World Cup final survivors

[Jah Womble]

And Bobby Charlton was a smoker - he had a fag at half-time during the final - so has definitely defied the usual medical warnings.

To be honest, while few experts actively encouraged it, there weren't many warnings against smoking during the 1960s.

[Satchmo Distel]

Or the 70s - see Cruyff. And 1982: Socrates, although he surely took the risk in full knowledge of the odds.

[G-Man]

Paul Breitner was an enthusiastic smoker. When he advertised Samson tobacco in the 1970s, he did it out of conviction.

[Jah Womble]

'Hey, I smoke Samson and I scored in two World Cup finals. Get some down your lungs and you might, too.' (Except in German. And obviously he hadn't scored in the second final until 1982.)

Cesar Luis Menotti. Chugged tabs all his life, scored prolifically for Rosario, represented his country, managed them to World Cup success - and still going at age 82.

[Satchmo Distel]

I think the OP has the wrong Galvan for 1978. The Galvan who started for Argentina is still alive; the deceased Rubén Galván stayed on the bench for all the games for which he was a sub, including the final.

Menotti had a lump removed from his lung in 2011 and has perhaps been on doctor's orders since then. I think Houseman and Rubén Galván both suffered from alcoholism (Houseman tongue cancer, Galván cirrhosis). They died just 8 days apart: Houseman 64, Galván 65).

[Jah Womble]

Yep, it's Luis Galván who played at the successful 1978 tournament, partnering Daniel Passarella. He's still going at 73.

[G-Man]

I think the OP has the wrong Galvan for 1978. The Galvan who started for Argentina is still alive; the deceased Rubén Galván stayed on the bench for all the games for which he was a sub, including the final.

Thanks. OP has been fixed accordingly.

[G-Man]

A said day: The last survivor of the 1954 final, Host Eckel, is gone. Pelé and Zagallo, 81 and 90 years old respectively, are now the longest-serving living World Cup winners.

[G-Man]

Added Wim Jansen to the Departed Dutch of 1974 and 1978.

Jansen, who died at 75, was the guy who fouled Bernd Hölzenbein in 1974. It certainly was a foul, though it seems that in 1974 the sporting thing to do was to espouse the theatrical fall. That's why even kicker still wonders whether it was a foul. Well, yes, it was. Even the Dutch players knew it.

Jansen was also one of four players who Johann Cruyff said he'd listen to on the subject of football, despite Jansen being a Feyenoord player.

[torres]

Although he was only there a season he was a cracking manager at Celtic.

[Satchmo Distel]

It's interesting to compare his timeline to Cruyff's:

Born: Jansen 1946, Cruyff 1947 (gap 6 months)

Netherlands debut: Cruyff 1966, Jansen 1967

First European Cup win: Jansen 1970, Cruyff 1971

First red card in an international: Cruyff was the first Dutch player to receive one.

Caps: Cruyff 48 (obviously far too few, but mainly his own choice, I assume), Jansen 65

How many Dutch players played in all their 14 1970s World Cup finals matches and their two in the 1976 Euros? Jansen was one.

Would Netherlands have won it in 1978 with Cruyff? Possibly, or he could have been a disruptive influence and it would have ended like the 1990 one. Or he could have been sent off (hard to see him being silent at the home team's shenanigans in the final).

Random memory: I remember aged 8 thinking his first name was "Vim", as in the cleaning product.

[Jah Womble]

G-Man
The overall figure for the 1966 final needs amending, I think.

[G-Man]

G-Man
The overall figure for the 1966 final needs amending, I think.

Well, given that the real score wasn't 4-2 -- have we ever discussed Hurst's "three" goals yet? I can't recall -- accuracy is voluntary. But, yeah, fixed it.

[Sam]

Jansen was also one of four players who Johann Cruyff said he'd listen to on the subject of football, despite Jansen being a Feyenoord player.

The other three being Johann Cruyff, Johann Cruyff and Johann Cruyff?

[Jah Womble]

Well, given that the real score wasn't 4-2 -- have we ever discussed Hurst's "three" goals yet? I can't recall -- accuracy is voluntary. But, yeah, fixed it.

Unfortunately, the ‘real’ score was most definitely 4-2 - but, y’know, let it go, Louie…

(Theatrical wink.)

[G-Man]

Now Jürgen Grabowski has been substituted to the great bench in sky, at the age of 77.

He quite a player, one of the great wingers in European football. He was also a man of strong opinions -- most Germans of that 1974 team were. He retired after the 1974 final. In 1978 Helmut Schön tried to persuade him to join the world cup squad, but Grabowski turned him down. Grabowski was so superb at the time that I reckon that he would have made a huge difference, through his skill but, more importantly, by his leadership qualities. West-Germany had plenty skill, but not much by way of leadership.

Grabowski's career was ended thanks to a foul by Lothar Matthäus. There's a timeline here, connecting the 1966 World Cup, where Grabowski was a squad member, to 1998. Between the two of them, they missed one world cup in that time, 1978. Where Grabowski could have played.

[ursus arctos]

Oh man (or Mann)

Arguably the most iconic player in the history of Eintracht Frankfurt. One of those "cult heros" who was also an excellent footballer.

I still recall the commotion at the Waldstadion for his last Bundesliga match, which was covered on Soccer Made in Germany.

And he got the 1974 World Champions as opposition for his testimonial

[1974ddr]

That's sad news, he was one of the few West German internationals of that era who I saw play in person, when Villa played Frankfurt in a friendly in the mid-seventies, possibly late in 1974. I think Holzenbein may also have been in the team, and Neuberger, Korbel and Nickel all played and were (I think) full internationals, though with only a handful of caps between them. It was the first time I'd seen a glamorous foreign team, my father having signally failed in his paternal duty to take me to see Pele and Santos a couple of years previously.

[G-Man]

That Villa game was on November 26, 1976. Villa won 3-1. Rüdiger Wenzel took the lead early; Villa turned the game in five minutes, with a goal by Deehan (51st minute), and two goals by Little (52, 56).

Körbel didn't play, but Grabowski, Hözenbein, Neuberger and Nickel indeed did, as well as Ronald Borchers, who'd get a few games for West-Germany under Jupp Derwall, and
Dragan Stepanovic, the Yugoslavian international who'd later join Man City and the became a something of a coaching legend.

Why were there friendlies being played in November???

[Tony C]

Nice that Frankfurt should achieve an exceptional European result in the same week as Grabowski’s passing, as if in honour of him.

[1974ddr]

That Villa game was on November 26, 1976. Villa won 3-1. Rüdiger Wenzel took the lead early; Villa turned the game in five minutes, with a goal by Deehan (51st minute), and two goals by Little (52, 56).

Körbel didn't play, but Grabowski, Hözenbein, Neuberger and Nickel indeed did, as well as Ronald Borchers, who'd get a few games for West-Germany under Jupp Derwall, and
Dragan Stepanovic, the Yugoslavian international who'd later join Man City and the became a something of a coaching legend.

Why were there friendlies being played in November???

Thanks for the details G-Man (I was too lazy to look it up for myself). No idea why they were playing a friendly in November, but I think the match was something to do with Dunlop, who were the match sponsors as I recall. My then next-door neighbour worked at Fort Dunlop, which is/was in Erdington, where I was brought up, only a couple of miles from Aston. He got tickets, possibly free or discounted through work, and took me to the game. Was there some kind of Dunlop connection to Eintracht Frankfurt?

[jwdd27]

The programme cover, which my tablet is not letting me post here, proclaims it "Fort Dunlop Diamond Jubilee 1916-1976", and my schoolboy German has worked out that Dunlop's main German site was/is Hanau, which is in der Nähe von Frankfurt.

[ursus arctos]

Dunlop is now part of Goodyear, but the facility is still there, on Dunlopstrasse in Hanau

Significant job cuts have been a major issue locally in recent years.

[Sean of the Shed]

The old Fort Dunlop building is still up in Birmingham as well. It's now a massive office and retail complex with a bizarre looking Travelodge built on to it.

fort_700.jpg

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

That's our family's Travelodge of choice when staying round there for whatever reason (usually for onward travel in the morning to London or wherever). You could usually get it cheap on weekends, so it sort of stuck through familiarity.