Martin Stanford Peters was born on November 8, 1943 in Plaistow, East London. He grew up further east in London, in Dagenham, known as Britain's Detroit for the car assembly plants there. A centre-half, as positions in English soccer were then set, he played for England Schoolboys, before being signed to the biggest nearby team, West Ham United of the East End, at age 15.
Known as the Irons for their origin as a "works side" -- in America, we would say a "company team" -- called Thames Ironworks, and as the Hammers for the crossed hammers on their badge, West Ham are, as they were then, the most popular team in England east of North London, drawing fans not just from the East End, but from suburban areas like Kent and Essex.
But their support has far exceeded their results, as they have traditionally been a fringe team. When they have been in the Football League Division One, now called the Premier League, they have usually been in danger of being relegated to Football League Division Two, now called the Championships. When they've been in that, they've usually been a threat to gain promotion back to the top flight.
They have never won the top flight, their best finish ever being 3rd place in 1986. Harry Redknapp, who played for them in the 1960s and '70s and managed them in the 1990s, has noted that, early in his career, they had Peters, a man eventually known as "the complete midfielder"; Geoff Hurst, a fine forward; and Bobby Moore, one of the best centrebacks the sport has ever known; yet, in a top-flight run from 1959 to 1978, they only finished in the top half 5 times in 20 years. This led Redknapp to say, "Which should tell you how bad the rest of us were."
Prior to the arrival of Peters, Hurst and Moore in the late 1950s, West Ham's best achievement was reaching the 1923 FA Cup Final, the 1st match ever played at the original Wembley Stadium, England's national stadium. They lost it to Bolton Wanderers of Lancashire. In essence, West Ham were a joke, the team of poor "Cockneys."
Peters made his debut late in the 1962 season. Manager Ron Greenwood did not play him in any of the games of West Ham's run to the 1964 FA Cup, when they beat Lancashire team Preston North End in the Final.
But things turned up for him after that. He married Kathleen, whom he met at a Dagenham bowling alley. They had a daughter, Leeann; and a son, Grant. and then Greenwood gave him a full chance in the 1964-65 season, in which their Cup win qualified them for the European Cup Winners' Cup. With Peters moved up to midfield, they got to the Final, which had been scheduled for Wembley, and beat German team 1860 Munich. (But they only finished 9th in the League, and they wouldn't finish so high again until 1973.)
Left to right: Hurst, Moore, Peters in West Ham's Claret & Blue
Moore (as Captain), Hurst and Peters were all selected by manager Alf Ramsey for the England team in the 1966 World Cup, which was to be played on home soil. A bad 0-0 draw against Uruguay in the opener led to Ramsey changing his lineup, putting Peters in. Not originally intended as a starting player, he was given what was then considered a high uniform number, 16.
Peters proved to be an ideal player in Ramsey's 4-1-3-2 setup, known as the Wingless Wonders. In the Quarterfinal, he assist Hurst for the only goal in a rough game against Argentina. They beat Portugal in the Semifinal. Peters was earning the nickname "The Ghost," because he seemed to appear out of nowhere to help his team score.
Then came the Final against West Germany -- the 3rd Final at Wembley in which Moore, Hurst and Peters had played in as many seasons. Peters scored late in the game to give England a 2-1 lead, and nearly made himself the man who won the World Cup. But the Germans equalized in stoppage time. Hurst, who had scored England's 1st goal, scored twice in extra time to give the home team a 4-2 win.
Captain Moore led the team in climbing the 39 steps to the royal box, where Queen Elizabeth II herself handed him the Jules Rimet Trophy. Years later, a statue would be dedicated outside West Ham's stadium, Upton Park, with their 3 players and Everton's Ray Wilson, the men shown in the most famous photograph of the celebration of the win.
By that point, Peters had moved on to a new club. In March 1970, Tottenham Hotspur of North London paid £200,000, a record at the time, for him. He scored on his debut for them, and in 1971 and 1973, he helped them win the League Cup. In 1972, he helped them win the UEFA Cup (now known as the UEFA Europa League).
In 1975, he moved to Norfolk team Norwich City, managed by his former West Ham teammate John Bond. He played the 1980-81 season with Sheffield United, and retired to become their manager, unable to save them from relegation. He came out of retirement in 1982-83 to play for Norfolk team Gorleston.
He went into the insurance business until retiring in 2001. He worked for both West Ham and Tottenham as a club ambassador, welcoming people in the hospitality suites. In 2006, on the 40th Anniversary of the World Cup win, he published a memoir, The Ghost of '66.
With the Jules Rimet Trophy, at a 50th Anniversary celebration, 2016
But just as helmet-to-helmet hits have caused brain damage and dementia in players of American football, so, too, did the heavier soccer balls of the 1960s cause trauma to players of that time and before.
So far, 5 members of the 1966 England team have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or another form of dementia: Peters, Ray Wilson, Nobby Stiles, Jack Charlton, Gerry Byrne. Their numbers do not include Jeff Astle, perhaps the best-known English footballer to have died from football-related dementia. He starred as a forward for West Midlands club West Bromwich Albion, and played for England in the 1970 World Cup. Nor do they include Gerd Müller, the German star who did not make that World Cup, but would eliminate England from the 1970 edition and win it in 1974, and was diagnosed in 2015.
Martin Peters died on December 21, 2019, at the age of 76. With his death, there are 6 players who played for England in the 1966 World Cup Final who are still alive: Bobby and Jack Charlton, George Cohen, Nobby Stiles, Geoff Hurst and Roger Hunt. Jimmy Greaves, Peter Bonetti, Ron Flowers, Norman Hunter, Terry Paine, Ian Callaghan and George Eastham did not play in the Final, but were on the team and are still alive, for a total of 13.
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