When Bobby Moore came to Eastern SC

In this exclusive oral history, the-AFC.com looks back at the time when one of the greatest defenders of all times came to Asia to play in a Cup final and take on his first head coach role.

December 1981: Senior Shield Final

PETER WONG (Eastern SC coach 1980 – 1982): In my second season [1981-1982] as head coach, we reached the final of the Senior Shield, one of the biggest cup competitions in Hong Kong, and club owner Peter Lam said he wanted the attendance to be really good – at least a full house. He said to me: ‘I’m going to invite Bobby Moore to play.”

So, in the week leading up to the final, in December 1981, Bobby Moore joined us. We put him in a very nice hotel in Kowloon, a five-star place, swimming pool, gym and sauna – players like Trevor Brooking and Alan Ball would go on to stay there. But, for the final two nights before the match, we stayed outside of the city together in a very secluded hotel in Sai Kung.

The local Hong Kong players were aware of who he was but knew he was older, he was 40-years-old then after all, and we would not rely on him to take us to the next level. We didn’t expect him to play like he did in 1966, I stressed this particularly to the Chinese players.