Exclusive: Darren Moore delivers clarification after Sky interview to draw line under Sheffield Wednesday exit

Moore broke his silence on his Owls departure with the broadcaster but has since spoken to The Star to offer clarity on the circumstances around his amicable S6 departure and as courtesy to the reporters who worked with him throughout his time with the club.

The Owls boss left the club in a shock turn of events just three weeks after he had guided them to promotion out of League One and back to the Championship. A statement by Dejphon Chansiri in the weeks following claimed the 47-year-old had demanded four times his previous salary on a three-year contract - something Chansiri felt he could not agree to in his desire “to be realistic and protect the club.”

Speaking to The Star on Wednesday evening following the broadcasting of the Sky Sports interview, Moore explained the timing of his choosing to break his silence was in lieu of forthcoming television work, hoping to publicly move on from the matter so as not to be discussing his Owls departure during match coverage and dragging it on further.

“I didn’t want to leave Sheffield Wednesday,” he told The Star in an exclusive conversation this week. “It wasn’t about money, and I had already started working for the following season. I was prepared to negotiate, I wanted my agent to do that negotiation but the chairman wasn’t interested in negotiating with my agent – he wanted to do it with me.

“But there was no negotiation, it was a take it or leave it offer, and I gave my point of view.”

Protracted conversations went on between Moore and Chansiri after he arrived back for work in the weeks after promotion was confirmed, but it soon became clear to Moore that the vision of the two parties were at odds. Moore had already undertaken conversations with prospective transfer targets for the 2023/24 season and had similar appointments booked for the week following their parting of ways. When it became clear there could be issues with a new contract, Moore said he stayed on in Sheffield a night longer in the hope they could come to an agreement.

The Star was told that as per conversations with the League Managers Association, Moore was among the three lowest paid managers in the Championship when he arrived at Hillsborough from Doncaster Rovers and saw his salary cut further once relegation to League One was confirmed. It’s claimed a salary of four times his previous contract was requested as a starting point of negotiations only – a figure again as per LMA indications that would still have had him somewhere in the region of the average second tier salary.

“The chairman asked me what I was looking for from the football club,” Moore said. “And my reply was that I just wanted a contract that shows that you value me… The chairman was asking for a figure, but I said to him ‘I just know that I want to be the manager of your football club.’ He kept asking for a number... I never wanted to leave the football club, I’ve made that clear.”

The ‘differences in vision’ Moore described in his Sky Sports interview are not things he wishes to discuss publicly, in order to stay in line with an initial agreement with Chansiri that the pair would keep their counsel on the reasons behind his exit. But it’s clear any insinuation of greed sits uncomfortably.

“I’m not looking for this to drag on,” he said. “I’m just looking for my next employer, my next adventure. I just didn’t want people thinking that my exit was a case of me trying to earn as much as possible. I wanted to speak to you as the local press because we’ve known each other for two years and just say a big thank you to everybody at the club and wish them the best going forward. I want to draw a line under it.”