YOUNG people on a football coaching course in Leicestershire have recreated the drama of the 1966 World Cup Final.
Boys and girls at Kibworth Primary School’s summer soccer camp split into two teams – England and West Germany – before replaying the match that ended in victory for England 43 years ago.
The mini re-enactment was the idea of local football coach Adam Wileman, who thought it would help get the kids excited about Leicester’s World Cup bid.
“If you’re under 40, your only impression of England’s World Cup victory is a bit of crackly black and white film,” said Adam, who runs First for Sport, a sports coaching company based in Leicestershire.
“We thought it would be fun to bring that final to life and let the kids see how exciting it would be, if the World Cup came to Leicester.
“The only problem was persuading half the kids to wear German shirts – they all wanted to be on the winning side!”
Re-creating the iconic photograph of Bobby Moore, with the Jules Rimet trophy above his head, was nine-year-old Dylan Pearson.
“I’m happy England won the World Cup in 1966 and I hope they do it again next year,” he said, before happily posing with a replica FIFA World Cup Trophy.
Joining Dylan and the other youngsters on the pitch was Leicester City legend Ali Mauchlen – a passionate Scot who took on the role of German captain Uwe Seeler for the day.
Ali, who played 273 matches for Leicester City, said: “The World Cup is the biggest event in the world, and it would be absolutely fantastic if we could bring it to Leicester.
“The people here are passionate about football – we just need all of them to show their support for the city by voting for Leicester on the England 2018 Bid website.”
First for Sport teamed up with their sponsor, EL Construction, to make sure that all the young people taking part went home with a special ‘Back Leicester’s Bid’ t-shirt.
Company director Jimmy Sehmi said: “We try to support grassroots football whenever we can, because it’s so important that kids get the chance to play football, get regular exercise and improve their skills.
“Some of these boys will dream about playing in a World Cup – and some of them might now be dreaming about playing in a World Cup in Leicester in 2018.
“By the time the final whistle goes, they’ll be so fired up with excitement that they’ll go home and get their mums and dads and all their mates to back Leicester’s bid too.”
People wanting to support Leicester’s World Cup bid should choose Leicester as their preferred host city at http://www.england2018bid.com
If Leicester is selected as a host city – and England is chosen to host the 2018 tournament – it could host up to five matches at the Walkers Stadium.
Leicester’s bid – which is being co-ordinated by Leicester City Council in partnership with Leicester City FC, Leicestershire County Council, Prospect Leicestershire, Loughborough University and Leicester Shire Promotions – will be submitted to the England 2018 bid team on November 6th.
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