Friday 12 March 2010
Exclusive interview with Martin Peters
For the second year running, 1966 World Cup winner Martin Peters MBE is backing the Sue Ryder International Cup. Martin talks about how important the tournament is in raising money so the charity can keep providing 4 million hours of care a year. He also tells of how England nearly lost their great midfielder to a job on the Thames and what the current England World Cup Squad is lacking!
The 2008 tournament was won by the Polish team who gained a historical victory, beating the Legends in the Tournament finale. Martin believes the team had the right idea for success: “They had so many people there; they must have had 150 people there who supported their team fantastically. I enjoyed going around and chatting to people and seeing some of the ex players, seeing them in the final and losing!”
The Polish team also helped make the tournament special Martin continued: “The Polish team just stuck in my mind because there were so many supporters there. It is good to have different teams from different countries, it creates a good atmosphere.” 
Although the tournament is a competition and everybody wants to win, Martin says it’s the good cause that makes the tournament so worthwhile: “Football is just a wonderful, wonderful thing, it was my whole life but obviously this International Cup is for a reason. The teams need to be positive and react to what they are there for, not just to win the cup but to raise as much money as possible! I know it’s not easy these days to raise money and there are so many charities out there but this is a great charity and I think we need to help it as best we can.”
Football has obviously played a significant part in Martin's life from an early age; however the Ghost of ’66 very nearly followed a completely different career path. “I was going to be a Thames lighter man! My dad was a Thames lighter man; that means going on the tugs and barges on the river Thames and taking them from one wharf to another. Then going to the pub and having a couple of drinks! It only passes down from father to son and I was on the river in the summer holidays for a few days with Dad and he thought ‘well that’s where you are going to be son’.”
Born in Plaistow in his Nan’s house, right in the middle of the Second World War Martin considers himself lucky to have made it through the bombings in the East End of London. His tie to the area has been life long: “All of a sudden, I started playing for England school boys, Essex and London and agents came round to the house. My Dad said "well if you are going to go anywhere you are going to go to West Ham!”
“Football was just my life, I went to West Ham when I was 15 and then I packed up when I was 37, so I had 22 years of learning to play the game, playing in first teams and playing for England,” he says.
If this wealth of experience were not enough, Martin can also lay claim to scoring in the World Cup Final and being part of the only England Team to lift the coveted Jules Rimet Trophy. When asked about that team of ’66 in comparison to today’s England World Cup Squad, Martin says: “Most people say we’d get a draw if we played them, but then I am 65!”
He added: “They have done well, they haven’t lost a game, they have got some good players but I think we need to get maybe even better players. I think we have got a problem with the goal keeper. David James will be 40 and he’s getting a few injuries, I think the goal keeper is so important because he can save your games.”
Although a fellow Hammer Goalkeeper Robert Green does not escape inspection: “He doesn’t convince me. He’s not a Gordon Banks; he’s not a Peter Shilton or a Ray Clemence. He tries his hardest obviously, but he got shown up at the weekend when they played Fulham, he made couple of mistakes.”
Being a goal scorer himself, Martin also notes that results are important for forwards: “I also think that, perhaps I am being a bit hard here, Emile Heskey who plays up front for England works his socks off, works hard and there’s no doubt about that. He creates space for Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard but for me, if you have got a centre forward like a Geoff Hurst or a Jimmy Greaves, they need to score goals. I think he has played nearly 50 games and got six goals. So for a main striker it’s not good enough for me.”
Is there any hope for England this time around? Martin hopes that there is a hidden gem about to turn England’s luck around. He says: “I was very lucky that I played my first game for England May the 4th 1966, just two months before the World Cup started. I was lucky to get in the squad and lucky to get in the team. Hopefully, there may be someone who has not played for England yet who is going to come on the scene and someone will say ‘hey he’s pretty good we’ll get him in the squad’.”
Martin’s top tip for those fundraising and trying to win the Sue Ryder Cup is simple, he says: “Give 100% all of the time. Which I know they do because I saw the tackles last year! Everyone wants to win! Give 100% that’s what you have to do and then you can get through.”
Martin Peters hosts the Sue Ryder International Cup on 2 December 2009 for more information or to enter a team contact Ben Simms on 020 7400 0637 or email internationalcup@suerydercare.org.
