Footballer, born in London, UK. In a long career with West Ham United (195874) and later Fulham (19747), he played 1000 matches at senior level, receiving an FA Cup-winner's Medal in 1964 and a European Cup-winner's Cup Medal in 1965. He was capped 108 times (107 in succession), 90 of them as captain, a total only surpassed by Peter Shilton. He played in the World Cup finals in Chile in 1962, and captained the victorious England side in the 1966 World Cup. He died from bowel cancer at the age of 51 and his widow, Stephanie Moore, founded the Bobby Moore Fund (as part of Cancer Research UK) to raise awareness of the disease.
| Bobby Moore | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore | |
| Date of birth | April 12, 1941 | |
| Place of birth | Barking, England | |
| Date of death | February 24, 1993 | |
| Position | Defender | |
| Professional clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (goals) |
|
1958-1974 1974-1977 1977 1978 |
West Ham Fulham San Antonio Thunder Seattle Sounders |
544 (24) 124 (1) 24 (1) 7 (0) |
| National team | ||
| 1962-1973 | England | 108 (2) |
|
* Professional club appearances and goals |
||
Robert Frederick Chelsea "Bobby" Moore, OBE ( born Barking, England, April 12, 1941 - died London, February 24, 1993) was an English footballer.
Career
Early days
Moore joined West Ham as a schoolboy in 1956, and after advancing through their youth set up played his first game on November 8 1958, against Manchester United.
Allison never played another first team game for West Ham or another First Division game at all, as Moore became a regular.
An England star, a European winner
In 1960, Moore earned a call up to the England under 23 squad, despite being aged just 19 years old. Moore was uncapped as he flew to South America with the rest of the squad, but made his debut on May 20 1962 in England's final pre-tournament friendly - a 4-0 win over Peru in Lima. Both proved so impressive that they stayed in the team for the whole of England's participation in the World Cup, which ended in defeat by eventual winners Brazil in the quarter finals at Vina del Mar.
On May 29 1963, Moore captained his country for the first time in just his 12th appearance after the retirement of Johnny Haynes and an injury to his successor, Jimmy Armfield. Armfield returned to the role of captain afterwards, but new coach Alf Ramsey gave Moore the job permanently during a series of summer friendlies in 1964, organised because England had failed to reach the latter stages of the inaugural European Championships.
It turned out to be quite an eventful year for Moore.
The FA Cup success would become the first of three successful Wembley finals in as many years for Moore. By now he was the shoo-in skipper for England with 30 caps, and around whom Ramsey was building a team to prove correct his prediction that England would win the 1966 World Cup, to be held on home soil. 1966 had a mixed start for Moore, however - he scored his first England goal in a 1-1 draw with Poland, but then skippered West Ham to the final of the League Cup - in its last season before its transfer to Wembley as a one-off final - which they lost 5-3 on aggregate to West Bromwich Albion. Moore scored his second and ultimately final England goal in a friendly against Norway, two weeks before the World Cup would begin.
1966
On the verge of his greatest triumph, details were released to the press in early 1966 that Moore wanted to leave West Ham for Tottenham Hotspur. Moore had let his contract slip to termination, and only after the intervention of Sir Alf Ramsey and realisation he was technically ineligible to play, did he re-sign with West Ham to allow him to captain the England team of 1966.
Moore was the leader of the side which gave English football its crowning glory and established him as a magnificent player, gentleman and sporting icon.
Remarkably, according to Hurst's autobiography, England full back George Cohen overheard Ramsey talking to his coaching staff about the possibility of dropping Moore for the final and deploying the more battle-hardened Norman Hunter in his place. The only possible explanations were that the Germans had some rather fast attacking players, which could expose Moore's own lack of pace, and that Hunter - who was similarly aged to Moore but only had four caps - was the club partner of Moore's co-defender with England, Jack Charlton.
In the final, England went 0-1 down through Helmut Haller, but Moore's awareness helped England to a swift equaliser.
The West Ham connection to England's biggest day became stronger when Peters scored to take England 2-1 up, but the Germans equalised in the final minutes of normal time through Wolfgang Weber - as Moore appealed unsuccessfully for a handball decision - to take the match into extra time. With only seconds remaining, and England under the pressue of another German attack, the ball broke to Moore on the edge of his own penalty area.
Of many timeless images from that day, one is of Moore gallantly wiping his hands clean of mud and sweat on the velvet platform where the Jules Rimet Trophy rested before shaking the hand of Elizabeth II as she presented him with the World Cup.
A champion, an icon
Moore became a national icon as a consequence of England's success, with he and the other two West Ham players taking the World Cup around the grounds which West Ham visited during the following domestic season.
Moore's image and popularity allowed him to start a number of business ventures, including a sports shop next to West Ham's ground at Upton Park, and he also appeared with his wife Tina, along with Peters and his wife Kathy, in a television advertisement for the pub industry, urging people to "Look in at the local".
He continued to play for West Ham and England, earning his 50th cap in a 5-1 win over Wales at the end of 1966 in a Home International match which also doubled up as a qualifier for the 1968 European Championships. England, as champions, did not have to qualify for the next World Cup, and Moore remained the first name on Ramsey's team sheet, winning his 78th cap prior to the squad's flight to South America for a short period of altitude-acclimatisation, before going on to the finals in Mexico.
1970
Moore was again named as captain for the 1970 World Cup but there was heavy disruption to preparations when an attempt was made to implicate Moore in the theft of a bracelet from a jeweller in Bogotá, Colombia, where England were involved in a warm-up game. Moore was arrested and then released, and travelled with the England team to play another match against Ecuador in Quito. He played, winning his 80th cap, and England were 2-0 victors, but when the team plane stopped back in Colombia on the return to Mexico, Moore was detained and placed under four days of house arrest.
Moore shrugged off the stress to play a leading role in England's progress through their group.
Defeat after extra time against West Germany saw England bow out in the last eight, and it would be 12 years before England were to return to a World Cup finals again.
Final years at the top
Moore's services to West Ham were rewarded with a testimonial match against Celtic at the end of 1970.
It was not uncommon for Moore to enjoy a night on the town, but he was often seen in the gym or on the pitch at West Ham on a Sunday morning - usually the players' day off - working off the alcohol he had consumed the night before.
Moore surpassed West Ham's appearances record in 1973 when he played for the club for the 509th time. By this stage, only Peters and Alan Ball from the 1966 squad were also still involved with the England team - the rest had either retired or been overlooked by Ramsey, even though a handful of them were younger than Moore.
Later the same year, Moore was exposed defensively by Poland in a qualifier for the 1974 World Cup in Chorzow, deflecting a free kick past Peter Shilton to put the home side ahead, and then losing possession to Wlodzimierz Lubanski, who scored the second. It signalled the end of Ramsey's reign - he was sacked six months later - and Moore later told how he sat alongside Ramsey on the bench and kept urging him to make a substitution, only for Ramsey to freeze suddenly when it came to decision-making.
Moore won his 108th and final cap in the next game, a 1-0 friendly defeat to Italy.
After West Ham and England
Moore played his last game for West Ham in an FA Cup tie against Hereford United at the beginning of 1974. During Moore's first season there they defeated West Ham in a League Cup tie and then reached the FA Cup final where, in a further quirk of fate, they faced West Ham again.
Moore played his final professional game in England for Fulham on 14 May 1977 against Blackburn Rovers.
After football
Moore retired from playing professionally in 1978, and had a short relatively unsuccessful spell in football management at Oxford City and Southend United. Moore's supporters said that the Football Association could have given a role to Moore, as the only Englishman to captain a World Cup winning team.
Moore joined London radio station Capital Gold as a football analyst and commentator in 1990, and married for a second time in December 1991.
Moore was made an Inaugural Inductee of the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 in recognition of his impact on the English game as player. The stand replacing the south bank at West Ham's ground, the Boleyn Ground in Upton Park, was named the Bobby Moore Stand shortly after Moore's death. There is also a statue outside the ground based on a famous photograph taken at Wembley after the World Cup celebrations, with Moore being held aloft, holding the trophy, by Hurst, Peters and Everton and England left back Ray Wilson.
Moore was married first to Christina (Tina) Dean in 1962, and they divorced in 1986.
A bronze statue of Bobby Moore was commissioned to be erected outside the main entrance at the new Wembley Stadium to pay tribute to his effect on the game. Cup Runner-Up - 1975 League Cup Runner-Up - 1966 Footballer Of The Year - 1964 World Cup Player Of Players - 1966 West Ham Player Of The Year - 1961, 1963, 1968, 1970 BBC Sports Personality Of The Year - 1966 Awarded the O.B.E - 1967 English Football Hall Of Fame - 2002
Trivia
The UK "Oi!" band The Business recorded a song-tribute to Bobby Moore titled "Viva Bobby Moore".
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