Bobby Moore to Thierry Henry

You never forget where you were or who you were with when you watched your first World Cup,

or your second World Cup… in fact, every World Cup in your life.


Liz Heade takes us on a journey through her life, beginning with her first World Cup in 1970 when, aged ten, she fell in love with Bobby Moore and decided she was going to be a football commentator when she grew up. This would have been a simple aspiration, had she not been a girl growing up in 1970s Dublin under the tutelage of the nuns. It was recommended she consider the Civil Service as a back-up plan… 


Through her school years, Liz opted to study classics rather than modern languages, following England’s devastating loss to the Germans. She progressed through university and a career in the arts during her twenties which were filled with memories of sweet, lovely, perfectly decent young men who tried more or less to win her heart, but couldn’t cope with her commitment to watching football, and cut their losses and left. 


Against the background of Italia 90, USA 94 and France 98, Liz became a lawyer and married a man who, it would turn out, never loved football as much as she did. She moved to Glasgow, replaced her husband with a cat (and Thierry Henry) after he left her, and eventually relocated to London to be closer to her beloved football team. 


Along the way, Liz recounts with humour the love, loss and adventures of a life lived in the background of World Cup tournaments. She also questions whether men and women can live happily together as football fans, contemplates the caprice of the football gods and wonders why life can never live up to the beauty of football. 


Bobby Moore to Thierry Henry is a fan story told by a woman, for women (and men) who love football.