The story of World Cup years is a personalised alternative view of each of the World Cup tournaments. There is a limerick for each year, describing one of the main incidents that year, and the focus in each chapter is to call out what really happened around the key events and controversial moments.

There is a section on 'heroes and villains' where unsung heroes and unsung villains are identified, and praised or shamed. At WorldCupStory.com we like to call it as we see it; we don't like the term simulation. Where there is blatant cheating, it should be identified as such, being harsh and to the point without being abusive.

Opinions, hero and villain selections, and the cheesy poetry are all my own work. Factual descriptions of World Cup events have been taken from various sources. In particular I am indebted to the writing of Brian Glanville and Jerry Weinstein in "World Cup", especially for the early years, as their book is bursting with character and colour. Other sources include fifa.com, bbc.co.uk. wikipedia and the many links into other website from there. Video clips have been sourced from Youtube.

I hope the stories of the years allow you to reminisce happily about your favourite tournments. No doubt you will disagree with the opinions and selections in these chapters; please feedback your thoughts, which will always be welcome. This is a first edition, and improvements to the content and commentaries will continue.

Thanks for spending time in the pages on this site. I hope there have been more chuckles than groans!

David Newton