30 December 1999 - Forgotten No More

On 30 December 1999, the British government finally decorated the "forgotten five" from England's World Cup-winning team, awarding them all MBEs.

Over the years following England's win over West Germany in the 1966 World Cup Final, most of the players from that match, along with manager Alf Ramsey, received official recognition from the British government, starting in 1967 with Ramsey's knighthood and captain Bobby Moore becoming an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Bobby Charlton received his OBE in 1969 (then became a Commander of the Order (CBE) in 1974 and received a knighthood in 1994), followed by OBEs for Gordon Banks in 1970 and Jack Charlton in 1974. In 1978, Martin Peters became a Member of the Order (MBE), as did Geoff Hurst in 1979 (Hurst was later knighted in 1998).

By 1999, however, five players from the 1966 final--Nobby Stiles, Alan Ball, Roger Hunt, Ray Wilson, and George Cohen--had not been honored, even though all of them but Ball had appeared in every match of the tournament (Ball missed the last two games in the group stage), and Hunt had scored three goals. But thanks to a push driven in part by the football media, those omissions were corrected at the end of 1999, with all five being made Members of the Order.

16 October 1968 - United Gets Taken To School

On 16 October 1968, Estudiantes won the Intercontinental Cup, beating Manchester United over a contentious two-legged final.

By winning the previous season's Copa Libertadores, Estudiantes earned the right to face Manchester United, the reigning European Cup champions. They met for the first leg in Buenos Aires on 25 September, with the hosts eking out a narrow 1-0 victory in a match that saw United midfielder Nobby Stiles get ejected and striker Bobby Charlton receive a blow to the head that required stitches.

Despite that result, United were favorites going into the second leg at Old Trafford three weeks later, where a crowd of 63,500 gathered for the event. But they quickly fell behind when Estudiantes forward Juan Ramón Verón scored in just the seventh minute. The situation grew worse for United when striker Denis Law received an injury and had to come off in the 43rd minute, replaced by Carlo Santori.

Tempers flared in the second half as both teams had a player ejected--George Best for United and José Medina for Estudiantes--in the 88th minute. Willie Morgan drew the home team level in the 89th minute, but they could not find another goal and Estudiantes won on points.

30 December 1999 - Forgotten No More

On 30 December 1999, the British government finally decorated the "forgotten five" from England's World Cup-winning team, awarding them all MBEs.

Over the years following England's win over West Germany in the 1966 World Cup Final, most of the players from that match, along with manager Alf Ramsey, received official recognition from the British government, starting in 1967 with Ramsey's knighthood and captain Bobby Moore becoming an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Bobby Charlton received his OBE in 1969 (then became a Commander of the Order (CBE) in 1974 and received a knighthood in 1994), followed by OBEs for Gordon Banks in 1970 and Jack Charlton in 1974. In 1978, Martin Peters became a Member of the Order (MBE), as did Geoff Hurst in 1979 (Hurst was later knighted in 1998).

By 1999, however, five players from the 1966 final--Nobby Stiles, Alan Ball, Roger Hunt, Ray Wilson, and George Cohen--had not been honored, even though all of them but Ball had appeared in every match of the tournament (Ball missed the last two games in the group stage), and Hunt had scored three goals. But thanks to a push driven in part by the football media, those omissions were corrected at the end of 1999, with all five being made Members of the Order.

16 October 1968 - United Gets Taken To School

On 16 October 1968, Estudiantes won the Intercontinental Cup, beating Manchester United over a contentious two-legged final.

By winning the previous season's Copa Libertadores, Estudiantes earned the right to face Manchester United, the reigning European Cup champions. They met for the first leg in Buenos Aires on 25 September, with the hosts eking out a narrow 1-0 victory in a match that saw United midfilder Nobby Stiles get ejected and striker Bobby Charlton receive a blow to the head that required stitches.

Despite that result, United were favorites going into the second leg at Old Trafford three weeks later, where a crowd of 63,500 gathered for the event. But they quickly fell behind when Estudiantes forward Juan Ramón Verón scored in just the seventh minute. The situation grew worse for United when striker Denis Law received an injury and had to come off in the 43rd minute, replaced by Carlo Santori.

Tempers flared in the second half as both teams had a player ejected--George Best for United and José Medina for Estudiantes--in the 88th minute. Willie Morgan drew the home team level in the 89th minute, but they could not find another goal and Estudiantes won on points.