Colin Bell (born 5 August 1961) is an English football manager and former player who coaches the South Korea women's national team.

Playing career

Bell began his career at

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 ...

, but did not break into the first team and left for Germany aged 20. Bell played for VfL Hamm and 1. FSV Mainz 05, featuring in the

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

for the latter.

Coaching career

Bell retired to take up coaching in 1989. He managed

TuS Koblenz TuS Koblenz is a German association football club, located in Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Fussball Club Deutschland Neuendorf, which was formed in 1911, is viewed as the foundation of the modern club. History Nazi era (1933–1945) The or ...

for seven years, before joining the coaching staff of 1. FC Köln in 1996. In 1999, he took on his most high-profile role to date, managing

Dynamo Dresden Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden e.V., commonly known as SG Dynamo Dresden or Dynamo Dresden, are a German association football club based in Dresden, Saxony.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs 7. Vereinslexikon. Ka ...

, but was not successful – the team failed to qualify for the restructured Regionalliga, and dropped to the Oberliga (level four) for the first time. He was sacked before the end of the season. After spells managing SV Waldhof Mannheim, 1. FSV Mainz 05's reserve team, and

SC Preußen Münster SC Preußen Münster (English: Prussia Münster) is a German sports club based in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia which is mostly recognised for its football section. The football team currently plays in Regionalliga West which is the fourth tie ...

, he worked at TuS Koblenz as assistant manager and youth coach. In 2011, he signed for

SC 07 Bad Neuenahr SC 07 Bad Neuenahr was a German football club from Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Rhineland-Palatinate. The best-known section within the club was its women's football team, which was founded in 1969 and won the German Championship in 1978. ''Sportclu ...

in Germany's Women's Bundesliga. Two seasons later, Bell became the manager of

1. FFC Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt is a German women's association football club based in Frankfurt. Its first team currently plays in the German top flight, Frauen-Bundesliga. From 1998 to 2020, the club was known as 1. FFC Frankfurt. Eintracht have won sev ...

. The team won the

Frauen DFB Pokal The DFB-Pokal Frauen is the main national women's football cup competition in Germany, thus the female counterpart to the DFB-Pokal. It was created in 1980, and since 1991 includes Eastern teams as well. The most recent champions are VfL Wolfsburg ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and the

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

in 2015. In December 2015, he left 1. FFC Frankfurt to coach Avaldsnes IL. In July 2016, he returned to Germany to coach

Sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class o ...

. On 8 February 2017, Colin Bell was appointed the Senior International Manager of the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

, replacing

Sue Ronan Susan "Sue" Ronan (born 21 February 1964) is an Irish football coach and former player, who managed the Republic of Ireland women's national football team from 2010 until 2016. Ronan represented Welsox and Shelbourne at club level, and made h ...

. He took up his new position from 13 February 2017. On 29 June 2019, he was appointed as the Assistant Head Coach at EFL Championship club

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

. On 18 October 2019, he was appointed as the manager of the South Korea women's national team, with a contract to run up to and including the 2022 Women's Asian Cup. He became the first ever manager to guide South Korea to the final of a Women's Asian Cup, guiding South Korea to the final of the 2022 edition, where South Korea finished runners-up after losing to China.

Honours

1. FFC Frankfurt * *

: 2014–15

References

External links

Colin Bell
at fsv05.de * 1961 births Living people Footballers from Leicester English footballers English expatriate footballers English football managers English expatriate football managers Leicester City F.C. players 1. FSV Mainz 05 players English expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany Dynamo Dresden managers 2. Bundesliga players SC Preußen Münster managers English expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate football managers in Norway Republic of Ireland women's national football team managers South Korea women's national football team managers TuS Koblenz managers 1. FSV Mainz 05 II managers Association football defenders {{England-footy-defender-1960s-stub