Bobby Moore celebrated in National Portrait Gallery exhibition ahead of World Cup
Moore became a national hero as captain of the World Cup-winning England team.
Family photographs of football hero Sir Bobby Moore have gone on display to mark the 2018 World Cup.
The National Portrait Gallery in London has acquired a selection of photographs of the sport star on and off the pitch from his daughter, Roberta Moore, which will form an exhibition called Bobby Moore: First Gentleman Of English Football.
Sir Bobby became a national hero as captain of the England team which won the World Cup for the first, and only, time in 1966.
The gallery said the images provide an insight into both his professional and personal life 25 years after his death.
The portraits date from 1962 when the 21-year-old Moore became captain of West Ham, and among them is a striking image of him winning the ball from George Best while playing against Northern Ireland in 1964.
Best, who was later his team-mate at Fulham, remembered that in 20 years of playing against each other, he only got past Moore once.
A portrait of Moore with footballer Johnny Byrne jumping in the rain holding umbrellas by Daily Mirror sports photographer Monte Fresco captures the two friends after training, suggesting the increasing public interest in footballers’ lives.
A family picture of Moore with his first wife Tina shows football’s golden couple outside their home in Chigwell, Essex.
Photographed with their son Dean and daughter Roberta by Terry O’Neill, they attracted unprecedented media attention.
Another O’Neill mid-1970s portrait shows Moore engaged in a game of chess with renowned West German defender Franz Beckenbauer, the player’s rival in the 1966 World Cup final.
Ms Moore said: “My father emanated grace both on and off the pitch. He was self-effacing, kind and humble with a dry humour and tremendous sense of fun.
“This display is a wonderful tribute to the high esteem in which he is held.”
Dr Nicholas Cullinan, director of the National Portrait Gallery, said: “Bobby Moore was widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time and an important ambassador for football.
“It is fitting that, in this World Cup year, the National Portrait Gallery honours his achievements with this display. We are grateful to his daughter Roberta for enabling us to acquire these family photographs for our collection.”
