Bobby Moore: The Man in Full

by Matt. Dickinson

"Immaculate footballer—Imperial defender—Immortal hero of 1966—National treasure—Master of Wembley—Lord of the game—Captain extraordinary—Gentleman for all time." So reads the inscription beneath Bobby Moore’s statue at Wembley stadium. Since his death at just 51 from pancreatic cancer, this has been the accepted view of a national hero. But how much do we really know of England’s only World Cup-winning skipper? We all know that Bobby Moore was an extraordinary captain and defender, but alongside his legendary feats on the pitch he knew scandal, death threats, bankruptcy business, and the sack. He divorced after a long affair, was rumored to have friends in the East End underworld, and he loved a drink. The tragedy of his life was to be ignored by soccer in his latter years and to drift into obscurity. After he applied to be England manager, the FA didn’t even bother to send a rejection letter. There was no job in the game and, famously, no knighthood. As well as the undeniable moments of glory, this long overdue, definitive biography won’t shy away from the grit. Tracing his journey from the East End to a pedestal outside Wembley Stadium, it will, for the first time, look at Moore’s life from all sides, through the testimony of teammates, rivals, family, and friends. What was Moore like to play with, to drink with? What was he like as a husband, father, opponent, and captain? A struggling manager and a failed businessman? This book will tell the story of an Essex boy who became the patron saint of English soccer, revealing a lifetime of intrigue, triumph, and tragedy in between.

Genres: Football, Biography, Nonfiction, Sports

384 pages, Hardcover

First published September 12, 2013

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting read where the author is in search of the real bobby moore not the urban myth of recent years and through interviews you find that the person you don't really know but was of that generation where feelings weren't expressed even when he was dying of cancer. moore was probably one of most talented players of his generation

[Kai Prendergast · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that gives you a real insight into one of the most iconic footballers in world football. Being a West Ham fan growing up he was spoken about in the highest regard possible; stands named after him at Upton Park/London stadium as well as two statues outside each respective ground.

It covers his upbringing, breaking into the first team and eventually becoming, to this day, the first man to lift the World Cup for England.

However, being a fan makes you think you really know all about him despite never meeting the man. This Biography makes you realise you don’t know him at all and it deep dives into the real enigma that is Bobby Moore. How can the legendary sweeper have any trials and tribulations after what he had achieved?

The book uncovers his personal struggles of setbacks, betrayal, financial strain, divorce and ill-health. It became a difficult read at times and reality struck - he is human like the rest of us. Stories like this were never associated with Bobby Moore and was devastating to hear how the footballing world treated him so poorly after he had finished playing.

Would recommend to any football fan.

[Pete daPixie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Certainly one of the best football biographies that I have read. 'Bobby Moore: The Man in Full' perfectly captures the enigma that was captain of West Ham and England. Expertly researched by Matt Dickinson. Moore was the immaculate diamond, but like the gem had many facets, some that remain hidden. Even so, the author has produced a fitting and honest portrait of the World Cup winning hero, a classy wing half in the number six shirt. Kipling's 'If' sums up his too short life.
I witnessed his skilful play many times at Old Trafford and Upton Park but Dickinson brought back personal memories in Chapter 6 'The Best Player in the Country'. I was just eleven years old when my old man took me to Hillsborough for the FA Cup semi-final on March 14th 1964. Man U. versus the Hammers. The weather was outrageous, horizontal rain, the pitch at Sheffield was a quagmire and the game would never be played today. Mr Dickinson does state that Law Best and Charlton were rested the previous Saturday. However I have to add a mitigating factor of the second 6th round replay just two days after on Monday 9th March the third 6th round match in 10 days as well as a European Cup Winners Cup tie in Portugal for the team from Manchester on the 18th. West Ham won the semi 3-1 in diabolical conditions and Moore was a colossus, and the rest really is sporting history and a cup winning trail from Sheffield to Wembley.
Here is a startling biography of a true sporting legend that paints surprising pictures of football half a century in the past. More drink than in 'The Student Prince'. I was surprised to read of the behind the scenes rift between Moore and Greenwood at West Ham as well as his cancer problem in the 60's It is an extraordinary glorious, yet poignant account of a life at the pinnacle of his sport and after retirement from the game. His business and management failures, the booze, divorce, re-marriage and his battle with cancer that led to his sad passing in 1993, aged just 51.
Once more the national footballing authorities do not come up smelling of roses in this story. There was no Sir Bobby Moore. No England international football representative role. He was even ejected from Upton Park!
A recommended biography for all sports fans of a true English football icon from a past era.

[Cockneylen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant, with no punches pulled, so why only 4 stars? Bobby Moore has always been my footballing hero, so it was a little uncomfortable reading at times when his own human frailties were there for all to read. I'm still not sure whether I'm glad I read the book, or sorry that I did, but I'm absolutely disgusted that West Ham, my own lifelong club, do not support the Bobby Moore fund for cancer research. The football establishment, primarily the FA, should also hand their heads in shame at the scurrilous way they treated a national hero. However, in my own opinion, Bobby is and always will be the greatest player to ever pull on a West Ham, or England shirt. Despite all his personal setbacks, he never wavered from his sense of honour and duty, a sportsman from an age that sadly no longer exists.

[Steve Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disgrace the way he was treated post 1966.
Hadn't realised what a disappointment Ron Greenwood was and shameful the way the mighty irons treated Mooro in his twilight years.
That tackle ...
Blimey they could neck it in those days too - sad really. Saw him play once, against the Gas, truly. Legendary a great centre back who would grace the game still.

[Elliot · Rating 5 out of 5]

V. V. exciting to be the first person to rate this book on Goodreads.

[James Tidd · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best biographies I have read. Bobby Moore without doubt the finest defender in English football history is revealed as a humble non judgemental man. He would never go above his stature, whether he was playing for the local Danish side or managing Oxford City. Yet how he was treated after his retirement was deplorable, not being wanted by West Ham, not being knighted, he never hardly complained. Even his grave at City of London Cemetery is simple and humble, just what he would have wanted.

With narration from wives Tina and Stephanie and people who knew him, from football teammates to the people he worked with, here is a honest narration about the legend from his childhood, his West Ham career leading an unfashionable team to FA Cup and European Cup winners cup glory in two seasons, and of course his England career, becoming thus far the only England captain to lift the World Cup and his embrace with Pele after the game in the 1970 tournament, soured by the Bogatá jewellery theft that he was implicated in. Then it traces the rest of his football career through his disastrous managerial career at Oxford City and Southend United. For a quiet humble man, he loved his drink, though definitely not to the standard of people such as Best, Greaves and Allison, he would be the one to sneak away from the team hotel, ignoring the strict rules of Ron Greenwood and Sir Alf Ramsey. Going through his unsuccessful business adventures to the illness that eventually took him at the comparatively young age of 51. It also reveals some things that I never would have guessed had involved the humble gentleman that Bobby Moore was.

[Matthew Eyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

They say you should never meet your heroes, but I did, briefly once, maybe 1971. A friend and I were on The Heath at Petersfield when Bobby Moore came round a corner with his wife. He was polite, couteous and signed a scrap of paper we produced, sadly now lost. How many times did he do that? He truly was a national hero, embodying everything good about our island nation. Not a saint, he liked a drink, was obviously fairly gullible and eventually left his picture-perfect family. Its too late now, I went to the first match at West Ham after his death and will never forget it. I stood in front of a group of rock hard cockney geezers, whose conversation seemed to consist of cutting and slicing, blagging and fencing. Then Ron Greenwood, Marin Peters and Geoff Hurst bought out his iconic No 6 shirt, there was a minutes silence and these harder than hard blokes all started blubbing. When I think of all the ennobled crooks and chancers, the way we fawn over celebrideees with no talent for anything vbut self promotion I marvel that Bobby Moore was never knighted, at the end grubbed around for work, writing for a sleazy semi porn mag newsrag and doing bit parts for the radio, well, to paraphrase Greg Lake "The society we get, we deserve....

[David Pearce · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fascinating and, ultimately, incredibly sad story. Matt Dickinson has put together what will almost certainly remain the definitive account of the life and career of the football icon. Full of insights and anecdotes and not afraid to look at Bobby Moore's darker side this book puts the man in to fuller perspective. Sometimes Moore was as chaotic off the pitch as he was assured on it, and he never seemed to really see the contradiction as odd if his contemporaries are to be believed. The final few chapters are, I must warn you, very hard to take. The personal tragedy of his cancer was made worse by the unfeeling FA and the indifferent West Ham hierarchy who were content to see him struggle. When he was taken on by Gold and Sullivan for the Sunday Sport they at least treated him with dignity, but after they took over his beloved West Ham they profited from his name and conveniently found themselves too 'poor' to contribute to his charity. As a sport football let him down at every turn but through it all he kept his good humour and belief in the innate goodness of people to the end. An icon, a legend and a flawed human being who enhanced the whole country with his deeds.

[Mr T M Street · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a Southend supporter and the grandson of a West Ham fan who lived in Chigwell, I’ve always wanted to learn about Bobby Moore’s life and this encapsulates it all - yes, the World Cup win and the Bogotá necklace whodunnit but more of his life after his success and how many great footballers of his generation were left to scratch about and find a living. A true icon and footballing legend. A must-read.

[Stephen Hoffman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this a disappointing read. It did little to illuminate the private life of Bobby Moore and why for instance he drunk.

Clearly he was a private man, but if you are going to put as your book title the Man in Full, then you need to succeed in doing so and in this book Dickinson did not.

I also found the language prosaic.

[Bobby24 · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an Englishman everyone has heard his name or seen the famous photo of 1966, he is our Ali or Maradona. I'm not really into football but i am glad i read the book, i can now look at the man and know a bit about him. I liked the line " he left the swagger to lesser men", sums it up. Five stars.

[Stephen Wagstaff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely one of the best sports biographies I have ever read.

[Scott Bradfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

A definitive account of England's greatest CB and his role in modernising the game - and his treatment in retirement.

[Joe Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful, rounded read about a superb footballer and sportsman. A great piece of journalism. If you appreciate football you will enjoy this biography of probably the only Englishman who will ever lift the World Cup.

[Mozlenko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revealing insight into how the greatest English footballer of his generation had to fight for his reputation and survival. Worth reading if only to compare to footballers of today.

[Emma Brooks]

Loved it. Loved reading about Bobby Moore he was a awesome player

[Daijw · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative book that shines some light onto the general public perception of Bobby Moore. He has always stood tall as a dignified footballer and man, but there has always been an element of the unknown about him. I found the most interesting element to be Bobby's relationship with Ron Greenwood, and West Ham FC. The triangle was fraught on many occasions, but all seemed to recognize they worked best together. Moore's questionable business acumen is highlighted, but this also raises the question about how players from this era, even World Cup winners, were not looked after post career, by clubs or the FA. Overall, I found this to be a revealing book that gives a balanced view on BM.

[Venky · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this haunting biography, Matt Dickinson strives to dig deep into the almost reclusive life of one of England and West Ham United's greatest football legends. The England World Cup winning Captain and a defender par excellence has been surrounded by a halo of enigma which has made his personality complex and secretive.

A man of few words, Moore was impeccable in his conduct both on and off the field lending a plethora of adoring fans to associate their hero with a dour but definite dignity. But was there more to the man who imperious statue adorns the hallowed portals of Wembley? In the course of finding answers to unraveling the mystique and mystery behind the man that was Bobby Moore, Matt Dickinson comes up with a few surprising and strange revelations. Moore's unquenchable penchant for the bottle, his estranged but under wraps relationships with West Ham Manager Ron Greenwood and the immortal Sir Alf Ramsey, a failed hospitality venture with Sir Sean Connery and an almost fructified Manager deal for Watford at the behest of Sir Elton John all come together in this fast paced, extremely readable but controversial biography.

But the most striking aspect of the book is the description of a deplorable degree of intransigence exhibited by the English Football Association towards the players who were instrumental in delivering the only World Cup in the footballing history of the nation. A reprehensible neglect of the heroes 1966 was only rectified and the shame redeemed (to an extent) with the emerging boom of the glorified English Premier League. Bobby Moore in fact was once ousted from Upton Park where West Ham were hosting their opponents, on the grounds that the former silverware winning captain of the Club did not possess a ticket! This after having ended a glorious career at West Ham United spanning over 645 games for the hammers.

Moore's epitome of composure never wavered even when he was initially diagnosed with testicular cancer and subsequently with a fateful bowel cancer to which he succumbed after manfully waging a stoic battle. The great Pele once termed Moore the best defender that he had played against and the Englishman bought to the fore the same qualities of redoubtable determination and spirit even while battling the dreaded terminal disease.

Bobby Moore was lost to the world prematurely when he was a mere 51 years old. However his exploits, enthusiasm and most importantly his supreme professional ethic and behavioral conduct has ensured that the man remains an indelible legend till time immemorial.

"Bobby Moore" - A rousing tribute!

[Robin Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bobby Moore was before my time, so my only knowledge of him is comprised of what I've heard from the cliches and superlatives that are commonly trotted out whenever his name is mentioned by commentators, pundits and journalists, yet ironically offer very little insight into the real person.

Matt Dickinson has done an excellent job of getting beyond the public persona to reveal a picture of a deeply private man that went through his fair share of highs and lows burying many of his feelings along the way, notably; his incredible playing career, testicular cancer, drink problems, divorce, several disappointing managerial stints, terminal bowel cancer and latterly, how he and his legacy were mistreated by West Ham in retirement and death.

Often when a legend such as Bobby dies young they get the Diana treatment and are put onto a pedestal beyond criticism or compare. However, I think this biography does a very good job at giving a sense of the man himself and his aura from those closest to him, primarily showing someone that can be related to, and for all his talent was human with weaknesses like the rest of us.

[Rob Osment · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good account of Bobby Moore's life, with a focus on the real man and not the image that has been built up since his death. The book still portrays the heroic captain of England's greatest international triumph, but also shows his vulnerability, his weaknesses and any of his flaws. The book is generally well written although I felt it glossed over some more interesting areas of his life, whilst making some assumptions on others aspects of Bobby Moore based on quite flimsy, circumstantial details. The writing style also felt a little cliched and faux-psychologist, trying too hard to second guess Moore's thinking without much to back up the authors opinions at times. I did still enjoy reading about the great man despite his failings in life post-football career, and his sad final days were quite painful to read about.

[Oliver · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this quite disappointing - when the title advertises so boldly that you are going to get 'The Man In Full' you kind of expect to get...well, the man in full. But nothing here felt like fresh information, and indeed the areas where it covered the most ground are those bits we know the most about already - 66, The Bracelet, etc etc. It didn't do enough to live up to its grand title, and ultimately leaves you knowing no more about the man than a fan would know before. Where it really peaked was in its closing stretch, targeting the current football culture with a reserved venom that felt electric. A shame that the rest of the book felt lacking in that passion.

[Craig Hatton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Provides an insight into the character and life of a man who is so well known but about who little is known. Exploring his battle with cancer, alcoholism and financial struggles provides a new view of Bobby Moore away from his World Cup winning image. I found this book to be interesting and thoughtful however some parts were a little disappointing with not much detail or fresh insight. It is a good, poignant story about a man who is feted as a national hero but for years was almost forgotten whilst alive

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

A moving and informative biography of Bobby Moore, which covers both his club and international careers, his brief foray into management as well as his personal life.

The famous Bogota incident where Moore was falsely accused of theft is covered extensively and this was one of the most intriguing parts of the book for me.

The final chapters dealing with Moore's illness and eventual death I found particularly moving.

I did not know a great deal about Moore before reading this book, but after reading it was left with a great admiration and understanding of him.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed reading this. I don't remember Bobby Moore, the player, but as a West Ham fan I've been bought up with Bobby Moore, The Legend. I didn't know much about the man except for the main facts and so I found this book very interesting. What an intriguing character he was!

[Fritzov · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not know much about Bobby Moore before listening to this book. Now i do know a little bit more.

[Andi Garbett · Rating 1 out of 5]

A great subject for a book but, for once, I just could not get into this book. To me they didn't use enough chapters and tried breaking each one up when they could have just started another chapter

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

such a contrasting book to the Geoff Powell biography who was of course a very close friend of Bobby's.

I certainly did not realise the tensions behind the scenes at west ham and england during this rea. really enjoyed reading it for a second time.