Claim: Bobby Moore was a professional athlete.

Robert Frederick Chelsea `` Bobby '' Moore OBE -LRB- 12 April 1941 -- 24 February 1993 -RRB- was an English professional footballer . He captained West Ham United for more than ten years and was captain of the England team that won the 1966 World Cup . He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time , and was cited by Pelé as the greatest defender that he had ever played against . Moore is a member of the World Team of the 20th Century .   He won a total of 108 caps for the England team , which at the time of his international retirement in 1973 was a national record . This record was later broken by 125-cap goalkeeper Peter Shilton . Moore 's total of 108 caps continued as a record for outfield players until 28 March 2009 , when David Beckham gained his 109th cap . Moore was made an inaugural inductee of the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 in recognition of his impact on the English game as a player . The same year he was named in the BBC 's list of the 100 Greatest Britons .