Biography

Experienced half back Peter Mooney joined the Tigers in June 1927 from Newcastle United, the club where he had played alongside City manager Bill McCracken. Mooney was immediately introduced to the first team at right half, a position he held for the first two months of the season. However at the end of October 1927 McCracken turned to other options in the half back line and Mooney did not make another first team appearance for City, leaving the club in August 1928.
Edward Peter Mooney was born in the centre of Newcastle Upon Tyne to an Irish-born coal miner father and a mother who worked in a local grocery shop. In his teenage years the family moved to Walker in Newcastle’s east end and Peter worked in a local colliery. During the outbreak of World War One Mooney stayed in Newcastle and worked in the local shipyards, it was here in his early 20s that he first started playing football. In September 1917 the city’s pre-war First Division team Newcastle United formed Newcastle United Swifts, a scratch team of local talent that competed in the district league system – Mooney was one of the first recruits to the Swifts. In September 1919, after two years’ service to the Swifts and following cessation of World War One, Mooney signed professional terms for Newcastle United and made his first team debut in a January 1920 FA Cup tie at Huddersfield in front of 46,000 fans – quite a start! For the next two seasons Peter was a reserve half back who played in all three positions when senior colleagues were unavailable.
In the 1921/22 season Mooney was elevated to become a first team regular and he made 30 starts. He also scored his first goal for the Magpies in an October 1921 2-1 win over Sheffield United. He remained a first regular for two and half further seasons and his career pinnacled in April 1924 when he played at right half in the FA Cup Final against Aston Villa at Wembley, which the Magpies won 2-0. His Cup Final winners medal was just reward as he had played in every round of Newcastle’s cup campaign, including a 2-0 semi-final win over Manchester City at Birmingham’s St Andrews ground. During October 1924, in the aftermath of his Cup final victory, Mooney was chosen to represent the English Football League against their Irish counterparts and the possibility of international honours beckoned.
Those high points were quickly followed by much darker times. In January 1925 Mooney was confined to a convalescent home suffering from a severe nervous breakdown. He returned to first team football in October 1925 but only 8 games into his reintroduction he broke his leg in a December 1925 League match at West Bromwich Albion. While he remained at St James’s Park for a further two years and made a dozen further appearances, the combination of these events clearly had an impact on the quality of his play. He left Newcastle United in June 1927 having made 135 first team appearances and scored four goals.
Mooney left the Tigers in August 1928 and signed for Midland League side Scunthorpe & Lindsey United. After a season at the Old Show Ground Mooney joined North Eastern League side Shildon at the start of the 1928/29 season, but by November 1929 he moved on to play for Walker Celtic. After two years of service at Walker Mooney retired from playing in January 1931. By 1939 he was living near Byker in Newcastle and working as a pneumatic driller. After the war he worked as a hotel attendant and lived in the Heaton district of Newcastle Upon Tyne – he died of a heart attack in January 1955 at the age of 59.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 22 March 1895, Newcastle Upon Tyne
Hull City First Game: 27 August 1927, Barnsley A (Division Two), 32 years, 158 days old
Hull City Final Game: 29 October 1927, Blackpool H (Division Two), 32 years, 221 days old
Clubs
Newcastle United Swifts (1917-1919), Newcastle United (1919-1927), Hull City (1927-1928), Scunthorpe & Lindsey United (1928-1929), Shildon (1929), Walker Celtic (1929-1931)
Hull City Record
Career: 11 apps, 0 goals
Peter MooneySeason | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1927/28 | 11 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |