Doug Moran

Doug Moran
Personnel
Surname	Douglas Walter Moran
birthday	July 29, 1934
place of birth	Musselburgh ,  Scotland
position	Half-striker
Juniors
Years	station
	Musselburgh Union
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1953-1956	Hibernian Edinburgh	3 0(1)
1956-1961	FC Falkirk	135 (75)
1961-1964	Ipswich Town	104 (31)
1964	Dundee United	3 0(1)
1964-1968	FC Falkirk	78 0(7)
1968-1969	Cowdenbeath FC	8 0(1)
	Gala Fairydean
1 Only league games are given.

Douglas Walter "Doug" Moran (born July 29, 1934 in Musselburgh ) is a former Scottish football player . As a half-forward, he was first known as the winning goal scorer for FC Falkirk in the Scottish Cup in 1957 in the final against FC Kilmarnock and later at Ipswich Town as part of the English championship team from 1962 .

Athletic career

Moran grew up in Musselburgh, a few kilometers from Edinburgh , and attended the Musselburgh Grammar School , as did the equally successful soccer players (and teammates) Bert Slater and John White in his day - Kenny Miller and Colin Nish grew to become other famous Musselburgh soccer personalities a few decades later approach.

At home club Musselburgh Union , Moran matured into a classic left half-forward who liked to fall back and had the peculiarity of scoring “unconventional goals”. He then joined the first division club Hibernian Edinburgh , which had its heyday in the early 1950s. Since the famous "Famous Five" from Gordon Smith , Bobby Johnstone , Lawrie Reilly , Eddie Turnbull and Willie Ormond were the undisputed regular players on the offensive, Moran was denied the breakthrough despite promising approaches. In 1956, coach Hugh Shaw , who suggested Moran play on loan for first division rivals FC Falkirk, remedied the situation . Falkirk was fighting against relegation at the time and together with Bert Slater, who had been between the posts for Falkirk since 1953, Moran not only managed to stay in the league . In addition, he surprisingly won the Scottish Cup with his new team in 1957 . On the way there he first missed the five-round game against the Berwick Rangers , but was then a regular player in the remaining rounds. In the final against FC Kilmarnock , who had even eliminated Celtic Glasgow in the semi-finals , his big performance came when the game at Hampden Park went into extra time . In the 100th minute, Moran picked up the ball, which was cleared by the opponent from his own half, at the level of the center line and made a single effort for the 2-1 winner. Two years later, Moran, who had meanwhile been permanently signed, went to the second division. The relegation as penultimate in the table in 1959 was accompanied by some discord, which only got little public awareness because Falkirk himself did not win his last game against the Raith Rovers (Falkirk's competitor Dunfermline Athletic , who was significantly weaker in the goal quotient , scored ten goals against Partick Thistle under controversial circumstances and already before the game, rumors of bribery about the game in Dunfermline had spread to Falkirk's dressing room). After relegation there was a change of coach to Tommy Younger from Liverpool FC . Younger came to Scotland in exchange with Bert Slater and acted in the role of player-coach. However, his time was hapless and Moran clashed with him increasingly. After a cup loss to Cowdenbeath FC , it got noisy between the two and Moran was suspended for the rest of the season. Moran tried to get the clearance for a club change. However, he only got this when he made a significant contribution to Falkirk's resurgence in the 1960/61 season and scored numerous goals.

Moran's destination was England, although it played a role that some of his teammates had already started their way south. He was hired by the first division promoted Ipswich Town and was the only new signing before the 1961/62 season with the coach Alf Ramsey, who was active there . Completely surprisingly, Ipswich won the English championship in 1962. Moran did not miss any of the 42 league games and scored the third most hits after the two center strikers Ray Crawford and Ted Phillips . He attested to his coach Ramsey that he was not a great tactician and that he was more respected than liked due to his appearance as a "gentleman". The tactical alignment without real wingers ("wingless wonders"), which was considered a prototype for the English world championship formation four years later, he attributed more to chance and linked this with the name Jimmy Leadbetter , who turned out to be too slow for a left winger. but then “shone” in an unconventional way in the withdrawn position.

“I thought he was a gentleman. Not many people liked him, but that might be because of the way he spoke. Funnily enough, I don't think of him as a great tactician. "

- Doug Moran on his former coach, Alf Ramsey

Moran spent a total of three years in England and after relegation as bottom of the table in 1964 - Ramsey Ipswich had left a year earlier - Moran returned to his Scottish homeland. The interlude at Dundee United was short-lived and in the same year Moran hired a second time in Falkirk. There he came in four years on 78 more missions, in which he scored a total of seven goals. He ended his career at the end of the 1960s at Cowdenbeath FC and then in the amateur field at Gala Fairydean . In private he remained connected to the Scottish homeland and Moran kept his home south of Musselburgh in the village of Inveresk .

Title / Awards

• English Championship (1): 1962
• Scottish Cup (1): 1957

Web links

• Statistical data from the Post War English & Scottish Football League AZ Player's Database
• Profile on barryhugmansfootballers.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Martin Brooks: Ipswich Town Champions 1961/62 . The History Press, Stroud 2011, ISBN 978-0-7524-5890-8 , pp. 144 .
2. ↑ "Bairn winner: Doug Moran recalls Scottish Cup goal" (The Scotsman)