The sickening betrayal of Bobby Moore... and the day West Ham kicked him out of the ground like a hooligan.

When I go to Upton Park these days there are two gigantic portraits in the corners at each end. One is of Sir Trevor Brooking, the other of Bobby Moore.
Think about that. Sir Trevor Brooking; plain old Bobby Moore. No disrespect to Trevor, he was a great footballer and remains a fine ambassador for the game but it doesn’t seem right.
How was Trevor knighted and Bobby ignored?
Now he’s dead you can’t move for pictures of him around the place. It disgusts me.
How was the greatest footballer and one of the greatest sportsmen this country ever produced reduced to living his final years as a commentator on Capital Radio and a columnist in the downmarket Sunday Sport newspaper - rejected by his club, his country, and those who should have placed him at the heart of the game?

Disrespect: It took death for Bobby to be treated like the hero he was

The hypocrisy that followed his tragically premature death in 1993 sickens me.
Bob’s got it all now. The old South Bank named after him at Upton Park, statues outside the ground and at Wembley Stadium. They even use his name to sell West Ham United merchandise these days. ‘Moore than a football club’ is the slogan.
When he was alive they didn’t want to know him. I saw him get slung out of there for not having a ticket.
It was the 1979–80 season and I had just returned from four years playing and coaching in America with Seattle Sounders and  Phoenix Fire. I went to watch West Ham, who were in the Second Division at the time. I can’t remember who they were playing, but I know I sat next to Frank Lampard Snr’s mum.

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The boys in claret and blue: Harry Redknapp (top row, 12th from the left) and Bobby Moore (2nd-row, 12th-left) pose for team picture in 1964

Firm friends: Moore and Redknapp played together at West Ham for many years - this team photo was taken in 1972

Frank was still playing but West Ham were struggling that season and it was quite a poor gate.
It was a mid-table, middle-of-the-road, nothing match.
The players’ families and guests used to sit in E block and Bobby would often come to watch.
He didn’t want to cause a big commotion walking through the crowd or hanging around before the game so he would wait until after kick-off, go up to one of the old turnstiles with the wooden doors and knock.

Where was the respect? Redknapp cannot understand why Sir Trevor Brooking - standing by the Bobby Moore statue at Wembley - was knighted and the World Cup winning captain wasn't

The bloke would open up and, blimey, it’s Bobby Moore. ‘Come in, Bob, there’s plenty of seats upstairs,’ and up he would go. I can see him now. He would sit over in the corner, right out of the way, on these rotten old wooden benches that they used to have and watch the match on his own.
This day I was sitting in E block next to Frank’s mum, Hilda, when from behind me I heard, ‘Harry.’ I turned around and it was Bobby. We were about 15 minutes into the game. ‘Fancy a cup of tea at half-time?’ I said, and he gave me the thumbs-up.
Next thing I knew, a steward was marching up the steps towards him. ‘Excuse me, Bob’ - he looked almost ashamed - ‘it’s not me, but the secretary wants to know if you’ve got a ticket.’

Icon: Moore is lifted up by England teammates after winning the 1966 World Cup

Tribute: Statue depicting Martin Peters, Geoff Hurst, Moore and Ray Wilson outside Upton Park

Bob said he hadn’t. ‘Then I’m afraid I’ve been told to ask you to leave.’
And he went. Bobby Moore. The Bobby Moore. Thrown out of a half-empty stand at West Ham because he didn’t have a ticket. I don’t think he ever went back after that.
Not just to watch a game casually, anyway.

On the airwaves: Bobby Moore worked as a commentator for Capital Gold Sport

If he had a ticket as a press man he would go, obviously, and sit in the press box with the writers but I don’t think he returned to the club seats.
They should have been phoning him to attend their matches.
‘Come and be our guest, Bob. Front row in the directors’ box every week, Bob.’ They should have treated him like he owned the place. Nothing should have been too good for Bobby.
Can you imagine if you were a promising young footballer and Bobby Moore, England’s only World Cup-winning captain, came around your house to persuade you to sign for West Ham? Game over.
Arsenal and Tottenham wouldn’t have stood a chance.
Instead, West Ham were turfing him out of the ground like a  hooligan. It still upsets me to think about it.
Bobby was made an OBE after England won the World Cup, but that’s not as grand as it sounds. John Motson is an OBE. So are Des Lynam, Garth Crooks and Jimmy Hill.
Craig Brown, the former manager of Scotland, has a higher award, a CBE, as does Paul Elliott, the former Chelsea defender, and Pele, who is Brazilian.
And don’t get me started on those who have received knighthoods for running football. Sir Dave Richards, Sir Bert Millichip.
Bobby might not have cared where his name went on any  honours list — but I do.
To me, it sums up the way he was shunned by the game in the years before his death.
Sir Trevor Brooking is the Football Association’s cup of tea. He’s their type of person. Bobby was a player’s player.
What a man. I mean it. What a man. The straightest, most honest bloke you could meet in your life. Not an ounce of aggression in him, not a hint of nastiness. Won the World Cup, and even the opposition loved him