Meet football’s original golden couple

When England won the World Cup in July 1966, skipper Bobby Moore became a national hero.

Swept up by the media frenzy and the nation’s adoration, he and wife Tina were football’ s original‘ golden’ couple.

This new three-part drama (Tina and Bobby, ITV, 9pm, Friday) tells the story of the England and West Ham legend’s life with his childhood sweetheart, Tina Dean, from their humble beginnings to the dizzy heights of superstardom.

Based on Tina Moore’s memoir, Bobby Moore: By The Person Who Knew Him Best, it was written by Lauren Klee.

It is an epic love story about an ordinary girl from Essex who fell head over heels in love with an ordinary boy, who just happened to be an extraordinarily talented footballer.

A typist for the Prudential, Tina first met Bobby aged 15 when she “played hookey from school to go to the Ilford Palais with her cousin Jenny”.

Coolness personified, with handsome film-star looks, Bobby was only 17 himself and, though an exciting emerging talent, had yet to make a first-team appearance for West Ham United.

Tina was to marry Bobby on 30 June 1962 and finding her feet in this new glamourous world, she and Bobby were excited about the future andthe new home they were setting up together.

As Bobby’s career flourished, Tina was happy to consider herself the first WAG, though she struggled to master life as a suburban housewife.

She befriended some of her fellow WAGS - Judith Hurst, Kathy Peters and Janice Sealey - and pregnancy with their first child gave her renewed purpose.

Then in 1965 the couple were dealt a devastating blow: Bobby was diagnosed with testicular cancer and faced a career-threatening operation.

With the World Cup around the corner it looked as if Bobby wouldn’t be able to play but, against all the odds, he fought his way back to fitness and the rest is his- tory.

England’s victory made Bobby and Tina national celebrities and they experienced amazing personal highs, including the birth of their son Dean.

Their heady lifestyle did take its toll, though the marriage survived.

However, when Bobby’ s career waned and business ventures failed, the cracks started to show and Tina began to realise that the biggest challenges were still to come.

Despite the Moores’ links to Essex and London, the series was filmed in Manchester over the course of last summer, while the iconic scene in which Bobby lifts the Jules Rimet trophy at Wembley Stadium was actually shot at Headingley in Leeds.

Taking on the dauntingly charismatic role of Bobby is Scottish actor Lorne MacFadyen, best known for his role as Phil Wilkinson in Grantchester.

Following her departure from Coronation Street in 2014 and her work on hit BBC drama Our Girl, Michelle Keegan plays Tina.