Christopher Richard Todd (born 22 August 1981) is a Welsh retired

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 le ...

who played as a defender and current assistant manager of

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

Playing career

Swansea City

Born in

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

, Todd began his career as a trainee with his home town club,

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

, turning professional in August 1999. He made his debut on 10 March 2001 at home in a 1–1 draw with

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

, going on to make 46 appearances before being released in June 2002.

Drogheda United

Todd then moved to Republic of Ireland, where he spent a season with

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Dhroichead Átha Aontaithe) is a semi-professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches ...

Exeter City

He returned to English football with

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

in January 2003. Although he was unable to prevent Exeter being relegated from the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

that season, he remained with the club, and was consistently a first-team regular. Upon Glenn Cronin's departure during the 2006 off-season, Todd was appointed captain of

for the 2006–07 season.

Torquay United

Todd joined local rivals

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

in June 2007 for a fee of £7,500. and quickly became a regular in the newly relegated

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

side.

First loan at Salisbury City

With his treatment for his leukaemia going well, Todd returned to training and on 2 February 2009, joined Salisbury City on loan to regain match fitness.

Return to Torquay United

After a successful loan spell at Salisbury, he returned to Torquay for the last month of the 2008–09 season. Todd went straight back into the first team and, during this month, he won the 'Man of the Match' award for the Conference National Play-off Final, helping Torquay win the game and promotion to

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

Second loan at Salisbury City

However, the following season, Todd lost his place in the first team about a quarter of the way through the season and found himself sitting on the bench. This was when Salisbury took him back on loan, after being given special dispensation by the Conference board due to an injury and suspension crisis.

Newport County

In January 2010, Todd joined

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

leaders Newport County on loan for the remainder of the 2009–10 season. Newport were crowned 2009–10 Conference South champions with a record 103 points, 28 points ahead of second placed Dover Athletic. He was released by Torquay on 15 May 2010, along with six other players and joined Newport County on a permanent deal.

Forest Green Rovers

Todd signed a 2-year contract for Forest Green Rovers on 25 May 2011. Todd made his Rovers league debut in the live televised fixture against

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

on 12 August 2011. Todd failed to complete the match though as he left the pitch injured and it was later revealed he would need surgery to repair a torn hamstring that would keep him out for five months.

Loan at Hereford United

In October 2012, Todd joined

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...

on a month-long loan. He appeared 7 times in all competitions for Hereford and returned to Forest Green at the end of his loan spell in November.

Eastleigh

On 10 January 2013, Todd left Forest Green and signed for

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...

on a free transfer, signing an 18-month contract.

Truro City

On 14 October 2016, Todd signed a short-term contract with Truro City.

Managerial career

On 15 October 2015, Todd was appointed player-manager of

. The club finished the 2015–16 season in 7th place in the National League. On 17 August 2016, Todd was relieved of his duties as both manager and player after just four matches of the 2016–17 season. On 10 October 2018, Todd was announced as the new manager of

National League South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

side Gloucester City, but was sacked 3 January 2019 after a 15-game winless run. On 21 September 2019, Todd returned to

as manager for the club's U18 squad. On 8 June 2022, Todd left Torquay to join

as assistant manager, reuniting him with his former team-mate

Chris Hargreaves Christian Hargreaves (born 12 May 1972) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward and a midfielder from 1989 until 2010. He subsequently managed Torquay United from January 2014 until June 2015, and Yeovil Town from May ...

Personal life

On 19 November 2008, it was announced that Todd had been diagnosed with

chronic myeloid leukaemia Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), also known as chronic myeloid leukemia, is a cancer of the white blood cells. It is a form of leukemia characterized by the increased and unregulated growth of myeloid cells in the bone marrow and the accumulati ...

He was able to return to football in February 2009. In September 2011, Todd released a book titled "More Than Football; In The Blood". He wrote and published the book himself to raise money for leukaemia and lymphoma research. In September 2012, Todd sang as part of the 'Big C choir' at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

in the 2012 Sunflower Jam concert in aid of charities supporting cancer. A documentary, following the progress of the choir, aired on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

in October 2012. Todd has appeared in the short film ''Meet Again'', as a soldier fighting in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

References

External links

Soccerbase for Christopher ToddSoccerbase for Chris Todd
{{DEFAULTSORT:Todd, Chris 1981 births Living people Footballers from Swansea Welsh footballers Association football defenders Swansea City A.F.C. players Drogheda United F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Salisbury City F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Eastleigh F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players League of Ireland players Gloucester City A.F.C. managers Eastleigh F.C. managers Welsh football managers Torquay United F.C. non-playing staff Yeovil Town F.C. non-playing staff