From playing Liverpool to sleeping on his brother’s bedroom floor - Moore on life after leaving MK Dons

Former MK Dons goalkeeper Stuart Moore was left sleeping on the floor of his brother’s house after leaving Stadium MK in 2020.

The shot-stopper made 15 appearances for the club during his two seasons, where he predominantly played number two behind first-choice Lee Nicholls.

Signed by Paul Tisdale in the summer 2018 after his contract at Swindon ended, Moore was used by and large in cup competitions, but was handed his League Two bow when the club hit a mid-season slump, and he was part of a wholesale change to the side in February time. Starting with a win over Newport County, Moore helped Dons to five consecutive wins, which got their promotion fight back on track, eventually leading to an immediate return to League One.

Moore again played second-fiddle to Nicholls the following season, and was picked in the Carabao Cup to face Liverpool at Stadium MK, though his mistake allowed James Milner to open the scoring for the then European Champions.

When Russell Martin took over from Tisdale in charge, he drafted in Andrew Fisher on loan from Blackburn Rovers to knock Moore further down the pecking order, before releasing the keeper when Covid curtailed the season.

Spending six months out of the game before finding a new club, Moore ended up sleeping on the floor in his brother, and fellow goalkeeper Simon’s house, who Stuart would drive to training at Sheffield United for something to do while out of a job.

“I had two good years at MK Dons, got promoted, but then covid hit and I didn't have a club for six months,” he told The Yours, Mine, Away! Podcast . “I was living on the Isle of Wight for a bit, and then went to live with my brother in his spare room.

“He had a little two-bedroom place and I was sleeping on a matress on the floor.

“I got a call on a Friday night asking whether I wanted to go and play for Wealdstone - I was living in Blackpool at the time! For two months I was driving from Blackpool to London to play for Wealdstone.”

Moore, now playing for Blackpool in the Championship, said the biggest hold-up in his career at the time was the pandemic. After trials at Huddersfield Town, Salford City and Exeter City, the keeper said budget cuts his the goalkeeping industry hard, and it is only just starting to get back to normal again.

He said: “Budgets got cut everywhere, so a point where a lot of clubs had one keeper, and would get an emergency loan if something happened to him.

“Everywhere I went, they'd say they liked me but couldn't afford it. It's gradually getting back now, but the amount of keepers who weer out of work at the time made it ten times harder to get anything.”

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