The Long Interview – With Sean Moore | OneFootball

Sean Moore had to endure some hardships before he could enjoy his career highs at Shelbourne FC. The 21-year-old winger sat down with us to reflect on where it all began and to talk about his life in football so far. We began at the start.

“My earliest memories of football were simple ones, just going to the park with my Da and that. I’m from Ardoyne in North Belfast, a working-class area, and there was just a wee field a few minutes’ walk from my house.  We would spend an awful lot of time there. My Da was trying to push me into joining “proper” teams from a very young age, when I was about four or five. But I was happy just kicking the ball around with him there most nights.”

His father was keen to get Sean involved in local club St Mary’s, and he had a background in football himself: “He wasn’t a good player!” Moore laughs, “He always says he was, but he was just a local Sunday League player. At that age you never consider that football could turn out to be your job, you just enjoy playing the game.”

And football was always a big deal in the Moore household: “My Da’s a huge Aston Villa fan, I know that’s a bit strange! There weren’t many Villa fans around, but he was, and he’d always buy me Villa tops when I was younger. A few of my uncles supported Chelsea so I’d often watch the Chelsea matches with them, but the team I gravitated to was Celtic. Celtic was the biggest team among my friends.”

But Mr Moore soon got his way. When Sean was just six years old, he signed for St Mary’s and was coached by a family friend. After a few carefree years with St Mary’s, Sean started turning heads when he played in the Foyle Cup at the age of nine. Soon enough he was on the radar of local Irish League side Cliftonville.

“Cliftonville was my local team. I remember going to my first live game when they played Glentoran. Cliftonville won 3-2, with the keeper getting sent off after about ten minutes! I remember saying to my Da after the game, ‘I need to go every week, this is class!’ And when they came for me around the age of ten, I was very excited. I ended up staying with them all the way up until the first team.”

The step-up in quality after joining Cliftonville wasn’t immediately apparent: “I wasn’t really thinking about showing them what I could do at that age, I was still basically just playing for fun. But it did start getting a bit more serious when I was about thirteen and fourteen. Boys started arriving that weren’t from the area, and you could tell that things were stepping up a bit towards that under-sixteen or under-eighteen level. But I always got good feedback from the coaches, and they were always very encouraging to me.”

Despite the progress at Cliftonville, Moore felt that his good work wasn’t being noticed at international level: “I was never really getting picked for any squads, even development squads at the time. I thought I was one of the best players in my position at that age, so it was strange. It took me breaking into the first team before I got any international recognition at all.”

But things were about to go up a gear for the tricky winger as, just after his sixteenth birthday, he made his senior debut: “It was against Bangor in the League Cup. I couldn’t explain to you how nervous I was! I found out the day before that I was in the squad, and we were at home, so all my friends and family came out to watch me. I came on at half-time and it really was an unbelievable moment. I’ll never forget that day. We won 3-1 as well and I did alright when I came on. It was a really brilliant feeling. From that point on I started thinking more seriously about my game, thinking, ‘I could make something of this now.’”

Moore went on to break into Cliftonville’s first team, but his milestone season couldn’t have started any worse. “In my first start…I actually got sent off! I got sent off against Larne in the league for a high boot. I couldn’t believe it. I remember walking down the tunnel crying, just thinking, ‘I’m done…he’s never going to play me again.’”

But following his three-game suspension, Moore was right back in the team and by the end of the 2022/23 season, he was named in the NIFL Premiership Team of the Year. Sean also landed himself the NI Writers’ Association Young Player of the Year award. Multiple clubs now had eyes on the young man from Belfast, but he only had eyes for one.

“It was always going to be West Ham. They had made their interest in me known for a while and they had a bunch of Irish boys and lads from the North as well. So I knew that I’d fit in okay there.”

Some might have found moving away to London daunting, but Moore took it in his stride: “I was never really one to be homesick. The players I played with at Cliftonville wished me well and told me not to come home too early. It never really bothered me too much being away. My Mum and Dad came over when they could, and I made plenty of friends in London. The thing that scared me the most was the football side of things. It felt like I was starting over. Starting for real this time. I knew that it was my big chance to make an impression and to try and carve out a career in the game.”

Moore would go into the West Ham Academy squad and try to stand out amongst a talented bunch of players from all over the world.

“The first six months were tough. I wasn’t really starting games. I think it was December when I started my first match, against Crystal Palace. I did well and the rest of the season became easier then. I started scoring a few goals and found a bit of a rhythm. But things kicked-on a bit in my second season there. It took me some time for my body to adjust to the full-time set-up to be honest, but when I did things improved.”

A moment that stands out for Moore was the pre-season tour of Austria that he undertook with the first team: “It was a bit surreal at the time. I really enjoyed it. I was alongside players that were worth fifty or sixty million pounds you know!? We played a game against Ferencvaros over there and I came on for the last fifteen minutes. We drew 1-1 and Kurt Zouma was in the team with me. Julen Lopetegui was the manager at the time and he was there, so that was a great experience.”

But Moore was to end up frustrated by another year of playing Academy football. He considered going out on loan to get first team experience, but a phone call from Shelbourne FC ultimately changed things.

“That’s when Shels came in. They wanted me on loan originally, but when the option of going permanently came, I jumped at it. I loved the set-up at West Ham, but I needed to be playing first team football to progress my career to the next stage. It felt more real when I came to Shels, being a first team player at a proper professional club. That was the first time in my career that I had really felt that way.”

Shelbourne supporters were excited with the signing of a player of Moore’s calibre, and they were eager to see what the young man could do.

“I made my Shels’ debut against Sligo Rovers; I came on for the last fifteen minutes or so. We were away in Rijeka playing in Europe after that, and the following Monday I started my first game for the club at home to Bohs. I played in the number 10 role that day and did alright. But I was nursing a bit of groin issue that I’d had since I was at West Ham. I always thought it was just fatigue…but when we were away at Derry City it got too painful and I couldn’t shake it. Then we came back for pre-season and I tore my hamstring.  I tore my left hamstring, and when I’d recovered from that I immediately tore my right hamstring. So obviously I was absolutely devastated.”

Having never suffered with injuries until that point, Moore suddenly found himself under a black cloud.

“I went six months without playing a game. I was in bits at the time. I was the only player who was out with a long-term injury, so it was very difficult to just keep going and doing the rehab. But the players I was living with, the manager at the time and coaches like Davy (McCallister) would put their arm around me, encourage me and give me support.”

Moore would have to wait almost a year between starting XI appearances for the Reds. But when he made his return in 2026, fans soon got to see the talented player that they had been missing.

“When I was injured I was in the crowd, just wanting to be out there playing in front of the supporters. Because the crowds we get here are unbelievable. When I did eventually score in front of them it felt amazing.”

Much like buses, Moore had been waiting over a year for a Shelbourne goal, and then two came along at once. Both were at home against Nomme Kalju of Estonia.

“It was an unbelievable day. That was my first start since the Bohs game! That’s how long it had been. I was quite nervous, but the manager had a chat with me before the game, and he told me that people were going to know my name by the time the game was over. That filled me with confidence before I went out there.”

His first goal for Shels was quite typical of the tricky wide player; nipping in between the defenders and finishing with his left foot. His second was more atypical.

“Yeah it was a header! I’m not known for them.” He says smiling, “Maybe it was a bit of my Irish League side coming out of me; stick the head on it and hope for the best! My Dad was down for that game, so that was really special to have him there. Everyone up home were delighted for me.”

Seeing off Kalju over two legs meant that Shels were granted one of the most prestigious European ties in the club’s history. Home and away against the mighty Ajax Amsterdam. The second leg was back at Tolka Park, and it was Moore’s goal that gave the Reds a 2-2 draw. A result that will stand the test of time among the pantheon of Shelbourne’s European achievements.

“It was one of the best moments that I’ve ever had in my life. It was unbelievable. The manager brought me on and said, ‘get us a goal’. I was thinking that I didn’t have much to lose, so I took on the defender. He kept backing up, so I chopped inside on my left foot and bent it into the top corner. The Riverside erupted. Jesus it was unbelievable! But it didn’t really sink in until after the game. Obviously we were disappointed to not get through the tie, but the result and the performance was something we can be proud of.”

Thinking about the setbacks that he’s had in his career recently, I asked Moore if the young boy who wasn’t overly keen on signing for St Mary’s all those years ago would be proud of the man that is now playing professionally and scoring against European giants?

“Yeah I think he would be proud. I never had goals that were too lofty, I never thought that I would go on to be the best player in the world or anything. But making my debut for my hometown club, getting signed by West Ham and then Shelbourne, and now playing in Europe; I think he’d be happy with what I’ve managed to achieve so far.”

We finished our conversation with advice that Moore would give to any aspiring footballer; particularly when they suffer the inevitable setbacks that almost every player must experience.

“You have to stick at it. There will be injuries and setbacks, and times when you question yourself. And that’s perfectly normal. But eventually things will improve. You’ll have another good day. You’ll play a game. You’ll score a goal. And if you keep going and remember that things will improve, if you keep applying yourself, whatever happens – you won’t have failed.”

A huge thanks to Sean Moore for taking the time to talk with us.