Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore OBE (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He most notably played for West Ham United, captaining the club 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 that he had ever played against.
Widely regarded as West Ham's greatest ever player, Moore played over 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.
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. Moore is a member of the World Team of the 20th Century. A national team icon, a bronze statue of Moore is positioned 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 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.
Moore's first cancer was in 1964, two years before England's first World Cup win— a diagnosis of testicular cancer, treated by orchidectomy of one; it had not spread. In April 1991, Moore underwent a vital operation for suspected colon cancer, when he had it just reported as an "emergency stomach operation".
On 14 February 1993, he announced he was suffering from bowel and liver cancer; by this stage it had spread. Three days later, he commentated on an England match against San Marino at Wembley, alongside his friend Jonathan Pearce. That was to be his final public act; seven days later on 24 February, at 6:36 am, he died at the age of 51.
FIFA World Cup 1966 England | English FA Community Shield 1964 West Ham | English FA Cup 1963-1964 West Ham | FWA Footballer of the Year 1963-1964 West Ham |
1956-1958 |
1958-1974 |
1962-1973 |
1974-1977 |
1980-1980 Manager |
1981-1982 Manager |
1984-1986 Manager |