Luke Moore

Luke Moore

Moore with Elazığspor
Personal information
Full name	Luke Isaac Moore[1]
Date of birth	(1986-02-13) 13 February 1986[1]
Place of birth	Birmingham, England
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1]
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	Elazığspor
Number	28
Youth career
–2003	Aston Villa
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2003–2008	Aston Villa	87	(14)
2003–2004	→ Wycombe Wanderers (loan)	6	(4)
2008	→ West Bromwich Albion (loan)	10	(0)
2008–2011	West Bromwich Albion	47	(5)
2010	→ Derby County (loan)	13	(4)
2011–2013	Swansea City	55	(8)
2013–	Elazığspor	13	(0)
National team‡
2005	England U21	5	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10.01, 27 December 2013 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 7 December 2008

Luke Isaac Moore (born 13 February 1986) is an English football striker who plays as an attacking midfielder for Turkish Club Elazığspor. Moore has represented England at England U21 level and is the younger brother of fellow former professional footballer, Stefan Moore.

Career

Aston Villa

As a youngster, Moore played for Romulus and Tame Valley Primary School. As a member of Aston Villa's youth academy, he was prohibited from appearing for his secondary school, Hodge Hill, but nevertheless appeared in "a couple of cup games" for the school.^[2] Moore is the younger brother of the former Queens Park Rangers and Aston Villa striker Stefan Moore. Together they were a crucial part of the Villa FA Youth Cup winning team of 2002. In December 2003 he was loaned to Wycombe Wanderers, who had failed in their approach for him earlier in the season.^[3] Moore made his Wycombe début in a 1–1 draw against Notts County on 13 December 2003.^[4] He only had to wait until his next game, against Bournemouth to score his début goal in a 2–0 victory.^[4] On 3 January 2004 he scored his first career hat-trick in a 4–1 home win over Grimsby Town.^[4]

Upon his return to Aston Villa, Moore made his first-team debut, as a substitute in a 2–2 draw against Birmingham City.^[5] His first senior goal for Villa came in the 2–0 victory against Middlesbrough on 5 March 2005. Less than a year later, on 5 February 2006, Moore scored his first Premiership hat-trick for Villa, again against Middlesbrough.

Despite Villa signing additional forwards such as Kevin Phillips and Milan Baroš in the summer of 2005, Moore kept his place in the first-team squad, starting some games and coming on from the bench in others. The departure of Phillips and the injury to Baroš ensured his place as a starter for the first team at the beginning of the Premiership season

Moore warming up for a game.

Moore sustained a serious injury to his right shoulder in a game against Chelsea, an injury which had been persistent during his career. Moore travelled to the USA to undergo surgery in October 2006, with Cleveland Browns' head team physician Anthony Miniaci carrying out the procedure, following advice from Aston Villa chairman Randy Lerner.^[6]

Moore returned from his shoulder injury on 9 April 2007, coming on as a substitute for Shaun Maloney against Wigan Athletic at Villa Park. On 14 April 2007, having again come on as a substitute, he scored with a header in a 3–1 win against Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium. It was his first senior goal since the 2–0 victory over Charlton Athletic on 23 September 2006. Moore came on against Bolton Wanderers in the last Villa game of the season to equalise in the 83rd minute, earning Villa a draw.

On 25 July 2007, he scored a hat trick for Aston Villa in the friendly match with Toronto FC. In January 2008 Villa manager Martin O'Neill revealed that Rangers manager Walter Smith had contacted him about possibly signing Moore. O'Neill quoted Rangers with a price of £3.5 million for Moore.^[7] On 22 February, Moore joined rivals West Bromwich Albion on loan until the end of the season, signing a deal to join permanently for £3.5m in the summer of 2008.^[8]

West Bromwich Albion

Moore made his Albion debut on 23 February 2008, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2–1 home defeat to Hull City.^[9] He received the first red card of his career in a 4–1 home defeat to Leicester City on 15 March 2008.^[10] On 28 May 2008, he completed his transfer to the newly promoted Premiership side for a fee of £3 million.^[11]

Moore scored his first goal for West Brom on 21 December 2008 against Manchester City. In the 2009–10 Championship season, Moore opened his account with a brace in the 3–2 victory at Peterborough United, 18 August.^[4] However, Moore's scoring record after was poor, and it was widely expected that he would leave West Bromwich Albion during the 2010 summer transfer window.

Derby County (loan)

On 1 September 2010, Moore was not included in West Bromwich Albion's 25-man squad for the new season therefore deeming him surplus to requirements at the Hawthorns, a move which saw him join Football League Championship side Derby County later that same month on a 29-day loan deal.^[12] Moore was primarily used as a substitute in at the start of his spell at The Rams, 3 of his 4 appearances coming as substitute, but impressed enough for Derby boss Nigel Clough to want to extent his spell at Pride Park.^[13]

The same day as Clough announced his desire to retain Moore's services, he scored his first goal for the club, on his second start, with the opener in a 3–2 victory at Doncaster Rovers. The next week, it was announced his Derby loan had been extended for a further month,^[14] the loan was further extended to the end of December.^[15]

Moore warming up in a match against Arsenal.

Derby manager Nigel Clough was keen to extend his loan until the end of the season in December,^[16] but after scoring in a 5–2 defeat against Nottingham Forest in the East Midlands derby game at the City Ground,^[17] Moore returned to West Brom stating that he wanted to keep his options open for the January transfer window.^[18]

Moore scored 4 times in 13 league appearances for The Rams of which 9 were starts.^[4]

Swansea City

After a frustrating spell at West Bromwich Albion, Moore signed for Swansea City on a two-and-a-half-year deal on 7 January 2011 for an undisclosed fee rumoured to be a free transfer.^[19] Moore made his debut against Colchester United on 8 January 2011 in the FA Cup. He scored his first goal for Swansea in a home victory against Doncaster Rovers on 19 February 2011. His second Swansea goal came in a 3–0 win over Leeds United on 26 February 2011. He scored a late goal against Manchester City which was the winning goal on 11 March 2012 in a 1–0 victory. That result knocked Man City down to second place due to Manchester United 2–0 win over West Brom.

On 23 August 2013, Swansea City confirmed that Moore's contract had been terminated by mutual consent.

Elazığspor

Luke Moore joined Turkish club Elazığspor on a free transfer on 24 August 2013, on a three-year contract.^[20]

In January 2014, Moore's agent Peter Morrison revealed that Moore may be able to leave Elazığspor on a free transfer due to a problem regarding financial obligations. Moore was linked with a return to England, with clubs like Leeds United believed to be interested.^[21]

International Career

Moore made his England U21 in 2005 and represented them 5 times in total.

Career statistics

As of 25 August 2013

.C.|Derby County]] (loan)||rowspan="2"|Championship||13||4||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||13||4

Honours

Aston Villa:

• FA Youth Cup (1): 2001–02

Swansea City:

• Football League Championship play-offs (1): 2010–11
• Football League Cup (1): 2012–13

References

External links

• Luke Moore player profile at wba.co.uk
• Luke Moore player profile at avfc.co.uk
• Luke Moore career stats at Soccerbase
• Luke Moore player profile at astonvillaplayerdatabase.com