We called him the Frog... and told him he would never be a football manager!
The making of Moyes at lowly Shrewsbury as he takes West Ham back to his old club 30 years on
AFTER a fresh-faced 24-year-old David Moyes signed for Shrewsbury in 1987, he sought out the club’s former captain and fellow Glaswegian Jake King to help find him somewhere to live.
Over a drink at Cromwells, a restaurant in town that King owned, the young defender was not only steered towards the right estate agent, he also landed a coaching opportunity — the first baby steps towards a management career lasting 20 years with six different clubs including Manchester United.
‘I was finishing as part-time coach at Concord College which had wealthy students from around the world,’ recalls King. ‘I remember the Prince of Bahrain driving a big Rolls-Royce with gold handles.
‘I liked David and said I’d recommend him to the headmaster, Mr Morris. You could tell he’d coach like he played, always 100 per cent. If you looked at his eyebrows, you could see all the stitches.’
Moyes returns to Shrewsbury today for an FA Cup tie with West Ham and former team-mates have been lining up to share memories of the intense and dedicated centre-half who was nicknamed ‘The Frog’ and playfully teased for his early managerial ambitions.
The pay from Concord for twoand-a-half hours of coaching teenagers on Wednesday afternoons was £60. Loose change for today’s Premier League but generous in the 1980s when the average salary at Second Division Shrewsbury was £300 a week.
Moyes arrived from Bristol City as a no-nonsense centre-half who was already taking his coaching badges. Team-mate Bernard McNally, who now works as a forklift driver, says: ‘A football dressing room is like a building site, people taking the mick out of each other.
‘David had a vision for himself. He’d talk about the importance of coaching qualifications and the comedians would pipe up, “You’ll never be a manager”. But he had the last laugh. I wish I’d had his foresight and listened.
‘He knew his weaknesses as a player and how to work round them. He’d always be on his toes, we’d ask him why and he’d reply, “I’m not the quickest player — I can’t be on my heels”.
Moyes overcame adversity at Shrewsbury with the determination that became a managerial trademark at Preston, Everton, United, Real Sociedad, Sunderland and now West Ham. He once scored three own goals in quick succession and the team were later relegated to the Third Division. He also suffered a badly broken leg, doing part of his rehab at hometown club Celtic but then returning to Shrewsbury and using convalescence time to put on training sessions for the club’s youngsters. He was identified by everyone as a natural leader, vocal and brave. ‘I remember him getting smashed in the nose early on in a game, blood splattered everywhere,’ says fellow Shrew Mickey Thomas, of Manchester United and Wrexham FA Cup fame. ‘I’ve seen players call the stretcher for less. He just wiped the blood off with his sleeve and carried on. I thought, “This is one tough man”.
‘Those qualities have held David in good stead. He’s been battered in recent years and you have to give him credit for sticking in there.’
During his time at Gay Meadow — the club subsequently changed grounds — Moyes lived close to the town centre in Belvidere, a couple of miles from where his West Ham goalkeeper Joe Hart was taking his first steps as a toddler.
He’d share lifts into training with defender Brian Williams, a neighbour. For a defender, he also scored regularly at the right end. Exactly 30 years ago on FA Cup third-round weekend, he netted in a 2-1 win against Bristol Rovers. The previous week, he’d scored twice with set-piece headers in a 3-1 win at Manchester City.
Williams remembers Moyes’s dedication. ‘He was a good pro and trained hard every day. He wouldn’t back away from anything.
‘He’d also come out for drinks with the rest of the boys. When he was new, we all agreed to meet up at The Crown but told David the dress code was dinner jackets because we’d be going somewhere smart afterwards.
‘David turned up to this pub in his bow-tie and the rest of us were all dressed in jeans. I can’t repeat what he said to us.’
Forward Carl Griffiths was one of the younger players on the fringes of the first team but also coached by Moyes. ‘He was very thorough and issued clear instructions,’ he recalls. He was an excellent coach, though you didn’t know he’d be such a successful manager.
‘We’d call him The Frog because of those massive eyes. Maybe it’s why he had such a good leap!’
Moyes left Shrewsbury for Dunfermline for £42,500 in 1990 after the English club failed to give him a contract offer he felt was suitable. He was still only 27 but already knew he was destined to be better remembered as a manager than a player.