There was a huge blow to England when at the last minute goalkeeper Gordon Banks had to withdraw because of a stomach upset. Montezumah's revenge had never been harsher, robbing England of the best goalkeeper in the world. Peter Bonetti, who had not played a full competitive match since the end of the previous club season, was called in as emergency deputy. England were in command for sixty nine minutes thanks to goals from Alan Mullery and Martin Peters in stifling conditions. Franz Beckenbauer pulled the Germans back into the game with a shot that Bonetti would have saved nine times out of ten. Sir Alf Ramsey immediately sent on Colin Bell as substitute for Bobby Charlton, who was being saved for a semi-final that never came England's way. German substitute Jurgen Grabowski was running rings round exhausted left-back Terry Cooper, and Ramsey decided on a second substitution, sending on Norman Hunter for Peters in a bid to stiffen the defence. With Charlton and Peters off, it meant England had lost their two most composed players and suddenly they were looking disjointed. A freak header by Uwe Seeler sent the ball on an arc over the wrong-footed Bonetti to send the game into extra-time just as in the 1966 World Cup final, but this time it was the Germans who came out on top. Geoff Hurst had a goal disallowed, and then Gerd Muller rammed in the winner after Grabowski had beaten Cooper and crossed for Loehr to head the ball down into 'Der Bomber's' path. England's reign as world champions was over, as was the great international career of Bobby Charlton after a record 106 caps. Several of the England players were in tears, and Sir Alf was shell shocked.  He did not believe it possible that any team could come back from two goals down against the England defence. How different it might have been had Gordon Banks been fit, and how different it might have been had Sir Alf not made a mess of his substitutions. He had never used substitutes throughout his club managerial career, and was never comfortable with the system.  Now the knives were out for him at home. The Football Association officials he had too often treated with contempt were plotting their revenge.

Source Notes

TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports
Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record (Breedon Books Publishing Company, Derby, U.K., 1993)
Norman Giller, Football Author
____________________

CG