Hand over at Waterloo reunites Hurst and ball

Geoff Hurst was reunited yesterday with his hat-trick ball from the 1966 World Cup final. Unless, of course, it wasn't.

The Daily Mirror are lauding their own feat in bringing the famous orange item back from Germany, where it was taken after the 1966 final by one of West Germany's beaten team, Helmut Haller.

But Hurst's manager, Dave Davis, still reckons he is going to get his hands on the real thing at Leamington Spa on Tuesday, when a man known only as "Wolfgang" has promised to hand it over during an appearance by Hurst to mark the final's 30th anniversary.

The Mirror ball arrived on a flight to Heathrow yesterday and was swiftly transferred, under careful supervision, to the Eurostar terminal at Waterloo station where it was officially handed over to Hurst by Haller, who flew into England on Thursday. It was the first time Hurst had clutched the ball since he drove it past the West German goalkeeper on 30 July, 1966, to seal England's victory. The ball will be on display at the terminal in a glass cage to mark this summer's Euro 96.

In the meantime, Hurst's World Cup team-mate Martin Peters, is wondering where the shirt he exchanged after the final has got to. Expect to hear more very soon from the German who swapped that shirt... Uwe Seeler.