Eighty at Eighty

An A to Z of Masters from Ali to Zidane

Sir Geoff Hurst

• Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9781801501293
• Edition: 0

1966 legend Sir Geoff Hurst is the only footballer in history to score a World Cup final hat-trick. To mark his 80th birthday, he has named the 80 sportsmen who most inspired and motivated him throughout his life. Sir Geoff, who scored 24 goals in 49 England games, also had a talent for cricket, and has an in-depth knowledge of all the major sports. His A to Z of sporting heroes covers multiple sports and decades, from Muhammad Ali to Zinedine Zidane. The book is filled with surprising facts, and Sir Geoff challenges you to count how many times you exclaim, 'I didn't know that!' when reading his entertaining and enlightening breakdown on his sporting idols. Writing in collaboration with renowned sports historian Norman Giller, who reported Sir Geoff's West Ham debut in 1960, Hurst personalises each profile with anecdotes that offer a unique insight into the individual. Pitch Publishing are planning a similar book on the greatest post-war sportswomen, but for now enjoy Sir Geoff Hurst discussing his 80 greatest sportsmen.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction by Sir Geoff Hurst MBE, ‘One over the Eighty’
• 1. Muhammad Ali, ‘Floated like a butterfly, stung like a bee’
• 2. Gordon Banks, ‘Soared like Superman and could catch pigeons’
• 3. Sir Roger Bannister, ‘Broke the four-minute mile … and saved lives’
• 4. Franz Beckenbauer, ‘Der Kaiser ruled with regal splendour’
• 5. George Best, ‘What a pity George was not born ugly’
• 6. Serge Blanco, ‘The smoking gun of rugby’
• 7. Usain Bolt, ‘The fastest man on the planet’
• 8. Björn Borg, ‘When the Iceborg melted’
• 9. Ian Botham, ‘The cricketer who now Lords it over us all’
• 10. Don Bradman, ‘The nearest thing to sporting perfection’
• 11. David Campese, ‘The goose-stepping Aussie’
• 12. Wilt Chamberlain, ‘A tall story about Wilt the Stilt’
• 13. John Charles, ‘Gentle Giant who became King John’
• 14. Bobby Charlton, ‘A name known and revered around the world’
• 15. Jim Clark, ‘The sheep farmer who came over the hill’
• 16. Sebastian Coe, ‘The elegant running pride of Great Britain’
• 17. Denis Compton, ‘Compo enjoyed the worlds of football and cricket’
• 18. Henry Cooper, ‘Enery hooked first place in the popularity stakes’
• 19. Colin Cowdrey, ‘The Master used his bat like Goya with a brush’
• 20. Johan Cruyff, ‘Cruyff turned football into a total triumph’
• 21. Alfredo Di Stéfano, ‘The Blond Arrow hit his target’
• 22. Duncan Edwards, ‘Tragic Busby Babe lives on in the memory’
• 23. Gareth Edwards, ‘Miner’s son who tried all the time for Wales’
• 24. Herb Elliott, ‘Master miler who beat the sands of time’
• 25. Eusébio, ‘The Black Panther who pounced for Portugal’
• 26. Godfrey Evans, ‘The wicketkeeper who dived like Frank Swift’
• 27. Juan Manuel Fangio, ‘Man of mystery Fangio was an F1 maestro’
• 28. Roger Federer, ‘Fed Express delivers perfect service’
• 29. Tom Finney, ‘Following in the footsteps of the Preston Plumber’
• 30. Andrew Flintoff, ‘Freddie had us doubled up at his exploits’
• 31. Jimmy Greaves, ‘The greatest goalscorer, yet I finished up the World Cup hero’
• 32. Lewis Hamilton, ‘Who d’you think you are, Lewis Hamilton?’
• 33. Michael Holding, ‘The Test in which England fell to Whispering Death’
• 34. Roger Hunt, ‘Stamina of a cheetah but never a cheat’
• 35. Len Hutton, ‘364 reasons why Pudsey Bear hugged the headlines’
• 36. Pat Jennings, ‘The man with bucket hands could catch everything’
• 37. Michael Johnson, ‘Golden hero of the track who did it his way’
• 38. Michael Jordan, ‘Save the Last Dance for court king Jordan’.
• 39. Jason Kenny, ‘Jason has the Midas touch on his bike’
• 40. Jim Laker, ‘The Test in which Australia got Lakered’
• 41. Brian Lara, ‘The batting Prince who scored a Lara Lara runs’
• 42. Rod Laver, ‘Rockhampton Rocket was grand Grand Slammer’
• 43. Denis Law, ‘The day I wrecked Denis Law’s round of golf ’
• 44. Carl Lewis, ‘Marmite Man became the modern Jesse Owens’
• 45. Jonah Lomu, ‘All Blacks' colossus who used England’s defenders like doormats’
• 46. Diego Maradona, ‘I was a stunned witness to Diego’s ‘hand of God’’’
• 47. Rocky Marciano, ‘REAL Rocky was the Twentieth Century Caveman’
• 48. Stanley Matthews, ‘Wizard of Dribble had defenders and spectators spellbound’
• 49. Peter May, ‘Classics master P.B.H. made much more than an initial impact’
• 50. John McEnroe, ‘Supermac’s tennis talent trumps his tantrums’
• 51. Colin Meads, ‘Pinetree packed awesome power’
• 52. Lionel Messi, ‘Meeting the ‘new’ Maradona’
• 53. Bobby Moore, ‘Everybody but nobody knew the REAL Bobby Moore’
• 54. Gerd Müller, ‘Der Bomber, who had an unquenchable thirst for goals’
• 55. Rafael Nadal, ‘Tennis wins as King of Clay Rafa turns his back on a football career’
• 56. Jack Nicklaus, ‘The Golden Bear finished a fair way ahead of the field’
• 57. Pelé, ‘The King of Football has built a monument of goals’
• 58. Martin Peters, ‘The Ghost who could haunt defenders from any position’
• 59. Lester Piggott, ‘The Long Fellow provides fireworks all his life’
• 60. Ferenc Puskás, ‘The left foot of Puskás was all right for Real Madrid’
• 61. Steve Redgrave, ‘Olympian giant Steve is the hero of heroes’
• 62. Vivian Richards, ‘Master Blaster who brought bowlers to their knees’
• 63. Sugar Ray Robinson, ‘Sugar Ray tasted the sweet and sour of the fight game’
• 64. Cristiano Ronaldo, ‘A slice of Madeira cake for football’s first billionaire’
• 65. Ian Rush, ‘Welsh warrior who found scoring goals gave him a rush’
• 66. Peter Snell, ‘Nothing snail-like about Olympic legend Snell’
• 67. Garfield Sobers, ‘Twelve fingers, hundreds of wickets and thousands of runs’
• 68. Mark Spitz, ‘The Spitz Blitz tarnished by terrorism’
• 69. Jackie Stewart, ‘Flying Scot who thought outside the box’
• 70. Ben Stokes, ‘Big Ben strikes for England but pays a heavy price’
• 71. Sachin Tendulkar, ‘The little artist with the power of a Sherman tank’
• 72. Daley Thompson, ‘A complete all-rounder and Fastest Tongue in the West’
• 73. Torvill and Dean, ‘Sporting perfection on ice from a golden couple’
• 74. Mike Tyson, ‘Rise and fall of a mean fighting machine’
• 75. Shane Warne, ‘The Aussie maestro who could spin a great yarn’
• 76.Jonny Wilkinson, ‘Jonny, my World Cup winning “twin”’
• 77. Tiger Woods, ‘Major problems that handicapped the Tiger’
• 78. Emil Zátopek, ‘Bouncing Czech who completed the “Impossible Treble”’
• 79. Zinedine Zidane, ‘Sizzling Zizou was the Real deal as player and coach’
• 80. Gianfranco Zola, ‘The player I would most liked to have had serving me’
• Extra Time: Sir Geoff Hurst: For the Record
• Photos