Brian Talbot

Brian Talbot

Personal information
Full name	Brian Ernest Talbot
Date of birth	21 July 1953
Place of birth	Ipswich, England
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
1968–1972	Ipswich Town
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1972–1979	Ipswich Town	177	(25)
1971	→ Toronto Metros (loan)	10	(2)
1972	→ Toronto Metros (loan)	10	(2)
1979–1985	Arsenal	254	(40)
1985–1986	Watford	48	(8)
1986–1988	Stoke City	54	(5)
1988–1990	West Bromwich Albion	74	(5)
1990–1991	Fulham	5	(1)
1990–1992	Aldershot	11	(0)
1992–?	Sudbury Town
National team
1976	England U21	1	(0)
1977–1980	England	6	(0)
Teams managed
1988–1991	West Bromwich Albion
1991	Aldershot
1993–1996	Hibernians
1997–2004	Rushden & Diamonds
2004–2005	Oldham Athletic
2005–2006	Oxford United
2006–2008	Marsaxlokk
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Brian Ernest Talbot (born 21 July 1953) is a former English football manager and former player. His son is Daniel Talbot.^[1]

Talbot played for Ipswich Town, Toronto Metros (United States), Arsenal, Watford, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Fulham and Aldershot. He then went into management with West Bromwich Albion, Aldershot, Hibernians (Malta), Rushden & Diamonds, Oxford United and Marsaxlokk (Malta).

Playing career

A midfielder, Talbot began his footballing career as an apprentice with Ipswich Town in 1968, turning professional in 1972; in the meantime he had spent two seasons on loan with Canadian club Toronto Metros. He made 227 appearances for Ipswich, and won the 1978 FA Cup with the club. In the 1978 FA Cup semi-final against West Bromwich Albion, Talbot scored the first goal eight minutes into the game. He was injured on the play when he collided head-to-head with Albion's skipper, John Wile. Wile played with a bandaged head for the remainder of the contest while Talbot was removed on a stretcher. In January 1979, Talbot moved to Arsenal for a fee of £450,000.

Talbot immediately became a first-team player at Arsenal. He played for the Gunners in the FA Cup final of that year, scoring a goal in a 3–2 victory over Manchester United; Talbot thus achieved the unique distinction of winning the FA Cup with two different teams in consecutive seasons.^[2] The following year he set a club record, as an ever-present in Arsenal's marathon 1979–80 season, when he played a total of 70 matches in a single season (the club reached the finals of both the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, but lost them both).

Talbot's impressive stamina and fitness meant he played nearly every Arsenal first-team game for the next five seasons, missing fewer than half a dozen League games. In all, the strong and sturdy midfielder played 327 first-team matches for the Gunners, scoring 49 goals. He also played for England, five times while at Ipswich and once as an Arsenal player.

He left Arsenal in June 1985 and joined Watford. He spent a season and a half at Vicarage Road before joining his old Ipswich Town team-mate Mick Mills at Stoke City in October 1986.^[3] His presence helped inspire the side as Stoke climbed the table and fell six points short of a play-off place.^[3] In 1987–88 made 27 appearances before he left in January 1988 after being offered a player-manager role at West Bromwich Albion.^[3] He spent two and a half years in that role before leaving for Fulham in March 1991. After a short spell there he ended his career at Aldershot.^[3]

Managerial career

Talbot first tasted football management with West Bromwich Albion, where he served as player-manager from February 1989 to January 1991. His tenure started well, with the side challenging for promotion in the 1988–89 season. But a collapse during the final weeks of the season meant they didn't even achieve playoff qualification. However, the following season saw the side struggle and narrowly survive in the Second Division, which continued into the 1990–91 season. His dismissal from Albion came after the famous 4–2 FA Cup defeat at the hands of non-league Woking. Albion ended the season with relegation to the Third Division for the first time ever. After leaving Albion, he joined Fulham and played five times in the Third Division, scoring once, before being appointed player-manager of Fourth Division strugglers Aldershot, who were deep in debt. After a dismal start to the 1991–92, Talbot left the Shots in November 1991 and was succeeded by Ian McDonald, and four months later the club went bust and were forced out of the Football League. Talbot then moved abroad and managed Maltese club Hibernians, where his team won the island's Premier League in 1993 and 1994.

Talbot returned to English club football as part of the coaching staff of Rushden and Diamonds, then in the Football Conference, in 1997. After a spell as head coach he was appointed club manager before the start of the 1999–2000 season. At the end of the 2000–01 season Rushden secured promotion to the Football League under his management. The team reached the Division Three playoffs in 2002 but lost in the final. In their second season in the League they secured the 2002–03 Division Three title, but were relegated the following season, Talbot having left the club in March 2004 after seven years to take over at Oldham Athletic.

Talbot succeeded in keeping Oldham in Division Two in 2004, then the following season he took them into the 3rd round of the FA Cup where the Latics beat local rivals Manchester City 1–0 thanks to a goal from Scott Vernon. But results in the League were not the same following a defeat to Bolton Wanderers the club went on a 10 match losing streak which led to him resigning at the end of February 2005 following a 5–1 defeat at the hands of Bristol City. In May 2005 he signed a two-year contract as manager of Oxford United before the final game of the 2004–05 season. After an unsuccessful stint in charge, Talbot was sacked in March 2006, leaving the club 22nd in League Two^[4] and destined to lose their League status at the end of the season.

Talbot made a quick return to management with Maltese side Marsaxlokk, and guided them to the domestic league title and a place in the UEFA Champions League. Following a disappointing start to the 2008–09 season, Marsaxlokk appointed former Msida Saint-Joseph manager Patrick Curmi as the club's new head coach on 17 December 2008. Talbot, however, remained with the club until early 2011, after he took over the Technical Director role. In February 2011, he joined English Premier League side Fulham as a scout. Talbot mostly watches matches in the top leagues for the London club, for example in France or Germany.^[5]

Career statistics

As a player

• Sourced from The English National Football Archive

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other^[A]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Ipswich Town	1973–74	First Division	15	3	1	0	0	0	2	0	18	3
	1974–75	First Division	40	8	9	0	5	1	2	1	56	10
	1975–76	First Division	19	2	3	0	1	0	0	0	23	2
	1976–77	First Division	42	5	3	0	3	0	6	1	54	6
	1977–78	First Division	40	4	7	3	3	0	6	1	56	8
	1978–79	First Division	21	3	0	0	1	0	4	0	26	2
	Total		177	25	23	3	13	1	20	3	233	32
Toronto Metros (loan)	1971	NASL	10	2	–		–		–		10	2
	1972	NASL	10	2	–		–		–		10	2
	Total		20	4	–		–		–		20	4
Arsenal	1978–79	First Division	20	0	6	2	0	0	0	0	26	2
	1979–80	First Division	42	1	11	2	7	1	10	0	70	4
	1980–81	First Division	40	7	1	0	4	0	0	0	45	7
	1981–82	First Division	42	7	1	0	5	0	4	1	52	8
	1982–83	First Division	42	9	7	1	7	0	2	0	58	10
	1983–84	First Division	27	6	1	0	1	0	0	0	29	6
	1984–85	First Division	41	10	3	2	3	0	0	0	47	12
	Total		254	40	30	7	27	1	15	1	327	49
Watford	1985–86	First Division	41	7	8	0	2	0	0	0	51	7
	1986–87	First Division	7	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	8	0
	Total		48	7	8	0	3	0	0	0	59	7
Stoke City	1986–87	Second Division	32	3	5	1	0	0	0	0	37	4
	1987–88	Second Division	22	2	2	0	1	1	2	0	27	3
	Total		54	5	7	1	1	1	2	0	64	7
West Bromwich Albion	1987–88	Second Division	15	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	2
	1988–89	Second Division	39	2	2	0	0	0	1	0	42	2
	1989–90	Second Division	20	1	2	0	3	1	1	0	26	2
	Total		74	5	4	0	3	1	2	0	83	6
Fulham	1990–91	Third Division	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	1
	Total		5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	1
Aldershot	1990–91	Fourth Division	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	0
	1991–92	Fourth Division	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	0
	Total		11	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	12	0
Career Total			643	87	72	11	48	4	39	4	803	106

A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the FA Charity Shield, Football League Trophy, UEFA Cup and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

As a manager

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %
West Bromwich Albion	2 November 1988	8 January 1991	114	34	39	41	29.82
Rushden & Diamonds	1 March 1997	8 March 2004	341	163	88	90	47.80
Oldham Athletic	10 March 2004	25 February 2005	55	20	14	21	36.36
Oxford United	6 May 2005	14 March 2006	44	10	16	18	22.73
Total			554	227	157	170	40.97

Honours

As a player

Ipswich Town

• FA Cup Winner: 1978

Arsenal

• FA Cup Winner: 1979
• FA Cup Runner-up: 1980
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Runner-up: 1980

As a manager

Hibernians

• Maltese Premier League champions: 1993–94, 1994–95

Rushden & Diamonds

• Football Conference champions: 2000–01
• Football League Third Division play-off runner-up: 2001–02
• Football League Third Division champions: 2002–03

Marsaxlokk

• Maltese Premier League champions: 2006–07

References

1. "Day to forget for Talbot". The Times. 31 January 2005. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
2. Jones, Trefor (1996). The Watford Football Club Illustrated Who's Who. p. 223. ISBN 0-9527458-0-1.
3. Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
4. "Talbot dismissed as Oxford boss". BBC Sport. 14 March 2006. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
5. Rostron-Pike, Nick (27 February 2012). "Brian Talbot on West Brom, Ipswich and being named Arsenal's 23rd greatest player". talkSPORT. Retrieved 4 March 2016.

External links

• Neil Brown's statistics
• England Appearances
• Brian Talbot career statistics at Soccerbase
• Brian Talbot's managerial stats at Soccerbase.
• Harding, John, 'The Brian Talbot Years: 1984–88' The Official Website of the Professional Footballers' Association