Hurst recognises that footballers now benefit from superior conditioning, analytics and backroom support. Yet he believes the traditional striker’s defining measure has been diluted.
“That's nearly a goal every other match over 15 years. With the exception of Harry Kane, very few modern players come close to that level of consistency,” Hurst says.
Today’s forwards are expected to press, link play, drift into wide areas and create space for others. Those demands can make a striker more valuable to a team, even when the goals do not arrive at the rate demanded in Hurst’s era. But his central challenge remains: finishing is still the currency that decides matches.
Hurst recalls West Ham United as the happiest period of his playing life. His career there brought the FA Cup in 1964, the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1965 after a 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich, and the 1966 World Cup with England.
The Wembley triumph remains his proudest achievement, but leaving Upton Park for Stoke City is the decision he regrets most. Hurst has said he did not want to leave after Ron Greenwood accepted an £80,000 offer, and would have preferred to spend the rest of his career in east London.
Hurst names Bobby Moore as the best player he ever saw, praising the former England captain’s anticipation and reading of the game. Pelé, meanwhile, was the toughest opponent: faster, more skilful and exceptionally professional.
His own approach was less complicated. Hurst relied on “good preparation and practice”, he says, rather than superstition. That balance - precision, timing and discipline - is what modern forwards will continue to be judged against, however wide their tactical responsibilities become.