England fans recall 1966 World Cup at themed party

Helen Taylor/ Yaxley Parish Council A woman in a red England shirt and a white scarf, sitting next to a woman dressed in an orange-floral outfit and Andrew, a man in a white England shirt - all smiling for camera.Helen Taylor/ Yaxley Parish Council
Andrew Wood (right) said the council took pride in organising community events for the pensioners

About 100 England fans came together to celebrate and remember the country's 1966 World Cup win at a vintage tea party.

Attendees in Yaxley, near Peterborough, came dressed in England jerseys and outfits from the 1960s, ahead of England's first match at this summer's World Cup against Croatia in Dallas.

Yaxley Parish Council hosted the event on Friday with the aim of "giving back to the pensioner community" in the village.

Andrew Wood, the chairman of the parish council, said the themed tea parties it lays on each year give the guests a "bit of sunshine".

Helen Taylor/Yaxley Parish Council Five women - all dressed in red England football shirts, standing in a line with their backs to the camera.Helen Taylor/Yaxley Parish Council
Attendees came dressed in England's football jerseys from the 1966 World Cup

In 1966, England's men beat West Germany 4-2 to win their first and only World Cup.

Vernon Clarke, 84, recalled catching some of the 1966 tournament on TVs in a window display at a TV shop, while he was on holiday in Frinton-on-Sea, Essex.

Helen Taylor/Yaxley Parish Council Vernon, a man with white hair, wearing a red football shirt, sitting on a table. A woman in a yellow dress who is holding a microphone is standing next to him, chatting to him.Helen Taylor/Yaxley Parish Council
Vernon Clarke (centre) was 24 years old during the 1966 World Cup

Pat Lenton, who was 17 at the time, remembered watching the final that year at her boyfriend Danny's parents' house on Crane Avenue in Yaxley. The pair married in the September.

Margaret King, 67, remembered the World Cup final because it was on the same day as her eldest sister's wedding.

She recalled watching the match in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, after the ceremony.

The parish council said its volunteer-run themed tea parties, held every June at the village hall in Yaxley, were so popular they had a waiting list.

Each year has a different theme.

"They [the guests] take the theme very seriously," said parish clerk Helen Taylor.

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