John Cottam (born 5 June 1950, Warsop) was an English professional footballer who played as a defender. He played 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 ...

for five clubs and later became a manager in non–league football.

Playing career

Cottam began his career with

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 ...

, whom he signed professional forms with in April 1968. He made his debut in the 1970–71 season when the club were in The First Division. Apart from loan spells with

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 ...

and Lincoln City, Cottam remained at Forest until August 1976, making nearly 100 league appearances in the process. Cottam then moved on to

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 ...

, where he played regularly for three years in Division Three. In July 1979 he moved to divisional rivals

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

for £12,500, making his debut in a

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

tie against

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

the following month. In his first season, he missed just one of Chester's 58 first-team gamesSumner (1997), stats section and helped the Blues reach 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 ...

fifth round. He remained a regular for the next two years with

Trevor Storton Trevor Storton (26 November 1949 – 23 March 2011) was an English footballer who played as a central defender. The early years He began his career at Tranmere Rovers, playing alongside his older brother Stan, he played over 100 games for the ...

his regular defensive partner. Ahead of the 1982–83 season, Cottam moved to Alliance Premier League side

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

as player–manager, taking Chester players David Burns and Brynley Jones with him. His first season saw the club finish as runners–up in the Bob Lord Trophy, with the Seadogs going on to win the competition the following season.''Player Memories'', Chester City v. Scarborough matchday programme; 12/3/1994; p. 24 However, Cottam was sacked in November 1984, shortly after an

defeat to

Tow Law Town Tow Law Town Association Football Club is an English non-league football club from Tow Law, County Durham, currently playing in the Northern League Division One, in the ninth level of the English football league system. The team, nicknamed " ...

After Playing career

After a spell playing for Burton Albion, Cottam joined the

Metropolitan Police force The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

in July 1985, becoming a

police sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

. He began playing for the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

in the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

. He played for three years and then became coach at the start of the 1992–93 season. Cottam became club manager in 1995 for two years. John now works for

Chelsea Football Club Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football. The ...

in Security as their Compliance Officer.

Honours

Scarborough * Bob Lord Trophy: Winners 1983–84; runners-up 1982–83.

External links

Nottingham Forest 'Where are they now' featureScarborough FC managers list

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cottam, John 1950 births Living people English Football League players National League (English football) players Men's association football defenders Nottingham Forest F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Metropolitan Police F.C. players English football managers Scarborough F.C. managers Metropolitan Police F.C. managers Metropolitan Police officers People from Warsop Footballers from Nottinghamshire English men's footballers