Category: Bobby Moore

Bobby Moore pulled my shorts down

1/22/2019

It was great to hear from our old friend Vic Phillips recently, writing about another of his brushes with greatness.

As Vic is always quick – a bit too quick if you ask me – to point out, he wasn’t quite good enough to make it as a professional footballer, but he did make seven first-team appearances for the U’s between 1957/58 and 1961/62.

He was a star of the highly successful United youth side of the late 1950s, and good enough to be selected to represent Cambridgeshire in a youth challenge match against West Ham’s youngsters at the Abbey Stadium on 1 October 1958.

Among the young Hammers, wearing the number four shirt that night, was a certain 17-year-old by the name of R Moore. He had made his senior team debut about three weeks before, against Manchester United.

‘It’s interesting to note,’ writes Vic, ‘that as our Brian Moore was leaving West Ham to join Cambridge United, Bobby Moore was showing Hammers scouts that he was worth another look. You might find this piece of history interesting.’

You bet your sweet bippy we do. Vic continues:

‘It was a big night for us lads of Cambs County. Bobby Moore, the kid who was going to stun the football world, was coming to town, with other young Hammers of some note.

'There were five of us from Cambridge United playing that night and one of them (Tony Willson) is still my mucker. I suppose we all hoped we would make it but it wasn’t to be.’

Here I should point out that Brian Hart, the first United player to be selected for international honours when he played for England Youth in May 1959, signed for West Brom a few months later. He spent several years at the Hawthorns before moving on to the Southern League clubs Nuneaton Borough, Cambridge City and Wellington Town, and played at Wembley in two FA Trophy finals. Watch Brian on Coconuts TV here.

Carry on, Vic.

‘However, to play against Bobby Moore and have him pull my shorts down was a privilege and I have dined out on the story a few times.’

I never made professional
First of October (would I forget?) 1958,
The Hammers youth – Newmarket Road – Cambs County lads await.

Yes we’re out there, kicking in, Bobby leads them out.
The Golden Boy from Barking! Would this be a rout?

It didn’t go well: we lost 1-5 and midway through the game,
Bobby pulled my shorts down – no accident; his blame!

I didn’t like it – lost my rag but waited for my chance,
Minutes later, the ref’s blind side, I caught him a side glance.

Never made it, short of skill, but memories I store.
I never turned professional, but I did kick Bobby Moore!

Vic Phillips

Vic is a poet, wouldn’t you know it, as well as a decent bowls player. He describes the shorts-lowering incident and his careful retaliation in the verse at the top of this post.

‘The Cambs side went on to play London Youth at Stamford Bridge, where another star played – one Terry Venables.

‘It’s such a long time ago now, and sometimes when my knees give me gyp I wish I had never seen a football. Hey-ho, but it was a great time for us and Cambs County.’

Pages from the Cambs v West Ham programme, reproduced above, show that the United Five were Vic, Tony, Brian, Roger Tailby and Dave Stocker.

The West Ham side is bristling with future pros like Harry Cripps, Jack Burkett, Bobby Keetch, Eddie Bovington, Derek Woodley, Andy Smillie, John Cartwright and Tony Scott.

Oh, and shorts-puller Bobby Moore.

Cheerio
Harry

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Moore, please

11/19/2018

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An edited version of this article appeared in the Cambridge United matchday programme for the game against Notts County on 20 February 2018.

Half-close your eyes and squint at the fuzzy, poor-quality photograph on the right. There are some unforgettable faces there; award yourself five points if you can name them all.

Clue: you’re looking for the likes of John ‘Shaggy’ Taylor, Tom Youngs, Alex Russell, ‘Dancing’ Shaun Marshall, Paul ‘Captain Fantastic’ Wanless, Andy Duncan and Martin Butler.

Above: Cambridge United players and manager with the 1997/98 PFA Bobby Moore Fair Play Trophy; below the trophy, which is on display in Coconuts' mini-museum, The Story of the U's

There are several others; some of them achieved great things at United and elsewhere. It’s a talented group of young men and also, it appears, a happy bunch.

Why wouldn’t they be? They’ve obviously passed a fun half-hour in creating an imaginative backdrop and they’re grouped round one of England’s most respected players and managers of recent decades – a man who a few months later would lead them to promotion to Division Three.

And Roy McFarland (for it is he) is showing off a rather handsome pot earned by the lads the previous season – the PFA Bobby Moore Fair Play Trophy for 1997/98 – topped by a black 'n' amber Father Christmas titfer.

Roy Mac, although proud of his charges for achieving the best disciplinary record in the Premier and Football Leagues, was at pains to stress the team’s fighting qualities when he spoke to reporters. ‘We are not a soft touch and not a lightweight side,’ he insisted.

It’s true that United, with battlers like Wanless, Duncan and Ian Ashbee in the side, could never have been accused of being softies. And the hefty presence up front of Trevor Benjamin ruled out any ‘lightweight’ jibes.

Indeed, the U’s claimed the award despite seeing two players – Messrs Wanless and Butler – make early use of the showers in one game. Then again, that match was the infamous FA Cup second round replay at Stevenage Borough in December 1997, when United were eliminated thanks to one of the most ridiculously inept refereeing performances ever seen in the Home Counties.

You can inspect the Fair Play Trophy at close quarters when you visit The Story of the U’s, our little museum in the Supporters’ Club. Write to [email protected] to arrange that visit. (To answer the disappointed punter who wrote words to the effect of ‘is that it?’ in the visitors’ book: yes, we know it’s small, but it’s a start.)

Our email enquiry to the PFA about the current status of the award met with a response from no less a personage than the union’s chief executive. ‘Yes,’ wrote Golden Gordon, ‘the award still exists, with prize money of £15,000 for community work and players and management.’

Established in 1988, it was of course named after a man who exemplified the spirit of fair play and was also one of the game’s greatest practitioners. Bobby Moore was, according to Franz Beckenbauer, ‘the best defender in the history of the game’, and Jock Stein observed: ‘There should be a law against him. He knows what's happening 20 minutes before everyone else.’

United’s connections with Moore don’t end with the capture of the 1997/98 trophy. As Andrew Bennett revealed in Risen from the Dust, the U’s provided the opposition to an all-star XI in Chelmsford manager Peter Harburn’s testimonial on 10 May 1966, and Moore and Geoff Hurst were among the guest players.

Hurst nabbed three goals in a 4-3 win for the stars. I wonder when his next hat-trick was.

Cheerio
Harry

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Bobby Moore pulled my shorts down

Moore, please

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