Andrew Moran (born 15 October 2003) is an Irish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or winger for club

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

, and the Republic of Ireland national team.

Club career

Early Career

Moran was born in the

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

suburb of

Knocklyon Knocklyon () is a suburb of the city of Dublin, located in South Dublin, Ireland. Unlike many Dublin suburbs, Knocklyon was not developed around a village; rather it largely consists of modern housing, with a number of old cottages and farmhous ...

, and started out at his local club Knocklyon United. He later moved to schoolboy club St Joseph's Boys, before moving onto the academy of

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

club

Bray Wanderers Bray Wanderers Football Club are an Irish association football club playing in the League of Ireland First Division. The club in its present form was founded in 1942 in Bray, and was known until 2010 as ''Bray Wanderers A.F.C.'' It was elect ...

, for whom St Joseph's are a feeder club.

Bray Wanderers

Moran made his first team debut for the club in a victory over Drogheda United in August 2019 aged just 15 years 307 days old, making him the youngest player in the club's history. On 28 February 2020, he became the club's youngest ever goalscorer at 16 years 135 days old when he scored in a 2–0 win over

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

at the

Carlisle Grounds The Carlisle Grounds is a football stadium in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided ...

Brighton & Hove Albion

In July 2020, Moran signed for the

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

outfit

, alongside

teammate Leigh Kavanagh. April 2021 saw Moran linked with a move to fellow

sides

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and Chelsea. After a year at the club, he signed his first professional contract with Brighton in July 2021. On 24 August 2021, Moran made his first team debut for the club, coming off the bench in the 67th minute of a 2–0 win away over

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

side

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

second round. Moran signed a three-year contract extension with the club in August 2022. On 6 September, Moran scored his first professional goal in England whilst playing for the Brighton under-21s, scoring the opener in the 2–1 loss at League Two side

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

in Albion's first group stage match of the 2022–23 EFL Trophy. He made his Premier League debut on 3 January 2023, coming on as a 79th-minute substitute replacing Solly March in a 4–1 away win over Everton. On 22 August 2023, Moran scored a brace with the under-21s in a 3–2 away win over League Two side

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

in the opening group stage match of the

2023–24 EFL Trophy The 2023–24 EFL Trophy, known as the Bristol Street Motors Trophy for sponsorship reasons, was the 43rd season in the history of EFL Trophy, the competition, and was a knock-out tournament for clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two, League Tw ...

. Moran signed for

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

side

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

on a season-long loan on 26 August 2023. He made his debut a day later, coming on as a 57th-minute substitute in a 1–0 away win over

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

. Moran started in the next match on 30 August, where he assisted John Buckley's goal, in Blackburn's 8–0 away win over League Two side Harrogate Town in the

second round. Moran joined

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

on 16 August 2024 on loan for the 2024–25 season. Moran made 39 appearances for Stoke scoring four goals, as they finished in 18th position, avoiding relegation on the final day of the season.

International career

Moran has captained the Republic of Ireland under-15s and has also represented his country at under-16, under-17, under-19 and under-21 level. On 27 August 2021, he was called up alongside Brighton & Hove Albion team-mate Evan Ferguson to the Republic of Ireland U21s for the first time, for their 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifiers against

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. He made his Ireland under-21 debut in a 1–1 draw with

at the Stade Jos Nosbaum in

Dudelange Dudelange (; ; ) is a commune with town status in southern Luxembourg. It is the fourth-most populous commune, with 22,043 inhabitants. Dudelange is situated close to the border with France. The commune also includes the smaller town of Bude ...

on 7 September 2021. Moran's first international goal came on 29 March 2022 in the Republic of Ireland U19s 4–0 win over Armenia U19s in the 2022 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualifying Elite round. Moran scored his first goal for the Republic of Ireland U21s on 16 June 2023 in a 2–2 draw with Ukraine U21s in a friendly played in Austria. On 21 November 2023, Moran made his senior debut for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

, replacing Mikey Johnston from the bench in a 1–1 draw with

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in a friendly at the

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium, also known as Lansdowne Road (, ) or Dublin Arena (during UEFA competitions), is a List of stadiums in Ireland by capacity, sports stadium located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,711 spectators ...

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

Andrew Moran
at Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moran, Andrew Living people 2003 births Men's association football midfielders Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Bray Wanderers F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players League of Ireland players Premier League players English Football League players Expatriate men's footballers in England Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Republic of Ireland men's international footballers 21st-century Irish sportsmen