Our greatest son. Immortal. Forever young.
On Friday, West Ham United marks 30 years since the tragic passing of Bobby Moore - still the only Englishman to lift the World Cup and the finest defender of his generation - at the age of just 51, following a brave battle with bowel cancer.
To commemorate the occasion, flowers were laid on Friday by the Club at the foot of the European Champions statue at London Stadium, where Bobby is immortalised in bronze with his fellow World Cup winning heroes Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters and honoured alongside their West Ham United team-mates from the Club’s greatest hour – the 1965 European Cup Winners’ Cup victory.
A further tribute has also been created inside the Club’s Stadium retail store, where the John Lyall gates - transported across from the main entrance at the Boleyn Ground during our move to London Stadium in 2016 - have been adorned with Bobby’s famous number six shirt and the most iconic images from his illustrious career - exactly 30 years after the very same gates became the focal point of the outpouring of love and admiration for Bobby following his devastating loss on 24 February 1993.
Supporters attending Saturday’s Premier League fixture against Nottingham Forest will be able to view the gates, which have also been decorated with newspaper cuttings illustrating the many tributes paid 30 years ago, and the display will stay in place until our next home fixture, on 12 March against Aston Villa.
The West Ham family will also come together immediately before kick-off on Saturday to pay tribute to the man whose star continues to shine brightly throughout the world game – a legacy that grows stronger with every passing year.
Iconic images of Moore with two world famous figures sadly lost this season will be displayed on the Stadium’s giant screens - remembering the moment he received the Jules Rimet trophy in 1966 from Queen Elizabeth II and his famous embrace with Pelé in 1970.
Leading out the team as mascots will be Bobby’s three great-grandchildren – seven-year-old Oliver and six-year-old twins Artie and Margot, while a floral tribute in memory of Moore’s number six shirt also will be carried on to the pitch, accompanied by flag-bearers waving giant flags in his honour, before a one-minute applause prior to kick-off, celebrating Bobby’s life, career and legacy.
While his magnificent achievements and brilliance as a player are widely celebrated and will never be forgotten, it is the impact his legacy has had on the lives of millions of people since his passing that truly illustrates Bobby Moore’s unique standing and place in history.
The Bobby Moore Fund, led tirelessly by his widow Stephanie Moore OBE, has raised more than £30million to help fund pioneering research into bowel cancer in the 30 years since his death, while the Moore Family Foundation, created by his daughter Roberta, provides life-changing opportunities for young people and secondary school children across east London and Essex.
The Bobby Moore Academy, located directly next door to London Stadium, provides an environment of educational excellence for hundreds of children in the area, and the West Ham United Foundation continues to lead a series of programmes linked to ensuring that young people and the generations of the future are inspired by his legacy.
Born in Barking, to a working-class family, Bobby Moore progressed through the youth ranks at the Academy of Football to lead West Ham United through the glory years of the 1960s and then reached the very pinnacle of the game at Wembley in 1966.
Thirty years after his passing, he remains our greatest son, immortal, forever young.
