What If Gordon Banks Had Played

Web Original Alternate History by Anthony Wells, located here.

In 1970, the British elections were scheduled to take place during the 1970 World Cup. In our timeline, a few days before the election, England were knocked out of the Cup by West Germany (whom, four years before, England had defeated to win the Cup); it's commonly believed that things would have been different had England goalkeeper Gordon Banks not been forced to drop out due to a stomach illness. Days later, Harold Wilson's Labour government -- increasingly unpopular to begin with -- was defeated by Edward Heath's Conservatives.

In the Alternate History, Banks plays, England wins and Wilson rides the surge of resulting patriotic pride back into office (albeit with a significantly reduced majority). Heath's kicked out, and he's replaced as leader by Enoch Powell (him of the infamous ethnos-baiting "rivers of blood" speech).

Things go downhill quickly.


 * Alternate History
 * For Want of a Nail: A footballer not having a stomach complaint eventually leads to a near-fascist Britain.
 * From Bad to Worse
 * Government Conspiracy: It's hinted that MI 5 is behind most of the nastiness, as the increasingly authoritarian government means they have increased power.
 * The Troubles: The author finds a way to make them even worse.
 * Villainous BSOD: After, Enoch Powell falls into one of these. It enables Margaret Thatcher and her allies to take an increasingly powerful role, which ends up making things much worse.