Colin Chad Lyman (9 March 1914 – 9 May 1986) was an English

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 played as a forward. He scored 54 goals in 188 league games in the Football League playing for

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

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 ...

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 ...

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

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, and

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

. He went on to serve Nuneaton Borough as

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...

from August 1948 to December 1950.

Playing career

Lyman played for Rushden Town and

, before playing one

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...

game at

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for

in 1933. He moved on to league rivals

, turning professional at the club in 1935. He scored 29 goals in 86 league games at the County Ground in 1934–35, 1935–36, and 1936–37. He then moved up to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

with

for a £3,000 fee. He spent the 1937–38 and 1938–39 seasons at

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater it had a capacity of 36,284 before demolition. ...

, and scored 11 goals in 54 league and cup matches. He also guested for Partick Thistle,

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

and

during

World War II 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 opposing ...

. Having played four games for the Vale as a guest in 1946, he signed permanently for the club in May 1946 for a 'fairly substantial fee'. He played 11 Third Division South games for the club in 1946–47, scoring at

The Old Recreation Ground The Old Recreation Ground was a football stadium located in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England, and home to Port Vale F.C. from 1913 to 1950. It was the sixth ground the club used. Structure and facilities The stadium was in rather bad condit ...

in a 1–1 draw with

. After putting in a

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies ...

request, he was sold on to

in October 1946 for a 'substantial sum' above what the Vale had paid for him. He scored nine goals in 23

appearances for Billy Walker's Forest in the rest of the 1946–47 season. After leaving the

City Ground The City Ground is a football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,445. The stadium was a venue when En ...

, he moved on to

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

. He scored five goals in 21 Third Division South games for the "Magpies" in 1947–48, before leaving

Meadow Lane Meadow Lane Stadium is a football stadium in Nottingham, England. It is the home ground of Notts County, who have played there since it opened in 1910. The stadium was also home to Notts County Ladies F.C. from 2014 until 2017. It currently h ...

Management career

Lyman was appointed as

Birmingham Combination The Birmingham Combination was an English football competition for teams in Birmingham and the surrounding areas, which was active from 1892 until 1954. It was founded as the Birmingham & District Junior League, and changed its name in 1908. The ...

club Nuneaton Borough on 2 August 1948. He brought 24-year-old

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

forward Jimmy Campbell, as well as Arsenal inside-forward David Metzger and Notts County goalkeeper Harold Orgill. He led the club to lift the

Birmingham Senior Cup The Birmingham Senior Cup is a football competition for Birmingham County FA club teams, organised by the Birmingham County Football Association. It began in 1876 and is the oldest county cup competition still active. The Birmingham Senior Cup is ...

and a second-place league finish to Bedworth Town, with Lyman contributing 18 goals from 35 games. He strengthened the squad by signing 23-year-old outside-left Alan Daley from

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

. They finished third in the 1949–50 season and reached the third round of the

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 ...

for the first time in the club's history, beating Bedworth Town, Moira United, Atherstone Town, Gresley Rovers, Wellington Town, King's Lynn and

Mossley Mossley (/ˈmɒzli/) is a town and civil parish in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, in the upper Tame Valley and the foothills of the Pennines, southeast of Oldham and east of Manchester. The historic counties of Lancashire, Cheshir ...

, before they were eliminated by

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 ...

. Speaking at the end of season dinner he declared that: ''"I know my directors are keen to see first-class football in Nuneaton the same as myself, but there is a long way to go yet. There are other clubs with the same idea, but if we get the support, I think in a few years first class football will be seen in Nuneaton.''" In an attempt to overcome champions Bedworth Town, he signed their inside-left Jim McKeown, who was regarded as one of the division's finest players. He also brought in Ralph Dulson at inside-right, who had helped

Linby Colliery Linby is a small village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire, England. The nearest town is Hucknall which is immediately to the south-west. The village grew up around the mills on the River Leen, from which Linby's name is derived. Small stre ...

to the

Central Alliance The Central Alliance was a football league in England, covering the East Midlands. History The league was established in 1911 with twelve clubs, most of which had previously been members of the Notts & Derbyshire League; Derby County Reserve ...

title. The front three was completed with the arrival of Latvia international Eddie Freimanis from Northampton Town. Lyman resigned in December 1950 so as to take up another job. He went on to serve Long Eaton Town as player-manager and played for British Timken.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Nuneaton Borough *

: 1949

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyman, Colin 1914 births 1986 deaths Footballers from Northampton English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. wartime guest players Leicester City F.C. wartime guest players Notts County F.C. wartime guest players Chesterfield F.C. wartime guest players Derby County F.C. wartime guest players Coventry City F.C. wartime guest players Port Vale F.C. wartime guest players Port Vale F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Nuneaton Borough F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football player-managers English football managers Nuneaton Borough F.C. managers