30 July 1966 - And 45 Years Later, We're Still Debating Goalline Technology

On 30 July 1966, England won the World Cup, beating West Germany 4-2 in extra time thanks in part to a controversial goal.

Played before a crowd of 98,000 at London's Wembley Stadium, the match featured an early exchange of goals from a pair of strikers, West Germany's Helmut Haller (12') and England's Geoff Hurst (18'). After that, though, the goals dried up. Although both sides playing aggressive attacking styles, goalkeepers Gordon Banks and Hans Tilkowski repeatedly denied chance after chance.

English midfielder Martin Peters finally beat Tilkowski to break the stalemate in the 78th minute and the hosts looked certain to win at the end of regulation. But in the 89th minute, a loose ball in the England box fell to center back Wolfgang Weber, who drove it home with a sliding shot to send the match into extra time.

There, England continued to press and were rewarded in the 101st minute when Hurst took the ball on the edge of the area and fired it over Tilkowski. The ball struck the crossbar and bounced straight down before a West German player headed it out of play. The referee blew the whistle and conferred with his linesman before awarding the goal. Replays remain inconclusive, but suggest that the entire ball had not crossed the line. In any event, Hurst completed his hat-trick in the 120th minute to seal the win.

Despite the eventual margin of victory, controversy continues to surround Hurst's second goal. In 1996, two engineers at Oxford University published a paper claiming that the entire ball had not crossed the line, missing by just 6 centimeters.

6 May 1961 - Spurs Do The Double

On 6 May 1961, Tottenham Hotspur completed their Double by winning the FA Cup with a 2-0 victory over Leicester City. Spurs were the first team to win the FA Cup and the League in the same season since Aston Villa did it in 1897.

Tottenham had already won the league in a season that saw them hold onto the top spot from the first week to the last. They had endured only seven losses all season, but one of those came at the hands of Leicester City, who won 2-3 at White Hart Lane in the first week of February.

Playing before a crowd of 100,000 at Wembley, Leicester suffered an early setback with an injury to right back Len Chalmers (who remained on the pitch in diminished capacity until the 80th minute). They nonetheless maintained their composure and held the dynamic Spurs attack in check for 65 minutes. Then, in the 66th minute, Spurs winger Terry Dyson sent the ball in for forward Bobby Smith, who powered the ball past keeper Gordon Banks. Nine minutes later, the pair connected again, with Smith providing the assist for Dyson's header.

It was the third FA Cup for Tottenham, who went on to win it again the following season, then four more times for a total of seven.

4 May 1966 - Shilton Robs Banks

On 4 May 1966, goalkeeper Peter Shilton made the first of his Football League record 1,005 appearances, starting for Leicester in a 3-0 win over Everton.

Shilton joined Leicester's youth academy in 1963 at the age of 13, then moved up to the first team in 1966 at the insistence of their starting goalkeeper, Gordon Banks. He was only 16 when he got his first start, replacing Banks for a home match against Everton and keeping a clean sheet in the 3-0 victory.

Banks went on to win the World Cup with England the following summer, but Leicester traded him away to Stoke soon after, preferring to stick with Shilton for the 1967-68 season. Shilton made 286 league appearances for Leicester before following in Banks's footsteps and moving to Stoke in 1974. After three seasons with Stoke, he moved again, and spent time at Nottingham Forest, Southampton, Derby County, Plymouth Argyle, Wimbledon, Bolton, Coventry, West Ham, and Leyton Orient before retiring in 1997 at the age of 47.

He also holds the appearance record for England, with 125 caps between 1970 and 1990.

7 June 1970 - Banks Denies Pelé

On 7 June 1970, England keeper Gordon Banks made one of the most memorable saves in football history, stopping a shot from Pelé in the 1970 World Cup Finals.

Cup holders England met Brazil that day in their second match of the group stage. With the match scoreless in the 10th minute, Brazilian right winger Jairzinho collected the ball near the touchline just inside the English half. He sped past left back Terry Cooper and raced toward the box. Just before running out of bounds, he lobbed a long cross to Pelé who was waiting near the far post. Describing the save later, Banks said "Halfway across, I was sure the ball was too high for anyone to reach, but then I saw Pelé. He seemed to climb higher and higher until he got the ball on his forehead, putting everything behind it."

As Pelé forcefully headed the ball down, Banks sprinted across the goal and stretched out with a diving lunge. The ball bounced just in front of the goal line and Banks got his hand on the rebound, sending the ball up and over. According to Pelé, "He came from nowhere. I headed it perfectly towards one corner of the net while Banks was at the other corner. I was already shouting GOOOL!!! when Banks, like a salmon leaping up a falls, threw himself in the air and managed to tip the ball so it slid over the crossbar. It was an impossible play."

Brazil went on to win the match 1-0 with a goal from Jairzinho in the 59th minute, but it is fondly remembered in England for that save.