Sir Geoff Hurst

Born 8 December 1941 in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, Sir Geoffrey Charles Hurst MBE (Geoff Hurst) is a retired England footballer best remembered for his years with West Ham. 

Geoff Hurst made his mark in World Cup history as the only player to have scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final. His three goals came in the 1966 final for England in their 4–2 win over West Germany at the old Wembley. Such an achievement was made all the more remarkable by the fact that he was only five months and eight games into his international career, and was not considered his country's premier center forward.

Geoff Hurst was initially a strong-running midfielder but was converted to a striker by manager Ron Greenwood. West Ham won the FA Cup in 1964 with Hurst scoring the second equalizer in a tight and exciting 3–2 victory over Preston North End at Wembley. A year later, Hurst was back at Wembley for the final of the European Cup Winners Cup against 1860 Munich, and West Ham won 2–0. The following season he was in the West Ham side which lost the League Cup final on aggregate to West Bromwich Albion.

In February 1966 he was given his debut for England by manager Alf Ramsey. Geoff Hurst was named in the 22-man World Cup squad for the finals in England. Ramsey’s decision paid dividends as Hurst scored three goals to help England wins their World Cup title.

 

Geoff Hurst remains the most recent British-based player to notch a double hat-trick in a top-flight league match: he achieved this remarkable feat in a First Division match against Sunderland at Upton Park on 19 October 1968, which saw the Hammers defeat the Wearsiders 8-0.

Geoff Hurst wound down his career with Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Seattle Sounders (NASL). After Seattle, Hurst played in Kuwait and then signed for Cork Celtic. 

Upon his retirement from playing, Geoff Hurst moved into management and coaching. He was assistant to his ex-West Ham boss Ron Greenwood after the latter took over the England job in 1977, player-manager of Telford United and manager of Chelsea from 1979–81. He joined Chelsea, then in the Second Division, before the 1979–80 season, initially as assistant manager to Danny Blanchflower. When Blanchflower was sacked, Geoff Hurst was appointed manager. [source : Geoff Hurst]

Sir Geoff Hurst Pictures
 

Wayne "Wazza" Rooney

Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Manchester United and the England national team. He was nicknamed with "Wazza" he is compared with former England player Paul "Gazza" Gascoigne.

Wayne Rooney was born in Croxteth, Liverpool to Thomas Wayne and Jeanette Marie Rooney (née Morrey). He grew up supporting his local club Everton; his childhood hero was Duncan Ferguson. At age nine, Rooney joined the youth team of Everton, for whom he made his professional debut in 2002. 

Wayne Rooney spent two seasons at the Everton, before moving to Manchester United for £25.6 million in the 2004 summer transfer window. Since then, United have won the Premier League four times, the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League and two League Cups with Rooney in the team. He also holds two runner-up medals from both the Premier League and the Champions League. Wayne Rooney is the third Manchester United player to score 100 Premier League goals, joining Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. 

Wayne Rooney made his senior international debut in 2003 at seventeen, the same age at which he also became the youngest player to score an England goal. He played at UEFA Euro 2004 and scored four goals. He also briefly became the competition's youngest goalscorer. He is frequently selected for the England squad and also featured at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups. Rooney has won the England Player of the Year award twice, in 2008 and 2009. As of March 2011, he has won 70 international caps and scored 26 goals.

In 2009-10, Rooney was awarded the PFA Players' Player of the Year and the FWA Footballer of the Year. As of 2011, he is the third highest-paid footballer in the world, with an annual income of €20.7m (£18m) including sponsorship deals. [source : Wayne Rooney]

Wayne Rooney Pictures and Wallpapers
 

Bobby Moore: The First Gentleman of English Football

Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (Bobby Moore) was born in Barnet in April 1941. He was recruited to West Ham’s junior team in 1956, making his debut for the senior team as a replacement for Malcolm Allison against Manchester United in September 1958.

In 1960, at the young age of 19, Bobby Moore was called up to the England under-23’s, and earned his debut cap in 1962 in Peru. Already in 1963 he was made captain of the squad, quickly earning the trust of his coach and manager. At first Moore was just filling in for more senior players, but the position was made permanent in 1964. That year Moore was treated for testicular cancer, but he did not let that stop him winning the FA Cup with West Ham United. He was also named Football Writer’s Association Football player of the Year. 

In 1966, the year of his famous victory, Bobby Moore was on the verge of arranging a transfer to Tottenham Hotspur when England manager Alf Ramsey intervened prior to the World Cup and urged a reconciliation with West Ham United, which was swiftly effected. 

England moved with little difficulty through the rounds in the World Cup, but the final itself was one of the most intense matches in the history of the game. England initially went 1-0 down to West Germany, before Geoff Hurst equalized, and Peters put them 2-1 up. Worryingly, however, Wolfgang Weber equalized just before full-time. The match went into extra time, and Hurst put England 3-2 up, but the goal was hotly contested, and it was not until the final minute when Hurst scored a third goal that England’s win was cemented. Many of the most famous images of that day centre around Moore as captain of his team.

After the World Cup, Bobby Moore continued to play for West Ham and England, as well as promoting the British pub industry and opening his own sports shop. In the second half of the decade, he received national recognition. In 1966 Moore was the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, and in 1967 he was awarded an OBE, and a punk band even recorded a song about him entitled ‘Viva Bobby Moore’. 

Bobby Moore was again named captain of England again for the 1970 World Cup. A rare controversial episode followed when he was arrested for the theft of a bracelet from the shop of the hotel that the squad was staying in in Columbia for a warm-up match. Although Moore was questioned on more than one occasion, and detained in Columbia when the rest of his team-mates travelled home, the charges were eventually dropped. The tournament was not a wild success for England, but it went down for one piece of genius from Moore when, during their match with Brazil, he performed a spectacular tackle on the advancing Jairzinho - still considered perhaps the finest (if not, the most iconic) tackle in history.

The later years of Moore’s English career passed with relative quiet. In 1970, he and two of his West Ham team-mates were fined for going out drinking heavily the night before a third-round FA Cup tie. Nonetheless, he continued to play well for them. Bobby Moore made his final appearance for England in 1973, when they failed to qualify for the World Cup. 

Bobby Moore led his country to its greatest footballing victory as captain of England’s winning team in the 1966 World Cup. Moore’s skill as a defender was matched by his generous and intelligent leadership, and by his mere personality, which earned him the nickname of ‘the first gentleman of English football’. He was famous for his grace and class, and for the apparently effortless tackles and passes that he seemed to perform in slow-motion. Moore was not a particularly fast nor a showy footballer - his composure and thoughtful approach to the defensive role marked him out as a highly gifted player and the natural leader that England needed. [source : Bobby Moore]

Bobby Moore Pictures and Wallpapers

Alan Shearer

Alan Shearer OBE, DL (born 13 August 1970) is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team. 

Alan Shearer is widely considered as one of England's best ever strikers, being both Newcastle's and the Premier League's record goalscorer. After retiring as a player, Shearer now works as a television pundit for the BBC. Toward the end of his playing career, Shearer worked towards gaining the UEFA Pro Licence, and expressed a desire to eventually become a manager. In 2009 he briefly left his BBC role to become Newcastle United's manager in the last eight games of their 2008–09 season, in an unsuccessful attempt to save them from relegation.

A native of Newcastle upon Tyne, Shearer made his professional debut with English top-flight club Southampton in 1988, scoring a hat-trick in the process. During several years on the south coast, he became known for his classic style of play, strength and goalscoring ability; he soon received an international call-up along with a transfer to Blackburn Rovers in 1992. 

Shearer established himself as a player in northern England; he became a regular in the England squad, and his 34-goal tally helped Blackburn secure the Premier League title in 1994–95. He was named Football Writers' Association Player of the Year in 1994 and won the PFA Player of the Year award in 1995. The 1995–96 season saw Shearer make his first Champions League appearances and finish as the top scorer in the Premier League with 31 goals. He was also top scorer at Euro 1996 with England, scoring five goals, and in the 1996–97 Premier League, with 25 goals.

A world-record £15 million move to his boyhood heroes, Newcastle United, followed the Euro '96FA Cupcaptain in 1996 and Newcastle's captain in 1999, he retired from international football following Euro 2000, having amassed 63 appearances and 30 goals for his country. tournament, and Shearer spent the remainder of his career with the club. While he would never emulate the success of his time at Blackburn Rovers, Shearer won runners-up medals in the Premier League and with Newcastle, and a second PFA Player of the Year award. After being named England's captain in 1996 and Newcastle's captain in 1999, he retired from international football following Euro 2000, having amassed 63 appearances and 30 goals for his country.

As well as his media work, he has raised substantial amounts of money for various national and local charities, both within and outside of sports. Shearer is an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), a Deputy Lieutenant of Northumberland, a Freeman of Newcastle upon Tyne and an honorary Doctor of Civil Law of Northumbria and Newcastle Universities. [source : Alan Shearer]

Alan Shearer Pictures and Wallpapers

 

Gary Lineker

Gary Winston Lineker (pronounced lee-na-ka:), OBE (born 30 November 1960) is a retired English footballer, who played as a striker. He is a sports broadcaster for the BBC and Eredivisie Live. He remains England's top scorer in the FIFA World Cup finals, with 10 goals.

Lineker began his football career at Leicester City and became known as a prolific goalscorer; despite failing to score in his first ten games, he finished as the First Division's joint top goalscorer in 1984–85 and earning his first England cap. He moved to Everton where he remained a clinical finisher, scoring 38 goals in 52 games. His first team honours came at Barcelona, where he won the Copa del Rey in 1988 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1989. He returned to England in 1989, joining Tottenham Hotspur, and over three seasons he scored 67 goals in 105 games and won the FA Cup. Lineker's final club was Nagoya Grampus Eight and he retired in 1994 after two seasons at the Japanese side.

Gary Lineker made his England debut in 1984 and over the following eight years earned 80 caps and scored 48 goals, finishing as England's all-time second highest scorer behind Bobby Charlton. His international goals-to-games ratio remains one of the best for the country and he is regarded as one of the all-time best English strikers. He was top scorer in the 1986 World Cup and received the Golden Shoe, the only time an Englishman has achieved this feat. He is also the only player to have won the English golden boot with 3 different clubs (Leicester City, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur). Lineker is noted for never having been cautioned or sent off by a referee during his professional career.

After his retirement from football he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame. He moved in to broadcasting, working at the BBC, firstly working as a pundit on Match of the Day before he went on to present the flagship show. Lineker also worked on other programmes at the BBC. He led a consortium that invested in his old club Leicester, saving it from bankruptcy, and was appointed honorary vice-president. Since 1994, Lineker has featured in several television commercials for Walkers Crisps. He has four sons with his ex-wife Michelle and is now married to model Danielle Lineker.

In 2009, Leicester City fans voted him as the club's greatest ever player in a poll by Sky Sports. He received 37% of votes; more than double that of his closest competitor, legendary goalkeeper Gordon Banks. [source : Lineker]

Gary Lineker's Pictures

Sir Bobby Charlton

Sir Robert "Bobby" Charlton CBE (born 11 October 1937 in Ashington, Northumberland) is an English former professional football player who won the World Cup and was named the European Footballer of the Year in 1966. He played almost all of his club football at Manchester United, where he became renowned for his attacking instincts from midfield and his ferocious long-range shot. His elder brother Jack, who was also in the World Cup-winning team, was a former defender for Leeds United and coach.

He began to play for United's first team in 1956, and over the next two seasons gained a regular place in the team, during which time he survived the Munich air disaster of 1958. After helping United to win the Football League in 1965, he won a World Cup medal with England in 1966 and another Football League title with United the following year. In 1968, he captained the Manchester United team that won the European Cup, scoring two goals in the final to help his team be the first English side to win the competition. He has scored more goals for England and United than any other player. He had made more appearances for Manchester United than any other player (758), a record superseded by Ryan Giggs at the Champions League Final in Moscow on 21 May 2008. However, Charlton still owns the club record for most league appearances with 606, and is considered by many to be one of the greatest English players of all time.

At the time of his retirement from the England team in 1970, he was the nation's most capped player, having turned out 106 times at the highest level. This record has since been eclipsed by Bobby Moore, Peter Shilton and then David Beckham.

He left Manchester United in 1973, becoming player-manager of Preston North End, but decided management was not for him and left after one season. After assuming the post of the director at Wigan Athletic for some time, he became a member of Manchester United's board of directors in 1984 and remains one as of May 2010. He set goalscoring records for both the England team and Manchester United, with both records remaining intact some 35 years after the end of his playing career. He was knighted in 1994.  [source : Bobby Charlton]

Bobby Charlton's Pictures

David Beckham

David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE (born 2 May 1975) is an English footballer who currently plays in midfield for Milan in Serie A, on loan from Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy. He is also an established member of the England national team.

Twice runner-up for FIFA World Player of the Year and in 2004 the world's highest-paid footballer when taking into account salary and advertising deals. Beckham was the first British footballer to play 100 Champions League matches. He was Google's most searched of all sports topics in both 2003 and 2004. With such global recognition he has become an elite advertising brand and a top fashion icon. 

Beckham was captain of England from 15 November 2000 until the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals, during which he played 58 times. Since then he has continued to represent his country and earned his much-publicised hundredth cap for England against France on 26 March 2008. He is currently England's most-capped outfield player with 115 appearances.

Beckham's career began when he signed a professional contract with Manchester United, making his first-team debut in 1992 aged 17. During his time there, United won the Premier League title six times, the FA Cup twice, and the UEFA Champions League in 1999. He left Manchester United to sign for Real Madrid in 2003, where he remained for four seasons, clinching the La Liga championship in his final season with the club.

In January 2007, it was announced that Beckham would leave Real Madrid and sign a five-year contract with Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy. Beckham's contract with Los Angeles Galaxy became effective on 1 July 2007 and gave him the highest player salary in MLS history. His playing contract with Galaxy in 2007, 2008 and 2009 was worth $6.5m per year. He debuted for the team on 21 July 2007 in a friendly versus Chelsea at The Home Depot Center, and on 15 August, he had his first start with the team, scoring his first goal in the 2007 SuperLiga semi-final. His first league start then came on 18 August in front of a record crowd at Giants Stadium.

 

As a footballer Beckham is well recognized by his unique direct free kick and cross passing. Most of his goals and assists come from it. Even more there's a movie inspired by his special skill titled Bend It Like Beckham.

Beckham is married to former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham (née Adams). The couple have three sons and currently reside in Beverly Hills, California. [source : Beckham]

Beckham's Pictures