West Ham eases the pain of a bad start in the EPL by celebrating how it all began for the greatest Hammers player, Bobby Moore

BOBBY Moore was the greatest West Ham United player - and 60 years after his start with the Irons, his first No. 6 shirt is on display to rekindle some happy memories.

IT was not a great start for West Ham United - after great anticipation with the arrival of successful manager Manuel Pellegrini - with losses in the first four games of the English Premier League (with the fourth against recently promoted Wolverhampton).

So Hammers fans this week have been served up a piece of history to warm their hearts as their feet have turned cold as cement as turned solid around their club at the bottom of the Premier League table.

Saturday marked the 60th anniversary of club great Bobby Moore’s debut with the Irons - on September 8, 1958 against Manchester United at West Ham’s old traditional home at the Boleyn Ground, Upton Park - as a 17-year-old. The man - great man - who captained England to its only World Cup triumph ultimately made 544 appearances for West Ham United to 1974 when he moved to second-division club Fulham (for a 124-game encore before leaving his footprint on the ritzy fields of America).

Diego Maradona’s shirt worn in Argentina vs Scotland match 1979 and Bobby Moore’s shirt worn in Brazil vs England World Cup match 1970 at London’s Christie's auction house in 2004.

The statue of members of England's 1966 soccer World Cup winning team (L-R) Martin Peters, Geoff Hurst, Bobby Moore & Ray Wilson outside Upton Park in London.

West Ham is putting Bobby Moore’s first jumper - the No. 6 shirt that was retired by the club in 2008 to honour Moore - on display again in London sparking many eager reflection on the Hammers’ greatest player.

This year also marks the 25th year since Moore’s death (at age 51) on February 24, 1993.

Long-serving West Ham team-mate, 386-game centre-half Ken Brown, offered these thoughts: “Bobby Moore was different class.

“He was two or three steps ahead of anyone he played against. He was an incredible player. It was a privilege to play next to him. He certainly made my life a lot easier!

“Bobby never used to be at the back, he always used to be alongside or in front of me. It was my job to destroy. That was why I could always see what he could do, because he always used to be in front of me. The ball used to come and he’d always be there first.

“I’d look around and Bobby would know where to be and it was ‘boom, boom’ and the ball would be out with our winger and we’d be on the attack.

“I just couldn’t work it out, how he’d done it! Even with hindsight, it took me a while to work out how he’d done it. He was a genius. If players could play like he did nowadays, it would be a different game.”

That No. 6 claret-and-blue shirt should bring some tears to the Hammers faithful ... and perhaps a change of luck at London Stadium when the Premier League resumes after the international recess.

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