Darren Moore

Early career

Moore attended James Watt Primary School and Holyhead Secondary, both in Handsworth, Birmingham. He played for Holly Lane Colts and in 1989 had a trial with Walsall. He began his football career as a trainee with Torquay United in June 1990, and made his debut while still a trainee on 24 March 1992, in a 2–1 defeat at home to Birmingham City. He turned professional in November 1992. Moore began the following season as first choice in the centre of defence, alongside Wes Saunders and went on to play over 100 league games for Torquay before leaving to join Doncaster Rovers for a fee of £62,500 in July 1995.

Bradford City and Portsmouth

He moved to Bradford City for a fee of £310,000 in June 1997. He played 18 times during his first season with injuries limiting his starts. But in 1998–99 he started 44 games helping City to promotion into the Premier League for the first time. During the summer he refused to sign a new contract and fell out of favour with manager Paul Jewell. He played just once more for Bradford, in the League Cup against Reading before Portsmouth snatched his services from a collection of other suitors, for a fee of £500,000, in November 1999. He spent less than two years at Fratton Park before returning to the West Midlands with West Bromwich Albion for a fee of £750,000 on 14 September 2001.

West Bromwich Albion

The following day he made his Albion debut, as a 2nd-half substitute in a 2–1 win at Watford. Moore proved to be a rock at the heart of the Baggies defence as they earned promotion to the Premiership in 2001–02, and was named in the PFA Division One team of the year. After Albion were relegated from the top flight, he helped them bounce back at the first attempt, figuring in the promotion winning side of 2003–04.

Moore struggled to hold down a regular first team place during the first half of the 2005–06 season. He was sent off in the match against Wigan Athletic on 15 January 2006, his only dismissal in over 100 games for Albion. It proved to be his last game for the club, and later that month he was signed for Derby County by Phil Brown for a fee of £300,000, rising to £500,000 depending on appearances.

Derby County

Moore was a pivotal figure in the 2006–07 Derby side that clinched promotion back to the Premier League after a five-year absence by winning the Championship playoff final 1–0 against his former club West Brom. This was the fourth time he had been part of a squad which won promotion to the Premier League, following on from his successes at West Brom (twice) and Bradford. His form that year led to him being named in the PFA Championship team of the year for 2006–07. In the 2007–08 Premiership season, Derby were relegated as the bottom club, although Moore was awarded the club's internal Player of the Season award. Following the club's relegation, manager Paul Jewell allowed Moore to talk to his former club Bradford City, who were managed by his former teammates Stuart McCall and Wayne Jacobs as assistant. However, Bradford City decided not to pursue their interest in Moore, instead opting to sign Graeme Lee. He was a player not liked much by the manager Paul Jewell therefore he was allowed to leave Derby to go to Bradford City, his old club of which he was happy to return with Bradford.

Barnsley

Moore signed for Barnsley on 2 July 2008. Barnsley manager Simon Davey said they beat off competition from several sides to land the experienced defender. He scored his first goal for the club on 1 November 2008, with a header in a 3–1 win against Charlton Athletic. He scored his second goal for the club on 17 April 2010 against Swansea City. On 2 May 2010 after the West Bromwich Albion game, Moore was released by Barnsley.

Burton Albion

Moore signed for Burton Albion on 7 May 2010, days after his release from Barnsley, rejecting offers from higher level clubs. He made his first appearance in a Brewers shirt in a pre-season friendly against former club Derby County on 17 July 2010, and on 3 August 2010 was announced as the club's new captain, replacing Darren Stride. Moore left the club on February 7, 2012. He then played for a while for Wellington Amateurs, before returning to his old club West Brom, employed as a youth coach.

Nicknames

Moore has been given a variety of nicknames during his career. His first nickname Bruno originated at Torquay, due to his perceived resemblance to the boxer Frank Bruno. This nickname stuck with him while playing for Doncaster Rovers where he became a fans' favourite and Bradford City. At West Brom he was known by supporters as Big Dave, after a character in a Pot Noodle television advertisement, while at Derby he was known as Dazza, Big Daz, D-Unit and Mr. T, because of his resemblance to the actor. Former Derby County Manager Billy Davies also referred to him as Mooro. During his time at Derby a few fans referred to him as "the one man mountain" because of his height and strength at the back.

Faith and work in the community

Moore is a devout Christian. He is active in the Christian charity Faith and Football with Linvoy Primus and Lomana LuaLua. In 2005 Moore, along with Primus, walked the Great Wall of China to raise money for children's causes. He has raised thousands of pounds for Christian Aid and Oxfam and started to raise awareness about helping children in third-world countries. Moore and Primus have organised another charity bicycle ride from Charlton to Portsmouth, via Barnet and Reading, all clubs where Primus played, to raise money for the Faith and Football charity. In 2004 Moore received an award for 'Outstanding Contribution to Grass Roots and Community Football Projects' as part of the PFA's 'Let's Kick Racism Out of Football' campaign.