Hammers will retire legendary shirt for charity
NO MOORE NO.6
EXCLUSIVE by ROB SHEPHERD
WEST HAM will retire Bobby Moore’s number 6 shirt for good next week.
Matthew Upson, who currently wears it, will hand over two jerseys, one home kit, one away, to Moore’s widow Stephanie at Saturday’s pre-season game against Villarreal.
It will be the first match of inaugural annual fundraising Bobby Moore Cup. The shirts will then be auctioned off with all proceeds going to the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK.
And as a further mark of respect to the Hammers legend and 1966 World Cup winning captain, a corner of the ground will have a permanent billboard emblazoned with the number 6.
There is a long tradition of retiring shirts of sporting heroes in the USA. In England the practice has been taken up in recent years but usually in the immediate wake of tragic circumstances.
In Italy, it is more common with Maradona, Franco Baresi and Roberto Baggio among an elite whose shirts have been hung up.
Moore, who died from cancer aged 51 in 1993, made his pro debut for West Ham 50 years ago.
Good on West Ham! There should be more of this type of thing in football, to show the better side of the game we often hear so little about. For once something American sport has got right!
Posted by: Bryan | August 03, 2008 at 10:20 AM | Report this comment
Stupid idea. Well, not a stupid idea, but one that's not really been thought through. The Premier League's rules also state that there shouldn't be gaps in the squad numbers allocated by a club. I don't mind seeing a young player making his debut in April wearing number 48, but if we keep having this sort of thing we'll be seeing players wearing number 248 on their backs.
Sounds like a stunt to be honest.
Posted by: Realist | August 03, 2008 at 11:30 AM | Report this comment
Agree with Realist, can't see the point in retiring a shirt, he was a great servant to West Ham and football but to "retire" a shirt is a bit daft. Who cares what number he wore, enjoy what he did and move on... next we'll be retiring names...
Posted by: Gavin | August 03, 2008 at 01:48 PM | Report this comment
We will never see the like of a Bobby Moore again, as we will not see a world cup winning England team in the next few generations.
Nice touch by the 'ammers.
Posted by: John | August 03, 2008 at 02:17 PM | Report this comment