Plenty Moore to come as Rover aims to end on high

Jan 10 2009 by Nick Hilton, Liverpool Daily Post

EVEN the age of 32, pace over the ground and sharpness of movement remain the keynotes of Ian Moore’s game.

It is how the versatile Tranmere front man wants to be remembered and it is why he plans to call a halt to his playing career in two and a half years’ time.

Not for Moore the slowing, retreating steps down the football ladder to carry on playing while physical powers inevitably decline with the passage of time.

Instead, the Birkenhead-born son on of Rovers manager Ronnie Moore wants to take his take his final bow in the professional game at the League One level he currently plays at.

“I have set myself to play for another two years after this season and then I might call it a day,” Moore said. “I might want to reassess it when I get to 34 but at the moment that is the plan.

“I want to go out playing at a good standard. I don’t want to be playing in the Conference. I would be good to finish here Tranmere or with another team at this is level.”

Moore is familiar with the many ageing professionals who keep their careers going for as long as they can, squeezing out the last drops of enjoyment before they hang up their boots.

He said: “Some people like to hang on as long as they can as players. I see them taking every last little bit out of football.

“But that is not for me. I’m going to try and stay at as high a level as I can and then walk away.”

Moore’s last appearance for Tranmere provided vivid confirmation that his powers as a player are not yet in decline. There were a matter of seconds left on the clock of a Christmas holiday fixture against Wallsall when Moore expertly controlled a difficult high ball dropping over his shoulder, sped off down the right wing and delivered an inch perfect cross into the penalty area and was rammed home by skipper Antony Kay for Tranmere’s winning goal.

There have been other examples, not least clinically-taken goals against Southend and Leeds, also at Prenton Park.

Moore’s last two appearances this season were as a striker but in or recent months he operated most often in a wide midfield position. He could be asked to play either role in Tranmere’s League One encounter with Peterborough at Prenton Park this afternoon.

Ian Moore’s professional career began at Prenton Park in the mid 1990s when he emerged from the youth development ranks to claim a first team spot with a flurry of goals.

His father was assistant to manager to John King at the time but both departed in the spring of 1996 to be replaced by John Aldridge.

Within a year Moore made a £1million move to Nottingham Forest and subsequently enjoyed spells with Stockport County, Burnley, Leeds and Hartlepool before attempted Tranmere, by then the managed by his father, just under a year ago.

Moore junior has always regarded him as a striker first and foremost and boasts more than 100 goals in 500-plus league and cup appearances over 15 years. But in more recent years managers at Burnley and Leeds tapped into Moore’s ability to operate in midfield roles.

Ronnie Moore, having criticised Dennis Wise for using his son as a wide player at Leeds, found himself doing the same thing when he was looking to introduce some discipline into the Tranmere midfield.

Ian Moore said: “It is a pretty familiar story for me the last three to four years. I’ve never really been in any settled position, playing on the wing or playing up front. I think I have played more games on the wing than as in a striker this season and I’m enjoying it.

“That’s the way things have to be for a small squad. There are a number of teams in this division or in the same boat as us. Injuries and suspensions don’t leave a lot of room for manoeuvre and we all have to do what we’re asked.”