I WAS standing alone in the antiquated wooden press box at Ewood Park when a figure approached, his hunched-up shoulders dwarfed by a beaten brown leather jacket and face partially hidden by a flat cap.

"How's it goin', son?" he asked in a deep Cockney accent. "It's a bit nippy up here, innit?"

It was Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore - known to the world as Bobby.

It was February 1993, and Moore had two years earlier been diagnosed with cancer. The illness had taken its toll on his once fresh features, but he was a warrior, always had been.

He may have been fighting the biggest battle of his life, but he spoke with a real enthusiasm.

We talked football for five or 10 minutes, and I was in awe. There was an aura around this man, one of the greatest players to ever put on an England shirt.

He shook my hand with a gentleness I'll never forget, and went to find the rest of his radio commentary team.

In less than a week, Bobby Moore had passed away, aged 51.

A nation mourned. No, the world mourned. Pele, Banks, Charlton . . . the list of legends paying tributes was endless.

Moore had been a fantastic defender and one of the greatest readers of the game. But more importantly, he was a leader, the man who symbolised England's World Cup of 1966.

In all, Moore was capped 108 times by England - and he wore the captain's armband for 90 of those games.

In 1963, he became the youngest England captain at the age of 23 when he led his side out to face the Czechs.

He won almost every top honour in the game, and perhaps the pinnacle was being named the World Cup's Player of Players.

And that's how I always wanted to remember Moore. The leader of the pack. Captain Marvel, held aloft by the rest of the England 1966 squad with the World Cup clutched proudly in his hand.

This week, Sven Goran Eriksson cheapened that image for us all.

By farcically playing a game of pass the parcel with the England captain's armband against Serbia and Montenegro, the Swede showed little regard for our traditions, for our past glories and for the memory of Bobby Moore.

Emile Heskey was made captain because it was 'nice for him in front of Leicester fans'. Heskey as a skipper! What a joke - he's the quietest man on the pitch.

Then the frisbee was thrown to Phil Neville, a man who can't command a regular first team place at Manchester United. Such was his incredulity, and probable embarassment, he had to check with the bench.

Finally, Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher was given the armband worn 90 times by Moore. Carragher wasn't even in the squad when it was first announced.

I don't blame the players - they looked as bemused as the rest of us.

Eriksson dished out the great honour like a salesman distributes leaflets in Blackburn town centre.

Does it really matter?

Just take a trip to the Football Museum in Preston to see what the traditions of our game means to us.

Eriksson has already belittled the honour of winning an England cap. I'm about the only person this side of Watford who hasn't had an England call-up.

He can't be allowed to mess with our heritage any longer.

Take a trip to Upton Park this weekend, Sven, and take a good long look at Bobby Moore's statue.

Our England team deserves more respect.