In his first few months at Rangers, the family home in Kent served as an escape for Mikey Moore. Home comforts, especially his Dobermann, Ty, helped take the 18-year-old’s mind off football.
Moore has long been spoken of as the most exciting prospect to come out of the Tottenham Hotspur academy since Harry Kane but, after joining Rangers on loan in August, he endured a turbulent start to life away from home. At the time, his dad had suggested it might be better to go for a gentler experience than the goldfish bowl of Glasgow — and for a while it looked like his fears were being realised.
Five months on, Moore is back home for a rare few days off, and all he can think about is football, about what he could achieve after he steps back off his return flight back up to Scotland. His dad, Michael, has returned to playing highlights of former Newcastle United, Tottenham, Rangers and England midfielder Paul Gascoigne, which were a big part of Moore’s introduction to football.
“My dad has always told me I remind him of Gazza,” Moore tells The Athletic in his first interview.
“It’s a massive compliment as he’s become one of my idols from my dad showing me his clips growing up. He is something special and done unbelievable things in the game. It’s a big difference to me at the minute but my dad has always said he sees a bit of him in me. He’s shown me his Rangers clips.”
One of them included Gascoigne’s league-winning, final day hat-trick against Aberdeen in 1996 to seal an eighth title in a row. The Ibrox faithful are hoping that Moore’s similar stocky build and dribbling style can inspire a late run to another title this May. “I’ll need to rewatch that one,” smiles Moore.
Paul Gascoigne celebrates an iconic hat-trick for Rangers – he has been an inspiration to Moore (Ben Radford/Getty Images)
The idea that he would be part of a title push would have seemed fanciful back in October. Manager Russell Martin had alienated the Rangers support in record time, and the club was in such a dysfunctional state that fans threw tennis balls onto the pitch as a protest. At one stage they had one victory in eight league matches and were 13 points behind leaders Hearts.
Moore was toiling. He was hooked at half-time twice in a fortnight, first against Hearts in a 2-0 defeat and then a 1-0 loss to Genk in the Europa League. Both games were at home and they opened his eyes to just how brutally unforgiving Ibrox can be. In the game against Hearts, there was a moment in the 34th minute in which he lost the ball twice in five seconds near his own box and the crowd went berserk.
“I tried to forget about that!” laughs Moore. “That was a bad day for me. I had a disaster. I could feel the fans getting on my back. Nothing was going right for me. I could have played simpler at times and tried to get myself back in credit. Just keep it and stop doing what I was doing and giving the ball away.
“You can prepare yourself and people can try to prepare you, but once you get hit with it, it’s different. It’s something I’ve never experienced before.
“It was a tough time. I had been dragged off a few times. It was mentally tough to deal with. I could feel it from the gaffer and the fans. I didn’t want to experience too many more days like that. The difference between then and now is madness.”
Mikey Moore endured some tough early games on loan at Rangers (Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Moore has become integral to Rangers, playing 40 games in all competitions with six goals and two assists in the league. He could win the club’s player of the year award if he continues his form in these final seven games.
It is testament to Moore’s character that he stuck out the difficult times and eventually flourished, even as some Tottenham fans questioned the choice of loan. Tottenham’s head of pathways and loans, Andy Scoulding, sees it as a validation of the decision to send Moore into an environment with high expectations.
Scoulding spent five years as head of scouting at Rangers and helped construct the side that Steven Gerrard led to the title in 2021 and that Giovanni van Bronckhorst took to the Europa League final the following year. He knows it takes a special character to cope with the pressure at the club.
He called it the ‘Ibrox Factor’: you either grow with it or you shrink. If the goal is to develop Moore into a top Premier League player, there was no point sending him to a ‘normal’ environment. He had to feel pressure.
Scoulding showed him videos of the atmosphere. He now had to prove he could survive it.
“It’s a good way of putting it,” says Moore. “My dad said a similar thing. ‘Are you sure you want to go there, where it’s going to be really tough? You could start off lower and ease your way in’. But I wanted to go somewhere there was a lot riding on it every week.
“I didn’t want to go somewhere we were mid-table and you’re not bothered if you lose. If you lose at Rangers it’s a disaster.”
He knows what he’s talking about. His girlfriend is the daughter of former Northern Ireland striker Warren Feeney and their entire family are fanatical Rangers supporters. “After the Celtic game last month (Rangers lost on penalties in the Scottish Cup) she was fuming when I got back in the car. She was giving me a bit. I was like, ‘Leave me alone and stop acting like a fan!’”
Moore has transformed into the team’s main playmaker since Danny Rohl took over as manager in October. It started with a conversation before the German manager’s first game, against Kilmarnock.
“I got called into his office. He said: ‘You’re not starting but don’t worry you’re going to come on, maybe at half time or after 55 minutes, and you’re going to make an impact today’ — and I did.
“He told me I was going to be a massive player for us and, by the end of the season, be one of our best players. Those were his words. It gave me belief in myself and made me feel wanted by him. I wanted to repay that.”
Moore made changes off the pitch which helped bring out his best level.
“I was in a hotel for over a month while I tried to sort out where to stay, so my nutrition wasn’t right. I have a big focus on that now. That’s been massive and I feel a big physical improvement. I feel a lot better. I work with someone day-to-day outside the club with my movement and my nutrition. I’ve changed my diet a lot which is big for me the way I’m built.”
The turning point came in the first week of November. First, he produced a terrific substitute performance in the League Cup semi-final defeat by Celtic, breathing belief into the team while losing and down a man. Then he performed well against Roma. It gave him confidence and he scored in his next two games. Since late December he has cemented his place in the team and produced a standout moment at Celtic Park in January, scoring the third in a 3-1 win.
Mikey Moore scores in the Old Firm win over Celtic in January (Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
“We were under the cosh that first half and it would have been easy to go hiding. I knew I had to do something so I kept wanting the ball. There is no point shying away from it as that makes you look worse. That was my reward for keeping going. Not everything came off but the rest was forgotten as I had that big moment.”
After signing, Moore stated that he aimed to become one of the best players in the world. It was the sort of self-belief not common in British players.
“I believe in my talent and I believe I have the ability to do it. I know I’m going to work my hardest to get there. A lot of it is about the mentality you bring to games. It’s always been my dream to be one of the best players in the world. Why be scared to say it?
“At the start of the season it may have looked absolutely stupid when I was playing awfully. Now I’m doing a bit better, maybe it doesn’t look as stupid. But I’ve got time on my hands to try and make that happen. In the next few years we’ll see where I am.”
For now, he is thriving in a 4-2-2-2 formation under Rohl, playing in the inside left channel with the freedom to roam and carry the ball. It has clarified where he is at his best.
“I’ve enjoyed being inside the pitch and making stuff happen on the half-turn, getting at people from there and having options on both sides. My best position is either in that inside left role or as a No 10.
“I feel a lot more responsibility on the pitch now and have learned the game quickly. Maybe I used to get the ball and think I could do whatever I wanted but I’ve learned when to offload the ball and when to be direct. I’ve got to improve my decision-making in the final third at times but I’ve matured a lot.”
At Spurs he faces tough competition to break into the first-team, even with big names out of the picture. James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski have both missed the majority of the season, while former captain Son Heung-min left in the summer.
“Sonny helped me a lot. He was one of my idols so because we were in similar positions I’d ask him questions in training and I’d work with him on my finishing to be as good off both feet. You see how good he is but how humble he is off the pitch and how he makes time for all the academy boys.
“I used to share the drive to games with Maddison. Well, I couldn’t drive at the time and he didn’t like driving before a game, so we had a player liaison officer take us and we’d have chats in the car. Before I came here he spoke about his time up here (at Aberdeen) and said it would be top for me.”
James Maddison has supported Mikey Moore at Tottenham (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
While he has been developing, Tottenham have been toiling. Roberto De Zerbi has been named their third permanent appointment of the season with the club only a point above the relegation zone. In two months, Moore could well be returning to a Championship side.
“It’s tough to see people you care about and some of your mates going through a tough time. It’s a club I care about so much. For us to be in the position we’re in is not nice.
“Sometimes I wish I could go back and help but there are some top players there who should be able to help get us out of the position we’re in and push on next season. There is enough quality in that team to get out of it.”
Moore has made 21 appearances for Spurs, which he owes to Ange Postecoglou. The Australian manager helped him become the youngest Premier League player in the club’s history and the youngest English scorer in European history when he scored against Elfsborg in January 2025, breaking Jimmy Greaves’ record which had stood for 68 years.
“He showed trust in me by playing me and I could tell he liked me, but I never spoke to him.
“He just said ‘You’re coming on’ against Man City for my debut. For my first start I found out in the meeting two hours before the game when the team was on the screen. He stays quite far away and tries to not have as much of a relationship so that when it comes down to big decisions and he has to leave people out, he doesn’t have feelings.
“Obviously there was a decision made (to sack him after winning the Europa League) by the people at the top of the club but for me it was a bit of a surprise. When we won I thought he would stay and try to build on what he had done.”
Moore wants to build on this season and has his sights set on a first-team spot at Tottenham.
Mikey Moore celebrates after scoring in the Europa League last season (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
“Whether it’s next year or the year after, I want to break in and make an impact.
“I helped out in some Premier League games and gave a good account of myself and in others I didn’t show enough. But now I’m at a point where I can make an impact. If that opportunity comes I would love to get a hold of it.”
Spurs’ great hope. Rangers’ only hope, some would argue. In second place, three points behind Hearts, can he handle the expectation and be the catalyst for Rangers to claim their second title in 15 years?
“This means everything to me. Last year winning the Europa League was unbelievable but I didn’t have as much of a part to play. I feel a responsibility to try and help the team lift the title. We either end it with nothing or the biggest prize you can win.”
Moore has his own song ringing around Ibrox, a remake of an old classic dedicated to Michael Mols. Last month, 50 members of the Lewis & Harris supporters club made the three-day, 700-mile trip over land and sea from the Outer Hebrides to present him with their player of the year award.
The adoration has them hoping Moore could return for a second spell.
“I’ve thought about this already. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the summer but if it plays out that I’m not going back it’s going to be really tough as I do genuinely love the club and this city. I have made a connection with the fans.
“These last seven games are massive. Every second I’m on the pitch I’m going to make the most of it and leave everything on the pitch.”