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Peter Seddon looks back to the 1966 World Cup tournament in England when a small corner of Derbyshire was transformed into ‘Little Deutschland’.

Picture the scene in a well-known corner of Derbyshire forty long summers ago. As England prepares to host the 1966 World Cup from which they will emerge victorious over Germany there is something not quite right. A German flag flutters proudly over Dovedale and the Ashbourne branch of W. H. Smith’s newsagents is doing a brisk trade in Die Welt and Bild.

Pubs and restaurants for miles around have been commandeered by hearty bierkeller types from Munich and throughout the town German voices ring out in cheery greeting across the sunlit streets. Local schoolboys tag along behind their new track-suited heroes – men called Seeler and Tilkowski - whilst teenage girls hitherto immune to the subtle charms of football take a sudden interest in the silky skills of a handsome young blade named Franz.

What could easily be a scenario in one of those ‘if the war had been lost’ films is actually something much less sinister, for Derbyshire readily surrendered to its uninvited guests in 1966 – indeed the county considered it an honour - for Ashbourne had been hand-picked as the official base for the German World Cup squad and their travelling fans.

It was a few months before the finals that a German delegation travelled to England looking for somewhere which would be convenient for both Sheffield and Birmingham, where Germany were scheduled to play their initial matches. The party deliberated, but once they had visited the Peveril of the Peak Hotel at Thorpe, near Dovedale, they had no second thoughts: ‘This is our perfect HQ,’ said the team secretary Herman Jock - ‘We specially chose here because we can run about in tracksuits and do some lazy things which you can’t do in big hotels. Besides, a big town or city would tend to frighten us – whereas Ashbourne is a small friendly place.’

Needless to say the ‘small friendly place’ set out to make its German visitors feel very much at home – hence the flag and newspapers – and the arrival of the official German party on Friday 8 July 1966 was greeted with considerable anticipation if not a little apprehension. It is all too easy to forget that overseas visitors were at that time still something of a novelty in deepest Derbyshire.

Nor were the Germans entirely confident about what awaited them in such a ‘remote’ part of rural England – so they erred on the side of caution by bringing with them their own cook, food supplies and fleecy-lined bedding: ‘Our players have never got used to your English sheets,’ explained the German coach, ‘and we have also brought our own cornflakes in case they were not available here.’

Despite such faintly comedic concerns on both sides (surely the Germans only ate sausage and cabbage?) a healthy mutual understanding was cultivated right from the start as the German party was given an official reception only hours after their arrival. Councillor George Peach, a well-known local dairy farmer, led the welcome, and facilitating the introductions was the official envoy and translator for the German party, ex-German POW and Manchester City goalkeeper Bert Trautmann, at that time manager of Stockport County.

A mood of some joviality prevailed as the chairman of the now defunct Ashbourne Urban District Council, Councillor Birch, wished the German side ‘sincere good luck’ before adding with unwitting propheticism - ‘I hope you’ll be runners up….to England of course.’ Then it was down to business.

On their first full day the squad of 22 players were subjected to the obligatory photo-call (‘the German players make friends with a Friesian cow’!) before a training session on Ashbourne Recreation Ground, home to Ashbourne Town Football Club. Local curiosity was certainly aroused and many turned out to watch the session – boys clamoured for autographs and the reception staff at The Peveril quickly became accustomed to the constant stream of ‘non-residents’ hoping to catch a glimpse of the finely honed stars.

Not that everyone was similarly moved - when one Ashburnian elder was asked by a journalist if he’d be going to the sports field to see the Germans train his reply was unequivocal: ‘No, I’ve seen them on two fields already and that was quite enough for me.’

Blessedly the xenophobia wasn’t universal and a local company went out of their way to arrange for the German party to tour the Peak District. The trip included a crossing of the famous Dovedale stepping stones and few can have traversed the River Dove with such elegant ease as the young golden boy Franz ‘Der Kaiser’ Beckenbauer who this summer takes centre stage in a different role as the senior statesman of German football.

As for the games themselves, any fears that the Derbyshire air and hospitality might not suit the German squad were quickly dispelled when they trounced Switzerland 5-0 at Hillsborough and then progressed unbeaten all the way to the Final. Their laid back itinerary had obviously suited the party, for despite the German players being the subject of national television exposure their round of social engagements – ‘afternoon tea with Councillor Peach at Clifton’ - maintained a surreal air of ‘county’ quaintness.

England too had progressed to the Final unbeaten, and Derbyshire laid claim to a small part in that success – ultra-reliable left-back Ray Wilson was a native of Shirebrook who had once worked at the local pit. Most of the county’s newspapers made capital of that link and threw their weight whole-heartedly behind England but the Ashbourne News Telegraph sat on the fence, making it clear that much of the town was beset by divided loyalties. Under the unlikely headline ‘ASHBOURNE HAS TAKEN GERMAN TEAM TO ITS HEART’ they said - ‘The displays of the German side on the field have been remarkably impressive, but it is their unfailingly courteous demeanour and friendliness off it which has really caught the imagination of Derbyshire people. We wish them well for the Final.’

But then came a bombshell, and what some superstitious souls consider to be the Germans’ biggest mistake of the entire World Cup. After a perfect sojourn of 18 days in Derbyshire they decided to leave the Peveril Hotel for a new base in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire – closer to Wembley Stadium. As they left Ashbourne a large gathering bade them farewell and a party of schoolboys waved an ‘auf Wiedersehen’ banner to wish them luck. But the rest is history – Geoff Hurst scored a memorable hat-trick as England beat Germany 4-2 to lift the World Cup for the first and only time.

The official German legacy to Ashbourne was a fondly-worded statement: ‘The people of the town and district have been extremely friendly and have given us every assistance. We have thoroughly enjoyed our stay.’ And Ashbourne’s gift to the German party was a specially made Shrovetide ball which resides to this day in the Bundesliga museum in Frankfurt.

Now times have changed. Should England and Germany again meet in a World Cup final it is hard to imagine a pro-German spirit pervading Derbyshire’s youth-packed hostelries. Even so, some of today’s more ‘senior’ Ashbourne residents do maintain fond memories of that ‘golden summer’ of 1966 when Ashbourne became ‘Little Deutschland’.

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