Hurst and Peters bid farewell to Wembley

Twenty four hours before 76,000 supporters bid farewell to Wembley, England's two goalscoring heroes of the 1966 World Cup final took their leave of the venue they helped immortalise.

Twenty four hours before 76,000 supporters bid farewell to Wembley, England's two goalscoring heroes of the 1966 World Cup final took their leave of the venue they helped immortalise.

Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters, who shared the four goals in the victory over today's opponents 34 years ago, will by the final whistle this afternoon be at Southampton docks embarking on a reunion cruise with seven of their remaining team-mates from Sir Alf Ramsey's side. Only Bobby Charlton will be at Wembley while more than a few fond thoughts will be spared for the late Bobby Moore, who lifted the Jules Rimet Trophy for England.

The other two former West Ham players took a nostalgic walk around Wembley last night and Hurst, who remains the only man to have scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final, said: "We are disappointed to say the least to miss this occasion but the cruise was organised a year ago before the fixtures were drawn up."

Hurst, who had been invited to be the guest of honour for today's World Cup qualifier with Germany, focused his thoughts on a game he will watch on a big television screen. "It's all about qualification, not just about beating Germany. I said that before the teams met in the European Championship game in the summer. If we lose to Finland in the following game, we'll be back to square one. It's a special occasion not only because it's Wembley's last game but because Germany are one of the foremost footballing nations.

"Football changes very quickly and England's performance against France was much improved. Of course it will be wonderful to beat Germany at Wembley or at Hackney Marshes."

Peters said: "This fixture is up there with England against Scotland. I'm sure the result in the European Championships will help because, after 34 years of failing to beat them, the belief is now there that Germany are not insurpassable."