30 December 1999 - Forgotten No More

On 30 December 1999, the British government finally decorated the "forgotten five" from England's World Cup-winning team, awarding them all MBEs.

Over the years following England's win over West Germany in the 1966 World Cup Final, most of the players from that match, along with manager Alf Ramsey, received official recognition from the British government, starting in 1967 with Ramsey's knighthood and captain Bobby Moore becoming an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Bobby Charlton received his OBE in 1969 (then became a Commander of the Order (CBE) in 1974 and received a knighthood in 1994), followed by OBEs for Gordon Banks in 1970 and Jack Charlton in 1974. In 1978, Martin Peters became a Member of the Order (MBE), as did Geoff Hurst in 1979 (Hurst was later knighted in 1998).

By 1999, however, five players from the 1966 final--Nobby Stiles, Alan Ball, Roger Hunt, Ray Wilson, and George Cohen--had not been honored, even though all of them but Ball had appeared in every match of the tournament (Ball missed the last two games in the group stage), and Hunt had scored three goals. But thanks to a push driven in part by the football media, those omissions were corrected at the end of 1999, with all five being made Members of the Order.

12 October 1965 - Chile Gets A Ticket To Europe

On 12 October 1965, Chile beat Ecuador in a playoff to qualify for their first European World Cup.

They were coming off their best showing in the tournament, finishing in third place as hosts in 1962. But they had never played in a World Cup hosted by a European country, withdrawing from Italy '34 and France '38 and failing to qualify for Switzerland '54 and Sweden '58.

To reach England for the 1966 edition, they had to get through a CONMEBOL qualification group whose other members were Ecuador and Colombia. After four games each, Chile and Ecuador had identical records, with each having two wins, a draw, and a loss. Although Chile had a better goal differential and beat Ecuador 3-1 in the last scheduled match of the group, the rules ranked the teams by points only, forcing a decision through a playoff.

The teams met in the neutral location of Lima, Peru, where Leonel Sánchez (pictured)--the hero of Chile's 1966 World Cup performance--opened the scoring in the 16th minute, followed by a goal from Rubén Marcos in the 40th minute to stake Chile to a 2-0 lead at the break. Ecuador finally managed to get on the scoreboard in the 89th minute, but it was nothing more than a consolation goal.

The 2-1 win sent Chile to England, but they were unable to recapture their form from the previous tournament and were eliminated in the group stage.

7 September 1977 - The End Of Callaghan's Capless Gap

On 7 September 1977, Liverpool midfielder Ian Callaghan made his third England appearance--a record 11 years and 49 days after his previous one.

A Liverpool player since the start of his professional career in 1960, Callaghan (pictured at far left) earned his first England cap at he age of 24 in a June 1966 friendly against Finland (England won 3-0). His second came the following month in the World Cup, as England beat France 2-0 in the group stage. It was his only appearances of the tournament, which England went on to win. Although his failure to take part in the final meant that he did not receive a winner's medal at the time, he eventually received one in 2009, along with all of the other squad members. 

Despite his perfect record, he then went over a decade without playing for the national team. He continued to star for Liverpool, however, winning a total of five league titles, two FA Cups, two UEFA Cups, and two European Cups between 1964 and 1978.

In 1977, after missing England's previous 108 games, he returned to the national team for a friendly against Switzerland, which ended as a scoreless draw. The gap of 11 years and 49 days between caps remains an England record.

He made a fourth and final appearance the following month in a 2-0 win over Luxembourg.

30 April 1974 - That's The Penalty For Setting High Expectations

On 30 April 1974, the FA sacked England manager Alf Ramsey, who led the team to World Cup glory in 1966.

Ramsey took charge of England in May 1963 after a successful time at Ipswich Town. He began his new job in bold style, claiming that they would win the upcoming 1966 World Cup as hosts. And he made good on his promise. After opening the tournament with a scoreless draw against Uruguay, England reeled off five straight victories, including a 4-2 win over West Germany in the final to lift the cup.

But the decline started soon after. In 1968, England finished third out of four teams in the European Championships and, two years later, they were eliminated by West Germany in the first knockout round of the 1970 World Cup. West Germany again proved to be their nemesis in 1972, ending England's qualification campaign for the 1972 European Championships. 

The final straw for Ramsey came in October 1973, when a draw with Poland prevented England from qualifying for the next year's World Cup. Although he remained in charge for another six months, the failure to reach the World Cup effectively sealed his fate. The FA finally dropped the curtain on his tenure at the end of April despite his overall record of 69 wins, 27 draws, and only 17 losses in 119 matches played.

He later had a brief spell in charge of Birmingham City (1977-78) and another as technical director of Panathinaikos (1979-80) but could not recapture the success he had with Ipswich and England. He died of a heart attack in 1999 and, in 2002, was an inaugural inductee into the English Football Hall of Fame.

30 July 1966 - Pay No Attention To The Margin Of Victory

On 30 July 1966, England won the World Cup, beating West Germany 4-2 in extra time thanks in part to a controversial goal.

Played before a crowd of 98,000 at London's Wembley Stadium, the match featured an early exchange of goals from a pair of strikers, West Germany's Helmut Haller (12') and England's Geoff Hurst (18'). After that, though, the goals dried up. Although both sides playing aggressive attacking styles, goalkeepers Gordon Banks and Hans Tilkowski repeatedly denied chance after chance.

English midfielder Martin Peters finally beat Tilkowski to break the stalemate in the 78th minute and the hosts looked certain to win at the end of regulation. But in the 89th minute, a loose ball in the England box fell to center back Wolfgang Weber, who drove it home with a sliding shot to send the match into extra time.

There, England continued to press and were rewarded in the 101st minute when Hurst took the ball on the edge of the area and fired it over Tilkowski. The ball struck the crossbar and bounced straight down before a West German player headed it out of play. The referee blew the whistle and conferred with his linesman before awarding the goal. Replays remain inconclusive, but suggest that the entire ball had not crossed the line. In any event, Hurst completed his hat-trick in the 120th minute to seal the win.

Despite the eventual margin of victory, controversy continues to surround Hurst's second goal. In 1996, two engineers at Oxford University published a paper claiming that the entire ball had not crossed the line, missing by just 6 centimeters.

20 February 1940 - Nothing Funny About That Scoring Record

On 20 February 1940, Jimmy Greaves was born in the London's East Ham district. He would go on to become the greatest goalscorer in the history of the English top flight.

He got off to a great start, scoring on his professional debut with Chelsea in 1957. In four seasons at Stamford Bridge, he scored a total of 132 goals in all competitions, making 169 appearances. While there, he twice finished as the First Division's top scorer, including a 41-goal league tally in 1960-61 that remains a club record (as does his all-competition total of 43 the same season).

After a brief unhappy period with AC Milan, he returned to England with Tottenham Hotspur, where he stayed for nine seasons. It was one of Spurs' most successful periods, as they won the 1963 European Cup Winner's Cup and two FA Cups (1962, 1967). During his time with Spurs, Greaves was a member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning side, but was injured in their last group stage match. Because he missed the remainder of the tournament, including the Final, he did not receive a winner's medal at the time. But after an FA campaign, he received his medal in 2009.

After leaving Tottenham, Greaves played briefly for West Ham, making 40 appearances between 1969 and 1971, when he retired. In all, he scored a record 366 goals in 528 English top flight appearances. Afterward, he became a television pundit famous for his catch-phrase, "it's a funny old game."

23 July 1966 - The Beginning Of A Beautiful Rivalry

On 23 July 1966, Argentina met hosts England in the quarterfinals of that year's World Cup, sparking a heated rivalry that has provided some of the Cup's most dramatic matches and endures to the present day.

The two countries had met five times previously, resulting in two wins each with one match abandoned because of poor weather. But the matches did not become a full-blown rivalry until the 1966 meeting. Playing before a crowd of 90,000 at London's Wembley Stadium, the match was unremarkable until the 35th minute, when German referee Rudolf Kreitlein ejected Argentina's captain, midfielder Antonio Rattín as the Argentine attempted to speak with him.

The basis for the ejection was unclear. British newspapers claimed that the captain had been sent off for "violence of the tongue," while commentators in Argentina said that Rattín was tossed for giving Kreitlein a dirty look. Regardless of the reason, the ejection raised the emotions of the Argentinian players and the match took an ugly turn, with England winning thanks to a 78th-minute strike from Geoff Hurst. Afterward, England manager Alf Ramsey referred to the visiting players as "animals" and refused to allow the English team to swap shirts with them.

England went on to win the Final, but the rivalry continued in future World Cups, including the 1986 meeting in which Diego Maradona scored the "Hand of God" goal, the 1998 match which England lost after David Beckham's ejection, and the 2002 match in which Beckham redeemed himself. The current record stands at fifteen matches, with six England wins, four Argentina wins (including one by penalty shootout), and five draws.

19 July 1966 - North Korea Send Italy Pak-ing

On 19 July 1966, North Korea staged one of the World Cup's biggest upsets, beating Italy 1-0 in the first round.

After winning the World Cup in 1934 and 1938, the Azzurri went into decline and failed to progress past the first round in 1950, 1954, and 1962 (they failed to even qualify for the 1958 competition). Still, their 1966 squad included several of the era's most talented footballers, including Milan's Gianni Rivera and Inter duo Sandro Mazzola and Giancinto Facchetti. North Korea, on the other hand, were appearing in their first World Cup with a collection of semi-professional players who were relative unknowns outside of their home country.

Playing before a crowd of 18,000 at Middlesbrough's Ayresome Park, the Italians needed only a draw to advance into the second round, having already secured a win and a draw in their first two matches. After their early attacks were denied by Korean goalkeeper Ri Chan Myong, the Azzurri fell back into a defensive formation designed to win the critical point.

The Koreans, however, needed to win, with a loss and a draw in their first two matches. Taking advantage of Italy's reluctance to press, North Korea controlled the midfield and sent waves of attacks into the Italian area. They were rewarded with a 40th-minute match-winner from Pak Doo-Ik.

The goal sent Italy home, where they were pelted with eggs and tomatoes by an angry crowd upon their arrival. The Koreans advanced to the second round, but were eliminated by Portugal. They returned to obscurity in North Korea, sparking several rumors that they had been punished by North Korean leader Kim Il Sung, but the rumors were later proven to be false.

24 February 1993 - Bobby Moore No More

On 24 February 1993, 51-year old England and West Ham United legend Bobby Moore died from bowel cancer.

Moore began his professional career in 1958 with West Ham, where he would stay for just over 15 seasons. Despite having fairly average physical talents, he was gifted with an uncanny ability to read the game and anticipate where the ball was going. That, combined with his impeccable timing, made him one of England's top defenders. He earned his first cap for England at 21, and at 22, became the youngest person to captain the English senior side.

He got his first silverware in 1964, when he led the Hammers to the FA Cup trophy, also earning personal accolades as the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year. He followed by helping West Ham to the 1965 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup with a 2-0 win over 1860 Munich. But he is best remembered for captaining England to the World Cup title in 1966, where Moore set up two of England's goals in the 4-2 win over West Germany in the Final. He would go on to make 108 appearances for England, making him England's most-capped player at the time, though Peter Shilton (125) and David Beckham (currently at 115) would later go on to surpass Moore's total.

Moore left West Ham in 1974 for London rivals Fulham, then in the Second Division. In his first season with Fulham, they met West Ham twice, beating them in the League Cup, but losing to the Hammers in the 1975 FA Cup Final. He also spent some time in the US during the English off-season, playing for the San Antonio Thunder and Seattle Sounders before retiring in 1978.

Afterward, Moore spent a brief period in management before moving on to work as a commentator. He made his last public appearance in the commentators' booth for England's match against San Marino on 17 February 1993, one week before his death.

11 July 1966 - England's First Step To World Cup Glory

On 11 July 1966, England and Uruguay played to a scoreless draw in the opening match of the 1966 World Cup Finals before a crowd of 87,000 at London’s Wembley Stadium.

The draw was particularly disappointing for the hosts. In 1963, after Brazil eliminated them from the previous World Cup in the first knockout round, the English FA appointed Ipswich boss Alf Ramsey as the national side’s first professional coach and he began to build a team and a system to compete for the trophy when the World Cup came to England. He did not lack for confidence and, shortly after his appointment, he boldly predicted that England would win the next World Cup.

Ramsey had made several controversial decisions leading up to the World Cup, including giving the captain's armband to young defender Bobby Moore and switching England's formation from their traditional 4-2-4 to a 4-3-3. The new formation, which moved one of the forwards back into the midfield, had helped England defeat defending European champions Spain 2-0 in December 1965.

Against Uruguay, however, the English midfield struggled to advance in support of the forwards, resulting in too little offensive power and a 0-0 draw. The draw called Ramsey's prediction into question, but England subsequently found its offense in 2-0 wins over Mexico and France to finish on top of its group, then proceeded to defeat Argentina (1-0), Portugal (2-1), and West Germany (4-2, a.e.t.) to claim its first World Cup trophy.

23 July 1966 - It Helps To Have A Ballon D'Or Winner On Your Team, Apparently

On 23 July 1966, four goals from Eusébio helped Portugal rally from a 3-0 deficit to beat North Korea 5-3 in the World Cup quarterfinals.

North Korea had already delivered the shock of the tournament, beating Italy 1-0 in their final group stage match to qualify for the knockout rounds, while Portugal had breezed through their group by winning all three matches.

The teams met at Goodison Park in Liverpool, where a crowd of almost 52,000 gathered to watch what looked to be another upset. The Koreans took a staggering 3-0 lead just 25 minutes in with goals from Pak Seung-Zin (1'), Lee Dong-Woon (22'), and Yang Seung-Kook (25').

Two minutes later, however, Eusébio--the 1965 Ballon d'Or winner--started the comeback by scoring his first of the day. He followed that with a 43rd-minute penalty kick to close the gap to 3-2 at the break, then the second half belonged to Portugal. Eusébio completed his hat-trick in the 53rd minute, then added a fourth via the penalty spot three minutes later to give the Portuguese their first lead of the day.

His Benfica teammate José Augusto, who had assisted Eusébio's first goal, capped the win with an 80th minute strike to set the final margin at 5-3.

Despite the amazing effort--or perhaps because of it--Portugal fell to England in the next round, 2-1. But their comeback against North Korea remains one of the most dramatic matches in tournament history.

30 December 1999 - Forgotten No More

On 30 December 1999, the British government finally decorated the "forgotten five" from England's World Cup-winning team, awarding them all MBEs.

Over the years following England's win over West Germany in the 1966 World Cup Final, most of the players from that match, along with manager Alf Ramsey, received official recognition from the British government, starting in 1967 with Ramsey's knighthood and captain Bobby Moore becoming an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Bobby Charlton received his OBE in 1969 (then became a Commander of the Order (CBE) in 1974 and received a knighthood in 1994), followed by OBEs for Gordon Banks in 1970 and Jack Charlton in 1974. In 1978, Martin Peters became a Member of the Order (MBE), as did Geoff Hurst in 1979 (Hurst was later knighted in 1998).

By 1999, however, five players from the 1966 final--Nobby Stiles, Alan Ball, Roger Hunt, Ray Wilson, and George Cohen--had not been honored, even though all of them but Ball had appeared in every match of the tournament (Ball missed the last two games in the group stage), and Hunt had scored three goals. But thanks to a push driven in part by the football media, those omissions were corrected at the end of 1999, with all five being made Members of the Order.

12 October 1965 - Chile Gets Their Ticket To Europe

On 12 October 1965, Chile beat Ecuador in a playoff to qualify for their first European World Cup.

They were coming off their best showing in the tournament, finishing in third place as hosts in 1962. But they had never played in a World Cup hosted by a European country, withdrawing from Italy '34 and France '38 and failing to qualify for Switzerland '54 and Sweden '58.

To reach England for the 1966 edition, they had to get through a CONMEBOL qualification group whose other members were Ecuador and Colombia. After four games each, Chile and Ecuador had identical records, with each having two wins, a draw, and a loss. Although Chile had a better goal differential and beat Ecuador 3-1 in the last scheduled match of the group, the rules ranked the teams by points only, forcing a decision through a playoff.

The teams met in the neutral location of Lima, Peru, where Leonel Sánchez (pictured)--the hero of Chile's 1966 World Cup performance--opened the scoring in the 16th minute, followed by a goal from Rubén Marcos in the 40th minute to stake Chile to a 2-0 lead at the break. Ecuador finally managed to get on the scoreboard in the 89th minute, but it was nothing more than a consolation goal.

The 2-1 win sent Chile to England, but they were unable to recapture their form from the previous tournament and were eliminated in the group stage.

7 September 1977 - The End Of Callaghan's Capless Gap

On 7 September 1977, Liverpool midfielder Ian Callaghan made his third England appearance--a record 11 years and 49 days after his previous one.

A Liverpool player since the start of his professional career in 1960, Callaghan (pictured at far left) earned his first England cap at he age of 24 in a June 1966 friendly against Finland (England won 3-0). His second came the following month in the World Cup, as England beat France 2-0 in the group stage. It was his only appearances of the tournament, which England went on to win. Although his failure to take part in the final meant that he did not receive a winner's medal at the time, he eventually received one in 2009, along with all of the other squad members.

Despite his perfect record, he then went over a decade without playing for the national team. He continued to star for Liverpool, however, winning a total of five league titles, two FA Cups, two UEFA Cups, and two European Cups between 1964 and 1978.

In 1977, after missing England's previous 108 games, he returned to the national team for a friendly against Switzerland, which ended as a scoreless draw. The gap of 11 years and 49 days between caps remains an England record.

He made a fourth and final appearance the following month in a 2-0 win over Luxembourg.

30 April 1974 - That's The Penalty For Setting High Expectations

On 30 April 1974, the FA sacked England manager Alf Ramsey, who led the team to World Cup glory in 1966.

Ramsey took charge of England in May 1963 after a successful time at Ipswich Town. He began his new job in bold style, claiming that they would win the upcoming 1966 World Cup as hosts. And he made good on his promise. After opening the tournament with a scoreless draw against Uruguay, England reeled off five straight victories, including a 4-2 win over West Germany in the final to lift the cup.

But the decline started soon after. In 1968, England finished third out of four teams in the European Championships and, two years later, they were eliminated by West Germany in the first knockout round of the 1970 World Cup. West Germany again proved to be their nemesis in 1972, ending England's qualification campaign for the 1972 European Championships.

The final straw for Ramsey came in October 1973, when a draw with Poland prevented England from qualifying for the next year's World Cup. Although he remained in charge for another six months, the failure to reach the World Cup effectively sealed his fate. The FA finally dropped the curtain on his tenure at the end of April despite his overall record of 69 wins, 27 draws, and only 17 losses in 119 matches played.

He later had a brief spell in charge of Birmingham City (1977-78) and another as technical director of Panathinaikos (1979-80) but could not recapture the success he had with Ipswich and England. He died of a heart attack in 1999 and, in 2002, was an inaugural inductee into the English Football Hall of Fame.

30 July 1966 - And 45 Years Later, We're Still Debating Goalline Technology

On 30 July 1966, England won the World Cup, beating West Germany 4-2 in extra time thanks in part to a controversial goal.

Played before a crowd of 98,000 at London's Wembley Stadium, the match featured an early exchange of goals from a pair of strikers, West Germany's Helmut Haller (12') and England's Geoff Hurst (18'). After that, though, the goals dried up. Although both sides playing aggressive attacking styles, goalkeepers Gordon Banks and Hans Tilkowski repeatedly denied chance after chance.

English midfielder Martin Peters finally beat Tilkowski to break the stalemate in the 78th minute and the hosts looked certain to win at the end of regulation. But in the 89th minute, a loose ball in the England box fell to center back Wolfgang Weber, who drove it home with a sliding shot to send the match into extra time.

There, England continued to press and were rewarded in the 101st minute when Hurst took the ball on the edge of the area and fired it over Tilkowski. The ball struck the crossbar and bounced straight down before a West German player headed it out of play. The referee blew the whistle and conferred with his linesman before awarding the goal. Replays remain inconclusive, but suggest that the entire ball had not crossed the line. In any event, Hurst completed his hat-trick in the 120th minute to seal the win.

Despite the eventual margin of victory, controversy continues to surround Hurst's second goal. In 1996, two engineers at Oxford University published a paper claiming that the entire ball had not crossed the line, missing by just 6 centimeters.

20 February 1940 - Nothing Funny About That Scoring Record

On 20 February 1940, Jimmy Greaves was born in the London's East Ham district. He would go on to become the greatest goalscorer in the history of the English top flight.

He got off to a great start, scoring on his professional debut with Chelsea in 1957. In four seasons at Stamford Bridge, he scored a total of 132 goals in all competitions, making 169 appearances. While there, he twice finished as the First Division's top scorer, including a 41-goal league tally in 1960-61 that remains a club record (as does his all-competition total of 43 the same season).

After a brief unhappy period with AC Milan, he returned to England with Tottenham Hotspur, where he stayed for nine seasons. It was one of Spurs' most successful periods, as they won the 1963 European Cup Winner's Cup and two FA Cups (1962, 1967). During his time with Spurs, Greaves was a member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning side, but was injured in their last group stage match. Because he missed the remainder of the tournament, including the Final, he did not receive a winner's medal at the time. But after an FA campaign, he received his medal in 2009.

After leaving Tottenham, Greaves played briefly for West Ham, making 40 appearances between 1969 and 1971, when he retired. In all, he scored a record 366 goals in 528 English top flight appearances. Afterward, he became a television pundit famous for his catch-phrase, "it's a funny old game."

23 July 1966 - The Beginning Of A Beautiful Rivalry

On 23 July 1966, Argentina met hosts England in the quarterfinals of that year's World Cup, sparking a heated rivalry that has provided some of the Cup's most dramatic matches and endures to the present day.

The two countries had met five times previously, resulting in two wins each with one match abandoned because of poor weather. But the matches did not become a full-blown rivalry until the 1966 meeting. Playing before a crowd of 90,000 at London's Wembley Stadium, the match was unremarkable until the 35th minute, when German referee Rudolf Kreitlein ejected Argentina's captain, midfielder Antonio Rattín as the Argentine attempted to speak with him.

The basis for the ejection was unclear. British newspapers claimed that the captain had been sent off for "violence of the tongue," while commentators in Argentina said that Rattín was tossed for giving Kreitlein a dirty look. Regardless of the reason, the ejection raised the emotions of the Argentinian players and the match took an ugly turn, with England winning thanks to a 78th-minute strike from Geoff Hurst. Afterward, England manager Alf Ramsey referred to the visiting players as "animals" and refused to allow the English team to swap shirts with them.

England went on to win the Final, but the rivalry continued in future World Cups, including the 1986 meeting in which Diego Mardona scored the "Hand of God" goal, the 1998 match which England lost after David Beckham's ejection, and the 2002 match in which Beckham redeemed himself. The current record stands at fifteen matches, with six England wins, four Argentina wins (including one by penalty shootout), four draws and one with no result.

19 July 1966 - North Korea Send Italy Pak-ing

On 19 July 1966, North Korea staged one of the World Cup's biggest upsets, beating Italy 1-0 in the first round.

After winning the World Cup in 1934 and 1938, the Azzurri went into decline and failed to progress past the first round in 1950, 1954, and 1962 (they failed to even qualify for the 1958 competition). Still, their 1966 squad included several of the era's most talented footballers, including Milan's Gianni Rivera and Inter duo Sandro Mazzola and Giancinto Facchetti. North Korea, on the other hand, were appearing in their first World Cup with a collection of semi-professional players who were relative unknowns outside of their home country.

Playing before a crowd of 18,000 at Middlesbrough's Ayresome Park, the Italians needed only a draw to advance into the second round, having already secured a win and a draw in their first two matches. After their early attacks were denied by Korean goalkeeper Ri Chan Myong, the Azzurri fell back into a defensive formation designed to win the critical point.

The Koreans, however, needed to win, with a loss and a draw in their first two matches. Taking advantage of Italy's reluctance to press, North Korea controlled the midfield and sent waves of attacks into the Italian area. They were rewarded with a 40th-minute matchwinner from Pak Doo-Ik.

The goal sent Italy home, where they were pelted with eggs and tomatoes by an angry crowd upon their arrival. The Koreans advanced to the second round, but were eliminated by Portugal. They returned to obscurity in North Korea, sparking several rumors that they had been punished by North Korean leader Kim Il Sung, but the rumors were later proven to be false.

24 February 1993 - Bobby Moore No More

On 24 February 1993, 51-year old England and West Ham United legend Bobby Moore died from bowel cancer.

Moore began his professional career in 1958 with West Ham, where he would stay for just over 15 seasons. Despite having fairly average physical talents, he was gifted with an uncanny ability to read the game and anticipate where the ball was going. That, combined with his impeccable timing, made him one of England's top defenders. He earned his first cap for England at 21, and at 22, became the youngest person to captain the English senior side.

He got his first silverware in 1964, when he led the Hammers to the FA Cup trophy, also earning personal accolades as the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year. He followed by helping West Ham to the 1965 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup with a 2-0 win over 1860 Munich. But he is best remembered for captaining England to the World Cup title in 1966, where Moore set up two of England's goals in the 4-2 win over West Germany in the Final. He would go on to make 108 appearances for England, making him England's most-capped player at the time, though Peter Shilton (125) and David Beckham (currently at 115) would later go on to surpass Moore's total.

Moore left West Ham in 1974 for London rivals Fulham, then in the Second Division. In his first season with Fulham, they met West Ham twice, beating them in the League Cup, but losing to the Hammers in the 1975 FA Cup Final. He also spent some time in the US during the English off-season, playing for the San Antonio Thunder and Seattle Sounders before retiring in 1978.

Afterward, Moore spent a brief period in management before moving on to work as a commentator. He made his last public appearance in the commentators' booth for England's match against San Marino on 17 February 1993, one week before his death.