Roger Cross interview: What I learned from England's 1966 World Cup winners

With 228 appearances and 79 goals to his name, there is no question the best days of Roger Cross’ playing career came in a Brentford shirt.

But, before telling that story, it would be a mistake to omit the detail of the start to a career few others can claim to have experienced.

It came at West Ham United - Forest Gate-born Cross’ boyhood club - in the mid-1960s.

"We won the FA Cup, the European Cup Winners Cup and then, the next season, England won the World Cup. It was a great time to be there, and training was amazing every day," he divulged.

"We were all brought up so well at West Ham and learned so much.

"Bobby Moore was such a fantastic man. You wanted to be like him. He was just the best and I feel so privileged to have seen him play so many times when I was young, and then eventually play with him.

"I can remember my first full game at home to Arsenal. I was obviously nervous. Bobby asked if I was okay and told me they wouldn’t be as good as what I thought they would be - I got out there and he was right!

"Geoff Hurst was a fantastic striker and I learned a lot from him. I remember he took me to one side and said he’d spoken to Ernie Gregory - the reserve coach - and he was telling him I’d been doing well. He was always encouraging.

"Billy Bonds made the goal I scored. He went down the line, put in a fantastic cross and I went near post and glanced it into the far corner.

"And Ron Greenwood was a fantastic manager. A lot of the players ended up being managers and coaches on the strength of their knowledge of the game and what he gave them."

Cross’ grounding came in east London, but it was in the west that he carved out a career.

He suffered an ankle injury shortly after he broke into the Hammers’ first team, and Clyde Best then jumped ahead in the pecking order - so, when an offer came in from Brentford, Greenwood asked Cross if he would consider it.

The following day, he agreed to the £10,000 move and met with manager Frank Blunstone.

"I went to Griffin Park to meet him and agree terms," he revealed. "He sold the club well to me and was determined I was going to do well.

"I looked at Brentford as a place I was really going to prove myself and show West Ham they were wrong to let me go, so there was an agreement that, if a bigger club came in for me, I would have the chance to go.

"We went out for dinner and met Dr Eric Radley-Smith. When he left, Frank called the waiter over to pay the bill… he was fiddling around in his pockets as he didn’t have any money with him! He apologised and asked me to pay the bill!"

His first day of training after signing in March 1970 was just as memorable.

"I was in the away dressing room and Alan Hawley and Gordon Phillips were in there, too," Cross recalled.

"We got chatting as they wanted to know all about West Ham, Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters.

"I was thinking to myself, 'I wonder what time they start training here?!’ It was getting on for 11am and we started about 10.15am at West Ham.

"All of a sudden, the door opened and it was Frank. He said, 'Right you lot, we’ve already started training - you better get out there now - and you’re training this afternoon!'"

Cross played 11 games at the end of 1969/70 and scored four goals as Brentford finished fifth, just three points outside the Fourth Division automatic promotion places.

In his first full season in 1970/71, he hit 15 in 52 games in all competitions, but the Bees finished 14th.

"I’d like to have scored more, but 15 was pretty good, I suppose," said Cross.

"The thing was, I was a striker that liked the ball. I wasn’t one of those who didn’t get involved in the build-up or anything like that. For that reason, being involved in the build-up, I maybe didn’t get in the box as often as I should’ve done.

"That was me, I just liked having the ball and bringing players into the game."

Second Division Fulham came in for Cross in September 1971.

"The fans didn’t know about it - and some weren’t very happy - but that was the agreement I had with Frank," he added.

"And Fulham paid £30,000 which, for Brentford, was a record fee at the time, I think.

"I did get a load of really nice letters from fans saying they were sorry to see me go and they wished me all the best. A lot of the letters said they would be going to watch Fulham every other week to come and see me!"

While at Craven Cottage, Cross missed out on promotion to the Third Division.

But, before long, he returned to Griffin Park; around 16 months after his departure, in fact.

"The new manager Alec Stock came in in the summer of 1972 after Bill Dodgin Jr had got the sack," Cross said.

"I remember not feeling too good in pre-season. They did blood tests and I had a lack of iron or something, so I didn’t get off to a good start, but I got myself fit again.

"In his first team meeting, he got everyone in the changing room - and he was like a sergeant major. He said: 'Too many of you have got long hair - I’m getting the barber in this week and you’re all going to have your hair cut!'

"Then he said: 'By the way, I’ve been in the boot room and there was a pair of white boots in there, but they’re not in there anymore. I’ve put them in the furnace’ - and they were my boots. He knew that. All the lads looked at me, having a giggle."

Cross became synonymous with white boots - but what is the story behind it?

"We were travelling to Northampton for a game with Brentford and Eddie Lyons came up to me on the coach and asked if I had my own boots," he explained. "I said no and that I’d left them on the peg after training.

"I didn’t have any boots, so I walked down the front to Frank and told him, and he said we had to stop at a sports shop.

"Behind the till, there was a pair of white Hummel boots with a little black stripe on them. I told Frank they’d do me - if I wore them, I had to play well, didn’t I?! He got his money out this time and that was it! I think it was only Alan Ball and me wearing them at the time!"

His long throws often caused a stir, too.

"It just came naturally to me," Cross admitted. "I always had a strong upper body and, at school, I used to throw the javelin.

"I took throw-ins and we got a few goals from them as well. It’s a fantastic tactic.

"I remember winning a long-throw competition at a football athletics event at Stamford Bridge - I got £50 for that!

"I had to compete a few weeks later against a guy from up north, who had the longest throw up there. I didn’t throw too well on the day and he just pipped me! I’ve got a feeling he played for Halifax. I think I came second in the hardest shot too, but Malcolm MacDonald won that one."

Once back at Brentford, Cross was unable to help the club avoid the drop back to the Fourth Division, but he was the shining light in 1973/74, scoring 17 of their 48 league goals to help avoid the re-election places by two points.

Six of those goals came in November 1973, when he scored a hat-trick in wins against both Mansfield and Chester, in successive home games.

He managed 10 in all competitions in 1974/75 - and one still stands out for him today.

"We played quite well against Liverpool at Anfield in the League Cup," he stated. "Bob Paisley was full of praise for us.

"We went 1-0 up as well. Jackie Graham put me through, I got in behind Phil Thompson and Ray Clemence came out, but I got there before and slid the ball underneath him just inside the box. It was a special feeling to score there.

"One of the centre-backs said to the other one, ‘I think it’s going to be one of those nights…’ But we missed a few chances - Barry Salvage missed a great chance - and it wasn’t to be."

The best goal he ever scored for Brentford, though? "Away to Darlington. Gordon Phillips was in goal, kicked it upfield and it was flicked on.

"I ran in behind, watched the flight and, before it hit the ground, I volleyed it and it went straight over the goalkeeper’s head, into the back of the net.

"The ball didn’t touch the ground from one end to the other!"

Cross stayed in west London until January 1977 when he joined Millwall, days after Lions boss Gordon Jago had mysteriously turned up at Brentford’s dressing room door and asked what the striker was doing that weekend.

That took him back to the Second Division, closer to his home in Barking and brought in valuable funds for Brentford.

It also inadvertently brought about the beginning of the end.

"On my debut against Crystal Palace, the ball was bouncing and I lifted my leg up to knock the ball over Kenny Sansom’s head and my hamstring went. I couldn’t believe it and it was really, really bad," Cross recalled.

"But I had an agreement that I could go and play for Seattle Sounders in the summer, so I ended up resting and getting treatment until the end of the season before going out there, even though I wasn’t really fit.

"Then, in my last game, I was running with the ball and someone kicked my heel. My leg went forward against the way I was running; the hamstring muscle pulled right off of my pelvis and pulled a bit of the bone down, which ended up right down just above my knee.

"I had major surgery in America and, typically, we made the final that year against New York Cosmos, which I missed as I was in hospital. The lads brought back a signed photo of both the teams, including Pelé and Franz Beckenbauer, and I’ve still got it in my downstairs toilet!"

Cross played only a handful more games for Millwall before he packed up at 30, after the 1978/79 season.

He made the transition to coaching there soon afterwards and did go on to have a long career on the other side of the touchline, with the likes of West Ham, Tottenham, QPR and Charlton.

In 2018, he was inducted into Brentford’s Hall of Fame alongside Wally Bragg, Ian Dargie, Andy McCulloch and George Poyser. "There were a few boos when my time at Fulham was mentioned!" Cross joked.

It was a deserved moment of recognition for one of the great Brentford goalscorers.

"It’s sad we didn’t get promoted, but I loved it at Brentford. I really did," Cross concluded.

"It’s a very special thing when you get a transfer and you put on a new shirt - and I loved the shirt, the red and white stripes.

"I loved playing for Brentford. It was a wonderful time for me."

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