Irish striker Dave Mooney joined Norwich on loan from Reading on 6th March 2009

Mooney joined Shamrock Rovers, his first senior club, in 2000 and scored in every round when Rovers' won the U17 All Ireland title against Kingdom Boys in 2002. He made his first team debut coming on as a sub against Longford Town on 6th April 2004. His first goal came on 24th June 2004 against Dublin City. In his fifteen months in the first team he scored nine goals in 40 total appearances.

Due to Rovers' financial position at the time players had to be sold on and Mooney moved to Longford in the summer of 2005. His scoring return of 19 goals in the 2007 FAI Premier Division season ensured he was top scorer in the league but Longford were relegated . Although targetted by Crystal Palace and Leeds, and having been offered a contract with Blackburn following a trial, he instead opted to stay in Ireland and signed for Cork City, scoring regularly

On 20th August 2008, he signed for Reading for €260,000. He made his Reading debut in the Carling Cup against Luton Town. He was loaned to Stockport in Janaury 2009 but returned injured after 2 appearances.

He made his debut for Norwich in the 2-0 defeat at Blackpool on 7th March 2009. He scored his first goal in the 2-0 win over Cardiff on 10th March 2009 and then scored the only goal of the game as Norwich beat Plymouth on 14th March 2009. His loan was then extended until the end of the season. His 3 goals in 9 appearances were not enough to help City avoid relegation to League One on 3rd May 2009 followin a 4-2 defeat at Charlton

In October 2009, Dave was loaned to Charlton Athletic. This was extended until 28th December and then again until the end of the season but his goals were not enough to avoid a League One play-off semi-final defeat to Swindon in May 2010

On 5th August 2010, Mooney joined Colchester on a six month loan. U's boss John Ward said : "David's a player I know well. I tried to sign him from Cork City when I was at Carlisle. But Reading gazumped me and he went there. He's a striker in the mould of Steven Gillespie. He's been out on loan at Charlton and Norwich recently so has a good pedigree. He's with us for six months and will be able to play in the cups as well so I think it's a really good addition to our squad."

Mooney extended his loan with Colchester to the end of the season on 6th January 2011. He was released by Reading on 2nd June 2011. He joined Leyton Orient in July 2011

Mooney and Orient were relegated to League Two on 3rd May 2015 despite a 2-2 draw with Swindon. They had only narrowly missed out on promotion to the Championship the season before losing the play-off final to Rotherham on a penalty shootout. His contract expired in the summer of 2015 and he signed for Southend United on 2nd July 2015, signing a two year contract. He scored 38 goals in 140 league games in his four-year spell with Orient.

Mooney was released by Southend on 22nd May 2017. He returned to Leyton Orient, newly relegated to the Conference, on 1st July 2017. He left Orient on 6th September 2018, having scored six goals in 35 appearances in 2017/18 but not appearing in the 2018/19 campaign.

On 28th September 2018, Mooney joined Conference South side Royston Town.

Mooney has been capped by Ireland at Under-23 level.