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
Steve Simonsen be involved in a transfer to Wigan Athletic, but the deal fell through. In December 2001, Simonsen even considered making a move to a Danish club. Simonsen did not get a chance to prove himself again until the 2001–02 season, when he made 25 league starts for Everton and finally became a regular first team player. Following the appointment of new manager David Moyes, however, Simonsen rarely got a chance to play for Everton again, making only three league starts during his last two seasons. Simonsen later rejected a one-year contract extension and was thus released by the club in