Darren Moore

Darren Mark Moore (born 22 April 1974) is a professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back.

He is the manager of club Port Vale.

He has performed extensive charity work for the Professional Footballers' Association, Show Racism the Red Card, and the Free Methodist Church.

Moore was born in Birmingham, though represented Jamaica at international level.

Darren Mark Moore was born on 22 April 1974 in Birmingham, West Midlands, and attended James Watt Primary School and Holyhead Secondary, both in Handsworth.

He grew up supporting Aston Villa.

He played for Holly Lane Colts and in 1989 had an unsuccessful trial with Walsall.

Moore began his football career as a trainee with Torquay United in June 1990, having succeeded on a one-week trial at the age of 16.

He began his club career with Torquay United, playing 124 competitive games between turning professional in 1992 and being sold to Doncaster Rovers in July 1995 for an initial fee of £65,000.

He made his debut while still a trainee on 24 March 1992, in a 2–1 defeat at home to Birmingham City.

Manager Ivan Golac took charge at Dundee United and gave a trial to Moore and midfield teammate Chris Myers.

Moore remained with Torquay, however, now managed by former youth-team coach Paul Compton.

He turned professional in November 1992.

He quickly became the first choice in the centre of defence, alongside Wes Saunders, and was presented with the club's Young Player of the Year award by manager Neil Warnock after Warnock steered the club away from being relegated into non-League football at the end of the 1992–93 campaign.

Moore then made 44 appearances for player-manager Don O'Riordan across the 1993–94 season, scoring four goals, including a volleyed-effort in the play-off semi-final first leg win over Preston North End at Plainmoor.

However, Preston won the return leg 4–1 to eliminate Torquay from the play-offs.

He played 38 games in the 1994–95 season to take his final tally with the club to 124 league and cup appearances, with 11 goals scored.

He was named as Doncaster's Player of the Year for the 1995–96 season before being sold to Bradford City for an initial fee of £195,000 in June 1997.

He left to join Third Division rivals Doncaster Rovers in July 1995 for a tribunal-set fee of £65,000 plus future transfer profit add-ons that eventually amounted to an extra £63,500.

Moore arrived at Sammy Chung's Doncaster with Torquay teammates Scott Colcombe and Duane Darby.

He appeared in the first game of the season, a 1–0 win over Scarborough at Belle Vue on 12 August.

His first goal for the club came in a 1–1 draw at Barnet on 4 November.

He was named as Doncaster's Player of the Year for the 1995–96 season, winning the popular vote by a landslide margin.

However, financially the club was in dire straits and player-manager Kerry Dixon had said that owner Ken Richardson was picking the team, not him, on the way to a fourth-from-bottom finish in 1996–97.

In May 1997, Moore was named as a target by Fulham manager Micky Adams, whilst Barnsley had a joint bid of £300,000 for Moore and Colin Cramb rejected by Doncaster.

Moore was sold to Bradford City the following month for an initial fee of £195,000, with a further £110,000 to come on appearances.

Moore played 18 times during the 1997–98 season as injuries limited his starts.

He was promoted out of the First Division in 1998–99 and was named on the PFA Team of the Year, though was then forced out of the club and sold on to Portsmouth for £500,000 in November 1999.

He spent two seasons with Pompey before being purchased by West Bromwich Albion for £750,000 in September 2001.

He spent five years with West Brom, being named on the PFA Team of the Year during the club's First Division promotion campaigns in 2001–02 and 2003–04.

He was sold to Derby County for an initial £300,000 in January 2006 and won a fourth promotion into the Premier League with victory in the 2007 play-off final.

He signed with Barnsley in July 2008, where he would remain for two Championship seasons before he joined League Two side Burton Albion in May 2010.

He retired in February 2012, having scored 38 goals in 668 league and cup appearances throughout a 20-year professional playing career.

Moore coached the youth teams at West Bromwich Albion and was installed as caretaker manager in April 2018.

The club went on to be relegated, though he was named as Premier League Manager of the Month and given the job permanently.

He was sacked in March 2019, with the club in the Championship play-off places.

He returned to management with Doncaster Rovers in July 2019 and left the club in the League One play-off places in March 2021 after being hired as the new manager of Sheffield Wednesday.

He failed to prevent the club from being relegated from the Championship, and though Wednesday were beaten in the 2022 play-off semi-finals, they won the 2023 play-off final after accumulating 96 points in the regular season and overturning a four-goal deficit in the play-off semi-finals.

He left the club by mutual consent in June 2023 and took charge at Huddersfield Town in September 2023.

He was sacked four months later and was appointed as Port Vale manager in February 2024.