Adrian John Tucker (born 26 September 1976) is a Welsh former professional football goalkeeper who is currently an England national youth football teams' goalkeeping coach. Tucker has previously had two spells as goalkeeper coach at Swansea City AFC (2009-2014, 2018–2019) While also holding the same position at Sunderland AFC (2015-2018) He was part of Swansea City's promotion campaign to the Premier League in 2011 and League Cup win in 2013.

Career

Born in Merthyr Tydfil, Tucker began his playing career with Torquay United. His debut came in December 1994, during an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

second round replay at home to

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

, when regular Torquay goalkeeper

Ashley Bayes Ashley John Bayes (born 19 April 1972) is an English former professional footballer who is goalkeeping coach at League One club AFC Wimbledon. Bayes started his career at Brentford, where he progressed through the youth system to make his firs ...

was sent off. A shoulder injury spoiled Tucker's professional career. After leaving Torquay in 1995 he played in the Welsh Premier League and Welsh pyramid system for a number of years and spent 12 years working for the

Football Association of Wales The Football Association of Wales (FAW; cy, Cymdeithas Bêl-droed Cymru) is the governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Welsh national football team, its corresponding women's team, as well as the Welsh ...

in their technical coaching and development department. In October 2007, Tucker took charge of his first match for the

Wales women's national football team The Wales national women's football team ( cy, Tîm pêl-droed merched cenedlaethol Cymru) represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales (FAW), the governing body for football in Wales and the ...

, following the resignation of Andy Beattie, a spell which lasted 2 years until he joined Swansea City first time around in July 2009 as a goalkeeping coach under incoming manager

Paulo Sousa Paulo Manuel Carvalho de Sousa, CavIH (; born 30 August 1970) is a Portuguese football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. Starting his career at Benfica, he also represented Sporting CP in his countr ...

, replacing Iñaki Bergara who had followed

Roberto Martínez Roberto Martínez Montoliu (born 13 July 1973) is a Spanish football coach and former professional player, currently as head coach of the Portugal national team. Martínez played as a defensive midfielder and began his career at Real Zaragoza ...

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

. After Sousa's departure Tucker remained as part of

Brendan Rodgers Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Leicester City. Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed ...

' backroom staff, as the Swans gained promotion to the FA Premier League. Following Rodgers' departure to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, Tucker continued in his role under

Michael Laudrup Michael Laudrup (, born 15 June 1964) is a Danish professional football coach and former player. He is considered to be one of the greatest players of all time. He is the older brother of fellow retired footballer Brian Laudrup. During his p ...

where the Swans won the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

in 2013 and entered the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. After five seasons working for Swansea City, Tucker was replaced by

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

goalkeeping coach Javier García on 27 June 2014. Tucker then took up the position as the goalkeeper coach of England under-20s managed by

Aidy Boothroyd Adrian Neil Boothroyd (born 8 February 1971) is an English former footballer who is currently the manager of Indian Super League club Jamshedpur. At club level, he was manager of Watford from 2005 to 2008. During his time with Watford, he was r ...

and the academy goalkeeping coach/consultant at

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

. On 16 March 2015 Tucker joined

Dick Advocaat Dirk Nicolaas Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former football player and coach who is currently the head coach of Eerste Divisie side ADO Den Haag. Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a coach, including three stint ...

's staff at Sunderland following the dismissal of

Gus Poyet Gustavo Augusto Poyet Domínguez (; born 15 November 1967) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former footballer. He is currently the head coach of the Greece national football team. Poyet played as a midfielder and began his car ...

and helped secure Premier League survival. He has since worked under

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (; born 19 October 1954), colloquially referred to as Big Sam, is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football Lea ...

, David Moyes,

Simon Grayson Simon Nicholas Grayson (born 16 December 1969) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Indian Super League club Bengaluru. As a player, he was a right back, but he was also utilised in ...

, and Chris Coleman. He returned to Swansea City in June 2018 as

Graham Potter Graham Stephen Potter (born 20 May 1975) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of club Chelsea. In a 13-year playing career, Potter, who played as a left-back, made 307 appearances in the ...

's goalkeeping coach. He left the club in June 2019 and joined

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

in July 2019. On 26 August 2021, Tucker was confirmed as a goalkeeping coach with the England National Men Teams

References

External links

Welsh Premier League Profile for Adrian Tucker
1976 births Living people Welsh men's footballers Merthyr Tydfil F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Footballers from Merthyr Tydfil Wales women's national football team managers Swansea City A.F.C. non-playing staff Sunderland A.F.C. non-playing staff Men's association football goalkeepers Welsh football managers Bristol Rovers F.C. non-playing staff Inter Cardiff F.C. players Ebbw Vale F.C. players {{Wales-footy-goalkeeper-stub