We finish our England Legends series with perhaps the most famous England captain of all time. Bobby Moore was considered by many, including the great Pele, to be the finest defender the world has ever seen.
He made 108 full caps, 90 of them as captain, and led England to World Cup triumph in 1966. He also won an FA Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup during his 18-year West Ham career.
"He was my captain and my right-hand man," said Sir Alf Ramsey, England’s World Cup-winning manager.
"We would not have won the World Cup if Bobby Moore had not been our skipper. For four years he was not only the best defender in the world but also the best captain."
Moore became an icon on and off the pitch, with his blond hairChelsea -blue eyed appearance making him the face of football.
Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore was born in Barking, East London, on 12 April 1941, a true East-Ender who signed professional forms with local club West Ham United when he was 17.
But this is where he played his club football until 1974, a career in which he led the club to its first major trophy, the 1964 FA Cup, earning him a Footballer of the Year accolade as a result.
His England career had begun two years earlier, when he was called up as part of the 1962 World Cup squad that travelled to Chile having impressed on his debut in a warm-up game against Peru.
He retained the no.4 shirt for the four tournament matches, including the defeat against Brazil, a match which began the mutual respect between Moore and Pele.
A year later, Moore was made England captain against Czechoslovakia and after leading West Ham to the FA Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup at Wembley, Moore became a national hero as the one and only England captain to have lifted the World Cup on that famous day in July 1966.
Moore was still captain as England attempted to defend the trophy in Mexico four years later, a tournament in which he became famous for perhaps what can only be described as the perfect tackle he made on Jairzinho in another defeat to Brazil. He and Pele swapped shirts at the end of the game, making them close friends for the rest of Moore’s life.
Moore played his last game for England against Italy at Wembley in 1973 and left West Ham to join Fulham a year later. He wasn’t quite finished there as he guided the small West London club to the 1975 FA Cup Final against West Ham!
After ending his career in the American Soccer League, the great British football hero and international superstar that was Bobby Moore passed away on February 24 1993 after fighting cancer for two years. His death provoked an unprecedented sense of national loss and the world of football paid its tributes.
England Legends
Duncan Edwards
David Beckham
Michael Owen
Billy Wright
Nat Lofthouse
Peter Shilton
Alan Shearer
Ray Wilkins
Geoff Hurst
Jimmy Greaves
David Platt
Gary Lineker
John Barnes
Bobby Charlton
Tom Finney