Richard "Richie" Moran (born 9 September 1963) is a former professional footballer who played in the Football League for Birmingham City.[1] He played as a centre forward.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Richard Moran | ||
| Date of birth | 9 September 1963 | ||
| Place of birth | London, England | ||
| Position(s) | Centre forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Fareham Town | |||
| 1988–1989 | Gosport Borough | 69 | (26) |
| 1989 | Fujita Kogyo | ||
| 1990–1991 | Birmingham City | 8 | (1) |
| 1991 | → Kettering Town (loan) | ||
| 1991 | Bashley | ||
| 1991–19?? | Waterlooville | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Career
editMoran was born in London to Nigerian parents. He attended primary school in ethnically-diverse south-east London, but was then adopted by an Anglo-Irish family (Patrick and Daphne Moran) and attended Brune Park secondary school in Gosport, Hampshire, a predominantly white area.[2] He played non-league football for Fareham Town and Gosport Borough for each of whom he was a prolific goalscorer and scored a goal for the latter in the 1988 Hampshire senior cup final. He then became sought after by football league clubs but chose to move to Japan where he played for Fujita. On his return to England he spent time with Norwich city and Leeds United.He ultimately joined Birmingham City.[3] He made his debut in the Third Division on 1 September 1990, entering the game as a substitute for Robert Hopkins to score Birmingham's third goal in a 3–1 home defeat on Leyton Orient.[4] Unfortunately he was unable to reproduce the goalscoring form he had shown in non-league football and after becoming racially abused and annoyed with the lack of multicultural opportunities of first team football, he dropped out of the Football League the following year.[3]
Moran left the game because of the racism he encountered within it, stating that he "was racially abused by some of the biggest names in the game. A lot of it is put down to dressing room banter, stupidity, or footballers being working class, but these are all excuses."[5] He attributes his falling out of favour at Birmingham to a refusal to go along with what he perceived as racially offensive treatment,[6] and is angered by "the lack of black players who seem willing to stick their heads above the parapet and condemn racism".[7] Moran has written and campaigned on issues of racism and conscience,[8] and wrote a book about his experiences while travelling the world.[9]
References
edit- ^ "Birmingham City : 1946/47–2007/08". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
- ^ Moran, Richie (2000). "Racism in Football: A Victim's Perspective". In Garland, Jon; Malcolm, Dominic & Rowe, Michael (eds.). The future of football. Routledge. pp. 190–98. ISBN 0-7146-5068-4.
- ^ a b Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 111. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
- ^ Matthews, p. 226.
- ^ Chaudhary, Vivek (23 April 2004). "Ugly Side of the Beautiful Game". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 June 2009.
- ^ Crabbe, Tim; Back, Les & Solomos, John (2001). The Changing Face of Football: Racism, Identity and Multiculture in the English Game. Berg Publishers. pp. 149–50. ISBN 1-85973-483-9.
He recounted how when he was playing for Birmingham City, the manager had: 'Called me into his office and asked me why I had dreadlocks. And when I explained that it was a reaffirmation of my African heritage it was met with derision, and to me, having explained it was part of my heritage – whatever corner of the globe you come from – he had actually insulted my whole heritage ... And I told him, with my tongue pretty much in my cheek, that ... if I should have my hair cut then why couldn't he have elocution lessons to change his Glaswegian accent, which didn't go down too favourably and I didn't play in the first team again strangely enough.'
- ^ Hubbard, Alan (5 March 2000). "U-turns, No 10 and the Palace". The Independent. Archived from the original on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2009.
- ^ Lawton, James (17 May 2005). "Moran – a man of principle". The Independent. Archived from the original on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2009.
- ^ "Footballer books library success". Kick It Out. 17 October 2005. Retrieved 17 June 2009.