Stephen James Moran (born on 10 January 1961) is a 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 ...

who played as a striker for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

during the 1980s. Moran was one of the finest strikers that Southampton has possessed. He had a knack of scoring some crucial goals for the club and had a fine understanding with midfielders Steve Williams and David Armstrong. Moran attended Prices School in

Fareham Fareham ( ) is a market town at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour, between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton in south east Hampshire, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Fareham. It was historically an important manufact ...

and appeared regularly for his school team, where he was spotted by scouts. He signed for Southampton in August 1979 and made his debut as a substitute in a 4–1 home win against

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 January 1980, scoring with his very first touch of the ball. In the 1980–81 season, Moran scored 18 goals in 30 starts in the league, and in 1982 he was voted

PFA Young Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year (often called the PFA Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the young player who is adjudged to have been the best of the s ...

. Among the 99 goals that Moran scored for the Saints were a hat-trick in an 8–2 victory over

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

at The Dell in April 1984, during the club's most successful ever league season, when they finished as runners-up to

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 ...

1983–84 in English football The 1983–84 season was the 104th season of competitive football in England. Diary of the season 6 June 1983: Resurgent Portsmouth, newly promoted to the Second Division after winning last season's Third Division title, prepare for their lat ...

In the same year, Moran scored an injury-time winner in the 4th Round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

, away to arch rivals

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. David Armstrong crossed from the right and Moran arrived at the back post to volley left-footed past the Portsmouth goalkeeper, Alan Knight. Moran made 228 senior appearances for Southampton, including playing for them in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

. He was also capped twice for the England under-21 team. But he suffered from a recurring back injury and despite the promise of his early career, never represented England at senior level. In 1986–87 he joined

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

for a transfer fee of £300,000, although at the end of the season they were relegated to

Football League Division Two The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

. During the following season he moved to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

and he went on to make 144 senior appearances for them. For the 1991–92 season he moved on to

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

and after 74 senior appearances he transferred to

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 ...

for 1993–94.

Post-football career

Since retiring from football, Moran has worked for an internet company and as a lorry driver for David Watson Transport Ltd, based in Yorkshire.

References

Career Stats at oncloudseven
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moran, Steve 1961 births Living people Footballers from Croydon English footballers England under-21 international footballers English Football League players Southampton F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Reading F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Association football forwards