Ernie Moss

Moss worked as a clerk in the Derbyshire County Council education offices at Matlock at the time of his joining his hometown club Chesterfield, in April 1967, from the local Tube Works side.[2] He made his debut at Bradford Park Avenue on 26 October 1968, signing professional forms a few days later before going on to make sixteen further appearances in the season.[5] The club were at a low ebb, and finished 1968–69 just two points above the re-election zone in the Fourth Division.

The "Spireites" were promoted as champions in 1969–70, winning nineteen of their 23 league games at Saltergate. Moss was a major factor in the upturn in form, scoring twenty goals in the campaign,[5] including four past Newport County.[2] In 1970–71 he hit double figures by October, but was then sidelined for a period of months after rupturing his ligaments at Vetch Field.[2] Chesterfield were on the up though, and finished the season fifth in the Third Division, two points off fallen giants Aston Villa. Chesterfield dropped back down to thirteenth in 1971–72, and finished just two points above the relegation zone in 1972–73. They again finished fifth in 1973–74, ending up five points shy of promotion. The club dropped back into the lower half of the table in 1974–75. After 95 goals in 271 league games he was sold to Peterborough United, manager Joe Shaw having found a replacement in Steve Cammack.[5]

Noel Cantwell's "Posh" finished tenth in the Third Division in 1975–76, and Moss then spent the latter half of the 1976–77 season with promotion winning Mansfield Town, who under Peter Morris's stewardship topped the Third Division table on 64 points. After playing for the "Stags" in their first ever season in the Second Division, he returned to the third tier with Chesterfield in January 1979, now managed by Arthur Cox.[5]

He helped the club to avoid relegation by just four points in 1978–79. The 1979–80 and 1980–81 seasons saw Chesterfield come close to promotion, missing out by one point and three points respectively. He helped the club to win the 1981 Anglo-Scottish Cup. However, he fell out with the club over a £5 pay rise, and in June 1981 he chose to move on to Port Vale.[5]

The Fourth Division club splashed out £12,000 for his services and were to find the sum a good investment.[6] In his debut season he became the club's top scorer with seventeen goals, and picked up the Player of the Year award at the end of the campaign.[7] Vale won promotion from the fourth tier in 1982–83, though Moss had been sold to Colin Murphy's Lincoln City for £1,500 in March 1983, despite still being a regular in the first XI.[6] Despite his tally of 11 goals in 33 games in 1982–83, manager John McGrath claimed that 'age caught up with him'.[6] McGrath nicknamed Moss and strike partner Bob Newton as the "Kray twins" due to their dominance of opposition defenders.[8] McGrath had already signed his replacement in Jim Steel and was keen to offload Moss.[9]

His time at Sincil Bank was brief and he finished the 1983–84 season with Doncaster Rovers, as Rovers were promoted from the Fourth Division as runners-up under the management of Billy Bremner. In 1984 Moss signed with Chesterfield for a third time, now under the leadership of John Duncan. He won promotion from the fourth tier for the fourth time, Chesterfield coming up as champions in his first season back at Saltergate. The 1985–86 season was one of consolidation for Chesterfield, and his goals helped greatly. The Saltergate faithful were therefore taken by surprise when he was sold to Fourth Division Stockport County in December 1986, along with Phil Brown, for a combined fee of £10,000.[5] County finished in mid-table, and Moss left at the end of the 1986–87 campaign. He was with Conference champions Scarborough for their first season in the Football League under Neil Warnock. He also had a short spell with strugglers Rochdale, scoring twice in ten games for Eddie Gray's side, before his career in the Football League came to an end.

Refusing to hang up his boots, he went on to play for Kettering Town of the Conference, and hit seventeen goals in 1988–89, making him the club's top-scorer at the age of 40. His goals helped Kettering to finish the season as runners-up, eight points behind Maidstone United. He later played for Matlock Town and Shepshed Charterhouse, before he retired in his second spell with Kettering, in 1992. At the age of 42 and also working as an assistant manager, he became the club's oldest scorer in the Conference.[9]