One of the biggest conspiracy's that effected the England national team, occurred back in 1970, four years after the three lions won their first ever FIFA World Cup at the Old Wembley.
Article By: Callum Moseley (@CallumMosMedia)
1966 saw England secure a four-two victory against West Germany in the World Cup final at the Old Wembley. Sir Geoff Hurst secured a hat-trick in the world cup final, the only person in football history to complete this achievement, whilst Martin Peters grabbed the other goal. Therefore, going into the 1970 World Cup, the three lions were ultimately the tournament favourites.
At the time that this incident took place, England were over in Ecuador and were due to fly to Mexico City ready for training in the days leading up to the start of the 1970 World Cup. England's first match of that tournament was against Romania whilst also facing Czechoslovakia and one of the other tournament favourites Brazil.
However, whilst on route to Mexico, Bobby Moore was arrested by Colombian police on suspicion of jewellery theft. Something which at the time, seemed completely and utterly bonkers. As a result, Moore was placed under a four day house arrest period whilst investigations took place. This meant that he would be days behind the rest of the squad in terms of fitness, going into the the biggest football competition in the world.
Unsurprisingly, Bobby Moore was cleared of any wrong doing and was allowed to travel to Mexico for the tournament which immediately put England at a disadvantage going into a tournament that they are supposed to be defending. The first question asked by fans is whether Moore was actually at the store that he has allegedly stolen from. The answer to that is yes, he was pictured at the store but there was no physical evidence of him actually stealing anything meaning he was ultimately arrested for no reason, putting the three lions at a disadvantage.
Now, the newspapers in England ran the stories which appeared to suggest that the arrest was part of a cover-up attempt to derail, the three lions chances of making it back-to-back World Cup wins in Mexico. This theory is further supported by the fact that Moore was arrested without any physical evidence to support the initial claims.
The plan worked to an extent as England crashed out of the tournament in the Quarter-Finals against West Germany whilst their group rivals Brazil went on to win the tournament overall. This included their victory against the three lions in the group stage.
However, what do you think? Was Bobby Moore's arrest apart of a cover-up attempt to derail England's chances of making it a second tournament victory in a row or was it a simple case of mistaken identity as well as natural footballing results occurring which saw the three lions crash out. Let me know your thoughts via twitter and thanks for reading!
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