Over the past few weeks I’ve been corresponding with Steve, a Sheffield Wednesday supporter who grew up in England and now lives in South Africa who attended the 1966 World Cup Final at Wembley and every tournament since 1994. He sent me a photo of the 1966 ticket pricing sheet. A seat at the final cost £3 15s, roughly $40 in today’s money.
What started as a question about ticket prices turned into one of the best World Cup stories I’ve heard. Steve’s been through FIFA’s ticketing chaos, unknowingly purchased fake tickets in Paris – and rejected from attending the 1998 Final, the Trans-Siberian railway after Moscow, and six decades of watching this tournament evolve.
This is an edited version of our exchange.
How It Started: Wembley, 1966
How did you fall in love with football?
I was a boarder at prep school in England from 1957 when I was 7. My first awareness of professional football was the news of the Munich air crash in February 1958 which killed most of the Manchester United team. Late each afternoon after the dayboys had returned home a few of us would have a kickabout and each of us would name a football star we would “be” while we played. You had to get in first as obviously there was only one Johnny Haynes (the England captain at the time), or Jimmy Greaves.
I don’t know what made us latch on to football. Soon thereafter a new slightly older boy came to school and he got me even more passionate. We would write off to all the first division clubs and ask for autographs (which I still have) and we also sent postal orders off to a programme merchant (Frasers) and received back wads of assorted programmes from all four divisions, which I have also kept.
By then I had become an ardent Sheffield Wednesday supporter, and am still to this day.
How did you end up at the 1966 Final?
The greatest football day of my life. In mid 1965 ticket sales opened and I got my dad to buy two 10-match Wembley packages, total cost £30. England played all its matches at Wembley all the way to the final. Owing to school, I was able to go only from the quarter-final which was my first visit to Wembley. That game itself was highly controversial.
The build-up to the final was hectic. It seemed the whole nation was consumed. I will never forget that day and the game and one moment in particular, one of the most controversial in World Cup history. This was Geoff Hurst’s second goal. Did the ball cross the line? We happened to be seated dead in line and had a perfect view.
After the game we shook hands with our neighbours and said we would see them in Mexico. My son and I were in Bloemfontein in 2010 and saw Germany get its revenge when the linesman evidently could not see that Lampard’s shot had landed a full 12 inches over the line.
The triumph took over the front pages of the Sunday newspapers the next day. I have kept all the World Cup articles from almost every national newspaper for the duration of the tournament. In terms of mementoes I have one regret. I took some nice photos of the final. In those days you had to take the negatives to the pharmacy who sent them off to Kodak for processing. Someone at Kodak must have also appreciated the photos and I never got them back.
The Modern Era: 1994 and Beyond
What got you back to World Cups after a long gap?
I was a student in 1970 and Mexico was a bridge too far. I did manage one game in Germany in 1974. Then I left England for the US and after that Southern Africa (where I still live) and the best I could manage was following the next World Cups on TV.
In 1990 I planned a trip to Europe with my new girlfriend, with a week in Italy so I could catch a couple of games. In the event I succumbed to my girlfriend who insisted there were better things to do in Italy. I regret to this day that I was sightseeing in Florence while Argentina and Maradona were playing in the Stadio Comunale a couple of miles away. That girlfriend is now my wife and I forgave her 12 years later when we went together to the World Cup in South Korea/Japan.
I was not overly enthusiastic about attending the 1994 World Cup in the US. To me atmosphere is everything and I knew from my two years in California that football was way down the sports pecking order. However I had such positive memories of my times in the US that I decided to give it a go.
France 98 was a no brainer. Great country, great football culture. After that the desire to attend every 4 years built its own momentum, although I did have initial misgivings about one or two of the hosts.
The Forgery: Paris, 1998
Steve mentioned he missed the 1998 Final because of a forged ticket. I asked him what happened.
Can you walk through that day?
Painful for me to relate so I will keep it brief. I bought the final ticket from an agent in South Africa. I was summoned to a 2 star hotel in the northern suburbs of Paris on the morning of the match. There I waited with about 30 others, all male including several youngsters, from South Africa. Eventually the agent arrived. Essentially his supplier had let him down. France was in the final and the market price had sky-rocketed. Pandemonium, fisticuffs and tears broke out and the episode was reported in the South African papers the next day.
I immediately left for downtown and raised 5,000 Francs (about $800) which was as much cash as the ATMs would allow. I walked up and down the Champs-Élysées looking for a spare ticket. I went to a top hotel full of Brazilian fans. No luck. I went to the stadium. One French fan laughingly said he would sell for 25,000 Francs. Finally I found a tout who wanted 10,000 Francs. I showed him my wallet. He accepted its contents. Delirious, I strode to the turnstile where a gendarme told me in broken English that my ticket was a forgery and I was lucky he was not going to arrest me.
That is not the only forged ticket I have been the wrong end of. It happened to me at the Champions League final in 2015 as well.
I cannot imagine the rollercoaster of emotions. How much did you spend on that forged ticket to the 1998 Final? That’s unfortunate it wasn’t the only fake ticket you’ve purchased!
The 1998 Final put me out around $1,200 in today’s (2026) money.
Editor’s Note: $1,200 on the open market is unimaginable pricing for the 2026 Final.
Standout Memories
Which match sticks with you most?
England 66 final. At home and I was young and impressionable. It will always be number 1. After that, many matches stir up great memories. For a surreal experience, Germany’s thrashing of Brazil in 2014 was unique. The Qatar final was unsurpassable for sheer excitement for any neutral but I must say the Argentina Holland quarter final a week before was in a similar category.
The South Korea Spain quarter final in 2002 is also up there. I don’t think I have seen as much interest in the tournament and excitement in any other host country. The atmosphere and noise in the stadium were something else and they WON.
Any favorite story that isn’t about a specific match?
When I talk about the Qatar World Cup I always mention the Argentina fans. They came over in their thousands and easily outnumbered fans from any other country. More came as Argentina progressed and most didn’t have tickets. I spoke to fans who had spent all their hard earned savings just to get to Qatar and they were pleading for tickets everywhere they went. The continuous chanting on the very slow walk from the metro to the stadium for the final added to the carnival atmosphere. In the end I don’t know how many didn’t make it but Argentina fans were all over the stadium in the final, massively outnumbering the small pocket of French fans. In my book, the Argentina fans were fantastic and without them the final would have been a more moribund affair.
If you had to pick one favorite tournament overall?
You ask difficult questions. I have wonderful memories of every World Cup, each in its own way as you say. But the World Cup has taken me to places I would never otherwise have visited, namely South Korea, Japan, Siberia and Qatar.
I was sceptical about 2018 until I realised I could combine it with a trip on my bucket list. So I watched with my son the Moscow semi final (he poured beer all over me when Trippier scored) and the final. My wife joined me in St Petersburg and then we travelled on the Trans-Siberia railway to Beijing. A simply fabulous journey and experience.
The Evolution: Pricing and Access
Steve sent me a photo of the 1966 ticket application form. I asked him what stands out most when he looks back on how costs and access have changed.
Your thoughts on the evolution?
Suffice to say I am not a huge fan of FIFA. Each World Cup outstrips its predecessor in its costs and commerciality. I am incredibly fortunate that I am still able to make a plan. The 26 World Cup will be out of reach for the vast majority of the most genuine fans. I doubt if you will be seeing more than a handful of fans from South Africa next year.
What are your thoughts on digital tickets?
That is a good question. I have always kept my stubs and programmes. They are precious mementoes. Programmes in the UK have always been part of the football culture. Elsewhere they appear only for big matches. Modern programmes do not have the same appeal for me. As far as stubs go, I never notice designs, only the memories the tickets conjure up. I am very sorry that tickets are now all digital but that is the way of the world.
Looking Ahead: 2026
What’s your advice for first-time World Cup attendees?
Soak it all up. You’re at the greatest sporting event in the world.
Your plans for 2026?
Enjoy California again. Watch R16 Seattle, Quarterfinal in LA, Semifinal in Atlanta, and England win in the Final.
If you could relive one World Cup moment, which would it be?
Hearing Gottfried Dienst blow his whistle signaling England had won the World Cup. “They think it’s all over… it is now.”
Steve, an Englishman living in South Africa, will be attending his 10th consecutive World Cup in 2026.
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