Christopher Leroy Ramsey (born 28 April 1962) is a former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who is currently technical director at

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

. He played as a defender, most often as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, for

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

Naxxar Lions Naxxar Lions Football Club is a football club from the town of Naxxar in northern Malta Their historical and arch-rivals are Mosta FC. A match between Naxxar Lions and Mosta FC, is known as the derby of the north, but because there are other ...

and

Cocoa Expos Cocoa Expos was an American soccer team, founded in 1993. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2007, when the team left the league and the fran ...

. Ramsey coached for

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

working with their academy and was appointed as first team coach where he assisted

Tim Sherwood Timothy Alan Sherwood (born 6 February 1969) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. As a player, he was a midfielder from 1987 until 2005, notably as captain of Blackburn Rovers' Premier Leag ...

and

Les Ferdinand Leslie Ferdinand MBE (born 8 December 1966) is an English football coach, former professional footballer and television pundit, who is currently the director of football at Queens Park Rangers. A striker, his playing career included notable sp ...

. He was placed in temporary charge of Queens Park Rangers, in February 2015 following the resignation of manager,

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United, Portsmouth, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City. In his ...

. After being temporary coach of Queens Park Rangers and following their relegation to the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

, Ramsey was named head coach on a permanent basis in May 2015. He is nicknamed "Rambo". He was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2019 Birthday Honours The 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as ...

for services to football and diversity in sport.

Playing career

He began his career as an apprentice at Bristol City before moving on to Brighton and Hove Albion. He played for Brighton in the 1983 FA Cup Final. The opponents were

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. With Brighton leading, Ramsey was injured by a bad tackle from

Norman Whiteside Norman Whiteside (born 7 May 1965) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and striker. Whiteside began his career at Manchester United, signing professional forms in 1982 at the age of 17 and quickly be ...

and was still hobbling as

Frank Stapleton Francis Anthony Stapleton (born 10 July 1956) is an Irish former professional football player and manager. He is best remembered for his time at Arsenal, Manchester United and as a pivotal player for the Republic of Ireland national team. H ...

got ahead of him to equalise for

United United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

. Moments later Ramsey received further treatment for his injury and was promptly substituted. After a drawn final at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, Ramsey missed the replay due to the injury and Brighton lost 4–0. Ramsey went on loan to Swindon Town from Brighton on 30 August 1984, who were then under the management of Lou Macari. He signed on a permanent contract on 13 December 1984 and stayed at Swindon for three years until joining

on 14 August 1987. Whilst at Swindon he won a Fourth Division championship medal in the 85–86 Swindon team, playing 43 of the 46 league games. He also played 25 games the following season when Swindon won back-to-back promotions by beating Gillingham in the Third Division play-off final replay at

Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst in the London Borough of Croydon which is the home ground of Premier League side Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted international footba ...

on 29 May 1987.

Coaching career

Ramsey was also a player-coach for the

in the

Maltese Premier League The Maltese Premier League, known as BOV Premier League for sponsorship reasons with Bank of Valletta (colloquially known as ''Il-Kampjonat Premjer''), is the highest level of professional football in Malta. Managed by the Malta Football Associa ...

, and in the United States was a player, assistant coach and coach for the

USL PDL USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

team

. In 1998 Ramsey began working for

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

(FA), holding the position of Regional Director of Coaching. While working for the FA he served as the head coach of the

England national under-20 football team England national under-20 football team, also known as England Under-20s or England U20(s), represents England in association football at an under-20 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in Eng ...

. During his tenure as the U-20 coach, Ramsey guided the team to the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship in Nigeria. He was also the assistant coach of the

England national under-16 football team England national under-16 football team, also known as England under-16s or England U16(s), represents England in association football at an under-16 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in Eng ...

at the 2000 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship in Israel. In addition to his coaching responsibilities while at the FA, Ramsey was a scout for the

England national football team The England national football team has represented England in international Association football, football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in Engl ...

under

Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. A forward, he played for several professional clubs from 1968 to 1984. Having begun his career at Scunthorpe United, he moved to Liverpool in 1971 and ...

. After leaving the FA Ramsey was the assistant coach at

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

until November 2000. Ramsey holds a

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

coaching licence and a FA Coach Education Diploma. From 2001 to 2004 he managed American club

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are one of the oldest continuously operating professiona ...

, during which time the club won the 2003

USL A-League The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

championship. After leaving Charleston in 2004, Ramsey worked as Head of Player Development with the

Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Reserves and Academy The Tottenham Hotspur Academy is the youth system of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. The academy was created to train and develop players from the age of eight all the way through to the age of 23. Many of those who have progressed through Tott ...

. In 2008, he was listed amongst the 30 most influential black people in football by ''The Voice'', a newspaper for the black community. Ramsey left Tottenham Hotspur on 19 June 2014, following ten years of service to the club. In August 2014, he was appointed as assistant manager of the England U17 national team.

Queens Park Rangers

On 1 November 2014, he was appointed Head of Player Development and Academy Manager at

. Following the resignation of manager Harry Redknapp on 3 February 2015, Ramsey was placed in temporary charge, first with

and Kevin Bond, then solely with Bond. Ramsey's first competitive match as QPR head coach was on 7 February, losing to a 92nd minute, added-time winner, a 1–0 defeat to

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Loftus Road Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers. In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...

. His first

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

win came three days later, on 10 February, a 0–2 victory against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

at the

Stadium of Light The Stadium of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England, and the eighth and current home to Sunderland A.F.C. With space for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light is the ninth largest football stadium in England. ...

, in QPR's first away victory and first away points of the season. On 12 February, Ramsey was given the job until the end of the 2014–15 season. On 10 May, QPR were relegated to the

, after a 6–0 away defeat to

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

. He was appointed head coach on a permanent basis on 19 May, signing a three-year contract. On 4 November, he was sacked as QPR head coach, with the club in thirteenth place in the league. On 5 January 2016, Ramsey returned to QPR to become technical director.

Career statistics

Player

Manager

Honours

Player

;

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

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 ...

Runner-up (1): 1983 FA Cup Final ;

* Fourth Division Champions (1): 1985–86 * Third Division Play-offs Winners (1): 1986–87

References

External links

Chris Ramsey player profile
at http://www.swindon-town-fc.co.uk/ * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsey, Chris 1962 births Living people Bristol City F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Black British sportspeople English Football League players English expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Malta Expatriate soccer players in the United States English football managers United Soccer League (1984–85) players Luton Town F.C. non-playing staff Tottenham Hotspur F.C. non-playing staff Association football defenders Cocoa Expos players Naxxar Lions F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. managers Queens Park Rangers F.C. non-playing staff English footballers Premier League managers Charleston Battery coaches English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Members of the Order of the British Empire FA Cup Final players