View source for Ian Thomas-Moore

{{short description|English footballer}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Ian Thomas-Moore
| image = 
| fullname = Ian Ronald Thomas-Moore<ref>{{Hugman|access-date=19 April 2024}}</ref>
| birth_name = Ian Ronald Moore<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.eurosport.com/football/league-one/2009-2010/ian-moore-changes-name_sto2015337/story.shtml |title=Ian Moore changes name |work=[[Eurosport]] |date=28 July 2009 |access-date=19 April 2024}}</ref>
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1976|8|26|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Birkenhead]], England
| height =
| position = [[Striker (association football)|Striker]] or [[Midfielder#Winger|winger]]
| youthyears1=
| youthclubs1=
| years1 = 1994–1997
| years2 = 1996
| years3 = 1997–1998
| years4 = 1997
| years5 = 1998–2000
| years6 = 2000–2005
| years7 = 2005–2007
| years8 = 2007–2008
| years9 = 2008–2011
| years10 = 2011
| clubs1 = [[Tranmere Rovers F.C.|Tranmere Rovers]]
| clubs2 = → [[Bradford City A.F.C.|Bradford City]] (loan)
| clubs3 = [[Nottingham Forest F.C.|Nottingham Forest]]
| clubs4 = → [[West Ham United F.C.|West Ham United]] (loan)
| clubs5 = [[Stockport County F.C.|Stockport County]]
| clubs6 = [[Burnley F.C.|Burnley]]
| clubs7 = [[Leeds United F.C.|Leeds United]]
| clubs8 = [[Hartlepool United F.C.|Hartlepool United]]
| clubs9 = [[Tranmere Rovers F.C.|Tranmere Rovers]]
| clubs10 = [[Rotherham United F.C.|Rotherham United]]
| caps1 = 58
| goals1 = 12
| caps2 = 6
| goals2 = 0
| caps3 = 15
| goals3 = 1
| caps4 = 1
| goals4 = 0
| caps5 = 93
| goals5 = 20
| caps6 = 192
| goals6 = 37
| caps7 = 59
| goals7 = 2
| caps8 = 24
| goals8 = 6
| caps9 = 120
| goals9 = 33
| caps10 = 12
| goals10 = 3 <!--Stats are LEAGUE stats only-->
| totalcaps  = 580| totalgoals = 114
| nationalyears1 = 1995
| nationalteam1 = [[England national under-18 football team|England U18]]
| nationalcaps1 = 3
| nationalgoals1 = 0
| nationalyears2 = 1996–1997
| nationalteam2 = [[England national under-21 football team|England U21]]
| nationalcaps2 = 6
| nationalgoals2 = 0
| club-update =
| ntupdate = 
}}
'''Ian Ronald Thomas-Moore''' (born '''Ian Ronald Moore'''; 26 August 1976) is an English former professional [[association football|footballer]] who played as a centre-forward or winger.

==Club career==

===Tranmere Rovers===
Moore began his career at [[Tranmere Rovers F.C.|Tranmere Rovers]], where he broke into the first team while still a teenager, and made more than 50 appearances. He also spent a short period on loan at [[Bradford City A.F.C.|Bradford City]] to gain more first team experience. His impact on a Tranmere side that at the time was a regular contender for promotion to the Premier League, where his records for goals and assists and all-round contribution to play were impressive, along with his inclusion in England youth sides at all levels up to under-21s, led many to believe he was destined to play at an even higher level.

===Nottingham Forest===
He made his first big-money move in March 1997 in a £1million move to [[Nottingham Forest F.C.|Nottingham Forest]] under [[Dave Bassett]] but failed to make a significant impact – getting just one goal against [[Stoke City]]<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/article/26539/7939657/stoke-city-1-nottingham-forest-1
|title=Stoke City 1 Nottingham Forest 1
|publisher=Sporting Life
|date=21 February 1998
|access-date=10 February 2013
|archive-date=7 March 2016
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307020408/http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/article/26539/7939657/stoke-city-1-nottingham-forest-1
|url-status=dead
}}</ref> in 15 games and so was loaned out again, this time to [[West Ham United F.C.|West Ham United]] in the [[Premier League]]. Moore was given little chance at the [[Boleyn Ground]] and made just one substitute appearance in a 3–0 defeat to [[Southampton F.C.|Southampton]].<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-ostenstad-brings-light-to-saints-day-1234238.html
|title=Ostenstad brings light to Saints' day
|work=The Independent
|date=6 October 1997 |access-date=10 February 2013}}</ref>

===Stockport County===
[[Stockport County F.C.|Stockport County]] was the next team to take a gamble on the goal-shy striker who signed him for a club record fee of £800,000. To some extent the gamble paid off and Moore gave a goal return of almost one goal in every four games – netting 20 times and becoming the club's leading scorer.

===Burnley===
This rapid improvement in form brought the attention of north west neighbours [[Burnley F.C.|Burnley]] and Thomas-Moore moved to [[Turf Moor]] for a £1million record transfer fee in the winter of 2000.{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}{{Clarify|date=March 2009}}

Moore became known at Turf Moor for his pace and dedication, and regularly chased down goalkeepers and defenders to try and force mistakes. Moore went on to make almost 200 appearances for 'The Clarets', scoring 37 league goals in the process. He seemed to enjoy the [[FA Cup]] most though – netting a hat-trick against [[Canvey Island F.C.|Canvey Island]] and a double against [[AFC Bournemouth]]. Some of his fans said he was like a "dog with a balloon".

As his career progressed at [[Turf Moor]], Moore was increasingly played as a winger, which was thought of as his best position considering his lack of goal scoring prowess but taking advantage of his pace. This was not a position which Moore enjoyed however, and he often visibly 'sulked' in games, and his previous dogged determination had gone. Whilst at Burnley he also suffered a series of injuries which, while not career ending, were severe enough for the previously quick striker to lose much of his pace.

===Leeds United===
In the last year of his contract, [[Leeds United F.C.|Leeds United]] decided to sign the striker, where he re-joined the ex-Burnley assistant manager, Sam Ellis. Moore was sold by [[Steve Cotterill]] for a fee of £50,000, an amount many Burnley fans were surprised at due to the player's poor career with the Clarets. Moore hardly featured under manager [[Kevin Blackwell]] with many Leeds fans seeing Moore as a waste of time and space. However, on 19 September 2006 in the [[EFL Cup|League Cup]] game against Barnet, Moore scored his first goals for Leeds United, netting twice to lead the team to a 3–1 victory.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/5351626.stm
|title=Leeds 3–1 Barnet
|publisher=[[BBC]]
|date=19 September 2006 |access-date=10 February 2013}}</ref> He then scored in the next round in a 3–1 defeat to [[Southend United F.C.|Southend United]].<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/6072634.stm
|title=Leeds 1–3 Southend
|publisher=[[BBC]]
|date=24 October 2006 |access-date=10 February 2013}}</ref>

Under new manager, [[Dennis Wise]], Moore played regularly and looked a completely new player. He scored his first league goal for Leeds United against [[Southend United F.C.|Southend United]] at [[Elland Road]] in Wise's first game in charge (just 4 days after scoring against them in the League Cup).<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/6072774.stm
|title=Leeds 2–0 Southend
|publisher=[[BBC]]
|date=28 October 2006 |access-date=10 February 2013}}</ref> He later scored against [[Stoke City F.C.|Stoke City]] too, his second and final league goal for the club.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/6205631.stm
|title=Stoke 3–1 Leeds
|publisher=[[BBC]]
|date=30 December 2006 |access-date=10 February 2013}}</ref> However, he was released at the end of the season following his club's relegation to [[EFL League One|League One]].

===Hartlepool United===
Moore signed for Hartlepool United on 12 July 2007, on a free transfer. But after nine goals from 30 appearances in all competitions he was transfer listed by the club in January 2008.<ref>{{cite news
 |url        = http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/display.var.1989906.0..php
 |title      = Pools put four on exit list
 |publisher  = The Northern Echo
 |date       = 24 January 2008
 |access-date = 24 January 2008
 |first      = Nick
 |last       = Loughlin
}}{{Dead link|date=November 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===Back to Tranmere===
On 31 January 2008 Moore joined his father [[Ronnie Moore|Ronnie]] when he signed for Tranmere Rovers for an undisclosed fee.<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/tranmere_rovers/7221339.stm
|title=Tranmere manager Moore signs son
|date=31 January 2008
|access-date=2 February 2008
|publisher=BBC Sport}}</ref> He scored on his debut against his former club [[Leeds United F.C.|Leeds United]] in a 2–0 Tranmere victory.<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/7210741.stm
|title=Leeds 0–2 Tranmere
|date=2 February 2008
|access-date=2 February 2008
|publisher=BBC Sport}}</ref> He also netted against Millwall and Port Vale as he ended the season playing up front with [[Chris Greenacre]]. Moore continued his good form against old club Leeds by scoring in a 2–1 home victory in the 2008/09 season

He ended up having an impressive season for Rovers, he scored 11 times as Rovers finished 7th and were two minutes away from clinching a play-off place.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/8014943.stm Scunthorpe 1–1 Tranmere] BBC Sport, 2 May 2009</ref> Thomas-Moore scored a quality double against Carlisle in Rovers' 4–1 win. He also added goals against the likes of Stockport, Southend and Oldham as well as gaining a goal of the season candidate with a volley against Scunthorpe in the [[Football League Trophy]].

Moore had another impressive season at Tranmere in 2009/10 season, having netted 15 goals, including two penalties against League One leaders [[Norwich City F.C.|Norwich City]] in a surprise 3–1 victory at [[Prenton Park]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/8583167.stm Tranmere 3–1 Norwich] BBC Sport, 2 April 2010</ref> Ian Thomas Moore scored his 100th football league goal against Norwich. Moore also netted against Southampton, Gillingham, Wycombe and Aldershot. One of his most important goals in the same season was a valuable equaliser as Tranmere earned a point away at Colchester in their bid to avoid relegation.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/8620690.stm Colchester 1–1 Tranmere] BBC Sport, 24 April 2010</ref>

Again Moore proved why he was awarded Player of the Season at Tranmere, creating and scoring a vital penalty to put Tranmere 1–0 up in their vital clash against Millwall at Prenton Park, which resulted in Tranmere running out 2–0 winners. Moore also assisted in the second goal.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/8583167.stm Tranmere 3–1 Norwich] BBC Sport, 2 April 2010</ref>

Moore's impressive season went all the way to the last game of the season away at Stockport County, where he scored the second goal in possibly the biggest game of his career.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/8632665.stm Stockport 0–3 Tranmere] BBC Sport, 8 May 2010</ref>

In August 2010, manager [[Les Parry]] revealed that Moore had submitted a transfer request after being approached by another club, rumoured to be [[Rotherham United]] where his father [[Ronnie Moore]] was, at the time, manager.

===Rotherham United===

On 26 January 2011 Moore signed for [[Rotherham United F.C.|Rotherham United]] for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut in a 4–0 win over his old club [[Stockport County F.C.|Stockport County]] and set up strike partner [[Adam Le Fondre]] for the fourth goal of the game.
On Twitter on 21 June 2011 Ian announced he had left Rotherham by mutual consent, three months after his father had also "left by mutual consent".
He has since trained with League 2 club [[Accrington Stanley]] with a view to sign, but nothing materialised and on 18 August it was announced he had turned Stanley down on an offer of a non-contract basis.
After his release from Rotherham he hinted he may hang his boots up and retire. He said "If nothing happens by the first week of August, I might have to call it a day."

In August 2011 Moore began training daily with Stockport County from the Conference Premier.

On Tuesday 6 September 2011, Thomas-Moore posted on the social networking site Twitter that he was retiring from professional football. Moore posted: "After a long hard think over weekend, I have decided to pull the curtain down on my career, was hard but the right time, thanks for support".

===Further involvement with Tranmere===
On the evening of 3 March 2012, following the dismissal of Les Parry as Tranmere Rovers manager, Moore suggested that his father, Ronnie, contact [[Peter Johnson (businessman)|Peter Johnson]], the Tranmere chairman. Ronnie did so, and was installed as manager, the following day, until the end of the 2011–2012 season. He was also in line to sign for the 2012–2013 season to come out of retirement but after a few training sessions with Tranmere he again informed he was going back into retirement.
<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.football365.com/league-one/7571796/Son-behind-Ronnie-s-Rovers-return|title=Son behind Ronnie's Rovers return|date=5 March 2012|access-date=5 March 2012|publisher=football365.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309002524/http://www.football365.com/league-one/7571796/Son-behind-Ronnie-s-Rovers-return|archive-date=9 March 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927212900/http://www.hartlepool.vitalfootball.co.uk/player.asp?p=429 Ian Moore profile] at [http://www.hartlepool.vitalfootball.co.uk/ Vital Hartlepool]
*{{Soccerbase|name=Ian Moore}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas-Moore, Ian}}
[[Category:1976 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:English men's footballers]]
[[Category:Men's association football forwards]]
[[Category:Tranmere Rovers F.C. players]]
[[Category:Bradford City A.F.C. players]]
[[Category:Nottingham Forest F.C. players]]
[[Category:West Ham United F.C. players]]
[[Category:Stockport County F.C. players]]
[[Category:Burnley F.C. players]]
[[Category:Leeds United F.C. players]]
[[Category:Hartlepool United F.C. players]]
[[Category:Premier League players]]
[[Category:English Football League players]]
[[Category:Rotherham United F.C. players]]
[[Category:Hartlepool United F.C. non-playing staff]]
[[Category:Footballers from Birkenhead]]