AN EXTRA-late special edition of the Daily Echo on Saturday, July 30, 1966, was liberal with the exclamation marks.

“England! England!! England!!!” said a strapline, above the simple headline “Cup is ours”.

The score after two hours of football at Wembley Stadium that afternoon: England 4, West Germany 2.

“In a hard, tough match of thrills to a background of thunder and lightning England won the World Cup for the first time by two goals scored in the first period of extra time,” began the report.

“It was a personal triumph for [Geoff] Hurst, who scored England’s first goal and two goals in extra time. Peters scored the other.”

The nation had watched enthralled as the host nation, under manager Alf Ramsey and captain Bobby Moore, progressed through the tournament.

In March, the Football Association had suffered a major embarrassment when the cup itself – the solid gold Jules Rimet Trophy – was stolen. It had been swiped from an exhibition at Central Hall in Westminster.

The trophy was found a week later, under a hedge in Upper Norwood, South London, by a dog named Pickles, being walked by owner David Corbett.

In 2007, Tuckton man Derek Craig, then 73, told the Daily Echo that he had been a police constable at the desk of a South London police station when Mr Corbett came in.

"This man suddenly staggered into the front office, with his dog Pickles with him, and he said 'I've found this' and handed it to me," he said.

"I felt like having a little trot round the front office, being a football supporter. This guy was so nervous, almost in a state of collapse.

"I took it in, made the appropriate notes and informed my superiors - and got a rollicking for handling it!"

After that episode, the FA and the police were taking no chances with the trophy.

Two days before the final, detective constable Bernard Tighe was called into his superior’s office and told he had a top secret mission.

Mr Tighe, now 81 and living in Bournemouth, told his story earlier this year to author Matt Eastley for his book 66 On 66.

He picked colleague Bob Geggie to be his partner on the job. On the day, they were taken to Wembley and told that their job would be to guard the Jules Rimet trophy.

“Instead of being escorted to the royal box area, we were taken to a somewhat gloomy ante room underneath it and we were locked in there,” he said.

“We had a television set in there and were looked after extremely well by the authorities.”

More than 96,000 people were at Wembley for the match, with an estimated 400million watching on television in 100 countries. It would be the last World Cup final to be televised only in black-and-white.

The Echo reported that evening: “Bobby Moore and his mean were given a roar of welcome by English well-wishers, waving Union Jacks. The German flag of black, red and gold was also well in evidence. At least 10,000 German supporters were said to be present.”

The Queen “wore a coat of sunshine yellow with a matching feather hat”, leading a Royal party including the Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Marina, the Duke and Duchess of Kent and Angus Ogilvie. Prime Minister Harold Wilson was joined by cabinet colleagues James Callaghan, George Brown and Anthony Crosland.

The report of the match said: “England looked an unfamiliar sight in red and their play was characterised by close marking in defence and quick moves in attack.

“West Germany, against the run of the play, took the lead in the 12th minute. Haller secured on the edge of the penalty area and drove swiftly for goal.”

England equalised in the 18th minute when Bobby Moore took a free kick and Hurst executed a perfectly-timed header.

The score stayed at 1-1 until 77 minutes had gone by. Martin Peters scored for England and was “mobbed by his overjoyed team mates” – only for Lothar Emmerich to equalise for West Germany from a free kick in the 89th minute.

Eleven minutes into extra time came the goal that would be debated forever after. A Geoff Hurst shot hit the underside of the cross bar and bounced onto the line. The linesman advised the referee that it was a goal – but others have argued ever since that it did not fully cross the line.

One minute before the final whistle, with spectators already streaming onto the pitch, Bobby Moore made a long pass to Geoff Hurst. The BBC’s Kenneth Wolstenholme famously described the scene: "And here comes Hurst. He's got... some people are on the pitch. They think it’s all over. It is now! It's four!"

The match has remained English football’s greatest moment and the World Cup squad hold an unrivalled place in national affections.

In 2006, Bournemouth was chosen as the venue for the team’s 40th anniversary reunion.

Nine of Alf Ramsay’s team were at the BIC for the reunion dinner – minus Bobby Moore, who had died in 1993, and Sir Bobby Charlton, who had avoided public reunion events. Christchurch-based sports agent Terry Baker had won the gig for Bournemouth and co-hosted with Jimmy Greaves.

The Windsor Hall saw 1,000 people pay £125 for the event and a copy of a book signed by Geoff Hurst, who remained the only man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final. For 200 people paying £300 a head, there was a chance to have a photo taken at a reception.

Alan Ball, Nobby Stiles and Geoff Hurst all spoke of the character running through the side, while Roger Hunt paid tribute to Jimmy Greaves, “the greatest goal-scorer England has ever produced”, who lost his place in the side through injury.

Hurst spoke movingly of his West Ham teammate Bobby Moore, while all those present were unimpressed by England’s failure to progress beyond the quarter-finals in the 2006 World Cup.

"Footballers today are too far removed from ordinary people," said Ball.