David Moyes played for Cambridge United, Bristol City, Shrewsbury Town and Dunfermline Athletic before ending his playing career with Preston North End. He became a coach at Preston, working his way up to assistant manager before eventually taking over as manager in 1998, his first managerial position. Moyes led Preston to the Division Two title in 1999–2000 and the Division One play-off final the following season. Moyes became manager of Everton in March 2002 and under him the club qualified for the third qualifying round for the UEFA Champions League in 2005 and reached the 2009 FA Cup Final. Upon reaching his
Everton F.C. that Wayne Rooney broke into the first team before being sold to Manchester United for a club record fee of £28 million in the summer of 2004. A fourth-place finish in 2004–05 ensured that Everton qualified for the UEFA Champions League qualifying round. The team failed to make it through to the Champions League group stage and were then eliminated from the UEFA Cup. Everton qualified for the 2007–08 and 2008–09 UEFA Cup competitions, and they were runners-up in the 2009 FA Cup Final. During this period, Moyes broke the club record for highest transfer fee paid on four occasions: