TEENAGE Arsenal defender Joe O’Cearuill certainly had a baptism of fire when he moved to the Albion on loan in early 2007.
The youngster was played out of position at right-back in a third round FA Cup tie away to West Ham.
The match at the old Boleyn Ground on 6 January 2007 pitched the Premier League Hammers under Alan Curbishley up against his old Seagulls teammate Dean Wilkins, who had taken over the reigns at League One Brighton just four months previously.
West Ham, FA Cup finalists the previous season, were just too good for the mainly young lower league side on the day and, with big-money Argentine striker Carlos Tevez up front, comfortably won the tie 3-0 (Mark Noble, Carlton Cole and Haydn Mullins the scorers).
Albion put up a reasonable fight in a goalless first half although O’Cearuill was fortunate not to concede a penalty when he put in a clumsy challenge on debutant Luis Boa Morte which referee Mark Halsey chose not to penalise.
The second half was only four minutes old when Noble scored his first ever West Ham goal, Cole added a second nine minutes later before being replaced by former Albion favourite Bobby Zamora, and Mullins struck in injury time to round off the win.
Wilkins had turned to the Arsenal youngster when Jack Hinshelwood’s dad Adam suffered a cruciate ligament injury in a Boxing Day match against Yeovil that ruled him out for nine months.
O’Cearuill’s stay on the south coast lasted three months during which he made seven starts and three sub appearances. His final Seagulls match came in a 1-1 home draw against Scunthorpe United.
The Argus reckoned his form was “patchy” and at one point he was dropped to the bench “after a below-par performance” in defeat at Brentford.
Only on a couple of occasions did he get the chance to play in his favoured centre back position; those positions were occupied most of the time by Joel Lynch and Guy Butters.
But after he’d gone on for the injured Lynch in the centre away to Gillingham, he helped the visitors to a 1-0 win and Wilkins said: “I thought he fitted in well. He went into the game at a difficult period. There were a lot of high balls to deal with, which he coped with well.”
That first half of 2007 was pretty much the highlight of his career because on an end of season tour of America he won two full caps for the Republic of Ireland.
Although born in Edmonton on 9 February 1987, he elected to represent the Republic of Ireland and having played for them at under-17, under-19 and under-21 level,
A senior cap for the Republic of Ireland
His first senior cap came when he was one of six substitutes made by manager Steve Staunton in a 1-1 draw against Ecuador at the Giants Stadium, New Jersey, on 23 May 2007.
He replaced Stephen O’Halloran in the 73rd minute and managed to pick up a yellow card in his short time on the pitch. Kevin Doyle headed the Irish equaliser a minute before half time.
O’Cearuill then started at right-back three days later in the Republic’s 1-1 draw with Bolivia in Boston. Shane Long scored his first goal for his country and in the second half former Albion goalkeeper Wayne Henderson took over in goal from Barnsley’s Nick Colgan. The side was captained by Kevin Kilbane.
Curiously, O’Cearuill had been let go by both Leyton Orient and Watford before he was given a chance by Arsenal. He played 27 youth team games for the Os in 2004-05 but was released in August 2005.
Watford picked him up and he played for their youth and reserve teams for a season, but again found himself released. Then, in the summer of 2006, after impressing Arsenal’s reserve team coach Neil Banfield in a trial game against Watford, he joined the Gunners.
He made his debut in a goalless pre-season friendly at Barnet on 15 July and a week later played in half of Dennis Bergkamp’s testimonial against Ajax of Amsterdam.
On a tour of Austria, he played another half as Arsenal beat Mattersburg 2-1 and got 30 minutes as a sub when the Gunners trounced Schwadorf 8-1.
The closest he came to competitive first team action was when he was on the bench for Arsenal’s Carling Cup match away to West Bromwich Albion on October 24, 2006, although he did not get on in the 2-0 win in which Jeremie Aliadiere scored both the goals.
Released by Arsenal, O’Cearuill’s career then drifted from one non-league club to another: Barnet, St Patrick’s Athletic (Dublin), Harlow Town, Borehamwood, Forest Green Rovers (pictured left), Bishop’s Stortford, Tooting & Mitcham United, Haringey Borough, Enfield and Heybridge Swifts.
When he sought to resurrect his career with Conference Premier side Dover Athletic in 2015, he was suitably phlegmatic in an interview with Kent Online.
“It’s certainly been a journey,” he said. “From getting everything on a plate at Arsenal and then for Ireland, to then be washing your own kit and boots.
“I took being a professional for granted and I wasn’t really ready for it – I was too young to take it all in.
“When Arsenal released me, I discovered there was a lot more to life than playing football and I lost the motivation to play at a decent level. I even gave the game up for a while.
“I was then happy to play wherever and go with the flow. I had a couple of great years playing with my mates at Haringey Borough. But that’s all in the past now. The days for playing for fun are behind me.
“I am ready for the next chapter in my life because I’ve got the hunger and desire back to play the game at a level I know I am capable of.”
Released by Dover at the end of the season, former Albion striker Nicky Forster, by then manager of Staines Town, took him on for the Isthmian League Premier Division team.
“We are delighted to have secured the services of Joe this season, he has a great attitude for success and will sit well alongside Darren Purse at the back,” he told the club website.
His last port of call was back at Haringey in the summer of 2016 and he retired from playing in October that year.
In his LinkedIn profile, O’Cearuill describes himself as a senior manager for The Elms Sport in Schools programme.
AARON MOOY spent a year as a Manchester City player without playing a game for the club and left Brighton only seven months into a three-and-a-half-year contract.
Such is the at-times puzzling nature of moves in the modern game where multiple club ownership is a factor and players have release clauses inserted into contracts before they’ve set foot onto the field for their new club.
Having starred for City’s sister club Melbourne City in his native Australia, Mooy switched to the rather better-known City Football Group operation – Manchester City FC – in June 2016, signing a three-year deal with the English Premier League side.
His arrival coincided with Pep Guardiola taking over the reins at the Etihad and was one of the first moves between the various clubs bought by the Abu Dhabi-owned City Football Group.
Brian Marwood, managing director of City Football Services, said at the time: “Aaron is an extremely talented player who possesses the attributes we hope to foster and encourage within the City Football Group.
“With the unique model CFG provides, Aaron’s move to Manchester allows us to further expose him to a high standard of opportunities to ensure his professional growth.”
However, just six days later, Mooy was sent on loan to Championship side Huddersfield Town, where he ended up spending three seasons.
He was their player of the year as he helped them to win promotion from the Championship via the play-offs in 2017, he signed permanently for Town and then featured in their two seasons back in the Premier League.
But when they were relegated from the elite in 2019, he didn’t fancy dropping back down and seized the opportunity provided by Brighton to remain in the top division. Town neatly got him to pen a new three-year deal before allowing him to join the Seagulls on loan.
Huddersfield head coach Jan Siewert said: “Aaron was adamant that he wanted to test himself again in the Premier League when Brighton’s interest came in, and we didn’t want an issue where we had a disillusioned player on the pitch in the final year of his contract.”
However, after he’d made 15 appearances (plus three off the bench) in the first half of Graham Potter’s first season in charge, the 29-year-old was signed on a permanent basis on 24 January 2020 on “undisclosed terms”.
“He’s been an important player for us and will have a key part to play going forward,” said Potter. “We knew what Aaron would bring, and he’s proved to be an excellent addition to our squad and a great professional both on and off the pitch.”
Mooy’s deal with Brighton was not due to expire until June 2023 but, sensing one day he might have the opportunity to make big money in China, his contract at both Huddersfield and Brighton contained a clause allowing him to be released if a Chinese club offered to pay £4m – which, in the summer of 2020, Shanghai Port FC were willing to do.
Maybe the player also sensed the arrival at Brighton of Adam Lallana, together with the emergence of Alexis Mac Allister, might mean reduced playing time in the Premiership. However, perhaps the lure of being paid £60,000 a week to play the game he’s loved since a boy back home watching David Beckham on the TV might just have swayed it.
The shaven-headed Mooy had often stood out when playing for Huddersfield against Brighton and their fans were full of admiration for him. David Wood on Twitter said: “It was an absolute privilege to watch Aaron Mooy wear the blue and white of Huddersfield Town. A true class act.” Graeme Rayner added: “Without doubt the best player I’ve seen in a Town shirt. He was immense for us. He gave us some great memories, and was a model pro.”
Seagulls supporters took to him quickly too. ‘Farehamseagull’ on North Stand Chat declared: “Mooy is a wonderful player for us. We’ve been crying out for a player like him for years. His ability on the ball and appreciation of space is second to none. You can just always rely on him to make the right decision with the ball; that is a talent only truly gifted players who can see the game two, three moves ahead have.”
Mooy certainly shone in games against Spurs and Arsenal but possibly his best performance in a Brighton shirt came in the 28 December 2019 home game against Bournemouth when his 79th minute goal completed a 2-0 win for the Seagulls.
Mooy produced a headline–grabbing performance against Bournemouth
Newspaper headlines hailed the Australian’s contribution to the win and Sky Sports commentator Alan Smith capped the lot in analysing Mooy’s goal. “What a way to settle it,” he said. “Shades of Dennis Bergkamp here, the way he took it on his chest and chipped it in.
“A quite brilliant goal from a really talented player. Great awareness and look at that finish. Bergkamp would’ve been proud.”
Mooy was born in Sydney on 15 September 1990. His German father walked out when he was a toddler and his Dutch mother, Sam, brought him up using her maiden surname. Mooy has said his earliest football memories were of playing for Carlingford Redbacks who were coached by his stepdad, Alan Todd.
His early life, as chronicled by Hale Hendrix on lifeblogger.com, was pretty much football obsessed and he went to the same high school, Westfield Sports High, as Albion goalkeeper Mat Ryan (who was in the year below). Former Leeds and Liverpool player Harry Kewell also went to Westfield.
Mooy played for Sydney-based Hajduk Wanderers and the former National Soccer League team Northern Spirit FC, as well as enhancing his potential at the New South Wales Institute of Sport, based at Sydney Olympic Park, an organisation which nurtures the country’s high performing sports people.
But he was spotted playing for his school as a 14-year-old by Bolton Wanderers’ former head of youth Chris Sulley and he was invited to the UK with his family for an assessment.
“It was a big decision to move to England but I knew it was a great opportunity,” Mooy told the Bolton News.
A serious knee injury threatened to halt his progress but Wanderers’ youth team coaches were convinced they had an outstanding prospect who was eager to earn a professional contract.
In his third season as a scholar, he managed to get some minutes in Alan Cork’s reserve team, and he said: “It’s a big year for me and I have got to show the coaches what I have got, so when I got injured, I knew I had to get back as quickly as possible.
“My rehabilitation involved lots of weight sessions and time on the bike, but I am feeling much sharper now.”
Unfortunately for Mooy, the club’s then-manager, Gary Megson, thought it unlikely he would develop into first-team material – a decision which baffled former Wanderers youth team coach, Peter Farrell.
“I couldn’t believe they released him,” Farrell told Bolton News reporter Marc Iles. “I always thought he was going to make it as a footballer but, as with anything, it’s all about opportunity.
“If Big Sam would have been in charge, or Phil Brown would have taken over I think he would still be there now. They valued that type of player and built their team around him.
“For me, Aaron had it all – he could go with his left foot, his right foot, he was physically strong on the ball and I don’t think he has changed at all from what I saw of him playing for Huddersfield.”
He added: “People thought he was maybe a bit lazy. You’ll never see him tackle. You need players around him to do that. But he reminds me a bit of Zidane – he’s even got the bald head.
“He isn’t as good a player, of course, but he has that grace about the way he plays. He’s a lovely balanced player but he wasn’t Gary Megson’s type of player, and that was the end of it.”
Six months after he left Bolton, Mooy surprisingly turned up in the unlikely surroundings of Paisley, Scotland, for a two-year stint at Scottish Premier League St Mirren (where former Albion midfielder Steven Thomson was at the other end of his career).
“It was a big decision to leave Bolton,” he told The Daily Record at the time. “But I wanted to try to get some first-team action and I’m doing that so I’m happy.
“Some people were a little surprised, but it didn’t bother me. I just thought I wasn’t really going to get much of a chance at Bolton. At St Mirren, I knew I was going to get some decent game time.”
Mooy later told The Scottish Sun: “St Mirren was the start for me. It was the first time I had really experienced proper football. I always remember how much I learned there. I was in the reserves at Bolton, but St Mirren was the first club I was at where winning and collecting points mattered hugely and I had to buy into that mentality.”
Mooy featured in 18 matches for Danny Lennon’s side in the 2010-11 season but he suffered a stress fracture in his back during pre-season and he managed only 12 appearances in 2011-12 and was released on a free transfer at the end of it.
At that point he decided to return to Australia and he joined Western Sydney Wanderers on a two-year deal. Mooy’s story was told excellently by Paul Doyle in The Guardian in a November 2017 article. He wrote:“Although he did well at Western Sydney, even there he was not a guaranteed starter, having to compete with two other players for a deep midfield spot as the team’s playmaking rights were entrusted to Shinji Ono, the former Japan international and 2002 Asian player of the year who would end his career in Australia.”
At the end of his contract, Mooy moved on to Melbourne City where he had an impressive 2015-16 campaign in which he was named Australian Players’ Player of the Year after scoring 17 goals from midfield and setting an A-League assist record.
Although Man City sent him to Huddersfield on loan, news of his strong performances hadn’t escaped Guardiola’s attention, as he noted in media interviews before Town took on City in the FA Cup in January 2017. “Aaron Mooy is playing amazing this season and we are glad at that,” Guardiola said. “It is not easy coming from Australia and going to the Championship and play as good as he is.
“We are going to consider what will happen at the end of the season but it’s good.”
Mooy responded to Guardiola’s praise, telling Huddersfield’s official website: “It’s obviously excellent and I’m very humbled and all that sort of stuff.
“It’s great to know he’s watching me and has his eye on how I’m doing, that’s great.
“They come to watch the games and stay in contact and hopefully they like what they see,” he said.
The Manchester Evening News even ran a story about Mooy headlined ‘The midfielder who could save Pep Guardiola and Man City a fortune this summer’.
However, at the end of June 2017, with Huddersfield preparing for their return to the Premier League, Mooy made the switch from City permanent for a club record fee of £8m.
Boss David Wagner told BBC Radio Leeds: “He was one of our key targets because he was the heart of our team last season.
“When we had the chance to get him permanently, we all agreed that we needed to get it done as quickly as we could.”
Chairman Dean Hoyle added: “Aaron made it very clear to us last season that he wanted to play in the Premier League this season and, if we were there, he would want to do that with us.
“I think we had a duty to try to make that happen for him because he made a huge contribution last season. He was a true terrier for us.”
Mooy drew praise for his role in Wagner’s gegenpressing style of play – bringing an energy and creative use of the ball in a slightly deep-lying midfield role – and Doyle observed in his Guardian article: “Strong on the ball, genuinely two-footed and blessed with vision and precision, he is the conduit of most Terriers attacks and never shirks defensive duties in a team that made more tackles than any other Premier League side during the first 12 matches of the season.”
Through his parents, Mooy could have played internationally for Germany or the Netherlands but he opted to play for the country where he was born and has played at several age group levels for the Australian national side. He made his full debut in 2012, scoring in a 9-0 win over Guam, and has since won more than 40 caps.
After Mooy played well for Australia at the 2018 World Cup, there was speculation City might activate a £20m buy-back clause but this was an unfounded rumour and reporter Stuart Brennan said in the Manchester Evening News: “Mooy has been playing well but has not done enough to suggest he could handle the rarefied atmosphere of Pep Guardiola’s midfield.”
City’s loss was Huddersfield and Brighton’s gain, but amongst the reasons suggested for his sudden departure after only a season with the Seagulls was Shanghai taking advantage of an overseas players loophole which allows Australian players to be counted as Asian.
Mooy certainly hit the ground running in China, scoring within 25 minutes of making his debut on his 30th birthday. He came off the bench in Shanghai’s 2-1 win against Wuhan Zall, scoring the winner after fellow Premier League export Marko Arnautovic had scored Shanghai’s first.
Mooy scored with a delightful one-two down the flank and easy chip over the onrushing keeper.
“I have only just arrived so my physical condition is not what it could be,” Mooy told Chinese television after the game.
“The coach asked me before kick-off if I could play some part in the game and of course I was happy to do so.”
Mooy’s career has certainly been of interest to a number of football observers around the world and Marco Jackson chipped in on onsideview.com, discussing the rationale behind his move to China.
Mooy’s recent playing time has been non-existent because the Chinese Super League is having a three-and-a-half month break to enable the national side to prepare for World Cup qualifiers. The West Australian reported on 4 October 2021 how Mooy had returned to Scotland to be with his family while keeping fit working on a programme devised by Socceroos strength and conditioning coach Andrew Clark.
A POCKET dynamo of a striker who became a Manchester City cult hero never forgot the goalscoring platform a short spell with Brighton provided him.
Paul Dickov is fondly remembered by the City faithful, particularly for his equalising goal (above) in the fifth minute of added on time in the League Two play-off final at Wembley in 1999 (City famously went on to win the penalty shoot-out in which Guy Butters missed a vital spot-kick for Gillingham).
The diminutive Dickov had wowed Brighton fans during the dark days of the 1993-94 season when Barry Lloyd’s replacement as manager, legendary Liam Brady, had secured the striker’s services on loan from his old club Arsenal.
Dickov had managed to break through to the Arsenal first team under George Graham in the latter stages of the 1992-93 season. But his chances were limited by the manager’s preference for the more experienced Ian Wright and Kevin Campbell.
Earlier in the 1993-94 season, the young forward left Highbury for a 15-game spell with League One Luton Town, but only managed one goal.
His goalscoring fortunes changed when Brady persuaded his former employers to let Dickov join the struggling Seagulls, who, at the time, were fighting to avoid relegation from League Two.
The tenacious Dickov relished the opportunity and scored on his debut in a 2-0 home win over Plymouth Argyle on 30 March 1994. It was the first of five goals in eight games to help Brighton avoid the drop. (Pictured below, Dickov scores from close range against Fulham).
“I had a great time there. I loved every minute of it, and it has stuck with me,” Dickov told the Argus some years later. “I’ve always looked out for Brighton since then and I want them to do well.”
Born in Livingston, Scotland, on 1 November 1972, Dickov came to the attention of the Gunners while playing for Scotland at the 1989 FIFA Under-16 World Championship.
Having shown his goalscoring potential in Arsenal’s reserve side, Dickov got his first team opportunity when Graham rested players ahead of the FA Cup Final (in which they beat Sheffield Wednesday after a replay).
Dickov made his Arsenal debut against Southampton on 20 March 1993, and he went on to score against Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur at the end of the season.
Over the following three seasons, although on the fringes of the first team, he was competing against the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Wright and John Hartson and he was restricted to just 17 appearances in which he scored once.
Despite the disappointment of not quite making it at Arsenal, he is still fondly remembered there, with their history recording: “He never gave anything less than his all in an Arsenal shirt and, despite question marks over his height, Dickov compensated for his 5’5” frame with heart and endeavour.
“He was quick, skilful and scurried around up front causing problems for defenders.”
On 23 August 1996, City paid £1m to take him to Maine Road.
Over six seasons with the club, he was involved in two promotions and two relegations, which saw him play in three different divisions.
For all their success in more recent times, that memorable play-off at Wembley in 1999 was still being talked about 20 years later.
In 2000, Dickov won his first full international cap for Scotland and he earned 10 caps between then and 2004.
By then, he had moved on from City to try to keep Dave Bassett’s Leicester City in the top division. He joined the Foxes in February 2002, and, although he scored four goals as Leicester valiantly tried to maintain their Premiership status, they were not enough to prevent them being relegated to the Championship.
When former Albion boss Micky Adams took over the following season, Dickov thrived up front, netting a career-high 20 goals as Leicester won an instant return to the top-flight, finishing second behind champions Portsmouth.
Dickov scored 13 goals in the Premier League the following season but once again the Foxes were relegated. Even so, Dickov almost had a dream final game of the season against the team who had first give him his chance in the English game.
Arsenal were unbeaten throughout the season going into the Highbury finale but Dickov gave Leicester a shock headed lead before Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira turned the game back in the Gunners’ favour to earn them the ‘Invincibles’ crown for their achievement.
That season at Leicester was also blighted by a shocking series of events during a training camp in La Manga, Spain, when Dickov and teammates Keith Gillespie and Frank Sinclair were falsely accused of sexual assault.
At the season’s end, Dickov took up an option on his contract which allowed him to leave for a top-flight club and Graeme Souness signed him for Blackburn Rovers. It was not long before Mark Hughes took over and Dickov scored 10 goals in 35 games. Craig Bellamy was Rovers’ main man up front the following season and Dickov’s Premier League appearances were confined to 17 games plus four as a sub.
With his contract at an end, he rejoined Manchester City for the 2006-07 season but his time there was dogged by a series of injuries and he ended up having loan spells at Crystal Palace and Blackpool before returning to Leicester in 2008.
During that spell, when City were in League One, he was mainly back-up to Matty Fryatt and Steve Howard, but managed a further 20 appearances and scored two goals to help the club to promotion back to the Championship.
Eventually, he ended up going out on loan, this time to Derby County to help them out in an injury crisis. His Leicester contract was terminated in February 2010 and he took up a short-term deal to the end of the season with League One Leeds United, who ended the season earning promotion to the Championship.
Dickov’s next move, though, was into management. He initially joined Oldham Athletic as player-manager, before packing up playing in May 2011.
In Dickov’s first game as manager, a young Dale Stephens scored both goals as the Latics beat Tranmere Rovers 2-1. The highlight of his tenure at Oldham was leading the Latics to a shock 3-2 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup fourth round in January 2013, but he resigned a few weeks later because of the side’s poor league form.
Three months later, he took over at Doncaster Rovers, with former Albion captain and manager Brian Horton as his assistant.
Since leaving Rovers in September 2015, Dickov has been on the football speakers circuit and is also a frequent eloquent contributor as a pundit.
At the season’s end, Dickov took up an option on his contract which allowed him to leave for a top-flight club and Graeme Souness signed him for Blackburn Rovers. It was not long before Mark Hughes took over and Dickov scored 10 goals in 35 games. Craig Bellamy was Rovers’ main man up front the following season and Dickov’s Premier League appearances were confined to 17 games plus four as a sub.
In parallel lines 