50 YEARS AGO: TEAM spirit was a crucial reason behind England's World Cup victory.

They started to believe they could do it after defeating Argentina 1-0 in the quarter-finals in what was undoubtedly one of the most controversial matches in the tournament's history.

The south Americans committed foul after foul, and Antonio Rattin was sent off for a 'tackle' on Bobby Charlton but refused to go.

Ten minutes later, the Argentinian skipper reluctantly accepted his fate but then sat on the red carpet leading to the Royal Box for two minutes before being persuaded to move on by two policemen.

Charlton then outshone Eusebio in the semi-finals, scoring both goals in a 2-1 victory, before England beat West Germany 4-2 in the final after extra-time, Geoff Hurst bagging a hat-trick with West Ham clubmate Martin Peters getting the other.

Bobby Moore, who was only on a monthly contract at Upton Park, collected the Jules Rimet Trophy, and England trainer Harold Shepherdson said: "It was team spirit from first to last, and 'togetherness' if you like to call it that.

"Nothing that they were asked to do by their manager went undone. No exercise I asked them to do was too hard a task."

The impact of the victory by Sir Alf Ramsey's team was felt elsewhere, however, as under 2,000 watched the first day of the Roses cricket match at Old Trafford.

It wasn't a weekend of unqualified national success, however, as the Great Britain rugby league tourists lost the third and deciding Ashes Test 19-14 to Australia in Sydney.

Great Britain again had a man dismissed – this time Cliff Watson – but they managed a try by Alan Hardisty and a penalty try after the same player was tackled late when chasing his kick through.

80 YEARS AGO

THE last weekend in July has proved a good one for British sport as, not only did England win football's global tournament in 1966, but Great Britain won the Davis Cup for the fourth successive year in 1936.

Things were looking good after the opening singles on Wimbledon's Centre Court as Henry 'Bunny' Austin notched a brilliant but unexpected 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 victory over 1933 Australian, French and Wimbledon champion Jack Crawford, and Fred Perry beat Adrian Quist 6-1, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, despite trailing 5-1 in the third set and having a set point against him.

However, things were very different after the next two rubbers, with Wimbledon champions Pat Hughes and Charles Tuckey losing 6-4, 2-6, 7-5, 10-8 to Crawford and Quist, who then beat Austin 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the first of the reverse singles.

But Perry gave what was probably the finest performance of his life, beating Crawford 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 to clinch the cup for the last time before Andy Murray and co won it in Ghent last year.

All India showed plenty of pluck in the Test match at Old Trafford after being dismissed for 203 (Hedley Verity 4-41) and seeing England score 571-8 declared (Wally Hammond 167, Joe Hardstaff Jr 94, George Worthington 87, Walter Robins 76, Verity 66no).

The tourists replied with 390-5 before rain stopped play, with Mushtaq Ali making 112 and Vijay Merchant (who had a first-class average of 71 that was second only to Don Bradman) 114.

Rain ruined an even more intriguing match at Park Avenue, where Yorkshire (167 and 253) were playing Sussex (162 and 163-4), Len Hutton making 70 in the second innings for Yorkshire.

York City signed Rotherham United defender Richard Duckworth.

20 YEARS AGO

IN A sobering reminder of 2016, York RL's former chairman John Stabler said that he could not see the club carrying on beyond the end of the season, which was the August 23 fixture against Bramley.

Coach Stewart Horton could see the potential, however, saying that if they were a Super League club they would attract crowds of 6,000 to 7,000 for the matches against Leeds and Castleford.

On the pitch, however, York lost a seventh straight contest 31-6 against Leigh Centurions in front of a crowd of 503 at Ryedale Stadium, half-back Terry Smirk getting their only try, despite Leigh being reduced to 12 men from the 46th minute onwards after the dismissal of David Ingram.

It seemed that the decision to have a truncated centenary season in 1995-96, with no promotion or relegation, did the sport no favours as attendances dwindled during the winter, with York attracting an average gate of 1,120 in the 1994-95 season but only 642 the following winter. That average had only climbed back up to 707 in the first nine matches of the opening summer campaign.

York's chief executive Ian Clough said: "The rot set in during the centenary season . . . and the supporters had little interest in it."

It was also felt that the RFL could market the second and third tier more effectively.

York City drew 2-2 at home to Livingston in a pre-season friendly, Neil Tolson and Richard Cresswell netting.

Age shall not weary him – and that was certainly the case for 81-year-old Malton & Norton Golf Club member Sam Morse, who won the National Freight Corporation's Pensioners Cup at Coventry Golf Club.

Four years earlier he had won the NFC's Sir Peter Thompson Cup at the same venue.

He was the first golfer to win both trophies, not bad for someone who only took up the game aged 68!