Always Managing: My Autobiography by Harry Redknapp Page A

respected his opinion. Having kicked around in non-league football and lower league football, why was he never given a chance to work with players who had an ounce of his incredible ability? Surely, we should have given this man a go at a bigger club? But no one did.
    I can remember Alvin Martin asking me about Southend when he had the chance to manage there and, knowing what happened to Bobby, I was a little more cautious with my advice. The first job as a manager is so important. If the club is just drifting and you end up getting the sack it can be the end of you. You must make sure that you’ve got a chance. Bobby didn’t have that at Southend, but after he left nobody thought he could coach, and it was downhill all the way.
    I can picture him now, eating fish and chips at the back of the stand at Grimsby Town. I was up there with West Ham and I spotted him out of the corner of my eye. Freezing cold, midweek game, he was doing the summary for Capital Radio for a hundred quid. Big hat on to keep him warm. ‘All right, Bob?’ I asked. ‘All right, H, yeah,’ he said. I came away, thinking to myself, ‘What are we doing? This is Bobby Moore.’ It couldn’t happen anywhere else in the world.
    I spoke about it with the directors, but there were never any positions for him at West Ham. No one wanted to give him a job. And then he died. That same week Terry Brown, the chairman, started talking about naming a stand after him. I’ll admit, I wentspare. ‘When he was alive, you didn’t even give him a ticket, now you want to name a fucking stand after him?’ I said. ‘He should have been sitting next to you every game. He should have been the figurehead of this fucking club. He would have been the best ambassador any club could ever have.’
    I had a few arguments with Terry, but that must rank as one of the biggest. We had murders and fell out, big time, that day. But I meant every word. The greatest footballer this country has ever produced and he ends up sitting at the back of a stand in Grimsby doing radio commentaries? I’m sure Sir Trevor is a great ambassador for West Ham – but he ain’t Bobby Moore. And if West Ham couldn’t find any use for him, what about the Football Association? How this country didn’t make the most of a man like that, I will never know. He could have been fantastic for England and for English football. Germany put Franz Beckenbauer centre stage, France did the same with Michel Platini, so much so that he ended up President of UEFA. Meanwhile, Bobby Moore holds the same rank of honour in this country as Des Lynam. How didn’t he get a knighthood? Why didn’t he get a knighthood? How did we end up with Sir Dave Richards and Sir Bert Millichip but not Sir Bobby Moore?
    We think of scandals in football as a player diving, or high transfer fees, but this, for me, is what scandal really means. The way football treated Bobby changed my attitude, professionally, because seeing him struggle confirmed to me that nobody in this game really gives a monkey’s about you once you’ve served your purpose. Do your best, don’t do people a bad turn, but make sure you look after yourself first because, when it comes down to it,nobody cares. Earn as much as you can and don’t feel guilty about that, either. Nobody looked out for Bobby – and if they won’t look out for him, they certainly won’t look out for me or any of the other ex-players. I can name hundreds of footballers now – great players who gave everything – who have to go begging to the Professional Footballers’ Association because they need a hip replacement. Some clubs are different. At Everton they are very good at organising dinners and fundraising events for ex-players to be supported medically, but I think that is because Bill Kenwright, their chairman, is a proper Evertonian and runs the club the right way. Dave Whelan at Wigan Athletic is another who seems to have his club’s interest at heart, having played the game.