Biography

Attacking midfielder Paul Moss joined City in September 1979, initially on loan then soon after on a permanent deal in return for a £50,000 fee. His introduction to the Black and Amber by manager Ken Houghton was something of a baptism of fire, a home game against Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United – City won 3-1 and Moss scored the third goal. In October 1979 Moss added a second goal, a winner at home to Chesterfield, and his first team place was secure. However during the winter months City embarked on a fifteen match winless run, Houghton was sacked and former Wales international manager Mike Smith took over. Moss was moved to the left wing and rewarded Smith with a goal in his second game in charge, a 3-1 win over Mansfield Town, but soon John Farley was preferred on the flank and Moss spent a month out of the team. He returned in mid-March in a central midfield role and scored the only goal in a win over Swindon Town, then scored again in April in a 3-1 win over Blackpool. Six goals scored, five wins – decent!
Moss began the 1980/81 season in a support striker role and scored in a late August 3-3 draw against Exeter City. However by early November the emerging talents of Steve McClaren and Brian Marwood, coupled with a falling out with manager Smith and his assistant Cyril Lea, restricted Moss’s first team chances and he played only once more in the last six months of a season that ended in relegation to Division Four. Moss left the Tigers in September 1981.
Paul Michael Moss was born in the King’s Norton area of south Birmingham and was a teenage apprentice at Everton before quickly returned to the Midlands due to homesickness. He joined the apprentice scheme at Wolverhampton Wanderers a year later than his contemporaries, while also completing his A levels. Offered a place to study at Birmingham University, Moss instead joined the professional ranks at Wolves in August 1976 and remained at Molyneux for three seasons without ever breaking into the first team, although he was twice an unused substitute. He left Wolves in September 1979 to join Hull City.
In September 1981 Moss left the Tigers and joined Division Four side Scunthorpe United, having a successful season at the Old Show Ground – he scored seven goals in 46 senior appearances, became captain, won the Player of the Season trophy and even played alongside an England star, cricketer and occasional footballer Ian Botham. However in the 1982 close season Moss decided to reject a further full-time contract at Scunthorpe as he wanted to return to the Midlands and resume his studies. Moss therefore joined the part-time ranks and signed for Conference National side Worcester City, alongside studying Accountancy at Birmingham University. He spent five years at Worcester, scoring 105 goals in 213 appearances that included netting both goals when the Blues beat Division Three side Wrexham 2-1 in a December 1982 FA Cup tie. He stopped playing in 1987, two years later he became a qualified accountant and practiced in the private equity trade for 25 years while living in the Solihull area of Birmingham. In 2018 he became Finance Director for HouseMark, a part of the National Housing Federation, and took semi-retirement in 2022.
Many thanks to David Instone at wolvesheroes.com for information about Moss’s early years.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 2 August 1957, Birmingham
Hull City First Game: 8 September 1979, Sheffield United H (Division Three), 22 years, 37 days old
Hull City Final Game: 22 December 1980, Blyth Spartans N (FA Cup Second Round Second Replay), 23 years, 142 days old
Clubs
Wolverhampton Wanderers (1976-1979), Hull City (1979, loan), Hull City (1979-1981), Scunthorpe United (1981-1982), Worcester City (1982-1987)
Hull City Record
Career: 62 apps, 8 goals
Paul MossSeason | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1979/80 | 35 (1) | 6 | 2 (0) | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
1980/81 | 18 (0) | 1 | 0 (1) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | – | – | 2 (1) | 1 |