SADLY, England never made it to the final of the World Cup and, alas, the nostalgic image of Bobby Moore lifting the cup in 1966 has to be relished for the foreseeable future.

In the days of pre-World Cup hype and million-pound-players, people still managed to follow and enjoy the spectacle of this quadrennial football tournament.

During the recent games, not even the video recorder was a suitable substitute for watching England playing live.

So much so that working hours were altered, some production lines were halted, and school lessons were either postponed or cancelled.

And on the mornings that England played Nigeria and Brazil, one could have crossed Astwood Road - at rush hour - with great ease.

One wonders if this recent football mania will have any bearing on any fall in this year's companies' profits and GCSE exam marks.

As for the remaining flags of St George, still flapping on foreign-made cars, they are about as meaningful as a political campaign poster after an election.

L SPITERI,

Worcester.