Welcome to the seventh in the "A Tribute To..." series. Today's tribute is to the man who led England to their first, and so far only, World Cup: Bobby Moore.
Characterised by seemingly effortless authority, elegance and skill, Bobby Moore was the best defender in Britain in the 1960s and early 70s, some say the best British defender ever.
Although he didn't posses great pace, nor towering height, he compensated for this with his great anticipation and vision, and his tackling was clean, incisive, and perfectly timed. His unruffled and often diffident manner concealed a sharp, aware football brain.
Born on 12 April, 1941, Moore was the first of a long line of players to come from Barking. Since, the likes of Giles Barnes, Trevor Brooking, Paul Konchesky, Bobby Zamora and John Terry have all come from Barking.
Moore signed for West Ham United at the age of 15, and two years later made his debut, at the expense of Malcolm Ellison. Despite playing out of position (he was at left-back), Bobby Moore's performance, coupled with an illness to Ellison, ensured that Ellison never played for West Ham again.
He became a regular starter in no time, and soon moved to his favoured position, centre-back. Within three years, and at just 20 years of age, Moore had won the West Ham Player of the Year award.
The next year, in 1962, Moore was called up for England for the first time. His debut came on the 20th May, 1962, against Peru, and he got off to a winning start, thrashing Peru 4-0.
Moore was so impressive in that game that he managed to hold down a regular England spot for the next few months, including throughout the 1962 World Cup.
Just over a year after his debut, Bobby Moore was named captain of England for the match against Czechoslovakia. It was only a temporary thing, but at 22, and with just 12 caps to his name, Moore made history as the youngest man to ever captain England.
By 1964, Alf Ramsey had given the job to Moore permanently. This was one of many high points of 1964 for Moore. At club level he led West Ham to the FA Cup, beating Preston North-End 3-2 at Wembley. Moore had his first taste of silverware.
An individual award was to follow for Moore as well. He beat off competitors to win the 1964 FWA Footballer of the Year award.
1965 brought more success for Moore and West Ham as they were back at Wembley, this time for the European Cup Winners' Cup final against 1860 Munich. This gave West Ham their first European success in their history.
1966 was Moore's zenith, however. He guided West Ham to a League Cup final, which they ended up losing. But substantial consolation was around the corner.
Bobby Moore went into the World Cup as England's captain, talisman and star-player. As host nation, England were expected to do better than previous World Cups. But few expected them to go on and win it.
Moore guided England through the group stage with relative ease, remaining unbeaten and not conceding a goal in a group consisting of Uruguay, France and Mexico. A 1-0 win against a dangerous Argentina side in the quarter-finals put them through to the semi-finals, still having not conceded a goal.
0 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete