England’s World Cup hero Sir Geoff Hurst has hinted that he could have been banging in his glorious Wembley hat-trick for the opposing West Germany team in 1966.
As Gareth Southgate prepares to lead England on another World Cup campaign, the Three Lions have yet to experience anything like the euphoria of 1966 as they’ve reached just one World Cup semi-final in the 52 years since.
Even that solitary World Cup victory may not have happened though, as Hurst suspects his family has some German heritage that could have led to him lining up alongside Franz Beckenbauer in 1996 instead of Bobby Moore.
“Many, many years ago I heard of this story from my grandparents on my mother’s side that there was some connection with a German name, a German family called Blick,” said Hurst, who is undertaking a DNA test in conjunction with online bookmaker Sky Bet and AncestryDNA.
“I first recall learning about that when I was really young, and that name Blick has stuck in my mind, so I’m fascinated to see any research that can justify my thoughts.
“It’s not something I made public, of course, because I’m not sure it would have gone down too well in this country, but I’m pleased to let you know for the programme that the family name of Blick is there, way down on my mother’s side.”
Sky Bet and Ancestry are carrying out a DNA test and family history research on England’s World Cup hero, which includes a saliva analysis, to discover how close Hurst may have been to being known by his German equivalent ‘Gottfried Hürst’.
“The World Cup is a journey of discovery – new teams, new players and new styles are a big reason why we love the tournament so much,” said Sky Bet spokesman Sandro Di Michele.
“Whilst we don’t yet know what exciting discoveries await us at Russia 2018 it would be the biggest shock of all for English football if Sir Geoff is revealed to be German - and would certainly explain his cool-eye for a goal under pressure during his illustrious career.”