Gary John Poole (born 11 September 1967) is an English 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 le ...

who played 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 ...

. He made more than 250 appearances in

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 ...

, and a further 76 in the

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Life and career

Poole was born in Stratford, London. He came through the juniors at

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 ...

and was given a professional contract, but made no appearances for the first team and was released after two years. He signed for

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

club Cambridge United, and after 18 months was sold for £3,000 to

side

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

, managed by Barry Fry. In his first full season Barnet were promoted as champions to Division Four, and reached the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

in 1991–92. He was then allowed to leave on a free transfer to

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

in the newly designated

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 ...

(third tier), where he captained the side. While at Plymouth he was involved in an incident which ended Rotherham United winger John Buckley's Football League career. Buckley was knocked unconscious in a clash of heads with Poole, required emergency surgery to remove a blood clot from the brain, and remained in a coma on

life support Life support comprises the treatments and techniques performed in an emergency in order to support life after the failure of one or more vital organs. Healthcare providers and emergency medical technicians are generally certified to perform basic ...

for four days. Poole spent just one season at Plymouth before Fry brought him to Southend United of

Division One The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

for a club record fee of £350,000. Another year later he joined up with Fry again, this time at

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

, newly relegated to the third tier of English football, for a fee of £50,000. Success followed in 1994–95 with the Second Division championship and victory in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

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 ...

. The next season Poole took over the captaincy after

Liam Daish Liam Sean Daish (born 23 September 1968) is a football coach, manager and former professional player who was appointed academy manager at Birmingham City in 2022. Daish was a centre-half who played in the Football League for Portsmouth, Cambrid ...

was sold to

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

, captaining the side in the League Cup semi-final against Leeds United. In the match against

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 ...

at Maine Road in September 1996, referee Richard Poulain awarded a penalty late on; Poole, who had conceded the free kick which led to the penalty, lost control and pushed the referee from behind such that he needed treatment for whiplash after the game.

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 ...

imposed an instant suspension on the player; after a hearing, the length of the ban was set at four matches. A month later manager

Trevor Francis Trevor John Francis (born 19 April 1954) is an English former footballer who played as a forward for a number of clubs in England, the United States, Italy, Scotland and Australia. In 1979 he became Britain's first £1 million player follo ...

sold him to fellow First Division club

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

for a fee of £250,000. He played 16 games for Charlton that season, but a knee injury sustained in a

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

match put an end to his first-team career. Still contracted to the club when they gained promotion to the

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 ...

the following season, he attempted a comeback in the reserves after more than a year out, but never appeared in the top flight and retired in August 1999. A qualified coach, he became a director of a company providing investment opportunities for sportspeople.

Honours

Barnet *

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 ...

: 1990–91 Birmingham City *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

: 1994–95 *

: 1994–95 Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: 1994–95 Second Division

References

General * Specific

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Poole, Gary 1967 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Newham People from Stratford, London English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players