1966: We won! Then silence...

Football and Englishness, then and now. Some life writing inspired by the England team...

Paul Mason, Leigh, c1966

30 July 1966: Moments after the final whistle blew on England's World Cup victory, I ran to our front door and flung it open. I wanted to join in the dancing, cheering and general happiness I imagined would break out along our street - a redbrick terrace in Leigh, Lancashire.

There was silence. It was early evening: half the stree…