Speaking to the ECHO, Peter said he still feels a deep sense of pride in his Liverpool roots after leaving the city as a child
Former LFC CEO Peter Moore on Liverpool's waterfront
Peter Moore has hit back against the negative stereotypes of Scousers (Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
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After scaling the heights of his profession and working for some of the biggest companies in the US, former Liverpool FC CEO Peter Moore has hit back against negative stereotypes of Scousers.
In a career that has seen him work for the likes of Reebok, Microsoft and Sega, Peter Moore, 71, has never forgotten his upbringing on Scotland Road. On a return to the city to collect an honorary degree from the University of Liverpool, he told the ECHO: "I was a little bit angry with the stigma that we had as Scousers in that period during the 1970s and 80s. From that perspective, even though I was already living in America, I would come home and see the way we were portrayed.
"You'd say to somebody in London 'I'm going to Liverpool' and they would come back with the usual 'Well, watch out for your hubcaps,' and 'They're going to nick your wallet' and all of that ridiculous stuff. The perception was very much that we were a bunch of thieves.
"That went into the tragedy chanting, whether it was Heysel or Hillsborough, we were accused of everything. This came out of the kind of tough times we had in the post-war years, in the 50s and the 60s. I've always taken the positives of being a Liverpudlian, and I've always tried to defend who we are, rather than accept the ridiculousness of the jibes and the jabs and the accusations and this stigmatisation of Liverpudlians as a bunch of scallies and thieves. I've always rebelled against that."
Former LFC CEO Peter Moore
Peter Moore was appointed LFC CEO in 2017(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
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While he has spent much of his adult life living away from the city, Peter explained how being from Liverpool and the values that were instilled in him have never left him. He said: "I look back with a certain level of poignancy, thinking 'I am so glad I was born here, I'm so glad that I went through what I did at a young age, in a working-class family.' My mum and dad worked their fingers to the bone to make a better life for us, my mum working as a nurse and my dad a pub owner.
"What we have culturally as Liverpudlians, coming out of World War II, is this sense of we're not going to let this get us down, we're going to actually make fun of it. There's a lot of self-confidence, there's also self-belief, everything the city has been through. I think you have that circle the wagons around each other, the People's Republic of Liverpool type thing, and the Scouse personality is unique."
After leaving Liverpool aged 10 to move to Wrexham, Peter later worked as a PE teacher in Llangollen before moving to the US in the mid-1980s. Following a brief introduction into the sportswear industry at the American brand Patrick USA, his big break came when he landed a role at Reebok.
Since then he has gone on to work for huge names in video-gaming, becoming the president of Sega America before senior roles at Microsoft's Xbox and EA Sports followed.
Former LFC CEO Peter Moore on Liverpool's waterfront
He grew up on Scotland Road(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
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Having lived in the US with his wife Debbie for decades, an unexpected phone call with a headhunter in 2017 saw him return to Liverpool. He said: "A headhunter calls me saying 'Would you ever move back to the UK?' and I remember looking out of the window at home in San Francisco, the sun's shining, the palm trees were swaying, and I said 'Heck no' but she said 'What if it's to be CEO of Liverpool Football Club?' Quite firmly, that is the only job that would ever have brought me back to the UK.'
"I remember thinking right there and then, I wish my dad was still alive to hear this. And then secondly, remembering him taking me to Anfield in 1959, and imparting upon me the love of a football club that has stayed with me all my life."
Marking a hugely successful time in Liverpool's history, during Peter's tenure from 2017-2020, the club won the Champions League in 2019 before a year later they were crowned Premier League champions.
Peter and Debbie Moore
Peter and Debbie Moore (Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
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Despite his time working for the club coming to an end in 2020, his and Debbie's association with LFC and the city has remained as strong as ever. In recent years they have supported a number of causes including Fans Supporting Foodbanks, Alder Hey Children's Hospital, Clatterbridge Cancer Hospital, Anfield Sports and Community Centre and the LFC Foundation.
It can now also be announced that the couple will be giving back to the city in yet another way. Peter and Debbie have launched a scholarship at the University of Liverpool, which is available each year to a local student. Peter was also awarded an honorary degree from the university at a graduation ceremony today.
Debbie said: "Coming over here and living here for almost four years and falling in love with the city, when we learned of this nomination, we wanted to be able to use it as a platform to give back once again and to help students at the university.
"We thought it was a great opportunity for us to get involved with the university and to give a scholarship which will pay for the annual tuition fees of a student. Then hopefully they will be able to give back in the city in the same way that me and Peter both have."