David Moyes

David William Moyes (born 25 April 1963) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club West Ham United.

He was previously the manager of Preston North End, Everton, Manchester United, Real Sociedad, and Sunderland.

Born in Glasgow, Moyes started his career at Icelandic club ÍBV, playing half a season with the youth team in 1978.

Moyes enjoyed a career that encompassed playing at a number of clubs, usually as a centre-half, beginning at Celtic, where he won a championship medal and made 24 league appearances, and ending with Preston North End.

As a player with Cambridge United, Moyes received abuse from teammate Roy McDonough for his religious beliefs; Moyes is a practising Christian.

McDonough felt that religion was distracting them from focusing on playing; speaking of Moyes, Alan Comfort and Graham Daniels, he said: "The three of them sat in the changing room with a little black book, discussing their faith, when they should have been getting psyched up for a relegation scrap."

He played under former UEFA Technical Director Andy Roxburgh in 1980.

Following a 3–3 draw with Wigan Athletic on 9 March 1985, McDonough, who was 26 years old at the time, states that he "battered" Moyes for not putting sufficient effort into the game.

While playing for Shrewsbury Town in 1987, Moyes began coaching at the nearby private school, Concord College, on the recommendation of Jake King as a way to supplement his wages.

Moyes later made over one hundred appearances for Dunfermline Athletic between 1990 and 1993, including a starting appearance in the 1991 Scottish League Cup Final.

Preston avoided relegation at the end of the 1997–98 season and reached the Division Two play-offs the following season, where they were beaten by Gillingham at the semi-final stage.

The following season, Moyes guided Preston to the Division Two title and a promotion to Division One.

An even greater achievement perhaps was to steer Preston into the Division One play-offs the season after that, with largely the same squad.

He became a coach at Preston, working his way up to assistant manager before eventually taking over as manager in 1998, his first managerial position.

Moyes made over 530 league appearances in his career before becoming a coach at Preston, working his way up to assistant manager before eventually taking over as manager in 1998.

Moyes captained Scotland at under-18 age group level.

Moyes took over as Preston North End manager in January 1998, replacing Gary Peters as the club struggled in Division Two and were in danger of relegation.

He had spent much of his playing career preparing for management, taking coaching badges at just 22 years of age and compiling notes on managers he had played under, their techniques and tactics.

Moyes led Preston to the Division Two title in 1999–2000 and the Division One play-off final the following season.

Preston lost 3–0 to Bolton Wanderers in the 2001 Football League First Division play-off final, missing out on promotion to the Premier League.

One month later, Moyes signed a new five-year contract with the club.

In 2001, whilst studying for his UEFA Pro License, Moyes shadowed Roy Hodgson at Udinese during Hodgson’s six month spell at the club.

Moyes took over from Walter Smith as manager of Everton in March 2002.

Towards the end of the following season, he left for Everton, to take over from fellow Scotsman Walter Smith in March 2002.

Moyes took charge of Preston for 234 matches, of which his team won 113, drew 58 and lost 63.

Moyes joined Everton on 14 March 2002 and at his unveiling press conference, declared that Everton were 'The People's Club' on Merseyside.

He said: "'I am from a city (Glasgow) that is not unlike Liverpool. I am joining the people's football club. The majority of people you meet on the street are Everton fans. It is a fantastic opportunity, something you dream about. I said 'yes' right away as it is such a big club.'"

Moyes was the 2003, 2005 and 2009 League Managers Association Manager of the Year.

He is also on the committee for the League Managers Association in an executive capacity.

Moyes made over 540 league appearances as a centre-back in a playing career that began with Celtic, where he won a championship medal.

He then played for Cambridge United, Bristol City, Shrewsbury Town, and Dunfermline Athletic before ending his playing career with Preston North End.

Under him, the club managed a fourth-place finish in the league in 2004–05, their highest finish since 1988, and played in the qualifying rounds for the UEFA Champions League the following season, the first time they had taken part in UEFA's most prestigious cup competition since 1970–71.

Moyes also led Everton to a runners-up finish in the 2008–09 FA Cup, their best performance in the competition since winning it in 1995.

Everton consistently finished between fifth and eighth in the league under Moyes, and at the time of his departure, he was the longest-serving current manager in the league behind Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger, at 11 years and 3 months.

Moyes succeeded Ferguson as manager of Manchester United in June 2013, but with the club in seventh place in the league in April 2014 and unable to qualify for European competition, he was sacked after 10 months in the job.

Moyes was appointed as head coach of Spanish club Real Sociedad in November 2014, but was again sacked after just under a year in charge.

In July 2016, he replaced Sam Allardyce as manager of Sunderland, but resigned at the end of the 2016–17 season after the club was relegated to the EFL Championship.

Moyes was appointed manager of West Ham in November 2017 and led the club out of the relegation zone to a 13th-place finish, but left at the end of the season when his contract was not renewed.

He was appointed at West Ham for a second time in December 2019, following the sacking of Manuel Pellegrini.

During his second stint, West Ham achieved two consecutive top-seven finishes in the Premier League, before victory in the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League, beating Fiorentina in the final to achieve the club’s first major silverware in 43 years.