William Moore (1913 – 1982) was an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

er and manager. He played for

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

and

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

and also managed

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

over two periods.

Playing career

Born in

Washington, Tyne and Wear Washington is a town in the City of Sunderland, Sunderland district, in Tyne and Wear, England. Historically part of County Durham, it is the ancestral settlement of the local Washington family, from which the first President of the United Stat ...

, Moore played for Walker Celtic in the late 1920s and early 1930s before joining

for whom he made four appearances for Stoke in defence over two seasons. In 1938 he moved to

and scored a goal against Walsall when playing in the FA Jubilee match in 1939.

Coaching career

After the War Moore was appointed trainer of

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

, who at the time were managed by former

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

and England forward

Eric Houghton William Eric Houghton (29 June 1910 – 1 May 1996) was an English footballer and manager. Eric Houghton was born in Billingborough, Lincolnshire, and educated at Donington Grammar School. Houghton signed for Aston Villa as a seventeen-year- ...

Tommy Lawton Thomas Lawton (6 October 1919 – 6 November 1996) was an English football player and manager. Born in Farnworth and raised in Bolton, he played amateur football at Rossendale United, before he turned professional at Burnley on his 17t ...

and Jackie Sewell were two of the star players under Moore's supervision at

Meadow Lane Meadow Lane is a football (soccer), football stadium in Nottingham, England. It is the home ground of Notts County F.C., Notts County, who have played there since it opened in 1910. The stadium was also home to Notts County Ladies F.C. from 201 ...

. When Houghton returned to Villa Park as manager, Bill Moore went with him as right-hand man and he played a big part in Villa's FA Cup triumph over

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

Management career

In the December following that Wembley victory, Moore was asked to take over from Jack Love as manager of Walsall who had been going through a difficult time and were in deep trouble at the foot of

Third Division South The Third Division South of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

. In no time at all he rallied the players, re-election was averted, the Fourth Division title was won in 1960 and 12 months later promotion gained 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 ...

. After Walsall slipped back into the Third Division in 1963, in the most unfortunate of circumstances, being reduced to nine men in the final game of the season from which they needed a point but ended up going down by two goals to one against Charlton Athletic, Moore left

Fellows Park Fellows Park was a football stadium in Walsall, England. It was the home ground of Walsall F.C. from 1896 until 1990, when the team moved to the Bescot Stadium. Fellows Park was situated about a quarter of a mile away from the club's present ...

early the following season to take up a scouting position with

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

. He returned to Fellows Park in February 1969, to succeed Ron Lewin, and over the next three years developed players such as Phil Parkes and Ray Train. But as financial problems loomed large, Moore resigned his post in March 1972 after a disagreement with coach John Smith over a substitution. In later years Moore kept the Bear Inn in

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

and died in 1982.

Career statistics

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Bill 1913 births 1982 deaths Footballers from Washington, Tyne and Wear English men's footballers Walker Celtic F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Walsall F.C. managers English football managers Men's association football defenders English Football League players English Football League managers 20th-century English sportsmen