Michael Moore (born 20 July 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 ...

. A

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, he played for

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

and

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

, but made his name at both

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

and

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

. He helped Southport to the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

title in 1972–73, and also played for Wigan in their first ever season in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. He also enjoyed an extensive non-league career, turning out for eleven different clubs, as well as spending a brief period in the United States with

Dallas Tornado The Dallas Tornado was a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1967 to 1981. Of the twelve teams that comprised the U.S. in 1967, the Tornado franchise played the longest–15 seasons. ...

Career

Moore played youth football for Adlington Rangers and

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

, before becoming an unused squad member for Third Division side

in 1970–71, during which time he also played on loan for

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

in the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

. He signed with

in 1971, who were then in the

. After missing out on the play-offs in 1971–72, the "Sandgrounders" won promotion in 1972–73 as Fourth Division champions. However they were relegated in 1973–74, after which Moore was released. He spent time with

Great Harwood Great Harwood is a town in the Hyndburn district of Lancashire, England, located north east of Blackburn and adjacent to the Ribble Valley. Great Harwood is the major conurbation of the 'Three Towns'; the three towns being Great Harwood, Clayton- ...

and American side

, before joining Northern Premier League side

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

in 1975. He hit twenty goals in 45 games in league and cup in 1975–76. His scoring form continued into 1976–77, in which he bagged seventeen goals in 41 games, including a hat-trick against

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

. He then switched clubs to

, scoring 11 goals in 29 league games in 1977–78. The club were voted into the

after finishing second in the Northern Premier League at the end of the season. However Moore missed the celebrations as he joined

for a £3,000 fee in March 1978. He played the last thirteen games of the season, but failed to score and was transferred back to Wigan for £2,000 in August 1978. He scored nine goals in 41 games for the "Latics" in 1978–79, as Wigan posted a sixth-place finish in their first season of league football. Wigan again finished sixth in 1979–80, and Moore returned to non-league circles with Barrow, who were competing in the

Alliance Premier League The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in Football in England, England consisting of three divisions, the National League (division), National League, National League Nor ...

. He later returned to Southport, who had by then lost their league status. He also played for

Lytham Lytham St Annes () is a seaside town in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is on the The Fylde, Fylde coast, directly south of Blackpool on the Ribble Estuary. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 42,954 ...

(on loan),

Leyland Motors Leyland Motors Limited (later known as the Leyland Motor Corporation) was a British vehicle manufacturer of lorries, buses and trolleybuses. The company diversified into car manufacturing with its acquisitions of Triumph and Rover in 1960 and 1 ...

Glossop Glossop is a market town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is located east of Manchester, north-west of Sheffield and north of the county town, Matlock. Glossop lies near Derbyshire's borders with Cheshire, Greater Manches ...

, Chorley, Horwich R.M.I. and Adlington Athletic.

Style of play

Altrincham F.C. Altrincham Football Club is a professional football club based in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. Founded in 1891 and nicknamed "the Robins", they are currently members of and play at Moss Lane. History Altrincham was established by ...

historian Terry Rowley described Moore as "a fast, tricky inside forward whose style of play was always going to be a crowd pleaser", and a player that was "instantly recognisable... with his blond hair and red boots."

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Southport *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

: 1972–73

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Mick 1952 births Living people Sportspeople from Chorley English footballers Association football midfielders Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Chorley F.C. players Southport F.C. players Great Harwood F.C. players Dallas Tornado players Altrincham F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Lytham F.C. players Leyland Motors F.C. players Glossop North End A.F.C. players Leigh Genesis F.C. players Northern Premier League players English Football League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players National League (English football) players English expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in the United States