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
2010–11 Everton F.C. season their season on 14 August at Ewood Park, falling 1–0 to Blackburn Rovers. In the fourteenth minute, goalkeeper Tim Howard mishandled the ball, dropping it at the feet of Nikola Kalinić, who put the ball in the net. Following the game, manager David Moyes came to the defence of Howard, saying that the team's lack of attacking pressure from the forwards and midfielders were equally to blame for the loss. Everton's second match saw the club earn their first point of the season in a 1–1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers at Goodison Park. Everton controlled possession and had more chances