Swindon’s own Cat and former captain, Shane Moore, looks back on his career at the Link Centre

In September, the Cats will face-off for an English Premier League campaign without Shane Moore on their roster for the first time in five years – and just the fourth season in all since 2002.

Home town boy Moore has been a Cats stalwart throughout the majority of his 28 years on earth but just a fortnight ago called time on his Swindon career. Although he has not yet made up his mind whether to quit the sport altogether, Moore can no longer commit to playing in English hockey’s second tier.

Having spent his childhood on the ice rink at the Link Centre, Moore made 400-plus appearances for Swindon’s senior side in three different stints at the club and says each one was an honour.

Shane Moore poses with two Swindon Wildcats legends Bryan Larkin and Daryl Lipsey

“I’ll look back on my career with really fond memories,” said Moore, who has been capped by Great Britain at under-18s and under-20s level.

“The Cats are my home town team and I have always been loyal to them when I can. If I could have spent my whole career with them I really would have done. They are a fantastic organisation and have grown year on year.

“When my family moved from Norfolk to Swindon, my mum took a job at the ice rink and got into figure skating. I sat on the side in a buggy and the rest is history.

“They put skates on me and I started figure skating until the age of about five and then moved across to ice hockey and just fell in love with the sport from there.

“It has just been fantastic to be able to do what I have done.

“I played junior hockey there and always dreamed of playing for the senior side, so to end up playing there for so long and captaining the team for a year was fantastic and nothing short of a dream for me.”

Moore in his earlier days with Cats

Moore was just a fresh faced teenager when he made his first-team debut back in the 2002-03 season, with Swindon then playing under their Lynx guise.

Over the next four seasons he would also play 17 times for Basingstoke Bison in the Elite Ice Hockey League – the top level of the sport in Great Britain.

He spent the 2006-07 season with Milton Keynes Lightning, and was at Bracknell Bees from 2009 to 2011, but each time the Cats came calling for his services again.

“I spent some time in Basingstoke early in my career, I was young and hungry and wanted to succeed,” said Moore.

“But the Elite League wasn’t everything that I thought it was going to be and I didn’t really get the ice time or the development I wanted at that level, which is why I ended up coming back.

“I definitely feel like that experience at a higher level helped me. I played with some fantastic players and met some amazing people but my heart always lay in Swindon and as soon as they said they’d have me back it was an opportunity I couldn’t refuse.

“Although I did spend the majority of my career with the Cats I did have stints in Bracknell and Milton Keynes.

“When I first moved away to Milton Keynes it was a case of having a better offer on the table than what Swindon could offer me at the time.

“And then in the second stint to Bracknell it was a case of needing a change and Swindon wanted to change the way they were going as well.

“I didn’t really fit into the picture of what they wanted to do but a couple of years later thankfully they brought me back.”

Moore laid it on the line for Cats when he was the captain

The third stint at The Link Centre proved the most fruitful for Moore and he was named captain of the club for the 2013-14 campaign.

That season was one of the most successful in recent memory for the Cats as they qualified for the play-off weekend, only to be controversially beaten by a late Manchester Phoenix winner in the semi-finals.

“That season when I was captain was definitely a highlight. It was a highlight for the club but also a highlight for me on a personal level too,” said Moore.

“In the recent years that the club has been back in existence as the Wildcats I still think it’s their most successful season.

“To be the captain of that team was nothing short of an honour and to take the team all the way through to the championship finals is something I am extremely proud of.

“I definitely felt like we had it in us to go all the way that year. It was a shame the season ended the way it did. We were the underdogs going there but I honestly still believe we were the best team there but it just didn’t work out for us on the day.”

Moore’s heroics continued into his final season and he brought up his 500th Premier League appearance at the back end of 2014/15, a figure that still leaves him dumbfounded.

“You definitely can’t think of a number like 500 when you are starting out as a teenager,” said Moore.

“If someone had told me that I would make 500 appearances in the EPL then I would have snapped their hand off. To be honest, if they’d said 250 I would have snapped their hand off too.

“To make 500 appearances is a real honour, especially with the way the league has gone on in the last couple of years with ex-NHL players coming in. The ability to be able to play with those sorts of players has been fantastic.”

Moore in his last season as a Cat

Having spent so long at the Cats – and in ice hockey as whole – Moore has borne witness to many changes, both on and off the ice.

He believes that the sport in Swindon has never been in ruder health, and that is chiefly down to the stewardship of Cats general manager Steve Nell and Ryan Aldridge, who stepped down as head coach at the end of last season.

And Moore reckons they can continue to go from strength to strength now new head coach Stevie Lyle’s new regime can officially start.

“When I joined the EPL all those years ago it was quite disorganised and unprofessional but the league as a whole has moved on phenomenally,” said Moore.

“But in particular, the changes I have seen at the Wildcats – both off the ice and on it – have been fantastic.

“They have got some fantastic players currently and coming through the ranks, and the way people like Steve Nell and Ryan Aldridge have directed the club over the last six or seven years has been fantastic for both the sport and for Swindon.

“I think Ryan did fantastically well for the club but it’s a new era now and I think Stevie Lyle will do a really good job.

“The team he has put together is going to be really interesting. It has got some exciting players in it but also the type of team that people are going to see is going to be a lot different to the teams people saw under Ryan.”

Moore had been asked by Lyle to stay on at the Cats in a coaching capacity after calling time on his playing career but decided now was the right time to move on for good.

Although he admits it will be tough to return to the Link Centre as just a fan, Moore has no regrets about hanging up his skates or his career as a whole.

“Stevie was very kind in his words to me and was really interested in keeping me around the team for the fact that I was a very positive influence and I am great around the boys in the dressing room, and especially being a hometown boy too,” said Moore.

“For me it was a very hard decision to make but I just had to step away as I would be too tempted to get back involved again.

“I will come back and watch some games but that will be as a spectator rather than a player. I’m settled in my decision now but it will be tough to sit there watching, wanting to get involved.

“My career has worked out how it has for a reason and I have been happy with it all the way through.

“Maybe I could a few things a bit differently and if I had the option to go back I might have stayed with the Cats for less money in my early years and spent my whole career there.

“But I have enjoyed my whole career and I still spent the majority of it with my hometown club and overall it’s been nothing short of extraordinary.”