One To Watch - Taylor Moore

Every season a new young footballer is banded around as the 'next big thing'. The sad truth is many of them never end up living to their hyped up potential because the pressure is applied to early and to much.

Taylor Moore looks like he could be a different prospect altogether. I must admit that the first time I heard about him was when I saw him in the England under 19's on Football Manager and was interested into why he was playing in France. This spurred me to get off the computer game and research Moore myself and its quite an interesting one.

Taylor Moore was born in London but his family made the move over to France when he was just seven years old. He had been on the books at West Ham already so there was early signs of talent. After a spell of playing for the amateur youth side AS Estaples he was spotted by RC Lens who took him into their youth academy where he spent the next few years developing. He made his senior debut in May 2015 and went on to make a total of 9 career appearances for the France Club.

Taylor Moore in action for Lens

He was chased by Lyon (who had a ten million euro bid for him rejected) and was linked with moves to the Premier League with Spurs, Southampton and his first youth club West Ham. In the end he signed for Championship side Bristol City which I personally feel is a good thing. He has so much more of a chance of first team football in the Championship. There is always the chance of fading into obscurity in the reserves for a top flight club. He now has a chance to gain some valuable first team experience in English football whilst adding to his England youth caps.

Moore with new club Bristol City

There has been no over hyping by the English press as he hasn't come through an English youth academy. This has given him the chance to just just focus on his development which I think gives him a brilliant chance of reaching the top and I personally feel the defender is definitely one to keep an eye on for the future.

British Players Abroad.

Gareth Bale, Steven Gerrard, Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard. Just four of the big names plying their trade abroad. But what about the lesser know players that have made the brave attempt to carve a career outside of British Isles? In this article we take a look at just a few of the others that may have slipped your attention.


John Bostock- RC Lens
Spurs fans may remember the name John Bostock. Once tipped to be the next big thing for English football the central midfielder made his first team debut for Crystal Palace at the tender age of 15. A move to Spurs followed at a cost of £700,000 plus add-ons. After several loan moves, he was unable to break into the Tottenham first team and was released on a free transfer. He crossed the channel and joined Royal Antwerp and had a pretty good season providing 16 assists. A further move to fellow Belgian side Oud-Heverlee Leuven where he finished the season with an impressive thirteen goals and 19 assists. He now turns out for French Ligue 2 club RC Lens and after representing England at various youth levels has opted to play switch nationalities to Trinidad and Tobago.

John Bostock At New Club Lens

Nathan Eccleston- Békéscsaba 1912 Előre
Once upon a time things looked bright for Nathan Eccleston. He was at Liverpool and performing well for the under 18's and starting to get attention for the first team. A handful of substitute appearances in the Premier League and Europa league and three loan spells later, he was sold to Blackpool. The club where former Liverpool academy team mate Tom Ince had built a strong reputation. Unfortunately for Eccelston he didn't have the same luck and spent a fair amount of time out on loan. After being released he went North of the border joining Partick Thistle and going on to join Kilmarnock. Still unable to make an impact and I can only guess a waning reputation he made the brave decision to try his luck in mainland Europe. He is currently in the Hungarian second division playing for Békéscsaba 1912 Előre.

Eccelstone in his Blackpool Days

Jordan Mustoe- Westerloo
Now Jordan Mustoe may not be somebody you have heard of (I signed him on a free transfer once for York City of Football manager) but the 25 year old defender is currently playing in Belgium for Westerloo. After starting his career in the Liverpool youth system, he was released and made the jump to Wigan. Six loan spells later and no first team appearances for Wigan he was released and join Accrington Stanley on a short term deal. This again ended with him being released and the decision was made to have a crack at football abroad and good luck to him.

Jordan Mustoe posing for Westerloo

James Lawrence -  AS Trenčín
Another Englishman you may not be too familiar with but James Lawrence has been playing in Europe for a while now. After spending time in the youth teams of Arsenal and QPR Lawrence ended up in Holland with time spent at Ajax, Sparta Rotterdam and RKC Waalwijk but no first team appearances came about. From this he moved on to AS Trenčín in the Slovakian first division. They are currently champions so not a bad club to join and try to have a decent career with.

James Lawrence Plays For Current League Champions AS Trencin

A few special mentions for Ravel Morrison of Lazio, Ryan Gauld of Sporting Lisbon and England one cap wonder Jay Bothroyd who is currently at Jubilo Iwata in Japan.