The Hammers have reacted to criticism of their decision to remove the Bobby Moore Fund logo from their junior shirts

West Ham United insist that their commitment to the Bobby Moore Fund is as strong as ever, despite stinging criticism of the club following their decision to remove the charity name from their junior shirts this season.

The three-year agreement between the charity, set up in memory of their most famous player, and West Ham, ended back in July and the Hammers have decided not to negotiate a new one.

But they stress that does not mean the partnership between the two will come to an end.

“We are totally committed to the Bobby Moore Fund and to the Richard House Hospice and will continue to be,” said a West Ham spokesman. “We have raised �34,000 for the fund just from the royalties from the BMF merchandise alone and our sponsors - SBOBET - made a donation of �10,000 last season at the friendly match against Deportivo La Coruna.

“We have also raised the awareness of the fund and we will certainly continue to do so. If you asked people what charity is associated with West Ham, then a lot would know the answer.”

West Ham were criticised last season when the Bobby Moore Cup, the traditional name for the Hammers pre-season international friendly, was changed to the SBOBET Cup as a thank you to the club sponsors.

This season’s match against Real Zaragoza on July 30 may well be called something different again, but West Ham insist that they will still be endeavouring to make everyone aware of the Bobby Moore Fund throughout the new campaign.

“We want to continue our relationship with the Bobby Moore Fund and hopefully when we move to the Olympic Stadium, the partnership will come with us - our commitment to the fund and to Bobby Moore as one of our greatest players is a vital one to us.”

West Ham have replaced the Fund logo on their junior shirts with one of the Olympic stadium and the words ‘Forever United’, something that provoked condemnation from fans on various websites.

But the spokesman commented: “The Olympics is in our borough and it is something we would want to celebrate, even if we weren’t going to move there.”

When asked by the Recorder for a comment from the Bobby Moore Fund, they issued this statement: “Stephanie Moore MBE is Bobby’s widow and founder of the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK. Unfortunately Stephanie is not available for comment on this matter.”