Chris Coleman (footballer)
Encyclopedia
Christopher "Chris" Coleman (born 10 June 1970 in Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...

, Glamorgan
Glamorgan
Glamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...

) is a Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of Greek Side Larissa.

As a child he grew up a keen supporter of Liverpool FC - his favourite player being Emlyn Hughes
Emlyn Hughes
Emlyn Walter Hughes, OBE was an English footballer who captained both the England national team and the much-decorated Liverpool F.C. team of the 1970s.- From Blackpool to Liverpool :...



As a player, he usually played in defence
Defender (association football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....

, while also occasionally appearing as a forward. He won 32 caps playing for Wales
Wales national football team
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...

. As a manager, Coleman attained a respectable ninth place finish in the Premier League in 2004 as the manager of Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...

, who had been tipped for relegation. After leaving Fulham, Coleman was appointed manager of Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 September 1909...

, but resigned in January 2008, citing differences with the incoming president, even though in his last twelve games he recorded only one defeat. In February 2008, he returned to England to manage Coventry City
Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...

, but he was dismissed in May 2010 following a disastrous run of results.

In June 2010 he worked as a commentator
Sports commentator
In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...

 for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 at the 2010 FIFA World Cup
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...

 in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. He has also commentated for Sky Sports
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...

.

Biography

Coleman was born in Swansea in 1970 to a family of 2 sisters. He started school at St Josephs catholic primary school and after attended at Bishop Vaughan Catholic School. The first professional team he was contracted to was Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

, aged 16, although he later left them, citing homesickness as the major reason.

He then joined Swansea City
Swansea City A.F.C.
Swansea City Association Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. One of the most successful clubs in Welsh football, it has won 10 Welsh Cups and led the English Football League First Division in December 1981, before finishing the season in 6th position...

 which was his boyhood club which he still supports to this day. He had a very successful stint at Crystal Palace where he is considered to have legend status. He also did extremely well with Fulham, and at one point was considered the best defender outside the premier league helping them climb the leagues until his horrific car crash.

He has been used as a co-commentator on non-contract terms on both ITV at World Cup 2010 and its Europa League coverage and since the sacking of Andy Gray on Sky Sports for its Premier League coverage. However in many interviews he has lended the assumption that he wants to get back into management as it is where his heart is. He has 3 daughters and a son and along with his wife live in Kingswood surrey.

Swansea City

Coleman made his first professional appearance for Swansea aged 17, in 1987. He made nearly 200 appearances for the south Wales club and helped win the Welsh Cup
Welsh Cup
The Welsh Cup is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams from Wales.The Football Association of Wales is the organising body of this competition, which has been run every year since its inception in 1877-78...

 in 1989 and 1991.

Crystal Palace

After spending four years with his hometown club, Coleman was signed by Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...

 for a transfer fee set by a Football League tribunal at around a quarter of a million pounds, plus a percentage of any future sale. After making 143 appearances, scoring 16 goals in that period – a 1 in 9 record explained by the fact that manager Steve Coppell
Steve Coppell
Stephen James "Steve" Coppell is an English former footballer and manager, currently without a club.As a player, he was a highly regarded right winger known for his speed and work rate. He won domestic honours with Manchester United and represented England at the World Cup...

 often used Coleman as a makeshift centre forward – he moved to Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

. The major lowlight of this period was relegation from the Premiership, but he did obtain his first cap for Wales while contracted to Palace.

In 2005, Palace supporters voted Coleman into their Centenary XI.

Blackburn Rovers

Coleman joined Premier League champions Blackburn for a fee of £2.8 million. Blackburn did not retain the Premiership title they had won in 1995, and finished seventh. Coleman made 28 Premier League appearances over his season-and-a-half at the club, and when he found himself out of the starting line-up too often (not helped by a persistent Achilles injury), he took the gamble to further his career by dropping two divisions to join Fulham.

Fulham

Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...

, at the time in the Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

, were financed by wealthy businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed
Mohamed Al-Fayed
Mohamed Abdel Moneim Al-Fayed is an Egyptian businessman and billionaire. Amongst his business interests are ownership of the English Premiership football team Fulham Football Club, Hôtel Ritz Paris and formerly Harrods Department Store, Knightsbridge...

, and were able to spend a record transfer fee for the division of over £2 million for Coleman in late 1997. He quickly became club captain, and led Fulham to promotion under manager Kevin Keegan
Kevin Keegan
Joseph Kevin Keegan, OBE is a former international footballer and former manager of the England national football team and several English clubs, most notably Newcastle United....

 in 1998–99 to the First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

.

He remained captain and a regular in the team under new manager Jean Tigana
Jean Tigana
Jean Amadou Tigana is a manager and former French international footballer, having played in midfield and managed professional football extensively throughout France, including 52 appearances and 1 goal for the France national football team during the 1980s.-Playing career:Tigana started his...

 in the 2000–01 season as Fulham made a successful start to the campaign. However, Coleman's career was ended midway through the season after he broke his leg in a car crash near Bletchingley in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

 on 2 January 2001 – just days before an FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 tie against Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

. He never recovered from this injury despite playing a reserve fixture in March 2002, a game that only served as an indication that he would never again play at the highest level of English football.

Fulham

Coleman joined Fulham's coaching staff in October 2002 under Tigana. He later succeeded the Frenchman as caretaker manager in April 2003, and steered Fulham away from relegation danger. He was named as Fulham's permanent manager in May 2003, beating the more experienced Klaus Toppmöller
Klaus Toppmöller
Klaus Toppmöller is a former football player and the coach of Georgia national football team from 2006 to April 1, 2008.He earned 3 caps and scored 1 goal during his international career for Germany.-Coaching career:...

 and George Burley
George Burley
George Elder Burley is a Scottish football manager and former player and manager, formerly the manager of Crystal Palace Football Club. Burley had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player making 628 appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps...

 to the post, and also became the youngest manager in the Premier League.

His first full season in charge saw Fulham finish a surprise ninth place, as many pundits tipped them to struggle and for Coleman to be sacked. Many of Fulham's key players, such as Edwin van der Sar
Edwin van der Sar
Edwin van der Sar OON is a former footballer who played as a goalkeeper for AFC Ajax, Juventus, Fulham and Manchester United. He is the most capped player in the Netherlands national football team's history...

, Louis Saha
Louis Saha
Louis Laurent Saha is a French footballer of Guadelupian origin who currently plays as a forward for Everton FC in the Premier League and the France national team. A former scholar at the Clairefontaine football academy, he started his career at Metz before playing on loan at Newcastle United...

, Steed Malbranque
Steed Malbranque
Steed Malbranque is a Belgian-born French footballer who last played for Saint-Étienne. Malbranque had previously played professionally for Lyon in his native France before moving to England where he had spells with Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland.-Lyon:He was a trainee at Lyon youth...

 and Luis Boa Morte, were sold in the following years and Fulham did not repeat their earlier successes under Coleman though he kept them clear of relegation. He was sacked in April 2007, after Fulham went on a seven game winless run.

Real Sociedad

Coleman moved abroad to manage recently relegated Segunda División
Segunda División
The Segunda División is the lower tier of the two professional football leagues in Spain. From the season 2008-09 onwards, the name of the league is Liga Adelante.-History:...

 side Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 September 1909...

 in June 2007 after being recommended to the club by fellow Welshman and former Real Sociedad manager John Toshack
John Toshack
John Benjamin Toshack OBE is a Welsh former footballer and manager. He is currently the manager of Macedonia. He has also managed several others clubs including Swansea City, who he took from the Fourth Division to the First in four seasons.As a player, he is remembered for being part of the...

. He was linked with Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....

 in October 2007
though nothing came of it. With the club in 5th place and having only lost once in its previous eleven games, Coleman resigned as manager on 16 January 2008, citing a divergence in vision for the club with newly elected President Iñaki Badiola.

Coventry City

Coleman was appointed manager of Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...

 side Coventry City
Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...

 on 19 February 2008, signing a three and a half year contract. He replaced Iain Dowie
Iain Dowie
Iain Dowie is a former footballer and manager. He is currently without a club. He has previously managed Hull City and Queens Park Rangers and was assistant manager of Newcastle United...

, who had been sacked by new owner Ray Ranson
Ray Ranson
Raymond "Ray" Ranson is an English entrepreneur, former Chairman of Coventry City F.C., and a former professional footballer. He started his football career with Manchester City, and played for Birmingham City, Newcastle United and Reading. After his playing career ended, he amassed a multimillion...

.

On 26 August 2008, the BBC reported that Chris Coleman was no longer interested in the international success of Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. He later denied the allegation, however, telling BBC Radio Wales' Sportstime programme, "I've got to get him [Eastwood] fit for Coventry first and foremost, that's my job. When he is fit, I'd drive him down the motorway myself if I had to for him to play for Wales. I've played for Wales myself and I preferred playing for my country than any club I've played for. I can promise you that I love Wales, I'm very patriotic and that will never change." On 4 May 2010, Coleman was sacked following Coventry's 19th place finish during the 2009–10 season., their lowest league finish in more than 45 years.

Player

|-
|1987–88
The Football League 1987-88
The 1987–1988 season was the 88th completed season of the The Football League.-First Division:Liverpool won the league title with a comfortable nine-point margin and just two defeats all season...

||rowspan="4"|Swansea City
Swansea City A.F.C.
Swansea City Association Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. One of the most successful clubs in Welsh football, it has won 10 Welsh Cups and led the English Football League First Division in December 1981, before finishing the season in 6th position...

||Fourth Division
Football League Fourth Division
The Fourth Division of The Football League was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season...

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|1988–89
The Football League 1988-89
The 1988–1989 season was the 89th completed season of the Football League.No European qualification took place due to the Heysel Stadium disaster suspension in place....

||rowspan="3"|Third Division
Football League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...

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|1989–90
The Football League 1989-90
The 1989–1990 season was the 90th completed season of The Football League.- First Division :Liverpool overhauled a greatly improved Aston Villa side to win their 18th league championship trophy and their fifth major trophy in as many seasons under Kenny Dalglish’s management. To date, this remains...

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|1990–91
The Football League 1990-91
The 1990–1991 season was the 91st completed season of The Football League.-First Division:Arsenal took their second league title in three seasons despite a season during which it often looked as though the good points would be outnumbered by the bad points...

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|1991–92
The Football League 1991-92
The 1991–1992 season was the 92nd completed season of The Football League.- First Division :The last-ever league championship before the creation of the Premier League was won by Leeds United who overhauled Manchester United thanks to the efforts of players like Gordon Strachan, Lee Chapman, David...

||rowspan="5"|Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...

||First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

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|1992–93
FA Premier League 1992-93
The 1992–93 FA Premier League was the first season of the Premier League, the top division of English football. The league was made up of the 22 clubs that broke away from The Football League at the end of the 1991–92 season. The new league was backed up by a five-year, £305 million deal with...

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|1993–94
The Football League 1993-94
The 1993–1994 season was the 94th completed season of the The Football League. From 1993 to 1996 the league was sponsores by Endsleigh.-Football League Division One:...

||First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

||46||3||1||0||4||0||0||0||51||3
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|1994–95
FA Premier League 1994-95
-Promoted teams:Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest were promoted from the Football League First Division as winners and runners-up respectively. Leicester City won the 1993-94 playoff.-Controversial incidents:...

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|1995–96
The Football League 1995-96
The 1995–1996 season was the 96th completed season of the The Football League. It was contested through three divisions, the First Division, Second Division and Third Division.- First Division playoffs :- First Division Table:...

||First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

||17||0||2||0||2||0||0||0||21||0
|-
|1995–96
FA Premier League 1995-96
-Promoted teams:Due to the decision to reduce the number of clubs in the Premier League from 22 to 20, only two clubs were promoted this season: Middlesbrough as Football League First Division champions, and Bolton Wanderers who won the 1994-95 playoff.-Transfers:...

||rowspan="3"|Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

||rowspan="3"|Premier League||20||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||20||0
|-
|1996–97
FA Premier League 1996-97
The 1996–97 FA Premier League season was the fifth season of the competition, since its formation in 1992. The majority of the season was contested by the reigning champions, Manchester United, along with Newcastle United, Arsenal and Liverpool...

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|1997–98
FA Premier League 1997-98
The FA Premier League 1997-98 season saw Arsenal lift their first league title since 1991, and also become only the second team to win the 'double' of the FA Cup and league title twice...

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|1997–98
The Football League 1997-98
The 1997–1998 season was the 98th completed season of the The Football League.-First Division:Champions Nottingham Forest and runners-up Middlesbrough won promotion back to the Premiership at the first time of asking. Charlton Athletic won the playoffs to end an eight-year absence from the top...

||rowspan="5"|Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...

||rowspan="2"|Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

||26||1||1||0||0||0||0||0||27||1
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|1998–99
The Football League 1998-99
The 1998–1999 season was the 99th completed season of the The Football League.-First Division:Sunderland were crowned First Division champions with 105 points, then a record, having lost just three games all season, to prove right the many pundits who tipped them for promotion...

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|1999–00
The Football League 1999-2000
The 1999–2000 season was the 100th completed season of the The Football League.-Overview:The 1999–2000 season saw the league dispense with the traditional 1–11 numbering of players’ shirts in favour of squad numbers, a system that had been adopted by the Premier League a few seasons before...

||rowspan="2"|First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

||40||3||3||1||7||1||0||0||50||5
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|2000–01
The Football League 2000-01
-Overview:The 2000–2001 season was the 101st completed season of the The Football League.- First Division playoffs :-First Division :...

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|2001–02
FA Premier League 2001-02
The 2001–02 FA Premier League season was the tenth season of the competition. It began with a new sponsor, Barclaycard, and was titled the FA Barclaycard Premiership, replacing the previous sponsor, Carling...

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Manager

Team Nat From To Record
GWDLWin %
Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...

  17 April 2003 10 April 2007 176 61 44 71
Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 September 1909...

  28 June 2007 16 January 2008 20 8 5 7 40.00
Coventry City
Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...

  19 May 2008 4 May 2010 117 34 37 46
Larissa   May 2011 5 2 3 0
Total 318 106 88 124


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