12 April: Bobby Moore

Bobby Moore, the legendary English footballer, was born on this date in 1941. 10 things you didn't know about Bobby Moore:

1. One of his middle names was Chelsea.
2. When he was at school, he played both cricket and Football, and if anything, was slightly better at cricket, playing for the Essex Youth Team.
3. He met his wife, Tina, at the Ilford Palais in Essex when he was 16. She was 15.
4. When he was 23, two years before the 1966 World Cup victory, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and had to have a testicle removed. He had no idea at that point if he'd even survive – but three months after the operation, he was back on the football field. He never talked about it, and the public never knew he'd even had cancer in his 20s until after he died.
5. He played 642 matches for West Ham United. His first game was on 8 September 1958 against Manchester United. His last game for them was in January 1974 against Hereford United. After he died, West Ham retired the number 6 shirt out of respect for him.
6. He was only ever sent off once, for a foul in the final moments of a match against Manchester City. The referee blew the whistle for the foul and the end of the match simultaneously. There were no Red cards in those days, so it wasn't even apparent Moore had been sent off.
7. He was the epitome of dignity, calmness and good manners. When in 1966, he was about to accept the World Cup from the Queen, he wiped the mud and sweat off his hands on a velvet tablecloth so he wouldn't dirty her White gloves when he shook her hand.
8. In 1970, he was accused of shoplifting – in Bogota, Colombia, where England were playing a warm up game before the World Cup. A shop assistant claimed he'd taken the bracelet out of the shop without paying for it. He was arrested and placed under house arrest which meant he didn't arrive with his team in Mexico for the World Cup competition. The evidence that he'd stolen the bracelet was non-existent however, and he was found innocent and released in time to play.
9. His final game at Wembley was in an FA Cup tie. He was playing for Fulham by then. Their opponents in this match were West Ham.
10. There is a statue of Bobby Moore by the entrance of the New Wembley Stadium.

My Books 

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The Ultraheroes series

Several new groups of superheroes, mostly British, living and working (mostly) in British cities like London and Birmingham. People discovering they have, and learning to live with, superpowers. Each book is complete in itself although there is some overlap of characters.

The Raiders series

A tale of two dimensions, and worm hole travel between the two. People displaced in both time and space, learning to get along and work together to find a way home while getting used to the superpowers wormhole travel gave them. A trilogy.

Golden Thread

A superhero tale with a difference. Five heroes from another dimension keep returning - whenever they return, they have a job to do and are a well-meshed team in order to do it. Until one time, something goes wrong...

Tabitha Drake series

A different kind of power - the ability to talk to dead people. Tabitha has it, and murder victims seek her out to make sure justice is done. Tabitha has this and a disastrous love life to cope with.

Short story collections

Some feature characters from the above novels, others don't. They're not all about superheroes. Some are creepy, romantic, funny.