Moses Jjunju

*Indicates unconfirmed information. Figures in brackets after English team names indicate all appearances made and goals scored in competitive matches for Football League clubs from 1888 onwards. For Scottish League clubs the figures show details of all competitive appearances and goals scored from 1946/47 onwards.

Moses Jjunju

Appearances: 14+15 Goals: 5

Date / Year of birth: 22nd August 1983

Position: Striker

Season of first appearance: 2003/04

Season of last appearance: 2004/05

Also played for: Millwall (0), West Ham United (0), Bromley, Carshalton Athletic, Redbridge, Dagenham & Redbridge, Aveley, Welling United, Huntingdon Town, Ilford, Clapton, Witham Town and Eton Manor

Striker born in Uganda who had a spell on Millwall's books as a youth before moving to West Ham.

Moses played in the Hammers' youth sides and on 2.3.00 he scored a hat-trick for the Under-17's in a 4-2 home win over Reading that sealed the 1999/00 FA Premier Academy League championship. His team-mates included future England players Glen Johnson and Jermain Defoe as well as future Margate goalkeeper Billy McMahon.

Moses then played in West Ham's Under-19's side during the 2000/01 campaign and in April 2001 he had a trial at Brighton, shortly before his release by West Ham at the end of the season. The manager who elected to release him was Harry Redknapp.

In the summer of 2001 Moses played in some of Hastings' pre-season friendlies before moving on to Bromley for the start of the 2001/02 campaign proper. He made 18 appearances and scored three goals for Bromley before leaving the club in December 2001.

In January 2002 Moses joined Carshalton and scored a hat-trick on his debut for their reserves. He went on to score at total of 13 goals from 17 reserve team outings and his tally included five goals in a game. Despite his goalscoring exploits in the reserves Moses only made two first team appearances (one as sub) without scoring and left Carshalton at the end of the 2001/02 season.

In August 2002 he had a trial with Lincoln City and Moses scored the only goal of the game as the Imps won 1-0 at King's Lynn in a pre-season friendly. He played in a few other warm-up matches but Lincoln elected not to sign him.

Moses ended up playing Sunday football for London Simba during the 2002/03 campaign and they were a London-based club made up of exiled Ugandans.

In the summer of 2003 he played in a friendly for Romford but Moses wasn't taken on by the club and he continued playing Sunday football for London Simba for most of the 2003/04 season.

In March 2004 Moses joined Margate as a non-contract player and may have been recommended to the club by his former West Ham colleague Manny Omoyinmi who'd recently had a loan spell at Margate. Moses made his debut when he came on as a substitute ten minutes from the end of a 3-1 defeat against Hereford in a Conference game at Dover on 20.3.04. He also made a sub appearance in a 1-0 win at Burton on 27.3.04 but didn't feature again in the last month of the 2003/04 campaign.

Moses stayed with Margate for 2004/05 and came on as a substitute on the opening day of the season in a 3-2 defeat against Bognor Regis in the Conference South at Margate's adopted home in Ashford. Over the course of the weeks that followed Moses made three more sporadic sub appearances but after coming on in a 3-1 win over Hayes at Ashford on 4.9.04 he missed five matches altogether.

He returned to action as a substitute in an FA Cup tie against Waltham Forest at Ashford on 2.10.04 and Moses scored his first goal for Margate to secure a 2-1 win. He then came off the bench in the next two games before finally making his first start in a 2-0 defeat at Sutton on 26.10.04. Moses kept his place for a 2-0 win over Weston-Super-Mare at Ashford on 30.10.04 but then sat out the next eight matches.

His next outing was as a substitute in a 1-0 defeat at Hayes on 11.12.04 and Moses also came on in a 3-0 defeat at Bishop's Stortford on 14.12.04. The Isle of Thanet Gazette said he "looked lively...with his pace and tricks" after taking to the field but Moses only made one sub appearance in the next three games.

On 22.1.05 he made his first start for almost three months as Margate took on Redbridge at Ashford and Moses scored twice to secure a 2-0 win. Margate manager Chris Kinnear told the KM Extra newspaper "He is one of the best in training, and he took both his goals well." Three days later Moses was on target again as Margate beat Dagenham & Redbridge 3-1 at Ashford in the Conference Cup and he then started the next ten matches but only scored once more - in a 2-1 defeat at Crawley in the Conference Cup on 15.3.05.

The last game of Moses' extended run in the side was a 1-0 defeat against Carshalton at Ashford on 19.3.05 and after that he made just three substitute appearances in Margate's last nine matches of the campaign. The last of them came in a 3-2 defeat against St.Albans at Ashford on 5.4.05. Before the end of April 2005 Margate's relegation to the Isthmian League Premier Division was confirmed and Moses finished the season having scored five goals from 27 appearances (13 as sub).

In the summer of 2005 he featured in some of Margate's friendlies but Moses left the club before the 2005/06 season proper started.

In August 2005 he signed for Redbridge but a few weeks later Moses moved on to Dagenham & Redbridge.

He made his debut for the Daggers reserves in a 3-2 win over Redbridge Reserves on 28.9.05 and Moses played a few more second string games before joining Southern League club Aveley in January 2006.

Towards the end of March 2006 Moses moved from Aveley to Conference South outfit Welling but he only made a handful of appearances for the Wings before being released in April 2006.

In the summer of 2006 Moses played in several friendlies for Conference side Cambridge United but wasn't taken on by the club and in September 2006 he had a very brief spell with Huntingdon. Moses only made one substitute appearance there before linking up with Isthmian League Division 1 North outfit Ilford in November 2007.

In January 2008, during his time with Ilford, Moses contacted the Ugandan Football Association to ask whether he could be considered for the national team and said "I have met some officials at the Federation and expressed my wish to play for Cranes. I believe I can do something to help my country in the coming qualifiers."

Having scored four times in 17 Isthmian League outings (six as sub) for Ilford Moses left the club to join Essex Senior League side Clapton at the start of March 2008 and scored on his debut in a 1-1 draw at Stansted on 8.3.08.

A few weeks later Moses was called up to the Uganda squad for their international friendly against Libya in Kampala on 26.3.08. It was the start of their build-up for the 2010 World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and Moses told the Daily Monitor newspaper "I cannot explain the level of excitement I experienced when I read on the Monitor website that I had earned a national call. I refused to believe it until I got a formal invitation from the Federation."

Unfortunately Uganda's coach Laszlo Csaba had nothing to do with selecting the squad and after watching Moses and another foreign-based player Joseph Kanyike train Csaba decided they weren't good enough for the national team. He decided to cut them from the squad but the Federation of Ugandan Football Associations (FUFA) intervened and tried to make Csaba reverse his decision. A major row then ensued as Csaba issued FUFA with an ultimatum - either allow him to choose his own players or look for a replacement coach. FUFA backed down and Moses left the squad without representing his country.

After his national team disappointment Moses had a short spell with Isthmian League Division 1 North club Witham early in the 2008/09 season and scored once in four league appearances for them (two as sub) before signing for Essex Senior League outfit Eton Manor at the start of October 2008.

Moses made his debut for Eton Manor in a home FA Vase tie against London Sport E Benfica on 4.10.98 and scored in a 2-1 defeat but it was his only outing for the club. He then dropped out of senior football.

During 2008 Moses was coaching children aged from 18 months up to the age of seven for a company called Little Kickers and later in the 2000's he was running 'Whiz Kids' - another football training scheme for young children. Moses also worked with orphaned children in Uganda.

SEASON (CLUB)

FULL (MAX)

SUB

GLS

FAC

FAT

 

KSC

 

2003/04 (MFC)

0 (51)

2

0

CONFERENCE (16TH OF 22)

4QR

5R

W

     Margate demoted to new Conference South due to ground issues.

SEASON (CLUB)

FULL (MAX)

SUB

GLS

FAC

FAT

CC

KSC

 

2004/05 (MFC)

14 (51)

3

5

CONFERENCE SOUTH (21ST OF 22)

3QR

1R

4R

W

     Margate relegated to Isthmian League Premier Division.