England's Soccer Captain Is A Worried Young Man

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31042, 23 April 1966, Page 11

England's Soccer Captain Is A Worried Young Man

♦Bu BRIAN SCOVELLJ WITH the World Cup only ’’ four months away, the England captain R. Moore, is a very worried young man. For at 25, Moore has suddenly thrown his career, up to now a non-stop story of success, into turmoil. Early in March he told Mr R. Greenwood, the manager of his club, West Ham, that he felt he did not want to renew his £BO a week contract with West Ham.

This he was quite entitled to do, but in the last few months Moore has not been the same commanding figure for West Ham of previous seasons. Angry because Moore was leaving him, Greenwood told the football correspondent of the “News of the World” that Moore was quitting West Ham although Greenwood and Moore had both agreed three days earlier that no public statement would be made until after West Ham’s European Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final against Borussia Dortmund. I saw Greenwood, normally a non-controversial manager, in a London hotel. He said that he felt Moore had not been playing for West Ham for eight months, from the time he first decided to leave. “If he wants to go he can go,” he said. I asked him whether he would stay as captain until the end of the season, when his contract expires, and he said: “No, I will appoint someone else.” Greenwood is 44, quiet spoken, and the intellectual of English soccer managers. He is the nearest thing to W. Winterbottom, founder of the new English tactical and coaching school. Scholarly, shrewd, intelligent for someone of his educational background and, up to this moment, strictly non-contro-versial.

But saying that Moore had not been playing for West Ham for eight months was rather similar to Prime Minister Harold Wilson sacking his number two, George Brown, and calling him a n on-trier. It was the end of one of British soccer’s great partnerships—Greenwood the mentor and Moore the pupil; Moore was discovered by West Ham and learned everything he knows about football from Greenwood. . Did the pupil get bigger than the teacher? From what Greenwood told me I thought that this was the case. West Ham. the small, friendly and up to this season, successful First Division club from London’s East End, was not big enough for the England captain. He wanted a big-

time club like Spurs or Manchester United. Next day sport moved on to the front pages of the Fleet street national newspapers as the football correspondents wrote the story of Moore’s sacking as West Ham captain. Moore himself was surprised. It was the first he knew that he -was losing the captaincy. He was also angry that Greenwood had broken their embargo. And he didn’t like the quote that he hadn’t been playing for West Ham. Next morning Greenwood gave a Press conference in which he apologised for having broken his agreement with Moore and he kept repeating: “There is nothing personal in this. Bobby wants to leave us. as he has every right to do.”

This climb-down, which is what it was virtually, w r as to be expected of Greenwood because he is such a nice person. He hates doing unpleasant things to people. This is one of his failings as a manager. Tommy Docherty, manager of Chelsea, doesn’t care how high he stands in the personality ratings—most of his players don’t like him as a person but respect him—as long as he thinks he is doing the best thing for his club.

Greenwood climbed down and there the matter rests until the end of the season, when Moore’s contract expires and another club is free to buy him for £lOO,OOO. Why does Moore want to leave anyway, when he has been so successful? He has two agents, has just brought out another book, writes a column in a weekly magazine, is to be seen on countless advertisements and from all sources must be earning a Prime Minister’s salary of at least £lO,OOO a year. In addition to this he owns a sports shop and has another business interest with one of his agents.

Moore is typical of the New Deal generation of footballers who feel that they are entitled to make as much as they can in as short a time as they can do it. No-one minds that. We would all like to be in the same position ourselves.

He doesn’t smoke. He drinks only an occasional glass of wine and is always in bed early. He is a credit to the game—a model liver. And as England’s captain, blonde and extraordinarily photogenic, he gets lots of offers. In this sort of income framework he feels he should be earning more out

of the game of football, more than West Ham can pay him. He realises that if a big club bought him he could make £lO,OOO as a signing on fee. If he stayed on at West Ham he couldn't get anything like that. Hence the reason for him wanting to leave.

Unfortunately for his selling name, the England manager Mr A. Ramsey has shown a reluctance to pick players who are in dispute with their clubs. Ramsey dropped both J. Baker and G. Eastham from the England team after they had been put on the transfer list

at Arsenal. Says Moore: "I hope this business doesn't affect my World Cup chances.” Which is why Bobby Moore is a very worried young man even though he does earn £lO,OOO a year. He could come a nasty tumble. And he knows it.