Humble stars

The death of former footballer Graham Moore (Mail) took me back to a different era in football. In February 1962, with my father, I attended my first football match, watching Chelsea v. Sheffield Wednesday, with Moore playing for Chelsea.

Chelsea won by a goal to nil but were relegated to Division Two at the end of the season. That started my love affair with Chelsea FC.

Football clubs in those days had club houses which players used to rent. In Twickenham, where we lived in a typical three- bed Thirties semi, Graham Moore lived in a similar property to ours nearby.

After he transferred to Manchester United in 1963, the next occupant of the house was Peter osgood, still regarded by many older supporters as the greatest player ever to pull on a Chelsea shirt.

That created a buzz for me and my young friends as he was already highly regarded as a future international.

‘ossie’ went on to have a long career at Chelsea and with england — winning, among other trophies, the FA Cup, beating Leeds in a replay at old Trafford in 1970 in which he scored.

he subsequently moved to Southampton and the next occupant of the house was a young Jim McCalliog with his whole family, mother, father and siblings. Jim didn’t stay long at Chelsea but moved to Sheffield Wednesday, exacting his revenge on his old club by beating them in the FA Cup semi-final in 1966.

he was in the Southampton team that won the FA Cup in 1976, beating Manchester United, alongside one Peter osgood. The house was sold in 1976. Today’s Premier League footballers have little need for club houses to rent (though they may still exist for players in the lower divisions). I suspect they live mainly in luxury mansions with large gates. how times have changed. CLIFF HEARNE, Osterley, Middx.