Martin Peters

As with everyone in the football world I was most upset by the passing of Martin Peters.

Most of us knew that, like Nobby Stiles and Jack Charlton, he suffered from dementia. The boys of ’66 are now in their  late 70s, so sadly we are going to have more mourning over the next few years.

Martin Peters will probably not be considered as the same level of Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton or Gordon Banks but – as Alf Ramsay predicted – he was a pioneer of the role of midfield striker.

Now this is a vital component of any successful side and two of the very best are Lionel Messi and Kevin de Bruyne. Martin Peters, with his  ghosted runs, was the pathfinder and as defences became better organised  it was a most valuable resource.

The obits spoke of his club career at West Ham and Spurs. I saw him quite often at White Hart Lane. In that period  of the post-Double side, the home fans did not give midfield acquisitions a warm welcome.

Terry Venables and Alan Mullery suffered to be accepted.

Martin Peters did well but, in a deal that sent local hero Jimmy Greaves the other way to West Ham, I did not hear his name chanted that often.

The obits did not refer to his 5 year stint at Norwich. A journo I know who is a Norwich fanatic praised him as his  team’s greatest ever player. Like almost all of the ’66 team, he did not pull up any trees in management at Sheffield United.

Jack Charlton was the only one who did.

Yet he earns his place as World Cup Winner, goal scorer and pathfinder. I searched my memory for a Martin Peters moment.

I remember  a game v Scotland … he worked an opening on the edge of the box but, instead of blasting, just clipped the ball inside the post. Economy of effort. Precision. Intelligence. That was Martin Peters.