There is not a single image more evocative or more celebrated in the history of English football than the Three Lions lifting Captain Bobby Moore on their shoulders on a lovely afternoon in July.
England, who had conquered the world at Wembley by defeating West Germany in extra time, finally won the World Cup and the gleaming Jules Rimet trophy was ours.
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Bobby Moore sits alongside his West Ham teammates Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters after winning the World Cup
Clad in a somewhat unfamiliar red stripe, the image of Moore and his delusional troops is one that is constantly revised. When Harry Kane led England to the semi-finals in Russia three years ago, optimistic fans even edited the Tottenham striker in Moore’s face.
Yet no England captain has ever come close to accomplishing what the former West Ham United and Three Lions leader did in 1966, nor have they transcended the sport in the same way.
At age 25, Moore was a global superstar on par with James Bond and Frank Sinatra.
However, her heroic rise to the top was almost over less than two years before the sun shone on her golden hair under the Twin Towers at Wembley.
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Moore was only 23 when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer
28 years have passed since the day Moore’s life was tragically short, but his battle with cancer began in November 1964. At the age of just 23, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer.
Moore’s wife, Tina, very pregnant, was awakened by the West Ham defender screaming in bed. “You can’t ignore it anymore,” his 22-year-old wife told him. “You have to see a doctor. You have to know.”
The middle half had just been voted the youngest winner of the Footballer of the Year award and had led the Hammers to the FA Cup Glory against Preston North End. The English football poster boy was now in a fight for his life.
“Bobby had been in that dark place even before Lance Armstrong was born,” Tina wrote in her autobiography. “In many ways it was more devastating. In those days, cancer was something you just didn’t mention, a taboo word, a terrifying prospect. All I could think of was that he is only 23 years old and has been handed his death sentence.
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Tina Moore met Bobby when she was only 16 in Essex
A club doctor had diagnosed the pain as “a training injury” and assured the club captain that the pain would go away. However, just 24 hours after waking up in agony, Moore underwent surgery to have his testicle removed.
The couple were old-school East Enders; there would be no announcements or pleas for sympathy. Bobby and Tina would fight this together behind their bright, albeit tight smiles.
“Don’t tell anyone why I’m here,” Moore told his wife when they admitted him to the hospital. The defender knew that his life was at stake when the gravity of the situation became apparent.
The young couple returned to their modest home in Gants Hill, Essex and cried while locked in a hug while watching Top of the Pops.
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Moore wiped off his muddy hands before receiving the Jules Rimet trophy from Queen Elizabeth II.
Moore would miss just three months of soccer and returned to lift the Cup Winners’ Cup final against TSV Munich 1860 at Wembley.
A little over 12 months after that, the 25-year-old was a World Cup winning captain and cancer survivor.
Tina, who met Bobby at the Ilford Palais in Essex at just 15 years old, watched in awe as her husband defied doctors and nurses in just 18 months on that glorious July afternoon.
What a man, she thought. “What a man.”
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The captain of West Ham and England was a world superstar
Moore remained as stoic and impassive as ever, but he was never rude or rude to people. Although he was jumping into a communal bathroom on his own and rumors about the loss of his testicle in a boot camp accident got widespread, no one messed with Bobby.
After all, when he wiped his sweaty, muddy hands on the velvet lining of the Wembley royal box after noticing that Queen Elizabeth II was wearing white gloves, Moore proved he was an accomplished gentleman.
But beyond his perfect manners and bright blue eyes and ravishing blonde hair, Moore was as tough as he was right on and off the court and she couldn’t be bothered with him.
The Brazilian World Cup team traveled to Mexico in 1970 with such players as Pelé, Jairzinho, Gérson, Tostão, Rivelino and Carlos Alberto, but they were still expected to fight the champions.
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Pelé and Bobby Moore embrace after tremendous battle in Guadalajara
La Selecao shone in the midday heat in Guadalajara, but not even the stars of a team considered one of the best in international history shone as brightly as Moore.
Although he was not blessed with a scorching pace, Moore’s perfect tackle on Jairzinho as he pounced on Gordan Banks’ goal epitomized how exceptional the defender was and why he was so revered in the world game.
“He was my friend and the best defender I ever played against,” Pele said after he passed away. “The world has lost one of its best footballers and an honorable gentleman.”
Germany captain Franz Beckenbauer described Moore as “the best defender in the history of the game”, while Sir Alex Ferguson called him “the best defender I have ever seen.”
HOMENAJE A BOBBY MOORE
Moore is widely regarded as one of the best defenders in soccer history, with Pelé citing him as the best defender he had ever played against.
“My captain, my leader, my right hand. He was the spirit and the heart of the team. A great and calculating footballer who I could trust with my life. He was the ultimate professional, the best I have ever worked with. Without him England would never have won the World Cup. ” Alf Ramsey “Bobby Moore was a true gentleman and a true friend.” Franz Beckenbauer “There should be a law against him. He knows what is happening 20 minutes before the others «. Jock Stein “Ask me to talk about Bobby Moore the footballer and I’ll talk for days. Ask me about the man and I’ll be dry in a minute. Ron Greenwood
Off the court, Moore could always be seen in a perfectly tailored suit accompanied by a Turnbull and Asser shirt and a tie with a spectacular Windsor knot. Photoshoots with Vogue, meetings with James Bond star Sean Connery and a corporate sponsorship deal with Ford cemented her celebrity status.
“You don’t often hear a man described as beautiful,” Tina Moore said in her book about her ex-husband. “But that’s what Bobby was: he looked like a young god who played soccer. He was a complicated young god.
Although the fame continued, it never went to his head. After winning the World Cup, Moore and his team went to the Royal Garden Hotel on Kensington High Street.
The players met their wives at midnight and went to the Playboy Club on Park Lane, and Hugh Hefner’s right-hand man asked to be introduced to the England captain. Moore rarely got nervous when rubbing shoulders with celebrities, although he was a bit surprised when he met idol Frank Sinatra.
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“Immaculate footballer. Imperial defender. Immortal hero of 1966. First Englishman to lift the World Cup. Favorite son of the East End of London. The best West Ham United legend. National Treasure. Wembley Master. Lord of the game. Extraordinary captain. Knight of all times ”.
Moore left West Ham for Fulham in 1974 before brief stints in the United States and Denmark before ending his playing career four years later.
Bad deals, failed management spells, and the demise of his marriage to Tina followed in the years after his departure from soccer. He remarried after falling in love with an airline stewardess named Stephanie Parlane-Moore.
In February 1993, he announced that he suffered from bowel and liver cancer and that it had spread. A week after commenting on England’s game against San Marino, Bobby Moore passed away at the age of 51.
The monuments outside Upton Park and Wembley have immortalized the icon of England and West Ham, but his legacy can be summed up in the same three words Tina uttered as she watched him hoisted into the Wembley sky on that fateful day in July. 1966. a man ‘.
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