allardyce has been put in charge of trying to get the current team winning and he paid his own tribute.
Big Sam said: “The world legend is the only word you can use for those guys.
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“They are one of the few groups of players for which the word ‘legend’ is appropriate.”
Bryan Robson added: “To win the World Cup, it is something as England captain you always aspire to try to achieve that yourself. It brought the whole nation behind football.”
Bobby Charlton, 78, fittingly chose yesterday to send out his first post on Twitter.
He wrote: “It’s fifty years today since I helped @England win the World Cup, but it seems like just yesterday. Thank you to my friends and supporters.”
Frank Lampard, who won 106 caps, insisted the players will be remembered forever. He said: “Their names individually and as a group go through the ages — it was an inspiration.”
