David John Moss (born 18 March 1952) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

, most noted as a player for

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

and

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

Playing career

Born in

Witney Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. The place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest known record of it is as ...

, Moss was signed by

as a seventeen-year-old winger from Witney Town in July 1969. He made his senior debut in January 1972, when he came on as a substitute against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

. His first start came three months later as Swindon beat

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

2–0. Moss soon became one of Swindon's star players, scoring 14 goals in 1974–75 and top scoring in 1977–78 with 16. This prompted interest from

David Pleat David John Pleat (born 15 January 1945) is an English football player turned manager, and sports commentator. Pleat made 185 Football League appearances for five clubs, scoring 26 goals. He had two spells as manager of Luton Town, and four as ma ...

, who signed Moss for £110,000 on 27 May 1978. Moss came into his element at Luton, scoring twice on his debut against

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

on 19 August 1978. Despite the club's 18th-place finish, Moss still scored 13 goals and also became Luton's regular penalty taker. He scored 24 goals in 1979–80, 8 from the penalty spot, and was Luton Town's top scorer. Moss spent the summer of 1981 across the Atlantic, on loan in the NASL to the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Champions ...

, where he netted 9 goals in 22 appearances. After returning from loan, his Luton side raced to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

championship for 1981–82, and the subsequent promotion that came with it. Moss spent one more year as a regular player, scoring nine league goals in 39, but then spent two more seasons as a bit-part player. He returned to Swindon on 26 June 1985 on a free transfer. Moss made four more league appearances for Swindon, but then picked up an injury that forced him out of the League game. May 1986 saw him make a move to non-league Trowbridge Town, where he played out his career.

Coaching career

After retiring from professional football due to a serious Achilles tendon injury, he quickly moved to

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

to join the coaching staff under

Mark Lawrenson Mark Thomas Lawrenson (born 2 June 1957) is a former professional footballer who played as a defender for Liverpool, among others, during the 1970s and 1980s. After a short career as a manager, he then became a radio, television and internet pu ...

. Then

Brian Horton Brian "Nobby" Horton (born 4 February 1949) is an English former footballer and manager. He spent 16 years as a professional player and 22 years as a manager, making 689 appearances and managing 1,098 matches. In addition to this he spent four ...

took over at the Manor Ground and Moss was promoted to First Team Coach. Moss remained at the club for the next five years until Horton joined

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in 1993; Moss followed him and became City's Coach. He then, in 1995, moved to

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

as Coach again under Brian Horton. In 1997, Horton was sacked along with Moss, Assistant Manager

Dennis Booth Dennis Booth (born 9 April 1949) is an English former footballer who made more than 550 appearances in the Football League playing as a midfielder or defender for Charlton Athletic, Blackpool, Southend United, Lincoln City, Watford and Hull Ci ...

and Coach

Les Chapman Leslie Chapman (born 27 September 1948), commonly known as Les and sometimes as Chappy, is an English former football player and manager. As a player, he made 747 appearances in the Football League in a career that spanned 22 seasons, playing ...

Managing career

Moss's only appointment as manager saw him take the reins at

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

on 12 November 2001. After 102 games and 33 victories, he was sacked on 26 October 2003. As of 2010, David Moss is currently Chief Scout of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

Managerial statistics

All competitive league games (league and domestic cup) and international matches (including friendlies) are included.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moss, David 1952 births Living people People from Witney English footballers English Football League players Swindon Town F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Trowbridge Town F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993) players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. non-playing staff Liverpool F.C. non-playing staff Stockport County F.C. non-playing staff English football managers Macclesfield Town F.C. managers English expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Oxford United F.C. non-playing staff Men's association football midfielders English expatriate sportspeople in the United States