Minister: Why we must track down Bobby’s red shirt

MINISTERS have thrown their weight behind calls for Bobby Moore’s missing World Cup shirt to be returned to the footballer’s family.

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer urged ‘anyone with knowledge of its whereabouts’ to come forward.

Moore’s family launched a public appeal through the Mail after the 1966 red shirt went missing in mysterious circumstances.

The last time Tina Moore, his wife of 24 years, saw the No 6 jersey it was in the attic of her house in a bag that also contained a yellow top worn by Brazil legend Pele. The family were shocked to be told Moore’s shirt had cropped up in the hands of an unknown private buyer at an auction.

Moore’s teammate Sir Geoff Hurst has led calls from the sporting world to restore it to the family and yesterday Ms Frazer said: ‘I urge anyone with knowledge of its whereabouts, or understanding of how it has changed hands, to come forward.’ .

This week Daren Burney, a collector of football memorabilia, has tried to cast doubt on the family’s claim to Moore’s shirt, pictured, by saying the 1966 England captain was well known for giving away his jerseys.

Mr Burney has claimed the ‘attic story’ is ‘not true’. He wrote on Twitter that there was ‘mention of the Pele shirt apparently being in the attic, yet that was given away and sold at Christie’s’. However, the Mail has discovered that shirt was not sold – because the auction house withdrew the item from sale in 2007 amid questions over its authenticity. This week it emerged that the person who had the No6 shirt has sold it to another mystery buyer. Writing in The Times, Mr Burney said the person ‘was in no doubt of the legality of their ownership, they did not want the stress’ of a dispute with Moore’s family, who are sure the shirt belongs to them.