They were the unfancied underdogs who took on the glamorous superstars of Italy - and won. Now, as the surviving members of their legendary 1966 World Cup squad return to the scene of their greatest victory, Adrian Worsley discovers why Teesside holds a special place in every North Korean's heart

"Is the mayor of Middlesbrough still alive?"

Han Bong Jin had not seen an Englishman in 35 years, but when he met Dan Gordon - a football fanatic making a documentary on the alternative heroes of 1966 - there was only one question the 68-year-old former midfield maestro wanted answering.

Sadly, the mayor of Middlesbrough that year, Jack Boothby, is no longer with us, but the fact that a player who has only stepped foot on English soil once inquired after his health tells its own story.

Like his six surviving comrades who took to the field and created history that day, Han Bong Jin can barely comprehend the impact their heroics had.

Arriving in Britain as unknowns from a shadowy communist regime, they left as idols to neutral football fans everywhere after disposing of European soccer greats Italy 1-0 at Ayresome Park on July 19, 1966.

But it's the bond with the people of Middlesbrough that has endured even longer than the memory of the legendary swipe of Pak Do Ik's right boot that condemned the Italian squad to a well-earned shower of rotten tomatoes back home.

Mr Gordon, whose production company Very Much So tracked down the 1966 team for their documentary The Game of Their Lives, has now helped organise a reunion to set all football fans' pulses racing.

Later this month, players Ri Chan Myong, Rim Jung Son, Im Song Hwi, Pak Do Ik, Han Bong Jin, Yang Song Guk and coach Myong Rye Hyon will once again greet their adoring Teesside public.

Mr Gordon, who sees the visit as the culmination of four years hard work, said: "Their only experience of the West is Middlesbrough and it has made a massive impression on them.

"Time has not been too kind to the team. Many of them have subsequently died. Life is hard in North Korea and, according to the US, the average male life expectancy is only 51.

"It was their idea to come back to Britain because many of them wanted to see Middlesbrough again before they died - not in a morbid way, but to remember the joy they had there."

Lifelong Boro fan Peter Hodgson, who recalls his student pay-packet stopped him going to Ayresome Park's most famous match, has helped organised the trip.

He said: "Everyone has done incredibly well to get them here.

"For this year's World Cup FIFA asked the North Korean FA for permission to borrow the players for a promotional tour - and they said no.

"The response we have been getting to the news of their return has been amazing. Even the South Korean ambassador in London says he wants them to come to dinner - I kid you not."

The team will be staying at the St George Hotel, Teesside Airport - where the team stayed in 1966 - when they arrive in the region on October 24.

They will then enjoy a cultural evening at the hotel before a tour of the old Ayresome Park, the new Riverside stadium and the Middlesbrough versus Leeds match on October 26.