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
David Moyes agreed to pay for damages. Moyes donated the undisclosed damages from the suit to the Everton Former Players' Foundation. During the 2004–05 season, Everton went on to surpass all expectations by finishing fourth in the league and securing a place in the following season's UEFA Champions League third qualification round, Moyes again being awarded the LMA Manager of the Year award. Moyes then broke Everton's transfer record to bring in striker James Beattie in January and, as influential midfielder Thomas Gravesen left, Mikel Arteta came in on loan. At the beginning of the 2005–06 season, Everton struggled again and were