The family of Bobby Moore have been ‘overwhelmed and touched’ by support for their campaign get back his missing 1966 World Cup shirt.
Messages have flooded in since the Mail revealed the mystery surrounding the captain’s iconic red top.
His wife of 24 years Tina Moore last saw it in her house – but it has turned up in the hands of an anonymous collector.
She and their daughter Roberta Moore are now appealing for its return, and yesterday they were joined by a string of backers.
The World Cup winning skipper’s old club West Ham – where he was also captain, for more than 10 years – led calls for the number six shirt to be restored ‘for the nation to treasure’.
Messages have flooded in since the Mail revealed the mystery surrounding the captain’s iconic red top (pictured)
His wife of 24 years Tina Moore (left) last saw it in her house – but it has turned up in the hands of an anonymous collector
The club said in a statement: ‘As captain of West Ham United and England, Bobby Moore established himself as one of the finest defenders the game has ever seen.
‘The iconic red number six shirt he wore to lead his country to World Cup glory in 1966 is one of the most important items in English sporting history and it would be fantastic to see it back where it belongs, for the nation to treasure.’
Harry Redknapp, former West Ham manager and player, told the Mail on Sunday: ‘Bobby was so special to everyone.
‘I know Tina, his first wife, and his family are trying to find his shirt. So let’s hope we can do something to find it.
‘It is a very iconic football shirt worn by the greatest captain ever had, on the greatest day England ever had as a football nation.’
Moore’s shirt was kept by the family at their homes in Essex but went missing in the 1980s.
Now the Mail has revealed the riddle of how a private buyer was said to have purchased the legendary garment at a low-key auction of possessions belonging to an ‘unknown deceased man’.
The mysterious clues were given to the Moore family by the Football Association after the authors of a book on England shirts unearthed fresh details of the shirt – possibly the most sought-after piece of sporting memorabilia in British history.
The authors claimed to have discovered the whereabouts but have not said who actually has the shirt, saying they ‘asked to remain anonymous’.
There is no suggestion the current holder of the shirt knew there was any problem about its provenance when they bought it at the auction. It may have changed hands many times since going missing from the home of Tina Moore.
Moore’s shirt was kept by the family at their homes in Essex but went missing in the 1980s
She is adamant that Bobby gave her the shirt along with all his memorabilia when they divorced in 1986, and says it belongs to her. But she has no idea how or when it vanished from her attic.
The family kept all Moore’s shirts folded in a blue leather bag in the attic, because in the 1970s and 1980s, it was not the done thing to display framed shirts on the wall. They proudly displayed his trophies and medals in cabinets in the dining room.
Since the Mail broke the story on Saturday, the family have been flooded with messages.
Roberta Moore said: ‘We have been overwhelmed and so touched by the messages of support we’ve received from concerned fans far and wide since they’ve heard about our family’s shirt. We are hugely grateful for their warmth, love and respect for my father, and his incredible legacy.
‘People are shocked to hear what’s happened and how we’ve not been able to get any answers.’
Her mother added: ‘It has been an amazing response. The phone doesn’t stop ringing. I just hope we can find the shirt.’
Stan Collymore, the former England striker turned pundit, called for its return, writing on Twitter: ‘Whoever has taken Bobby Moore’s iconic red England shirt from the World Cup Final, you’ve got one of the most important symbols of a nation’s sporting pride.
‘Give it the f*** back.’
Kevin Lock, 69, one of Moore’s former West Ham team mates, said: ‘Bobby took great pride in his shirts and all his clothes. He’d want his family to know where his World Cup shirt is and to look after it. It is part of history. 100 per cent, whoever has it should let it be with his family. It is so iconic.’
The family kept all Moore’s shirts folded in a blue leather bag in the attic, because in the 1970s and 1980s, it was not the done thing to display framed shirts on the wall. Pictured: Bobby Moore kissing his wife Tina during the Football Association World Cup Banquet in 1966
Tony Gale, who as a teenager was Moore’s so-called ‘boot boy’ when the England star played for Fulham, said: ‘If Diego Maradona’s shirt is worth £7million, personally I’d prefer Bobby’s World Cup jersey.
‘Hopefully it can go back to the family and they can then choose whether to keep it at home or use it to help the charities Bobby supported.’
The authors of Three Lions On A Shirt, a coffee table book for the Football Association, said they had discovered the current holder had bought it several years ago at a ‘general auction’ – not a sports memorabilia sale – of someone who had recently died.
It was said that the identity of the deceased man was unknown.
Roberta, 58, said: ‘It was hard to comprehend – how does the shirt go from being tucked in a bag in my mother’s attic to an auction of a deceased person?’
As for who has the shirt now, the Moores say they were told they wanted to remain anonymous, and in a further twist, the current holder of the shirt apparently got ‘spooked’ by all the attention.
The Football Association, which alerted the Moores to the discovery 18 months ago, is backing the family’s quest for answers.
The FA does not know who has the shirt, nor how it came to leave the possession of the Moore family. But a spokesman has said: ‘Bobby Moore is an England hero. It would be wonderful if there was a way of finding his historic World Cup-winning shirt and putting it on display for the nation.’
