Far Post Header ‘Hall of Fame’ No.18 – Bobby Moore
Bobby Moore is a name that has to go down in the ‘Far Post Header Hall of Fame’ after an illustrious 25 year career in the game.
The pinnacle of his time in the game has to be the 1966 World Cup Final when Moore captained the England side to victory at Wembley Stadium. Ever the gentleman, Moore noticed on the way up the 39 steps to the Royal Box that his hands were muddy. Rather than shaking hands with the Queen with a dirty hand, Moore whipped his hands on a curtain that was in front of the Royal Box so he wouldn’t dirty the Queen’s white gloves!
Moore came through the youth ranks at West Ham United, making his debut in age the age of 17 in September 1958. He became the club captain soon after.
He won the first of 108 caps for England in a friendly against Peru in Lima weeks before the 1962 World Cup and went on to play in every game of the tournament in Chile.
He took the England captain’s armband in May 1963 as cover for Jimmy Armfield before taking the role permanently the following year.
As well as becoming England captain in 1964, Moore also won the FA Cup with West Ham and won the Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year award. A year later, he lifted the European Cup Winners Cup Final at Wembley with West Ham. He was quickly establishing himself at West Ham and the national team and won the West Ham Player of the Year Award four times between 1961 and 1970.
After winning the World Cup in 1966, Moore won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award and was also given an OBE in the New Year Honours List.
1970 proved to be a difficult year for Moore. He captained England in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico but was involved in a dispute in Colombia in the weeks before the tournament.
Moore was accused of stealing a bracelet from a shop in the lobby of the hotel where England were staying and he was imprisoned. He was later released and was able to join the squad in Mexico.
He showed the world why he was still regarded as one of the world’s best defenders by making a perfectly-timed tackle on Brazil’s Jairzinho in the match often called the ‘Game of the Century’ in the group stages of the competition.
England progressed to the Quarter Finals but lost 3-2 to West Germany and Moore continued to play for England up until his 108th cap against Italy in a friendly against Italy in November 1973. This came immediately after Alf Ramsey’s controversial decision to drop Moore for the crucial World Cup qualifier against Poland. England were held to a 1-1 draw by the Poles who qualified for the Finals the following summer at England’s expense.
In a League Cup Semi Final Replay against Stoke City at Old Trafford in 1972, Moore was chosen to go in goal after an injury to goalkeeper Bobby Ferguson.
He saved a penalty kick from Mike Bernard but was unable to prevent Bernard scoring from the rebound.
Moore left Upton Park in 1974, joining Second Division Fulham who he helped reach the 1975 FA Cup Final where they played his old team West Ham! Sadly it wasn’t to be a fairytale ending as West Ham won 2-0.
He stayed at Craven Cottage for three years before playing for three different clubs in the American Soccer League and a brief spell at Danish side Herning Fremad.
After his playing career was over, Moore tried management with Oxford City and Southend United but he was never as successful as when he was a player. He commentated on Capital Radio for the first three years of the 1990’s, his last co-commentating role was for an England World Cup qualifier a week before his death.
In February 1993, Moore passed away at the age of only 51 because of cancer. He had successfully fought against cancer in 1961 and again in 1991 but he lost his battle the third time around. His number 6 shirt was retired by West Ham in 2008 as a tribute to their greatest ever player.
There is now a statue of Bobby Moore outside the new Wembley Stadium, overlooking Wembley Way. He was never knighted, something that many people consider an awful decision. Pele regards Moore as the greatest defender that he ever played against and that is quite a compliment from the great Brazilian!
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