Colin Toon (born 26 April 1940) is an English 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 for

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, 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 ...

as a full-back. Toon played mainly at right-back, but was also occasionally used on the left side of defence. Colin Toon

Toon joined Mansfield as an amateur in 1956, and signed as a professional in July 1957. He made his debut on 25 January 1958 against

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete history ...

. When

Raich Carter Horatio Stratton "Raich" Carter (21 December 1913 – 9 October 1994) was an English sportsman who played football for Sunderland, Derby County and Hull City, as well as representing England on thirteen occasions. He also played first-class cri ...

became Mansfield manager in 1960, he made the young Toon his first-choice right-back, and between September 1960 and March 1963, Toon enjoyed a run of 111 consecutive league appearances for the club. During the 1962–63 season, Toon played 42 out of a possible 46 league games when Mansfield won promotion from

Division Four The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

. He also scored the only goal of his career that season, in the 2–3 defeat against

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Loca ...

on 14 March 1963. On 21 October 1963, in a match against

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

, Toon broke his leg and was sidelined for almost a full year. He did eventually recover, but was never the same player. He retired from football in 1966 at the relatively young age of 26. After his playing days came to an end, Toon remained in the

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market tow ...

area, where he worked for a supermarket chain. From 1966 to 1968, Toon played for

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...

, after being signed in the now demolishe
Lord ByronQuarry Lane
Mansfield, by manager Roy Kirk.

References

1940 births Living people English men's footballers Mansfield Town F.C. players People from Bolsover District Footballers from Derbyshire Men's association football fullbacks {{England-footy-defender-1940s-stub