In 1966 he was out of contract immediately before the World Cup finals and at that time it made him ineligible to play (when did they change the rules, by the way?) It was only when Alf Ramsey realised the danger of losing his captain that Moore was persuaded to sign a new contract with the Irons.”Ī few players played their last games of football at the World Cup, having represented their clubs for the last time so were technically free agents. Jack Deller cranks things up a notch: “How about captaining a side at the Wold Cup finals without a club team? OK, let’s pile it all on - how about captaining the World Cup winning team without a club side - well, almost? Bobby Moore. Tony Cascarino had been released by Chelsea before the 1994 World Cup and would sign for Marseille after it, while Andre Ooijer appeared in the 2010 final despite having no fixed footballing abode. There were also a couple of nominations for the Angola striker Akwa, who was between clubs at the 2006 World Cup, while David Young suggests Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper Kelvin Jack, who had been released by Dundee before the same tournament. Modest chap, even by the standards of most Championship-level defenders who self-finance a Hollywood film about themselves though neither back-story or World Cup performances saw him staying in the European leagues thereafter.” “Watford FC released him before he appeared for the USA in 2010. “Jay DeMerit for one,” adds Andrew Foulkes. Meanwhile James Straughan writes: “In 2010 alone there were three Australia’s Craig Moore & New Zealand’s Simon Elliott and David Mulligan (unused substitute) having left AO Kavala & Wellington Phoenix (x two) respectively.” This was largely because most of the Canadian side that did well at the 1984 Olympics (Brazil needed a penalty shoot-out to eliminate them) played in the old North American Soccer League, which disbanded in 1985, leaving many unemployed and not everyone managed to find a new team by the following year, relying on indoor football to keep their eyes in. They were captain Bruce Wilson, midfielder Randy Ragan, defender Randy Samuel, midfielder Greg Ion, midfielder Jamie Lowery and goalkeeper Sven Habermann. Jeff Lawrence reminds us of the Canada squad in 1986, the only World Cup they have ever qualified for, which had no fewer than six unattached players in it.
In the end he signed for the slightly less-picky West Ham but they were relegated and he only played 18 games.
His performances there led to suggestions that teams as prestigious as Juventus and Barcelona were keen, and in fact Breen revealed years later that he agreed a deal with Internazionale but failed a medical. The most popular suggestion was Gary Breen, who went to the 2002 World Cup with Ireland sans club, after leaving Coventry. Well, it’s fair to say that judging from our mailbag there have been a few.
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