Mather & Co set to score with Soccerex visitors
VISITORS to the international football trade show Soccerex in Manchester will be able to capture a piece of sporting history thanks to one North West company.
Wilmslow-based Mather & Co, which designed the National Football Museum in the city, has borrowed one of its most precious exhibits – the balll used in the 1966 World Cup final – which England famously won.
The hallowed leather sphere will take pride of place on Mather & Co’s stand at the exhibitiion at Manchester Central from Monday to Wednesday.
Visitors will be able to take pictures with the ball, which along with the presence of controversial FIFA boss Sepp Blatter, is expected to be a major draw.
Sarah Clarke from Mather and Co said: “Visitors to our stand will be able to take selfies with the ball which will be housed in a secure glass case against the backdrop of the front page newspaper from that great day in 1966, showing Bobby Moore on the shoulders of his team mates.
“The best tweeted photo on the Soccerex hashtag at the end of the three days will win a canvas of their photo which will be sent to them as a memento.”
West Ham striker Geoff Hurst made history in 1966 when he became the first, and still the only, man to score a hat trick in a World Cup final. Even though England won the match, the ball was taken by West Germany’s Helmut Haller and spent 30 years in Germany. (In German football, it was the tradition for the game’s first goalkeeper to keep the match ball).
In 1986 the ball was brought back to England. It is jointly owned by The Daily Mirror, Virgin Group and Eurostar and is currently on loan to the National Football Museum.
