Football: 'The heartbeat of the team of 1966': Bobby Moore

Sir Alf Ramsey: 'If people say England would not have won the World Cup without me as manager, I can say it would have been impossible without Bobby Moore as captain. He was the heartbeat of the team in 1966. He was my right-hand man, my lieutenant on the field, a cool calculated footballer I could trust with my life.'

Pele (three times World Cup winner with Brazil): 'Besides being a player, he was my friend. My thoughts and prayers are with his family. The world has lost one of the greatest football players and a wonderful gentleman.'

Franz Beckenbauer (German sweeper in 1966 final): 'My God, death came quickly. It is a great shock for me. Bobby Moore was a true gent and a true friend.'

Martin Peters (West Ham and England team-mate): 'I am devastated. I am choked that I will never see him or speak to him again. He was an inspirational player whenever you played with him but it wasn't just about football, it was the man himself. Great players of the past will be as shocked as we are that this has happened to him at such a young and tender age.'

Brian Clough (Nottingham Forest manager): 'He did our game proud. He brought it grace and elegance. I wish I could have worked with him.'

Denis Law (former Scotland forward): 'He was an immaculate defender who did not need to foul to win the ball. I don't think he kicked a player intentionally in his life. He was a good tackler but rarely needed to because he picked up the ball before you could get to it.'

Willi Schulz (German defender in 1966 final): 'He was one of the best sweepers in the world. He was a bright guy, and was always on the sunny side of life. I heard he was ill, but that his death came so quickly touched me very deeply. I bow my head. He was one of the greats of world football.'

Hans Tilkowski (German goalkeeper in 1966 final): 'At the weekend I was in London and visited Wembley with Geoff Hurst and Gottfried Dienst (the Swiss referee in the World Cup final). This is a sad day for England, but also for the whole footballing world. Moore was not only a first-class footballer, he was also a gentleman, a good comrade and a friend.'

Ray Wilson (England team-mate): 'It's desperately sad news and I'm absolutely shattered to hear it. Bobby was such a magnificent footballer and a tremendous leader of men. The bigger the fight the better he responded. '

Gordon Banks (England team-mate): 'I spoke to him just last week. He said he didn't feel too bad and was going to fight it and now a week later he is gone. We will all remember the happy and successful times, the times that were a laugh and a joke.'

Roger Hunt (England team-mate): 'It was a pleasure to play football with him. The thing I will always remember is his calmness. He was a steadying influence on us all.'

Billy Wright (former England captain): 'He was a marvellous reader of the game and a wonderful captain who knew how to marshal his men around him. One of the great, great memories is watching him lift the World Cup at Wembley. It's a terrible shock. It's really upset me. He was just a young lad.'

Graham Taylor (present England manager): 'My enduring picture of Bobby Moore will always be him lifting the World Cup in 1966. As a young professional player myself, that day he was captain of all of us, not just the England team.'

John Major: 'Bobby Moore will always be one of the immortals of soccer. He will forever be remembered for leading England to victory in the 1966 World Cup. But he did much more than that. He enhanced sport by his example and his behaviour as well as his skill.'