James Mark Bittner (born 2 February 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He is currently the goalkeeping coach at

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

Career

Bittner signed for Fulham in 2000 from Swindon Town by then manager

Jean Tigana Amadou Jean Tigana (born 23 June 1955) is a French former footballer and coach. He has played in midfield and managed professional football extensively throughout France, including 52 appearances and one goal for the France national football team ...

and spent two years at the club. After spending time at Bournemouth and

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

he signed for

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 ...

, playing 42 times for the club. This was then followed by two injury-plagued years at

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 ...

and Woking. After recovering from a long-term shoulder injury Bittner then joined Salisbury City in 2007. He played 86 games in three seasons at the club. He was loaned out to Chippenham Town for a month in September 2007 for a month after recovering from a broken finger. Bittner joined

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

in 2010 and was awarded with the Supporters Player of the Season trophy for his performances in his first season at The New Lawn. In May 2011, Bittner signed a new contract until the summer of 2013. He stated after signing the new contract: "I had a couple of offers but there was no chance of me leaving. The club is financially sound now and with the gaffer ( Dave Hockaday) and the chairman (

Dale Vince Dale Vince (born 29 August 1961) is a British "green energy" business magnate, industrialist. A former New Age traveller, he is the owner of the electricity company Ecotricity. Early life and career Vince was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. ...

) on board – the future is really bright." Manager Hockaday added: "James is as good as there is in the league and I am delighted to have him on board." Bittner left for

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 'Th ...

in 2012, making 42 appearances, before joining Newport County on a short-term contract. After leaving Newport, he returned to

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

for a second spell as player coach. Bittner signed for Plymouth Argyle in July 2014 as second-choice goalkeeper behind Luke McCormick. Bittner made his Plymouth Argyle debut on 24 January 2015, replacing the injured McCormick at half time. The match ended in a 1–1 draw. In July 2015 Bittner signed a new player/coach contract with Plymouth Argyle after agreeing to take the role of the club's new goalkeeper coach under new manager

Derek Adams Derek Watt Adams (born 25 June 1975) is a Scottish football manager and former player who is currently manager of Morecambe. Adams played professionally for six clubs, including Aberdeen and Motherwell, where he made over 300 league appearances ...

. On 16 June 2016, Bittner re-joined Newport County as goalkeeper player/coach under manager

Warren Feeney Warren James Feeney (born 17 January 1981) is a football manager and former Northern Ireland international footballer, who is currently manager of Welling United. In making his debut for the Northern Ireland national team, he became the third ...

. When Feeney and his assistant manager Andy Todd were sacked on 28 September 2016, Bittner and fellow first team coach Sean McCarthy were named joint caretaker managers. Their only matches in charge were a 2–1 home defeat against Swansea City Under 23's in the

League Trophy The British Basketball League Trophy, often shortened to the BBL Trophy, is an annual cup competition for British basketball teams organised by the United Kingdom's top professional league, the British Basketball League. It is one of two peripher ...

fixture on 4 October 2016 and a League Two 0–0 draw versus Colchester United on 8 October 2016.

Graham Westley Graham Neil Westley (born 4 March 1968) is an English former professional footballer and manager who was most recently manager of League Two club Stevenage. Westley's playing career, spent mostly as a striker in non-League football, was curt ...

was appointed team manager effective from 10 October 2016 with

Dino Maamria Noureddine "Dino" Maamria (born 18 February 1974) is a Tunisian football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the manager of League One club Burton Albion. Maamria started his playing career with AS Marsa of Tunisia. He lef ...

his assistant manager and Mccarthy released by the club. Bittner made his debut for Newport County on 22 October 2016 versus Plymouth Argyle replacing Joe Day in the 36th minute when Day was sent off. Plymouth won the match 3–1 In June 2017 Bittner signed a one-year contract extension and he was released by Newport at the end of the 2017–18 season.Released by Newport
/ref> In July 2018 Bittner joined

as their Under 23 goalkeeping coach. In October 2019 he was appointed the first team goalkeeper coach of Reading.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bittner, James 1982 births Living people People from Devizes English footballers Association football goalkeepers Newport County A.F.C. managers Fulham F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Woking F.C. players Salisbury City F.C. players Chippenham Town F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Bath City F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players English Football League players England semi-pro international footballers English football managers