New writer, Phil Couldridge, has supported the O's since 1960 and has even worked as the Commercial Manager of the club between 1978 and 1983. In this article, he takes a personal look at Orient players who have featured for the east London side over the years. Next up, Ian Moores.
Ian Moores was born on 5th October 1954. He was good at both football and cricket, but fortunately for us, football claimed him. His career commenced at home club Stoke, with great promise, which unfortunately he never fulfilled in the UK. Privately he had married Anne and had two children, Richard and Michael, liked heavy rock music such as Bad Company and Led Zeppelin, and was regarded as a shy and reserved as a person.
Moores was at Stoke for two years and made 50 appearances (14 goals) before transferring to Spurs in August 1976 for £75,000, where he made 32 appearances (8 goals). In September 1978 he transferred to Orient for £55,000, as part of a deal which included Ralph Coates moving to Orient also. At Orient, he stayed for 4 years and made 124 appearances (31 goals) before leaving in 1982 when the club was relegated, he then moved onto Bolton Wanderers.
I first met Ian just after he signed for Orient, when I was asked if my wife and myself would look after Ian and his wife at a club function. This proved to be a very good evening as both Ian and Anne were very good company but quite shy and reserved. From then on when ever I met him he was always very friendly, polite and chatty. His care for others was highlighted when he borrowed a jumper from the shop so he could play golf. When he returned the jumper , he laid it flat on the counter and then he picked off any fluff from it, so it was in perfect condition.
Both Moores and Coates made their Orient debut at the Valley against Charlton, wearing the unfamiliar light blue braces kit, Moores scored 2 goals in an Orient win. In his first season at Orient he was the leading scorer with 13 goals in 33 appearances. However, the next season he played mainly in defence or mid field, which limited his scoring. When the club released him he moved onto Bolton Wanderers, where he made 30 appearances ( 5 goals) which included a loan spell at Barnsley.
He then moved to Cyprus and spent 5 years with Apoel in Nicosia (along side Terry McDermott) which proved to be extremely successful for him. Whilst playing for Apoel he won a league title medal and a cup winners medal. He made 116 appearances (39 goals) for the club , he also played in all three European competitions. As a sign of the clubs respect of him, in 2017, Apoel announced that a plaque would be placed at their ground in honour of Moores who had proved such a success in his spell at the club and is still considered a legend.
In 1988 he moved back to England with Port Vale and then moved to non league Newcastle Town and Tamworth. In addition to this, he scored in Tamworths FA Vase cup final replay to help them win the trophy at Wembley. On his retirement from professional football he became a coach for a local non league youth team and worked as a personal financial advisor. However, tragedy struck In September 1997 as he was diagnosed with lung cancer and after a short but brave battle with the illness, he passed away in January 1998 at the age of 43.
Although Moores didn’t reach the potential that was expected of him after his departure from Stoke, he managed to have a reasonably successful career in the UK and a very successful career in Cyprus, where he is still regarded as a legend by Apoel.
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