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Martin Peters Order of the British Empire|MBE,
(born Plaistow, Newham|Plaistow, London, 8th
November 1943) was a football (soccer)|football
player and hero of the victorious England national
football team|England team which won the Football
World Cup 1966|1966 World Cup.

Peters was a luxurious yet industrious midfield
player who came through the ranks at West Ham
United F.C.|West Ham United after signing as an
apprentice in 1959. He made his debut in 1962
against Cardiff City.

Peters flitted in and out of a strong West Ham
side over the next few years, and was consequently
not selected for the FA Cup final of 1964 at
Wembley Stadium|Wembley, in which West Ham beat
Preston North End F.C.|Preston North End 3-2. The
following year, however, he established himself as
a first team regular and was victorious at Wembley
when West Ham won the European Cup Winners Cup
with victory over TSV_1860_Munich|1860 Munich.

With pace, creativity and exquisite timing on the
run, Peters was memorably described by West Ham
manager Ron Greenwood as being "ten years ahead of
his time". It was a moniker which stuck and had a
substantial ring of truth to it. Never before had
English football produced a player with the all
round mental and physical faculties to dominate a
midfield. As such, Peters was seen as a key player
in football's leap into a new, modern era.

Peters began to impose himself on West Ham's game,
and another chance for silverware came in 1966
when West Ham reached the League Cup final. The
occasion was still a two-legged affair with each
of the finallists hosting a leg (though this
changed to a one-off final at Wembley a year
later), and Peters played in both matches. He
scored in the second game but opponents West
Bromwich Albion F.C.|West Bromwich Albion emerged
as comfortable 5-3 winners on aggregate. There
would be considerable consolation ahead for Peters
in 1966 - and League Cup success would also come
his way later in his career.

Alf Ramsey had seen Peters' potential quickly, and
in May 1966 he gave the young midfielder his debut
for England against Yugoslavia national football
team|Yugoslavia at Wembley. England won 2-0 and
Peters was impressive with his industry and
exuberance around the park. This was the final
preparation period for Ramsey prior to naming his
squad for the World Cup, which England was
hosting, and suddenly there was new, young star to
consider for the cut.

Peters played in two more of the scheduled warm-up
games. In one, against Finland national football
team|Finland, he scored his first international
goal in what was only his second appearance, and
subsequently he made the final 22 for the
competition, as did his West Ham team-mates Bobby
Moore (the England captain) and Geoff Hurst.

Though Peters did not play in the opening group
game against Uruguay national football
team|Uruguay, the drab 0-0 draw prompted Ramsey
into changes. The England coach had been toying
with using a system which allowed narrow play
through the centre, not operating with
conventional wingers but instead with fitter,
centralised players who could show willing in
defence as well as spread the ball and their runs
in attack. Natural wingers were not known for
their defensive qualities and Ramsey was always a
coach to err on the side of caution. Peters
therefore had become an ideal player for this
4-3-3 system, elegant in his distribution and
strong in his forward running, yet showing the
stamina, discipline and pace to get back and help
the defence when required. This system was coined
as "the wingless wonders".

Ramsey put Peters in the team for the second group
game against Mexico national football team|Mexico,
which England won 2-0. He kept his place as
England got through their group, scraped past a
violent Argentina national football team|Argentina
side in the quarter finals (Peters' late cross set
up Hurst's header for the only goal) and
out-thought the enigmatic Portugal national
football team|Portuguese in the last four. The
West Germany national football team|West Germans
awaited in the final.

A tense but open game at Wembley saw the score at
1-1 in the final quarter of an hour when England
won a corner. Alan Ball delivered it to the edge
of the area to Hurst, who tried a shot on the
turn. The ball deflected high into the air and
bounced down into the penalty area where Peters
rifled home a confident half-volley. He was set to
become England's biggest footballing hero of all
time at that point, with little more than ten
minutes left to hang on and win the game's
greatest prize. But the Germans scuppered the
personal glory for Peters by equalising in the
final seconds, though glory would still come the
team's way with the 4-2 win in extra time, and
Hurst - like Peters, winning only his eighth cap -
completing an historic hat-trick.

Peters was now one of the first names on Ramsey's
England teamsheet, despite an indifferent spell
for West Ham as a club and team. He was also a
pleasingly frequent scorer from midfield.

In March 1970, West Ham received a record-breaking
200,000 pounds for Peters from Tottenham Hotspur
F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur and Peters duly went to
White Hart Lane, with Spurs and England striker
Jimmy Greaves going the other way. Peters scored
on his Spurs debut against Coventry City
F.C.|Coventry City.

That summer, Peters was a shoo-in for the Football
World Cup 1970|1970 World Cup in Mexico, for which
England had qualified automatically as holders of
the competition. By now Peters was an established
international with 38 caps.

Peters played in England's three group games from
which they comfortably qualified again, and the
Germans were once more waiting, this time in the
last eight. Peters scored against the Germans
again early in the second half - a superb and
typical "ghosting" goal, to wit, a run and finish
from behind a defender which no German player had
spotted - to establish a commanding 2-0 lead, but
later Ramsey committed the tactical faux-pas of
substitute (soccer)|substituting Peters and Bobby
Charlton, and the Germans took heart by winning
3-2 in extra-time.

Still Peters remained an England regular while
also picking up his first domestic winners' medal
in 1971 when Spurs beat Aston Villa F.C.|Aston
Villa 2-0 in the League Cup final. Later the same
year, Peters won his 50th England cap in a
qualifier for the 1972 European Football
Championship|1972 European Championships, beating
Switzerland national football team|Switzerland
3-2. England failed to progress thanks largely to
another defeat against West Germany, who went on
to win the tournament. International
disappointment for Peters was tempered mildly by
more club success when Spurs beat Wolverhampton
Wanderers F.C.|Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 on
aggregate to win the 1972 UEFA Cup in what remains
to date the only all-English European final.

In 1973, Peters won the League Cup again with
Spurs and scored the only goal as England beat
Scotland national football team|Scotland at
Wembley. It was his 20th goal for his country and
would prove to be his last. England had been
stuttering in their qualifying campaign for the
Football World Cup 1974|1974 World Cup, dropping
points in a drawn game against Wales national
football team|Wales and then succumbing
horrifically to a 2-0 defeat against Poland
national football team|Poland in Warsaw.

It meant that England needed to defeat Poland at
Wembley to qualify for the finals in West Germany
and, with an out-of-form Moore dropped from the
side (he'd only play once more subsequently for
his country) Peters captained the side for the
crucial game.

The match has become part of England folklore, as
Polish goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski contrived to
keep out every single shot and header targeted by
a relentless, dominant England. A defensive error
allowed Poland to score and only the award of a
penalty allowed England to level up quickly. Allan
Clarke scored from it, but England could not get
the crucial winning goal no matter how they tried.
Poland went through after the match finished 1-1
(and proved it was no fluke by reaching the
semi-finals in Germany) but Peters had been robbed
of the chance of a third successive World Cup
competition.

At the age of 30, Peters' career at the highest
level began to slip away. He won three more caps
for England, reaching a total of 67, though his
illustrious career with his country ended in
ignominy as England crashed to a 2-0 defeat
against a gleeful Scotland side at Hampden Park.
Peters duly managed one more season with Spurs -
losing the 1974 UEFA Cup final to Feyenoord on
aggregate - before moving to Norwich City
F.C.|Norwich City - managed by his former West Ham
team-mate John Bond - in March 1975 for 50,000
pounds. Norwich had just reached the final of
Peters' most productive competition - the League
Cup - but Peters was cup-tied and couldn't play as
Aston Villa beat his new side at Wembley 1-0.

Peters soldiered on with Norwich, making more than
200 appearances, before joining Sheffield United
F.C.|Sheffield United in 1980 as player-manager.
On retirement in 1981, after a distinguished and
remarkably injury-free career, he had racked up
882 appearances in total, scoring a superb 220
goals.

Not cut out for coaching, Peters quit Sheffield
United and moved into the insurance business until
reaching retirement age. Though always an
unassuming, inward character, Peters is constantly
in demand for anecdotes about life as a World Cup
winner as England continue to try to emulate -
unsuccessfully thus far - the 1966 squad.

In 1998 Peters joined the director's board at
Spurs.