418 Alan Moore

Biography

Alan Moore was a skilful outside right who spent half a season at City in the early 1950s. He joined the Tigers in July 1951, transferring from Chesterfield. A pulled muscle sustained in a pre-season warm-up meant he didn’t make his City debut until the end of August 1951, he contributed three goals in his first seven starts after replacing fellow North Easterner Ken Harrison in the City first eleven. When manager Raich Carter left the club in September 1951 Moore initially retained his first team berth but was replaced by Harrison during October 1951. Moore returned to the starting eleven occasionally over the next three months but requested a transfer due to his sporadic first team action. He scored a fourth Tigers goal in his final appearance, a January 1952 5-1 thumping of Coventry City, then left the Tigers the following week.

Alan Moore was born in Hebburn on the banks of the River Tyne, but it was on Wearside where he first played professional football with Sunderland after training as an electrician in the Wear shipyards. After two years on the fringes at Roker Park he drifted into the non-league scene with Spennymoor United where his impressive form attracted the attention of numerous football league clubs. He was snapped up by Division Two side Chesterfield in December 1948 and returned to the professional fold, making his senior debut in December 1948 against Bury. He scored his first senior goal in March 1950 against Grimsby Town and was a regular presence in the Spireites first team for two seasons. However the Saltergate side suffered relegation at the end of the 1950/51 season and needed to restructure their squad, Moore left Chesterfield in the summer of 1951 having scored two goals in 70 senior appearances.

Alan left the Tigers in January 1952 and signed for Division Two rivals Nottingham Forest, making his debut that month in the febrile atmosphere of a Trent derby against Notts County. He scored his first goal for Forest at the end of January 1952 against Brentford and held down the first team berth that had eluded him at Boothferry Park. For the next two seasons Moore was a key part of Forest’s attempts to win promotion to the top flight, scoring regularly – his nineteen goals in the 1953/54 season included a September 1953 hattrick against Stoke City as Forest fell four points short of the promotion places. Moore began the 1954/55 season at Forest but the club’s form declined in the opening months of the season – he left the club in December 1954 having scored 39 goals in 104 appearances.

In the week before Christmas 1954 Moore transferred Division Three South side Coventry City and made a goalscoring debut against Southampton on Christmas Day. For twelve months Moore was a first team regular for the Sky Blues until an injury sustained in late December 1955 against Millwall ended his season prematurely. Alan returned to the Coventry first team in September 1956 but was used sporadically during the 1956/57 season. He was placed on the transfer list in May 1957 having scored 13 goals in 60 appearances for Coventry. A month later in June 1957 Alan was sold to Division Three South rivals Swindon Town for a £3,500 fee, but he was used sparingly during the 1957/58 season. Having been a more regular choice for Swindon at the start of the 1958/59 season, he left the club in November 1958 having scored three goals in 19 appearances.

Moore joined Division Three strugglers Rochdale in November 1958 and made his Dale debut that month against former club Hull City. He completed the 1958/59 season at Spotland scoring two goals in 11 appearances, leaving the club in the 1959 close season. In July 1959 Moore signed for Southern League side Wisbech Town but four months later in November 1959 he switched to Southern League rivals Cambridge United, taking on the role of player/coach at the Abbey Stadium a month later.

In the 1960 close season Alan was appointed player/manager at Cambridge United. He remained a player until the end of the 1961/62 season and focused on managing the club for a further year before resigning in October 1963 after claiming he received excessive volumes of hate mail from supporters (he would hate 21st century Twitter!). He dropped out of football to establish a sports shop business in central Cambridge but by October 1964 he was back in his boots, playing for Eastern Counties League side Soham. In December 1964 he briefly rejoined Southern League side Wisbech Town but within a few weeks he had switched to Eastern Counties League side Ely City, ending his playing days a second time in the 1965 close season.

Between 1966 and 1968 Moore managed Cambridgeshire County League side Shelford while also coaching the Cambridge University football team. He left the University in November 1971 after a disagreement with the student captain, having taken over as manager of Eastern Counties League side Histon in August 1971. He left the role at Histon in October 1972 and returned to running his sports shop business. After several years of ill health Moore died in Cambridge during April 2008.

Details

Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 7 March 1927, Hebburn
Hull City First Game: 30 August 1951, Queens Park Rangers H (Division Two), 24 years, 176 days old
Hull City Final Game: 5 January 1952, Coventry City H (Division Two), 24 years, 304 days old

Clubs

Sunderland (1945-1947), Spennymoor United (1947-1948), Chesterfield (1948-1951), Hull City (1951-1952), Nottingham Forest (1952-1954), Coventry City (1954-1957), Swindon Town (1957-1958), Rochdale (1958-1959), Wisbech Town (1959), Cambridge United (1959-1962), Soham (1964), Wisbech Town (1964-1965), Ely City (1965)

Hull City Record

Career: 13 apps, 4 goals

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1951/52134

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