|
After retiring from playing professional football in 1978 Bobby Moore
had a short relatively unsuccessful spell in football management at
Eastern AA in Hong Kong, Oxford City and Southend United. Moore publicly
supported Margaret Thatcher in the 1979 General Election. He became
manager of Southend United in 1984. In his first full season, 1984–85,
Southend narrowly avoided having to apply for re-election to the
Football League amidst severe financial difficulties. However, the side
was gradually rebuilt and in the 1985–86 season Southend started well
and were in the promotion race until the new year before eventually
finishing 9th. His successor, David Webb built upon those foundations to
win promotion the following year. Moore agreed to serve on the board of
the club and held this role until his death.
His life after football
was eventful and difficult, with poor business dealings and his marriage
ending. Moore's supporters said that the Football Association could
have given a role to Moore, as the only Englishman to captain a FIFA
World Cup winning team or given him an ambassadorial role. Moore joined
London radio station Capital Gold as a football analyst and commentator
in 1990.
Moore married 42-year-old Stephanie Parlane-Moore (her real maiden name)
on 4 December 1991. He had a son and a daughter from his first
marriage, to Christina (Tina) Dean. They were married on 30 June 1960,
after a four-year relationship which had started when they were both 15,
but the marriage ended in divorce in 1986 after 26 years.
In April
1991, Moore underwent an emergency operation for suspected colon cancer,
though at the time it was just reported that he had undergone an
"emergency stomach operation". On 14 February 1993, he publicly
announced he was suffering from bowel and liver cancer; by this stage
the cancer 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 appearance; seven days later on
24 February, at 6.36 am, he died at the age of 51.
He was the first member of the England World Cup winning side to die,
the second being Alan Ball 14 years later. Moore was also outlived by
the trainer of the side, Harold Shepherdson, who died in September 1995,
and the manager of the side, Alf Ramsey, who died in April 1999.
Bobby
Moore's funeral was held on 2 March 1993 at Putney Vale Crematorium, and
his ashes were buried in a plot with his father Robert Edward Moore
(who died in 1978) and his mother Doris Joyce Moore, who had died only
the previous year. The first West Ham home game after his death was on 6
March 1993, against Wolverhampton Wanderers. The Boleyn Ground was
awash with floral tributes, scarfs and other football memorabilia from
both West Ham fans and those of other clubs. Fellow 1966 World Cup
winners, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters placed a floral replica of a West
Ham shirt, showing Moore's number, '6', on the back, on the centre spot
before the game. West Ham 'rested' the number six shirt with the
regular number six, Ian Bishop, wearing number twelve.
The game was won
by West Ham 3–1 with goals by Steve Bull for Wolves and Trevor Morley,
Julian Dicks and Matty Holmes for West Ham.
West Ham and Wolves players line-up for a minute's silence for Bobby
Moore before their game at the Boleyn Ground on 6 March 1993 His former
England team-mate, Jack Charlton, on a BBC documentary of Moore's life
in and outside of football, said of Moore's death: "Well, I only ever
cried over two people, Billy Bremner and Bob... [long pause] He was a
lovely man." On 28 June 1993 his memorial service was held in
Westminster Abbey, attended by all the other members of the 1966 World
Cup Team.
He was only the second sportsman to be so honoured, the first
being the West Indian cricketer Sir Frank Worrell. “ For many years he
delighted supporters of West Ham and was a formidable opponent in the
eyes of those against whom he played. But it is for his appearances for
England — ninety of them as captain — that he will be chiefly
remembered, and supremely for his captaincy of the World Cup team of
1966. ” —Dean Of Westminster.
The above Text is available under the Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike License; from Wikipedia.
|