Colin West

For the English children's book author and illustrator, see Colin West (author).
Colin West
Personal information
Date of birth (1962-11-13) 13 November 1962
Place of birth Wallsend, England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position 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) 2 (3)
1998–1999 Rushden & Diamonds 6 (6)
1999–2000 Northwich Victoria 1 (0)
2000–2001 Hartlepool United 1 (0)
Total 467 (137)
Teams managed
2002 Hartlepool United (caretaker)
2007 Millwall (caretaker)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)

Colin West (born 13 November 1962) was an English footballer who played as a forward, and now works assistant manager to Keith Curle at Carlisle United. In all he scored 126 goals in 448 league games in the Football League,[1] and also made numerous appearances in the Scottish Football League and at non-league level.

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, before he returned to England with Sheffield Wednesday in September 1987 for £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.

Playing career

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.[2] The club narrowly avoided relegation out of the First Division in 1981–82 under new boss Alan Durban, finishing just one place and two points above relegated Leeds United. They then finished four place and three points above the drop in 1982–83. West was the club's top scorer in 1983–84 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.[3] The "Black Cats" went on to lose their top-flight status in 1984–85, finishing two places and ten points short of safety. He scored 28 goals in 122 competitive appearances for Sunderland.[4]

He was the club's top scorer in 1985–86 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.[3] 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.[3] The club finished eleventh in 1987–88 under Howard Wilkinson's stewardship, before heading into a relegation dogfight under Peter Eustace in 1988–89. West made 57 league and cup appearances at Wednesday, scoring 13 goals.

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 1988–89, as they ended up two places and four points short of their target. The "Baggies" dropped to 20th in 1989–90, 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,[5] 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.[6]

He was signed by Swansea City manager Frank Burrows in August 1992, and scored 12 goals in 33 Second Division appearances, as the "Swans" reached the play-offs in 1992–93, only to be beaten by his former club West Bromwich Albion at the semi-final stage. 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 1993–94, before being relegated in last place in 1994–95. The club struggled in the fourth tier, and posted a 21st-place finish in 1995–96 under Pat Holland, three positions above Torquay United, the Football League's bottom club. He scored five goals in 26 appearances in 1996–97, as Orient moved up to 16th under Tommy Taylor's stewardship. In total he made 142 league appearances for Leyton Orient, scoring 42 goals.[1] 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 Football 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. 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.

Coaching career

When West joined Hartlepool United in November 1999 he was appointed as assistant manager to Chris Turner. 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.[7] 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.[8] After a win and a draw, West left to team up with Turner at Hillsborough,[9] and later followed him to Stockport County, before the pair left Edgeley Park in December 2005.[10]

He then spent time as reserve team coach at Millwall, being appointed assistant caretaker-manager to Richard Shaw after Willie Donachie was dismissed.[11] He later took up the reserve team coaching position at Southend United in December 2008.[12] 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.[13] 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.[14] He left the club a year later, when Curle was sacked.[15] He was appointed assistant manager at Carlisle United when Curle took charge of the club in September 2014.[16]

Honours

with Rangers

References

  1. 1 2 "Stats". Neil Brown stat site. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  2. ↑ "West Bromwich Albion 2–1 Sunderland". The Stat Cat. Retrieved 12 August 2008.
  3. 1 2 3 "Profile" (PDF). watfordfcarchive.com. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  4. ↑ "Profile". thestatcat.co.uk. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  5. ↑ "Never again...". BBC Sport. 1 April 2003. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
  6. ↑ Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 305. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  7. ↑ "Colin West". inthemadcrowd.co.uk. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  8. ↑ "West stays in charge at Pool". BBC Sport. 14 November 2002. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  9. ↑ "West moves to Owls". BBC Sport. 21 November 2002. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  10. ↑ "Manager Turner leaves Stockport". BBC Sport. 27 December 2005. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  11. ↑ "Lions not rushing to appoint boss". BBC Sport. 9 October 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  12. ↑ "West joins Southend coaching team". BBC Sport. 17 December 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  13. ↑ "Pools appoint West as assistant". BBC Sport. 11 February 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  14. ↑ "Keith Curle appointed new Notts County manager". BBC Sport. 20 February 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  15. ↑ "League One Notts County sack Keith Curle following poor run of form". Sky Sports. 3 February 2013. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  16. ↑ "Keith Curle: Carlisle name ex-England defender as manager". BBC Sport. 19 September 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2015.

External links

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