Statue of Bobby Moore, Wembley (via Wikipedia):
The subject of the statue is the English footballer Bobby Moore OBE (1941–1993). Moore, who died of cancer aged 51, was the captain of West Ham United and England team, and had led England to victory at the 1966 World Cup at old Wembley. The statue is a tribute to Moore's unique achievement of being a World Cup winning England captain, and was commissioned in response to a Football Association fan poll to find the greatest England player of the last 50 years, won "hands down" by Moore.
Jackson sought to create a sculpture that "captures the qualities associated with Bobby Moore, namely integrity, loyalty, leadership, popularity and humility but above all as the greatest-ever English footballer." [..] On unveiling, Jackson said "What emerged [from the design consultation] was he was this extraordinary presence in the team, which gave this enormous confidence and allowed the team to sort of win through in '66 and so I created the sculpture in this sort of old fashioned heroic style." […]
Henry Winter of The Daily Telegraph, writing in 2009, described how the statue "captures Moore's dignity", and is the place where everyone on their way into Wembley pauses for a moment to admire "this magnificent likeness of the most important figure in the history of English sport and [give] thanks for 1966".
The twice life size (20ft) figure sculpted by the Royal Sculptor Philip Jackson watches over arriving fans as they make their way along Olympic Way to the Stadium.
The statue includes a moving inscription by Sports Journalist Jeff Powell who was a close friend, biographer and the best man at Moore's wedding:
“Immaculate footballer. Imperial defender. Immortal hero of 1966. First Englishman to raise the World Cup aloft. Favourite son of London’s East End. Finest legend of West Ham United. National Treasure. Master of Wembley. Lord of the game. Captain extraordinary. Gentleman of all time”
