In 1970 the season got off to an equally difficult start when his celebrity status resulted in threats to kidnap his wife Tina. Fortunately the threats didn’t materialise. In 1971 with West Ham's fortunes in decline new signings were needed. Moore was delighted when his good friend, the legendary goalscorer Jimmy Greaves, joined from North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur. His fellow 1966 hero Martin Peters made the move in the opposite direction.
However controversy followed when Greaves, Moore, and Brian Dear, along with forward Clyde Best, were spotted late at night in a Blackpool club the evening before an important FA Cup match against the local team. Favourites West Ham were thumped 4-0 by Blackpool who were, at the time, bottom of the division. Moore and the others were fined by the club and the affair hit the headlines. Subsequent accounts revealed that the incident had been largely blown out of proportion by the media.
1973 was a record breaking year in the life of Bobby Moore. Firstly, he beat the West Ham all time appearance record. Then he won his 100th England cap. The following year however he was beaten to a tackle by a Polish forward. His rare mistake resulted in a goal for Poland who duly knocked England out of the World Cup qualifiers. It proved to be the beginning of the end of his international career. His 108th and final cap was won against Italy on November 14, 1973.
In March 1974 he was allowed to leave West Ham in a £25,000 transfer to second division Fulham. I saw his debut for his new club, a 0-4 home defeat to high flying Middlesbrough. Within a few games he was performing to his usual high standard and it was a privilege to watch him play many of his 124 games for the team I supported.
Strangely Fulham drew West Ham at home in the League Cup of 1974-75 winning the match with Moore on board. Little did anyone realise the match was merely setting the scene for an altogether bigger game. With Moore solid in defence Fulham achieved an unlikely FA Cup final place. In a fairytale set of circumstances it would be against West Ham. The final took place at the scene of Bobby Moore’s greatest triumphs, Wembley. The dream didn’t happen this time and West Ham won the cup 2-0.
The next season Fulham added both George Best and Rodney Marsh to their now star-studded side. Bobby Moore ended his British career with an away game for Fulham at Blackburn Rovers. He then had brief spells at San Antonio Thunder and Seattle Sounders in the North American Soccer League and a few games in Denmark before retiring from playing in 1978.
Article comments
1 - Douglas Mays
YES! Bobby Moore (had a stint with the Sounders). I remember learning of and following his skills as I was a youth player in the late 60s in this neck of the woods. A huge influx of British aeronautical engineers to our area for work at Boeing let us kids know about Bobby Moore.
You menion Geoff Hurst! a long time Sounder! Gordon Banks, Rodney Marsh, George Best. A good list of names!
Anyway, Bobby was a true great. and a very solid defender.
best,
DM
2 - Dr Dreadful
Douglas,
If Bobby Moore were alive today, he'd be telling you to put 'http://' in front of your website address in the URL box before you post your next comment.
3 - Douglas Mays
Dr., here is how retarded I am on the computer...I am just trying to navigate myself back to my main edit page to fix the damn thing. You would be entertained by the URL...
Dude, walk this computer moron thru this. I know it is completely simple. What the hell links get clicked?...
4 - Dr Dreadful
It's quite simple, Douglas. Next time you post a comment, before you click on the Publish button, look at the information in the little boxes situated directly above where you write your comment, and below the brown bit with the admonition against personal attacks.
The first one, which is headed 'Name:' is self-explanatory. Underneath that is a box headed 'URL:', in which you type the web address of your own site (in your case, your Myspace page) or any site you may care to link to. It is to this box that I would like you to turn your attention.
The problem with yours is that you have left out the 'http://' component from the beginning of your web address. Which means that anyone trying to click on the little blue thing that says '[URL]' next to your name at the top of your published comment will just end up on a dud page.
The fix is as easy as pie. All you have to do is type the 'http://' in at the front before you hit Publish. You only have to do it just the one time, and your browser will remember it.
5 - Douglas Mays
Oh, that is all. Shoot, here I am ging to the home page and all!!! Geez... Sometimes it is right in front of me....
6 - Dr Dreadful
Congratulations, Douglas - the link now works.
...Although the message I get on my screen says you've deleted your Myspace page. However, that's your problem, not mine!
7 - Douglas Mays
ugh....
8 - Dr Dreadful
There you go...
:-)
9 - Douglas Mays
Oh man, this damn URL thing right above the comments.... And I thought it was something deep in the archives of my Blogcritics bio and other original settings.
computer spaz douchebag...
OK< BACK TO FOOTBALL!!! thanks for your help of a 'special needs' blogger....
DM
10 - alessandro
I love reading about English legends from the 50s and 60s.
11 - Douglas Mays
back to soccer!!!
Bobby Moore, had a stint in the USA with Sounders. the new SOUNDERS FC just hired Sigi Schmid as head coach. A new MLS powerhouse on it's way!
Had to use Bobby Moore as a route to weasel in a comment about my team. Great player, great team...
futbol,
DM
12 - Jeff
Well weasled Douglas !
Will check out the Sounders webpage if I can find it - be interested to see how your season shapes up !
please keep the comments coming
Jeff