Bobby Moore's family plea for return of missing World Cup shirt

Sir Bobby Moore's family are appealing to trace the red shirt he wore when he won the Word Cup

The family of Bobby Moore is appealing for help to find the red shirt he wore when he captained England to World Cup success.

His daughter Roberta Moore said it was last seen in a blue sports bag in the attic of the family's home in Chigwell, Essex, but had mysteriously vanished.

Ms Moore said the family wants "nothing more" than for the shirt to "come home to the family where it belongs".

It is thought the shirt was sold at auction to a private buyer.

The red shirt worn by the the defender in 1966 had been stored away with shirts from other historic footballing moments, including a Brazil shirt handed to Moore by Pele during the 1970 World Cup.

Ms Moore said at the time football shirts were not something the family or her father thought to keep on display and so any sentimental shirts were kept in a holdall next to boxes of photographs and Christmas decorations.

"Back in the day we didn't really frame shirts and put them on the wall... it felt like a treasure to us as a family and my father was so proud of that shirt.

"The sentimental value is immense", she added.

The shirt was kept alongside others, including a Pele shirt from a game against Brazil during the 1970 World Cup

A different red shirt made for the defender for the World Cup, which he did not wear during the match, sold at auction in 1999 for £44,000.

After her parents divorced, the memorabilia stayed with Moore's ex-wife Tina and the family became aware it was "mysteriously missing" in the 1990s.

The family has been trying to track it down ever since and have now been told it is with a private buyer having been sold at auction.

"There is no suggestion the current holder has done anything wrong , they apparently bought it at auction in good faith," Ms Moore said.

Ms Moore said she hopes the owner sees the family's appeal and reaches out.

She said: "I hope they [current owner] appreciate what this means to us as a family and we want nothing more than for this to come home to the family where it belongs, which is what Bobby, my dad, would have wanted.

"And we want to share it with the nation, we'd like to put it on public display."

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