Bobby Moore

Bobby Moore
OBE
Moore in 1969
Personal information
Full name Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore[1]
Date of birth (1941-04-12)12 April 1941[1]
Place of birth Barking, Essex, England
Date of death 24 February 1993(1993-02-24) (aged 51)
Place of death Putney, London, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2][3][4]
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
Barking
1956–1958 West Ham United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1958–1974 West Ham United 544 (24)
1974–1977 Fulham 124 (1)
1976San Antonio Thunder (loan) 24 (1)
1978 Seattle Sounders 7 (0)
1978 Herning Fremad 9 (0)
1981 Eastern 0 (0)
1983 Carolina Lightnin' 8 (0)
Total 716 (26)
International career
1960–1962 England U23 9 (2)
1962–1973 England 108 (2)
Managerial career
1980–1981 Oxford City
1982–1983 Eastern
1984–1986 Southend United
Medal record
Representing  England
Men's football
FIFA World Cup
Winner 1966 England
UEFA European Championship
Third place 1968 Italy
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore OBE (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He captained West Ham United for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England national team that won the 1966 FIFA World Cup. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders in the history of football, and was cited by Pelé as the greatest defender he had ever played against.[5] Moore is sometimes considered to be one of the greatest players of all time.[6]

Widely regarded as West Ham's greatest ever player, Moore played more than 600 games for the club during a 16-year tenure, winning the FA Cup in 1963–64 and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1964–65. During his time at the club, he won the FWA Footballer of the Year in 1964 and the West Ham Player of the Year in 1961, 1963, 1968 and 1970. In August 2008, West Ham United officially retired his number 6 shirt, 15 years after his death.[7]

Moore was made captain of England in 1964, at age 23, going on to lift the World Cup trophy in 1966. He won a total of 108 caps for his country, which at the time of his international retirement in 1973 was a national record. This record was later broken by Peter Shilton. Moore's total of 108 caps continued as a record for an outfield player until 28 March 2009, when David Beckham gained his 109th cap.[8] Moore is a member of the World Team of the 20th Century. A national team icon, a bronze statue of Moore stands at the entrance to Wembley Stadium.

A composed central defender, Moore was best known for his reading of the game and ability to anticipate opposition movements, thereby distancing himself from the image of the hard-tackling, high-jumping defender. Receiving the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1966, he was the first footballer to win the award and he remained the only one for a further 24 years. Moore was given an OBE in the 1967 New Year Honours List. He was made an inaugural inductee of the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 in recognition of his impact on the English game as a player and in the same year he was named in the BBC's list of the 100 Greatest Britons.

  1. ^ a b Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2005). The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946–2005. Queen Anne Press. p. 436. ISBN 978-1-85291-665-7.
  2. ^ "Bobby Moore – Player Profile – Football". Eurosport UK. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Bobby Moore". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  4. ^ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Bobby Moore (Player)". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  5. ^ "Bobby Moore 1941–1993". Bobbymoore.co.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
  6. ^ "The 50 greatest footballers of all time". 90min. 13 May 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  7. ^ Hammers make Moore shirt gesture – BBC News, 4 July 2008
  8. ^ "Beckham dedicates record to family". Fifa.com. 28 March 2009. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2010.