ESPN FC is counting down the 20 greatest World Cup players of all time, with two unveiled per day until the final five. The identity of the No. 1 player will be announced on April 18.
Name: Robert Frederick Charles ‘Bobby’ Moore
Nationality: England
Position: Central defender
Clubs: West Ham United (1958-74), Fulham (1974-77), San Antonio Thunder (1976), Seattle Sounders (1978), Herning Fremad (1978)
International career: 108 matches, 2 goals.
World Cup participation: 1962, 1966, 1970 - Played 14, Scored 0
Finest World Cup moment: Captaining England to World Cup title in 1966
Roll of honour: Winner 1966, quarter-finals 1962, 1970
As the England players prepared to receive the Jules Rimet trophy on July 30, 1966 after beating West Germany 4-2 at Wembley, captain Bobby Moore made sure to wipe his hands. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II would be handing the World Cup over, and Moore was a man of quiet, determined dignity.
That high watermark on home soil has never been emulated, and England have never had a player like Bobby Moore since. A consummate central defender, a leader of men, polite to the last, Moore continues to inspire reverence throughout the football world over 21 years after his death.
“I always considered Bobby Moore to be the greatest defender in world football,” Rodney Marsh, England teammate and Fulham colleague in the last seasons of Moore’s club career, tells ESPN FC. “I would put [Germany legend] Franz Beckenbauer in that same category but the reason I go for Bobby Moore is he had something unique that no other defender had.
“Bobby had an attacking midfielder’s brain in a defender’s body. He could do all the defensive things. He was a good header of the ball, his anticipation was superb, but in possession, he could pass the ball, look for open men, and make fantastic passes.”
In the closing moments of the extra-time win over West Germany, it was Moore who delivered the decisive moment. England were 3-2 up, hanging onto a lead they had twice squandered in normal time. Instead of hoofing the ball clear, he chested down a cross and made himself the space to play a 50-yard ball to Geoff Hurst on a hat trick. “The composure Bobby showed in that split second,” says Marsh. “That is a microcosm of the greatness of a great man.”
Most Englishmen know Kenneth Wolstenholme’s TV commentary off by heart: “And here comes Hurst! He's got ... Some people are on the pitch! They think it's all over! It is now.”
It would not have been “all over” without Moore’s calm creativity, the hallmarks of a player almost unlike any other. Current BBC commentator Jonathan Pearce was a colleague and close friend of Moore’s when they worked together on London’s Capital Radio in the last years of the West Ham stalwart’s life.
“He’d tell me, ‘I had no pace and couldn’t head the ball, but won the 1966 World Cup for England,’” Pearce tells ESPN FC. “He was so self-deprecating about his own talent but no one could read a defensive situation like he could.”
Though England failed to defend their title in 1970, Moore left Mexico with reputation enhanced. A Guadalajara group game with Brazil deepened his legend as a beautifully timed challenge on a rampaging Jairzinho proved to be a highlight of the greatest of all tournaments. It was a rarity for Moore in that he rarely went to ground. After the match, the greatest player on the planet, Pele, sought out Moore to swap shirts. It was a mark of total respect captured in a famous picture.
When England failed to qualify for 1974’s finals, Moore was cast aside at just 32, on 108 caps, having captained 90 internationals. He saw out his English playing days with Fulham, who he led to the 1975 FA Cup final before spending two years in the North American Soccer League with San Antonio Thunder and Seattle Sounders.
But English football’s establishment never found a place for its greatest on-field leader; Moore was allowed to drift away. Friends have never forgiven the Football Association for their neglect of a man who met the true meaning of that overused word “icon.” When bowel cancer took his life at the tragically young age of 51, Moore’s sole involvement in football was through media work.
“When Franz Beckenbauer retired, he was offered the job as technical director of German football,” says Marsh. “When Johan Cruyff retired, he was offered the job of coach of Holland. When Bobby retired, nobody said anything. He wasn’t even offered an ambassador’s role for the Football Association. They eventually gave knighthoods to Geoff Hurst and Bobby Charlton but Bobby got nothing ... That is a disgrace for English football.”
“Other countries and other top international players and managers completely realised what a great player he was,” says Pearce, who travelled to the 1990 World Cup finals and Euro ‘92 with Moore. “If he had been treated in the same way that Germany had treated Beckenbauer, everyone would have realised what a great player and man Bobby Moore was.
“He made every man around him the most important man in his life,” continues Pearce. “That’s the way he inspired people. He gave off the aura that you were inspiring him, and that meant that people would do anything for Bobby. He was selfless. To sum him up in one word, Bobby Moore was immaculate.”