Colin West

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For the player whose clubs included Chelsea and Dundee, see Colin West (footballer, born 1967). For the English children's book author and illustrator, see Colin West (author).

Colin West
Personal information
Full name Colin West[1]
Date of birth (1962-11-13) 13 November 1962 (age 58)
Place of birth Wallsend, England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1979–1980 Sunderland
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1980–1985 Sunderland 102 (21)
1985–1986 Watford 45 (20)
1986–1987 Rangers 10 (2)
1987–1989 Sheffield Wednesday 45 (8)
1989–1992 West Bromwich Albion 73 (22)
1991 → Port Vale (loan) 5 (1)
1992–1993 Swansea City 33 (12)
1993–1998 Leyton Orient 142 (42)
1997 → Northampton Town (loan) 2 (0)
1998 → Rushden & Diamonds (loan)
1998–1999 Rushden & Diamonds 5 (1)
1999–2000 Northwich Victoria 1 (0)
2000–2001 Hartlepool United 1 (0)
Total 464 (129)
Teams managed
2002 Hartlepool United (caretaker)
2007 Millwall (caretaker)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Colin West (born 13 November 1962) is an English former footballer who is now the assistant head coach at Oldham Athletic. He played as a forward and scored 158 goals in 555 league and cup games in the English Football League, Conference and the Scottish Football League.

He began his career at Sunderland in 1981, playing more than 100 games for the Black Cats before moving on to Watford in March 1985. He was sold on to Rangers the following year for £180,000, though made only occasional appearances as Rangers won the Scottish Football League Premier Division title during the 1986–87 season. He returned to England with Sheffield Wednesday in September 1987 for a fee of £150,000. Two years later he signed with West Bromwich Albion, before he joined Swansea City in August 1992, following a loan spell at Port Vale. He moved on to Leyton Orient in July 1993 and spent five years at the club. In 1997, he was loaned out to Northampton Town, before he switched clubs to Conference club Rushden & Diamonds. The next year he signed with Northwich Victoria, before signing with Hartlepool United in 2000. After retiring in 2001, he spent the next ten years coaching at various clubs, including: Hartlepool United, Sheffield Wednesday, Stockport County, Millwall, Southend United, Notts County, Carlisle United and Northampton Town. He served both Hartlepool United and Millwall as caretaker-manager.

Playing career[]

Sunderland[]

West turned professional in July 1980, and made his debut for Sunderland on 20 April 1981 against West Bromwich Albion in a 2–1 defeat at The Hawthorns under caretaker-manager Mick Docherty.[3] The club narrowly avoided relegation out of the First Division in under new boss Alan Durban, finishing just one place and two points above relegated Leeds United. They then finished four places and three points above the drop in . West was the club's top scorer in with nine goals. The next season, he scored three goals over the two legs in the League Cup semi-final win over Chelsea, but was left out of the Wembley final by manager Len Ashurst. Following this snub he joined league rivals Watford for £115,000 in March 1985.[4] The "Black Cats" went on to lose their top-flight status in , finishing two places and ten points short of safety. He scored 28 goals in 122 competitive appearances for Sunderland.[5]

Watford, Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday[]

He was the club's top scorer in with 16 goals. In total he hit 23 goals in 56 league and cup appearances for Graham Taylor's Watford, before he moved on to Scottish Premier Division club Rangers for a £200,000 fee in May 1986, then managed by Graeme Souness.[4] He played 12 games at Ibrox in the title winning 1986–87 campaign, scoring three goals. He returned to England to sign with First Division side Sheffield Wednesday for £150,000 in September 1987.[4] The club finished eleventh in under Howard Wilkinson's stewardship, before heading into a relegation dogfight under Peter Eustace in . West made 57 league and cup appearances at Wednesday, scoring 13 goals.

West Bromwich Albion[]

He signed with Second Division side West Bromwich Albion in exchange for Carlton Palmer in February 1989, but was unable to fire Brian Talbot's side into the play-offs in , as they ended up two places and four points short of their target. The "Baggies" dropped to 20th in , and were just two places and three points above relegated Bournemouth. The 1990–91 season was a disaster, and West Brom were relegated into the Third Division for the first time in their history. Not highly rated at the Hawthorns,[6] he made 73 league appearances, scoring 22 goals, during his stay in the West Midlands. He joined Second Division club Port Vale on loan in November 1991, making five appearances and scoring one goal for John Rudge's side.[7]

Swansea City[]

He was signed by Swansea City manager Frank Burrows in August 1992, and scored two goals in his first start for the club in a 2–0 win over former side Port Vale.[8] He went on to score 12 goals in 33 Second Division appearances, as the "Swans" reached the play-offs in , only to be sent off for fouling Ian Hamilton during a 2–0 defeat by his former club West Bromwich Albion in the second leg of the semi-finals, which left Swansea with a 3–2 aggregate loss.[8] West later said that "I instantly thought 'why on earth did I do that?' but the referee rightly sent me off. It was a very sad way for me to end my time with the club."[8]

Leyton Orient[]

West switched to Second Division rivals Leyton Orient in July 1993, who were then by managed by his former boss Peter Eustace. The "O's" finished 18th in , before being relegated in last place in . The club struggled in the fourth tier, and posted a 21st-place finish in under Pat Holland, three positions above Torquay United, the English Football League's bottom club. He scored five goals in 26 appearances in , as Orient moved up to 16th under Tommy Taylor's stewardship. In total he made 142 league appearances for Leyton Orient, scoring 42 goals.[9] In September 1997, he joined Second Division side Northampton Town on loan, but made just two goalless appearances for Ian Atkins' "Cobblers". Two months later he was loaned out to Rushden & Diamonds of the Conference, in a move that reunited him with former manager Brian Talbot, and helped to fire the "Diamonds" to a fourth-place finish in 1997–98.

Later career[]

West signed with Rushden & Diamonds permanently for the 1998–99 season, and helped the club to another fourth-place finish. He moved on to Mark Gardiner's Conference strugglers Northwich Victoria in the 1999–2000 campaign, before ending his career at Hartlepool United, where he made just a single appearance in 1999–2000.

Style of play[]

West was a forward who was "powerful in the air and determined on the ground".[10]

Coaching career[]

When West joined Hartlepool United in November 1999 he was appointed as assistant manager to Chris Turner.[8] The pair helped the club avoid falling into the Conference when they arrived, before they led the club to three successive Third Division play-offs, though they never made it past the semi-finals.[11] When Turner left the club to take over as manager of Sheffield Wednesday in November 2002, West briefly took charge of the first team on a caretaker basis.[12] After a win and a draw, West left to team up with Turner at Hillsborough,[13] and later followed him to Stockport County, before the pair left Edgeley Park in December 2005.[14]

He then spent time as reserve team coach at Millwall, being appointed assistant caretaker-manager to Richard Shaw after Willie Donachie was dismissed.[15] He later took up the reserve team coaching position at Southend United in December 2008.[16] Three months later, with Turner back in charge at "Pools" on a caretaker basis, West left the position at Southend to return to Hartlepool as assistant coach.[17] He left Hartlepool again in June 2010 after the club chose not to renew his contract. In February 2012, Notts County manager Keith Curle recruited West to work as a coach.[18] He left the club a year later, when Curle was sacked.[19] He was appointed assistant manager at Carlisle United when Curle took charge of the club in September 2014.[20] The pair left Brunton Park at the end of the 2017–18 season.[8] On 1 October 2018, Curle was appointed as Northampton Town, and again hired West as his assistant.[21] The pair were sacked on 10 February 2021.[22] In July 2021, he re-united with Curle after being named assistant head coach at Oldham Athletic.[23]

Statistics[]

Playing statistics[]

Source:[24][25][9][26]

Club Season Division League National Cup Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Sunderland First Division 18 6 0 0 1 0 19 6
First Division 23 3 1 0 3 0 27 3
First Division 38 9 2 2 4 2 44 13
First Division 23 3 1 0 8 3 32 6
Total 102 21 4 2 16 5 122 28
Watford First Division 12 7 0 0 0 0 12 7
First Division 33 13 8 3 3 0 44 16
Total 45 20 8 3 3 0 56 23
Rangers 1986–87 Scottish Premier Division 9 2 1 0 2 1 12 3
1987–88 Scottish Premier Division 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Total 10 2 1 0 2 1 13 3
Sheffield Wednesday First Division 25 7 4 1 7 4 36 12
First Division 20 1 2 0 2 0 24 1
Total 45 8 6 1 9 4 60 13
West Bromwich Albion Second Division 17 8 0 0 0 0 17 8
Second Division 21 4 3 0 1 0 25 4
Second Division 28 8 1 1 2 0 31 9
Third Division 4 1 0 0 1 1 5 2
Third Division 3 1 0 0 0 0 3 1
Total 73 22 4 1 4 1 81 24
Port Vale (loan) 1991–92 Second Division 5 1 0 0 0 0 5 1
Swansea City Second Division 33 12 5 2 6 1 44 15
Leyton Orient Second Division 43 14 2 0 3 0 48 14
Second Division 30 9 2 1 7 4 39 14
Third Division 39 16 1 0 1 1 41 17
Third Division 23 3 2 1 3 1 28 5
Third Division 7 0 0 0 1 0 8 0
Total 142 42 7 2 15 6 164 50
Northampton Town (loan) 1997–98 Second Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Rushden & Diamonds 1999–2000[27] Conference 5 1 0 0 0 0 5 1
Northwich Victoria 1999–2000[27] Conference 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Hartlepool United 1999–2000 Third Division 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0
Career total 464 129 35 11 56 18 555 158

Managerial statistics[]

Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
P W D L Win %
Hartlepool United (caretaker) 7 November 2002 21 November 2002 2 1 1 0 050.0
Millwall (caretaker) 8 October 2007 7 November 2007 5 1 2 2 020.0
Total 7 2 3 2 028.6

Honours[]

Rangers

References[]

  1. ^ "Colin West". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  2. ^ "Colin West". www.adrianbullock.com. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  3. ^ "West Bromwich Albion 2–1 Sunderland". The Stat Cat. Archived from the original on 31 May 2008. Retrieved 12 August 2008.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Profile" (PDF). watfordfcarchive.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 September 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  5. ^ "Profile". thestatcat.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 August 2006. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  6. ^ "Never again..." BBC Sport. 1 April 2003. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
  7. ^ Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 305. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Where are they now? Colin West | Swansea City FC". www.swanseacity.com. 28 May 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b "Stats". Neil Brown stat site. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  10. ^ Dykes, Garth; Lamming, Doug (2000). All the Lads: A Complete Who's Who of Sunderland AFC. Great Britain. p. 449. ISBN 9781899538157.
  11. ^ "Colin West". inthemadcrowd.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 February 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  12. ^ "West stays in charge at Pool". BBC Sport. 14 November 2002. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  13. ^ "West moves to Owls". BBC Sport. 21 November 2002. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  14. ^ "Manager Turner leaves Stockport". BBC Sport. 27 December 2005. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  15. ^ "Lions not rushing to appoint boss". BBC Sport. 9 October 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  16. ^ "West joins Southend coaching team". BBC Sport. 17 December 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  17. ^ "Pools appoint West as assistant". BBC Sport. 11 February 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  18. ^ "Keith Curle appointed new Notts County manager". BBC Sport. 20 February 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  19. ^ "League One Notts County sack Keith Curle following poor run of form". Sky Sports. 3 February 2013. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  20. ^ "Keith Curle: Carlisle name ex-England defender as manager". BBC Sport. 19 September 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  21. ^ "Former Carlisle Utd boss Keith Curle appointed Northampton Town manager". News and Star. 1 October 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  22. ^ Heneghan, James (10 February 2021). "BREAKING: Cobblers sack manager Keith Curle after dreadful run". www.northamptonchron.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  23. ^ Colman, Jon (24 July 2021). "Two former Carlisle United coaches join League Two rivals Oldham". News and Star. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  24. ^ Colin West at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  25. ^ Jump up to: a b "West, Colin". FitbaStats. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  26. ^ Colin West at Soccerbase Edit this at Wikidata
  27. ^ Jump up to: a b "Games played by Colin West in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
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