FOOTBALL legend Bobby Moncur is celebrating the greatest victory of his life.

The 63-year-old former Newcastle captain has won his a nine-month battle against cancer of the colon.

Following a meeting with his specialist Mark Katory at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead yesterday afternoon, the 1969 Fairs Cup winner has been told he is now cancer-free.

It is news that the grandfather-of-three, his devoted wife Camille and children Paul, 39 and Angela, 37, had been praying for.

He said: "It's great news.

"Mr Katory said to me that I can now say I am cancer-free.

"There will be an on-going programme to keep a check on me.

"I have always said that when I was given the all-clear I wanted people to know. For someone like me you can never really say all-clear but the cancer's gone.

"I had a tremendous reaction from well-wishers after I was diagnosed and I want people to know the news."

The ex-Scotland skipper was given the devastating news that he had a cancerous tumour in September last year and weeks later he went under the knife to have twelve inches of his colon removed.

He then endured six months of gruelling chemotherapy in a bid to rid him of the disease.

Mr Moncur said: "I consider myself very lucky.

"The treatment was not pleasant but there are a lot of people who are worse off.

"The chemotherapy made me very nauseous but it didn't stop me.

"I didn't miss a day of work and I didn't lose my hair.

"When I was diagnosed I was totally staggered.

"It was a shock and a terrible news. Cancer was a disease that happened to other people.

"I was told I had a tumour and it was cancerous. It was life-threatening and it had to be taken out.

"I had a colonoscopy immediately after that and my wife Camille was there.

"She was absolutely fantastic and kept asking the right questions.

"I can't talk too highly about the staff and the surgeon who helped me, they were all great and put me at ease."

Opening his heart about his cancer battle, the last United captain to lift a major trophy said that he had started to feel unwell while on holiday with his family in Portugal last year.

But it was the story of legendary footballer Bobby Moore, who died from bowel cancer in 1993, which gave him the push he needed to seek help.

"When I was on holiday I was not feeling clever but I was being a typical man thinking I would be alright," he added.

"I came back two days later and was reading a newspaper article about a guy who has colon cancer and he was describing what happened to him.

"I was thinking I have got something like that but I was making excuses to myself.

"The guy said that the reason he went to the doctor was because he had met Bobby Moore's wife Stephanie at a charity function and she said if Bobby had gone to the doctor when he should have done he would still be alive.

"When I read that I felt Bobby Moore was telling me to do something about it.

"Within a month I was operated on."

He remained positive throughout his ordeal he has suffered dark moments over the past nine months.

He revealed: "You do have dark moments and think what if.

"I was furious that it should happen to me. I was angry because I was really enjoying life.

"I remember people saying to me that if I was a player today I would be a millionaire but I told them that I felt like a millionaire, not in terms of cash, but I was doing commentary for Century FM and getting paid to watch Newcastle United "I was really enjoying myself.

"I remember saying you never know when something is going to happen.

"Then that's just what happened."

Moncur signed for Newcastle United as youngster in 1960, going on to be appointed skipper in the 1967/68 season, going on to lift the Fairs Cup, now known as the UEFA Cup, in 1969.

Following the 1974 FA Cup Final defeat at the hands of Liverpool, he was released and signed for Sunderland, helping them back into Division One.

He later went onto manage Carlisle United, Hearts, Plymouth Argyle and, briefly, Hartlepool United.