News of the death of Manchester United legend Remi Moses saw dozens of mourners come to pay their respects at St Stathis church in Argassi, a town on the Greek Island of Zakynthos that he had retired to.
With particular poignancy, the mortician had laid out the body in the coffin clad in one of his trademark Man Utd shirts.
Some may have found it strange that no one from Manchester United had made the journey to formally acknowledge the passing of the man who had a unique place in Old Trafford history, as the first black player to score for the club.
But even without them, it was a moving service that fully honoured a footballing great – fulsome tributes were paid, and many tears shed.
Then afterwards, as the congregation filed out of the church to move on to a cemetery to watch the coffin being laid in its final resting place, Moses’ widow, Jutta, thanked them one by one for having made the funeral so special.
And they thanked her back – for having brought such a great player to live out his final days on their humble island. ‘He was truly one of the football greats’, said one mourner, with a wistful nod of the head.
There was just one problem. Remi Moses wasn’t dead. He was alive and well and living in Manchester.
And the reason no one from the club had attended the final send off was that they were still reeling from the bizarre events of the previous few days.
A man managed to dupe an entire Greek island that he was the legendary Manchester United player Remi Moses. Here he is pictured with a fan holding a United shirt in Zakynthos
The lie told by Kenneth Simms, a 61-year-old retired marketing executive, was so convincing that even his German wife Jutta Simms (pictured) believed she was married to the football icon
When Simms passed away, his wife Jutta broke the sad news to his former Greek football team that the legendary former England player had died. But in fact the real Moses (pictured) was alive and well and living in Manchester
‘Remi Moses’ had been pronounced dead by the authorities in Zakynthos on December 1st.
The following day, reports in the Greek media of the death of the eighties great at the age of 65 had reached the UK, prompting an outpouring of grief, particularly among older supporters of the club for whom Moses had made 199 appearances.
But just within 24 further hours, mourning in Manchester was cut short as supporters began to query the details reported in the Greek media – and soon it was clear that reports of his death, to use Mark Twain’s famous line, had been greatly exaggerated.
This was definitively confirmed by a formal statement from Moses’ family clarifying that Remi was alive and well, still living in Manchester.
Now The Mail on Sunday has uncovered the full story behind this strange turn of events – and it is perhaps the most bizarre episode in the club’s storied history.
Because Remi Moses DID die in Greece last November – or at least a man going by that name, whose wife, friends, neighbours and even local football club believed was the famous player, had died.
And if the original news from Greece of Moses’ death had made it to England quite quickly – it seems the corrective clarification did not make it back in the same direction, meaning that his funeral went ahead in Zakynthos as if they really were burying a star player.
Indeed the story was so widely accepted there that even his widow had buried him still believing she had been married to Moses.
But the man in the coffin was actually one Kenneth Simms, a 61-year-old retired marketing executive from Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, we can reveal.
When the man the Greek island of Zakynthos believed was Remi Moses died, the entire community mourned his passing at the loss of a local hero who retired there ten years ago
So entrenched was his story of fantasy that three time married Simms from Hemel Hempstead even used his heroic football past to secure a coaching job with a local Greek women’s club
When Simms died in December mourners came the yellow painted St Stathis church in Argassi to pay their respects at his funeral – and speak to his grieving wodow Jutta
And although the island of Zakynthos believed he was a Manchester United footballing legend, the man buried wearing a United shirt in the grave was Kenneth Simms from Hertfordshire
Simms, who was of Caribbean heritage, had been a lifelong Man Utd supporter who at some point in the later years of his life had taken his fandom for Moses one step further and actually adopted his identity.
He then managed to convince not just Jutta, a German social worker – his third wife – that he was Moses but all their friends and neighbours in Zakynthos too.
So audacious was Simms at playing his part that he even managed to secure a job at Greek football club, Doxa Pigadakion, by telling the chairman he was the famous former Red Devil.
A senior source at Doxa Pigadakion explained to us how they had been taken in by Simms.
‘He said he had retired to the island and that he wanted to keep in touch with the game and said he would like to volunteer as a coach,’ the director told us.
‘I was introduced to him by another coach on the island who said ‘I want you to meet Manchester United legend Remi Moses.’
‘He came to the club and we talked about football and he certainly knew his stuff.
‘He showed me videos and he talked about playing for United against Maradona when he was at Barcelona.’
The upshot of this was that Simms was given the job of coaching Doxa Pigadakion’s women’s team for the 2020-21 season.
Announcing his appointment, club chairman Andreas Gouskos couldn’t hide his delight.
He told Greek media then: ‘For Zakynthos football, it is a blessing from God that Mr Moses exists on the island. We are happy that we met him…there have been many tributes to his presence in Zakynthos.’
Pictures on social media from that season show Simms wearing a Manchester United tracksuit at training sessions.
He even gave interviews to the local paper as if he were a former senior pro.
In one such piece ‘Remi’ told the reporter: ‘The goal this year is to improve the first team and we hope to be promoted to the First Division. The girls we have here are very good and their potential is very high. I am very pleased.’
A club source told us: ‘Believe me, everyone here thought he was the real Remi Moses.
‘He was very knowledgeable about football and especially Manchester United.
‘He would even show us old videos of Remi playing and say ‘Look at me back then’.
‘He was good at coaching and training and I think he would have stayed longer but he hurt his foot and after that we never saw him again.’
Friends of Simms’ third wife Jutta say she is German and has no interest in football so she too believed her husband’s tall tale when he said he played football at the highest level
When news of Remi Moses’ death was released to the media in Greece, there was just one problem – the great man who played for England was alive and well and living in Manchester
In this small way Simms had replicated the career of the man whose identity he had appropriated – the real Remi’s playing career had been ended prematurely by injury at just 28.
It would be the Zakynthos club – having been told of his passing by Jutta ‘Moses’ – which put out the initial statement alerting the world to Remi’s ‘death’.
Their tribute read: ‘Our club had the honour, for a short time, to collaborate with the veteran Manchester United footballer Remi Moses.
‘To all fanatical football fans, not just fans of one of the great teams of English football, he will always remain in our minds, as that football player in the mid-80s, who ran endless kilometres in the midfield of Manchester United.
‘His great football moment was the qualification in 1984, against Barcelona, when he marked Maradona out of both legs of the tie.
‘Remi, for several years now, has been a permanent resident of Zakynthos.
‘With our club and with its people, he has always had communication and a two-way sporting respect.
‘Our club expresses its deepest condolences to his family.’
The statement then went on to give funeral details which led to that turnout of mourners.
It remains unclear exactly why Simms had begun to pass himself off as Remi.
Jutta, who believed she was married to the real Remi Moses, remains too shaken by the death of her partner closely followed by his exposure as the perpetrator of a strange but successful hoax, to discuss matters.
She is German and has told friends she has no real interest in football. The club too are baffled.
One club figure told us: ‘We just don’t know why he did it. Maybe it was his fantasy but the only one who could say for sure is the man who I now know was Kenneth Simms and not Remi Moses – and he’s no longer here.
Kenneth Simms’ retired from his marketing executive job in the UK where he left behind two former wives and he and Jutta settled for ten years in this home on the island of Zakynthos
When it was announced that Remi – seen playing for United in 1987 – had died, the real Remi’s son phoned him immediately and he confirmed he was alive and that he must have an imposter
‘But it wasn’t just us who fell for it, the whole island thought he was Remi Moses, he would pose for pictures with people and say he was Remi, it’s crazy.’
The Doxa Pigadakion director told us of his shock when he finally found out the truth after officials from the Premier League giants contacted him in the wake of the club’s announcement of Remi’s death.
He said: ‘I couldn’t believe it. None of us could believe it. We all thought it was the real Remi Moses.’
He added: ‘United were very good and asked if they could help and if anything untoward had happened. We told them no, he was never inappropriate in any way.
‘But we were mortified that we had been tricked.
‘With hindsight maybe I should have asked to see his passport or some paperwork but it just didn’t cross my mind. It never crossed our minds that this could have happened.
‘But obviously when I look at his pictures and videos now you can tell quite easily that it’s not him. He barely looks like the real Remi.’
The director revealed how things became even more surreal when he attended Kenneth’s funeral on Saturday 13 December, by now knowing the club had been conned but finding other mourners had yet to learn this.
He said: ‘Even though I knew by then we had been hoaxed I thought out of respect for someone who had given their time to the club I went to his funeral.
‘And he was in his coffin wearing a red Manchester United shirt, he was buried with it, I thought it couldn’t get any stranger and I wanted to ask his wife why but I couldn’t because she was grieving.’
He added: ‘We are very, very embarrassed by all this.’
Kenneth and Jutta lived in a remote hilltop villa at Argassi in the south of the island and last night there was no answer when The Mail on Sunday visited.
A neighbour said Jutta had left for England last week and didn’t say when she would be back.
When asked if they knew about the bizarre back story, they laughed and said: ‘We all knew him as Remi and we were shocked at the truth.’
Soumelas Kotsonis, 22, a petrol station employee who regularly delivered fuel to the house, gave a sense of how widely accepted the hoax was here.
He told us: ‘I’ve lived here since I was born and always knew him as Remi Moses.
‘I thought he was the real footballer, I would deliver fuel to the house and there was Manchester United gear all over the walls, he would show me Remi videos and say ‘That’s me when I was younger’.
‘I had no idea he wasn’t telling the truth, I believed him from the start, it was only after he died and the news came out that I realised he wasn’t the real Remi Moses.’
Meanwhile, back in Manchester the real Remi Moses was unavailable for comment but a relative spoke to us on his behalf.
Confusingly that relative is also called Remi Moses – the real Remi’s 44 year old son.
Speaking from his famous dad’s house in Middleton in the city, Remi Jr, told us: ‘My dad has never even been to Zante. He doesn’t venture far from Middleton, maybe he goes into Manchester city centre to play snooker but that is about it.
‘He is also not married and has never been married. It’s all been an absolute shock – to hear that about your dad.
‘When the news came out [the fake death announcement] I was obviously in shock and I phoned my dad straight away.
‘Luckily he answered within just a few rings – was I glad to hear his voice!
‘Some of his friends thought it was true at first when they heard the news.
‘It was a shock to all of us.’
But Remi Jr made it plain the family held no grudges against Simms.
He said: ‘My dad didn’t know the ins and outs of what happened but he put two and two together and thought that someone must have been impersonating him.
‘[But] People are people and whatever this man has done Dad would have compassion for him.
‘You have got to have compassion for the bloke, no matter what he has done.
‘We don’t know how the club in Greece announced his death without being certain.
‘Maybe it’s negligence by the club for not doing their homework.
‘But the overwhelming thing was the support for my dad and the tributes. It was humbling after the initial shock.’
Jutta did not respond to comment but a friend of hers on Zakynthos contacted The Mail on Sunday to say she was ‘heartbroken’ at the loss of her husband.
She added: ‘She is grieving a man she was devoted to and is heartbroken.
‘She knew him as Kenneth. She knows nothing about football and when Kenneth used the name ‘Remi Moses’ she thought it was his professional name, in much the same way the singers Lady Gaga and Madonna have different names.
Pictured back row right to left: Norman Whiteside, Ashley Grimes, Lou Macari, Gary Bailey, Gordon McQueen, Mike Duxbury, Kevin Moran, Ray Wilkins, Remi Moses, Steve Coppell. Front row left to right: Arnold Muhren, Frank Stapleton, Arthur Albiston, Bryan Robson, Alan Davies
‘When she called the Greek club to say the man they knew as Remi Moses had died, she had no idea he wasn’t the real Remi Moses. There was no profiteering or scandal, there was nothing intentionally untoward.’
The real Remi arrived at Man Utd from West Brom in 1981 for £500,000 and was on the verge of breaking into the England team when injury cut short his career.
On October 21, 1981 Moses became United’s first-ever black goalscorer when he scored a late winner in a 1-0 triumph over Middlesbrough at Old Trafford.
That was one of 12 goals he scored during seven seasons at the club. His time at United was plagued by injuries and recurring knee problems ultimately forced him to retire prematurely in 1989 at the age of 28.
However, he did win the 1983 and 1985 FA Cups – despite missing both finals due to first suspension and secondly injury. He also won the 1984 Charity Shield.
