Tafari Lalibela Moore (born 5 July 1997) is an English professional

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 plays as a defender for St Albans City. He came through the youth system at

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, and has been involved with the

England national under-20 football team England national under-20 football team, also known as England Under-20s or England U20(s), represents England in association football at an under-20 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in Eng ...

Club career

Arsenal

Moore was born in the

London Borough of Brent The London Borough of Brent () is a London boroughs, London borough in north-west London. It borders the boroughs of London Borough of Harrow, Harrow to the north-west, London Borough of Barnet, Barnet to the north-east, London Borough of Camden ...

. He joined

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

as an under-nine, and moved on to

at the age of twelve. Moore signed his first professional contract with Arsenal on 5 July 2014, his 17th birthday. He was a member of Arsenal's under-21 team that beat

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

in the

2015–16 Professional U21 Development League The 2015–16 Professional U21 Development League is the fourth season of the Professional Development League system. League 1 League 1, referred to as the Barclays Under 21 Premier League for sponsorship reasons, was split into two divisions, ...

play-off final to gain promotion to the top division.

Loans

On 17 August 2016, he was sent on a season-long loan to

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

club

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion Galgenwaard. The club was formed in 1970 as a merge ...

. Five days later he made his professional debut for

Jong FC Utrecht Jong FC Utrecht (U23) is a Dutch football team, based in Utrecht. It is the reserve team of FC Utrecht and plays in the Eerste Divisie since the 2016–17 Eerste Divisie season. Current squad On loan Staff ...

in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

. Moore played in his first match for the senior team on 16 September in a 5–1 defeat at home to

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

. On 12 January 2018, he was sent on loan to

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

until the end of the 2017–18 season. At the end of the season, he was released by the Gunners.

Plymouth Argyle

On 28 June 2018, he joined

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

. Moore started games early in the season but produced some disappointing performances and did not play again in the 2018–19 season after November. Moore played twice in cup games at the start of the following season before being listed for loan in October. On 9 January 2020, it was announced that the Pilgrims had offered Moore a settlement to terminate his contract. Later that month, he joined

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

on loan until the end of the season, but only made one appearance. Moore was released by Plymouth at the end of the season. In October 2020 he played for Salford City's development team in

The Central League The Central League is a football league for reserve teams, primarily from the English Football League. For sponsorship purposes, it was branded as the Final Third Development League until the 2015/16 season. The league was formed in 1911 and ...

Non-league

Moore joined

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

in September 2021. In June 2022, Moore made the step up to join

National League South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

club St Albans City. Moore was awarded the National League South Player of the Month award for November 2022.

International career

Moore was born to a Jamaican father, and a Jamaican- Barbadian mother. He has played a youth international for England, and was an instrumental member of the English side that won the

2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the 13th edition of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship, an annual football competition between men's under-17 national teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament was hosted for the first tim ...

. As so he was also named in UEFA's team of the tournament. On 20 July 2016, he was called up to the England Under-19 squad for the

2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 15th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (65th edition if the Under-18 and Junior eras are included), the annual European international youth football championship contested by the ...

in Germany. England eventually got to the semifinals of the Euros, where they went out by 2–1 to Italy.

Honours

Arsenal *

Professional Development League The Professional Development League is a system of youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the The Football Association, Footbal ...

: U21s Playoff Winner-2016 England *

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Under-17 Championship, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-17 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain is the most successful team in this ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Semifinalist Individual *

: Team of the Tournament *

Player of the Month: November 2022

Career statistics

Personal life

Moore is a devout

Rastafarian Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control ...

who often credits God in interviews and has large dreadlocks in the custom of his faith.

References

External links

England profile
at The FA {{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Tafari 1997 births Living people Footballers from Kilburn, London English footballers English expatriate footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands England youth international footballers Association football defenders Arsenal F.C. players Jong FC Utrecht players FC Utrecht players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Hendon F.C. players St Albans City F.C. players English Football League players Eerste Divisie players Eredivisie players Southern Football League players National League (English football) players Black British sportspeople English people of Jamaican descent English people of Barbadian descent English Rastafarians