Darren Moore
Updated: Wikipedia source
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 EFL League One club Port Vale. Moore was born in Birmingham, though represented Jamaica at international level. 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 was named 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 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, scoring 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. 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 appointed Port Vale manager in February 2024. Port Vale were relegated from League One at the end of the 2023–24 season, though secured an immediate promotion out of League Two at the end of the 2024–25 campaign. He has performed extensive charity work for the Professional Footballers' Association, Show Racism the Red Card, and the Free Methodist Church.