Former England manager Terry Venables backs calls for Bobby Moore statue to be erected in Barking

Vaishali Bhardwaj30 July 2016

Former England manager Terry Venables has backed calls for a statue of World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore to be erected in his hometown of Barking.

A public appeal to generate funds was launched last week by Barking and Dagenham council leader Darren Rodwell, who wants to raise almost £160,000 to commission, cast and erect a new monument to commemorate the achievements of West Ham and England legend Moore.

The current £725,000 statue of the ex-defender, who died of bowel cancer aged 51 in 1993, sits in nearby Upton Park, close to West Ham's former home at the Boleyn Ground.

With the Hammers now leaving Upton Park to move to their new stadium in the Olympic Park this summer, the 16ft bronze statue of Moore, Sir Geoff Hurst, Martin Peters and Ray Wilson could follow the club to Stratford.

But Barking and Dagenham council want to ensure Moore's achievement of captaining England to their one and only World Cup triumph in 1966 is not forgotten by local fans - a move that is supported by Venables.

"The Bobby Moore statue is very, very important for the area of where we've all virtually come from, the east end," Venables, who was born in Dagenham, said.

"I really want to make sure we are able to try and get some funding and push to get a Bobby Moore statue and that is very important because there's only been one Bobby Moore."

See what else Venables had to say on Barking's attempt to erect a Moore statue in the area by watching the video above and donate here.

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