John Coleman (born 12 October 1962) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

and former player. He is the manager of

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

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 ...

Playing career

Coleman had a long playing career, mainly in

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

for Kirkby Town,

Burscough Burscough () is a town and civil parish in West Lancashire in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, England. It is located to the north of Ormskirk and northwest of Skelmersdale. The parish also includes the hamlet of Tarlscough and the Martin M ...

Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

, Southport,

Runcorn F.C. Halton Runcorn F.C. Halton was an English football club that played in Runcorn, Widnes and Prescot at various points during its existence. History The club was founded in 1918 as Highfield and Camden Tanneries Recreation Club. They became members of th ...

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

Lancaster City Lancaster City Football Club is an English semi-professional non-League football club based in the northern city of Lancaster, Lancashire. They currently compete in and play at Giant Axe. They are full members of the Lancashire County Footb ...

and Ashton United. He also had a short spell in Wales with

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Flintshire (historic), Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at ...

. He was one of the most prolific non-league goalscorers in history, with over 500 goals to his name in a career spanning almost two decades. This success saw him play for the

England National Game XI The England national football C team (previously known as the England National Game XI and the England Semi-Pro national team) is the football team that represents England at non-league level. Formed in 1979 as the England Non-League team, it f ...

(the England team for semi-professional players) and receive many Player of the Year awards from the clubs he played for.

Managerial career

He was appointed

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

of Ashton United in 1997. After two years, he joined

then playing in the

Northern Premier League First Division The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Division ...

. His 12-and-a-half-year tenure saw the club win three promotions as champions to enter

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 ...

in 2006. He was also the club's longest ever serving manager. At the time of his departure to Rochdale, Coleman was the third longest serving manager in England, behind

Sir Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all tim ...

and

Arsène Wenger Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (; born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Developme ...

. On 24 January 2012, Coleman and his assistant Jimmy Bell were appointed by

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

to replace

Steve Eyre Steven Frederick Eyre (born 9 May 1972) is an English football manager who was formerly assistant manager at Doncaster Rovers. Born in Salford, his father is ex-player and radio pundit Fred Eyre. Playing career Eyre played for several non-Leag ...

, who had left the club the previous month. Their contracts were terminated by Rochdale on 21 January 2013 following a poor run in form. In October 2013, Coleman declared his interest in replacing

Dave Hockaday David Hockaday (born 9 November 1957) is an English professional footballer who is currently Head of Male Football at South Gloucestershire and Stroud College. He has previously worked as a manager at Leeds United, Forest Green Rovers, Kidde ...

as manager of

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 ...

, but returned to Southport as manager on 7 December 2013, with Jimmy Bell once again as his assistant. He took over as manager of

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh) is an Irish professional football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 ...

in June 2014. On 18 September 2014, Coleman was confirmed as manager of

for his second spell with the club.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Manager

Accrington Stanley *

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

: 2017–18 *

Conference Premier 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-profess ...

: 2005–06 * Northern Premier: 2002–03 *

Northern Premier League Division One The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Division ...

: 1999–2000 Individual * EFL Manager of the Season: 2017–18 * League One Manager of the Month: December 2019, November 2020 * League Two Manager of the Month: September 2015, March 2017, February 2018, March 2018

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, John 1962 births Living people Footballers from Liverpool English footballers England semi-pro international footballers Association football forwards Burscough F.C. players Marine F.C. players Southport F.C. players Runcorn F.C. Halton players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Rhyl F.C. players Witton Albion F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Lancaster City F.C. players Ashton United F.C. players National League (English football) players English football managers Ashton United F.C. managers Accrington Stanley F.C. managers Rochdale A.F.C. managers Southport F.C. managers Sligo Rovers F.C. managers English Football League managers National League (English football) managers Northern Premier League managers Knowsley United F.C. players