Liam Mooney

Liam Mooney

Full name	Liam Thomas Mooney
Date of birth	(1972-05-18) 18 May 1972
Place of birth	Gosport, Hampshire, England
Notable relative(s)	Fred Tiedt
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Prop
Amateur clubs
Years	Club / team
1992–1996 1994–1995	London Irish Cambridge University
Professional / senior clubs
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1996–1998 1998–1999 1999–2001	London Irish Blackheath Exeter Chiefs	39 20 55	0 0 70
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1996– 2000	Represented:- Ireland XV, Ireland A, Barbarians & English National Divisions XV	4	10

Liam Thomas Mooney (born 18 May 1972) is a former professional rugby union footballer who played at prop. He is now an entrepreneur living in Dubai.

Education

Mooney was educated at St Boniface's Catholic College, Plymouth^[1] and graduated from the University of Cambridge (Hughes Hall) in 1996.^[2]

Rugby career

Mooney began his rugby career with London Irish in 1992, making his debut as a prop against Bath whilst only 20 years old.^[3][4] He represented London Irish in both premiership and European competitions.^[5] Mooney played in the club's biggest premiership win, beating Harlequin F.C. 62–14 in April 1998.^[6] He was a member of the promotion winning team that took London Irish to the English Premiership in 1996,^[7] as well as the semi-final of the Pilkington Cup, under the leadership of Sir Clive Woodward. He moved on to play for Blackheath (1998–1999)^[8] and Exeter Chiefs (1999–2001).^[9] From 1996 in the professional era, Mooney scored 14 tries and made over 100 appearances for his clubs.^[10] While at Exeter, he played for the English National Divisions and scored the winning try against the Springboks on their 2000 tour of the UK.^[11] During his career, Mooney represented Ireland XV (vs Leinster 1996), Ireland A, Ireland U21, Ireland Students, the Barbarians^[12] and won two Cambridge Blues representing Cambridge University in the winning 1994 and 1995 Varsity matches.^[13][14] He finished his rugby career at Bristol and Caerphilly where he retired with a chronic knee injury.^[15]

Business career

Mooney qualified as a solicitor of England & Wales in November 2000, having trained and worked at international law firm Kennedys and regional legal 500 law firm, Michelmores, before founding Blue Pencil, an international legal executive search and recruitment company in 2002.^[16] Blue Pencil is mentioned in Sidney Korshak's book "How to Land a Legal Job Overseas".^[17]

In 2013, Mooney founded Club Fit For Business, a non-profit global sports business community.^[18][19] In November 2014, he was named by Arabian Business as 'Business Mentor of the Year'^[20][21][22] and was a finalist at the SME Stars of Business Awards in December 2014.^[23][24] Mooney currently serves as a business mentor to several companies in the Gulf SME sector as well as mentoring a number of retired professional athletes.^[25]

In early 2015, Mooney was appointed as a Middle East Ambassador to several European companies with business interests in the region and is the regional business advisor for Swiss Banking group, Mirabaud & Cie.

Volunteer work and causes

A life member of Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club (CURUFC), and a supporter of the CURUFC's Red Lion Foundation, set up to support players through their studies at the university, Mooney made a sizeable donation to fund the Lion's Room in 2013.^[26] He is a committee member and the International Liaison Officer of the Oxford and Cambridge Society, UAE.

Mooney supports animal conservation charities. In 2012, he organised a team of ten amateur runners to run the Dubai Marathon, to raise money for Tiger Awareness, a tiger conservation charity.^[27][28]

Mooney supports a number of local and international charities through Club Fit For Business, that have a focus on social inclusion for children through sport.^[29][30]

References