Darren Moss

Darren Moss
Personal information
Date of birth (1981-05-24) 24 May 1981 (age 43)
Place of birth Wrexham, Wales
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
1997–1998 Chester City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2001 Chester City 62 (0)
2001–2005 Shrewsbury Town 135 (10)
2005–2007 Crewe Alexandra 59 (2)
2007–2009 Shrewsbury Town 60 (2)
2009–2010 Morecambe 18 (1)
2011 Bangor City 33 (9)
2011–2013 Nantwich Town 48 (6)
2013–2014 Conwy Borough
2016 Cefn Druids 1 (0)
International career
2001–2002 Wales U21 6 (0)
Managerial career
2013 Nantwich Town (player-manager)
2013–2014 Conwy Borough (player-manager)
2018 Holywell Town (assistant)
2022– Cefn Druids (first team manager)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Darren Moss (born 24 May 1981) is a Welsh football coach and former player.

Playing career

Moss started his career as a trainee at Chester. He made his début for the club back in November 1998, in Chester's 2–1 loss against Brentford. During Moss's Chester career he played in 62 games for the club, in those games he received nine yellow cards and two red cards.

In June 2001, Moss joined Shrewsbury Town on a free transfer, making his début in August 2001 in Town's 3–1 loss against Hartlepool United. Moss was one of Shrewsbury's few key players as the club endured a poor 2002–03 campaign which saw them relegated from the Football League. Moss continued his good form in the Football Conference during 2003–04 as Shrewsbury immediately won promotion back to the Football League. A notable moment for Moss was scoring the winning penalty in the Conference playoff semi-final against Barnet, a game that eventually was settled by penalties. Seen as one of the key members of the squad, Moss was becoming a target of transfer interest from other clubs.

In March 2005, Darren Moss joined Dario Gradi's Crewe Alexandra, the north-west based club buying him for £170,000. He made his début in Crewe's 4–1 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers. A combination of injuries and the signing of Jon Otsemobor from Rotherham United in the January transfer window left Moss without a place in the first team. This was until Otsemobor rejected a new contract at Crewe, which put him on the transfer list, with Gradi looking for a replacement for the speedy full-back. The Crewe manager turned to Moss who made his first appearance as Otsemobor's replacement in the 4–2 win over Chesterfield in the EFL Trophy.

Towards the end of the 2006–07 season, rumours linked Moss with a move back to his former club Shrewsbury Town. These rumours were fuelled further when Moss turned down an extension to his contract at Crewe. In May 2007, only days after Shrewsbury narrowly missed out on promotion, Moss re-joined Shrewsbury Town on a free transfer. Moss made 31 league appearances in 2007–08, scoring twice. Both goals came in local derbies, against his former club Chester and Wrexham.

On 29 June 2009, he signed a two-year deal with Morecambe[1] after being heavily linked with them, but struggled to hold down a regular first team place and left by mutual consent in October 2010.[2]

In January 2011, Moss' career took a new turn as he signed for Welsh Premier League club Bangor City. He made eight appearances for the club before leaving in the summer.[3] He went on to sign for Nantwich Town.

Coaching, scouting and management career

In March 2013 he was appointed as caretaker player-manager for Nantwich Town[4] whilst working for his UEFA B coaching licence.[5]

In June 2013 he joined Conwy Borough as player-coach.[6] In December he was appointed as player-manager until the end of the season, alongside Aden Shannon, guiding the club to a second place finish in the Cymru Alliance. He left the club in November 2014 after a disappointing start to the 2014–15 season.[7]

In June 2018 he joined Holywell Town as assistant manager[8] but he left the club within a few months.[9]

In 2020 he was appointed as a scout for Plymouth Argyle[10] having previously scouted for four years for Stoke City for the 16-23 age group.[11]

References

  1. ^ "Moss decides on Morecambe". Sky Sports. 30 June 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Defender Darren Moss leaves Morecambe". BBC Sport. 21 October 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Ward And Bangor City Part Company". welsh-premier.com. 3 August 2011. Archived from the original on 20 September 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  4. ^ "Nantwich Town captain Darren Moss in charge as Staley steps down". Nantwich News. 21 March 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  5. ^ Morse, Peter (27 March 2013). "Football: "I want Nantwich Town job" – Darren Moss". Crewe Chronicle. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  6. ^ Thomas, Tony (4 June 2013). "Ex Wales under 21 Darren Moss joins as player coach". Conwy Borough. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  7. ^ "Club statement: Darren Moss leaves Conwy Borough FC". Conwy Borough. 27 October 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  8. ^ Jones, Dean (20 June 2018). "Ex-Conwy Borough manager Moss back in football at Holywell Town". North Wales Pioneer. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  9. ^ Jones, Dave. "Happy birthday to Holywell Town's legendary manager Johnny Haseldin". Grassroots North Wales. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  10. ^ "Moss helps former Chester FC team-mate". Chester Standard. 3 November 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  11. ^ "Our Services - Darren Moss". Moss FC. Retrieved 9 March 2022.