Kevin Eddie Lewis Betsy (born 20 March 1978) is a football coach and 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 ...
.
He started his career with
Woking but went on to make a name for himself with
Fulham where he became part of the squad that earned promotions in 1999 and 2001 that made the club a
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 Fo ...
team. He made one appearance in the top tier of English football, becoming the first Seychellois player to play in the Premier League. He then also spent time on loan with
AFC Bournemouth,
Hull City
Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
, and
Barnsley before joining the latter on a permanent deal in 2002. Betsy made 94 league appearances, scoring 15 goals in a two-year period with the Tykes before moving to
Hartlepool United
Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system.
They were founded i ...
. His time with Pool was short and he moved on to
Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The history of Oldham Athletic be ...
and then
Wycombe Wanderers
Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their ho ...
.
In 2007, he signed for
Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
and whilst there spent loan spells with
Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to:
* Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset
* Yeovil Town L.F.C.
Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...
and
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield.
Walsall is th ...
. A year after signing for City he moved on again to
Southend United
Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...
before returning to Wycombe following a loan spell. In 2012, he re-signed for Woking. Despite being born in England, Betsy qualified to represent the
Seychelles
Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, ...
through his grandparents and earned his first cap in 2011. Following a move into coaching, Betsy worked as a coach for the
England U16 team, later taking up similar roles with the
U17 and
U18 teams. He later spent a season as U23 coach of
Arsenal before managing
Crawley Town
Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team com ...
briefly in 2022.
Playing career
Early career
Betsy started his career at
Woking, representing England at semi professional level and being named Conference Player of the Year in 1998. In September 1998, Betsy was signed by
Fulham for a fee of £80,000, which would potentially rise to £125,000, with manager
Kevin Keegan describing him as one of the best young players he had seen at his age. He made his debut at
Anfield
Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 189 ...
against
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
in the
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
and spent three years at Fulham. Betsy's only goal for Fulham came in their victorious
1998–99 Division Two campaign against
Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...
. He made five league appearances during Fulham's
2000/01 season after which they were promoted 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 Fo ...
. He made one appearance in the Premiership for Fulham under
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 ...
in a game against
Manchester United at
Old Trafford. He had loan spells at
AFC Bournemouth and
Hull City
Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
.
Barnsley and Oldham Athletic
On 1 March 2002, Betsy joined
Barnsley on a one-month loan. After five appearances,
Betsy was signed by
Barnsley for a fee of £200,000 on 28 March 2002. He made over 90 appearances for the club and scored 17 goals and was the club's top goal scorer in 2002–03 season with 11 goals from midfield. Betsy had a short loan spell with Hartlepool United in August 2004, making six appearances and scoring once.
On 8 September 2004, he signed for
Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The history of Oldham Athletic be ...
on a contract until the end of the season, after his Barnsley contract was terminated by mutual consent. At Oldham, he scored five goals and was a key member of the team which defeated Manchester City in the FA Cup.
Wycombe Wanderers
After turning down Oldham's offer of a new contract, Betsy moved to
Wycombe Wanderers
Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their ho ...
in July 2005, signing a two-year contract. Betsy was a regular in the Wycombe team during the 2005–06 season. He was also a regular goalscorer for the club, most notably with a
hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...
against
Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional 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 play in a blue and ...
in September 2005 and in April 2006. Betsy was honoured by his fellow professionals by being named in the Professional Footballers's Association (PFA) "Team Of The Year" for League Two and helped Wycombe reach the play-offs. Betsy's last game for Wycombe was a notable one, the League Cup semi final defeat against the eventual winners Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Bristol City
In January 2007, it was announced that Betsy had been signed by League One
Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
for a fee of £200,000. He was ever present in the city line up helping the Robins gain Promotion to Championship, scoring once in the process against
Northampton. Betsy joined
Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to:
* Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset
* Yeovil Town L.F.C.
Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...
on loan in October 2007.
He returned to Bristol City on 7 November as Yeovil could not afford to extend the loan, having scored once for Yeovil against
Swansea City. He turned down a loan deal to
Cheltenham Town
Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...
in November 2007. On 31 January 2008, Betsy joined Walsall for the rest of the season on loan.
Southend United and return to Wycombe Wanderers
Betsy signed for
Southend United
Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...
on 7 August 2008, on a two-year contract.
On 1 September 2009, Betsy re-signed for
Wycombe Wanderers
Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their ho ...
on a loan until 2 January 2010.
On 15 January 2010, after a successful loan, Betsy signed for Wycombe on a permanent basis until the end of the season, having been released from Southend. Betsy also led the team in assists with eight, scoring five goals and being voted (OWWSA) Wycombe Supporters Player of the year. In May 2010, Betsy agreed a new two-year deal with the club. Betsy was a regular in the Wycombe promotion side in 2010–11, but found first team opportunities limited in 2011–12, and left the club by mutual consent on 20 December 2011.
Return to Woking
On 17 February 2012, Betsy re-joined Woking as a free agent until the end of the 2011–12 season. After re-joining he has made a big impact in the team and in his fourth game back, he won two penalties in the space of five minutes. He went on to win the Conference South title with
Woking having beaten
Maidenhead United 1–0 away. After the success at the end of the 2011–12 season, Betsy signed on for another season at Woking. In June 2014, Betsy signed a new one-year contract. He remained at Woking until the end of the 2014–15 season before deciding to stop playing football so he could focus on his coaching career.
International career
Betsy is of
Seychellois descent and, after having rejected the chance to play for the
Seychelles national team in 2005, was finally called into the squad and made his international debut against a visiting French league side on 3 June 2011, scoring twice in a 3–0 friendly victory. Betsy was called up to the Seychelles squad for the
football tournament at the
2011 Indian Ocean Island Games. He started all five of the Seychelles' games in the tournament, scoring in the final against
Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...
, which finished 1–1. Betsy scored again in the resulting penalty shootout, which the Seychelles won 4–3.
Coaching career
In 2016, he was appointed head of England under-15s, having previously coached youth teams at
Fulham.
Having moved on to lead the
U16 and
U17 squads, Betsy was appointed head coach for
England U18s on 24 September 2020.
On 3 August 2021, Betsy was appointed head coach of
Arsenal U23s. In his single season at Arsenal U23, Betsy took them from a 10th placed finish in 2020–21 under
Steve Bould
Stephen Andrew Bould (born 16 November 1962) is an English football coach and former professional footballer. He is currently the head coach of Lommel SK.
As a player, he was a defender from 1980 until 2000. Bould began his football career wi ...
to a 3rd place finish, whilst implementing a "very fluid possession-based style of play" and using various formations, mainly variations on the 3-5-2 and 4-3-3 formations.
On 6 June 2022, Betsy was announced as the new manager of
EFL League Two club
Crawley Town
Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team com ...
on an initial two-year contract. However, after a disastrous start to the league season Betsy left the club on 9th October 2022 following a 3-0 defeat to
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...
which left the club bottom of the league. His most notable achievement was a 2-0 win over his former team
Fulham in the
EFL Cup.
On 29 November 2022, Betsy was appointed as a first team coach for
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
club
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, ...
as part of new manager
Kolo Touré
Kolo Abib Touré (born 19 March 1981) is an Ivorian professional football coach and former player who is the manager of Championship side Wigan Athletic. He played as a defender for Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Celtic and the Ivory Co ...
's entourage, however left the club following Touré's sacking after only seven matches.
Personal life
In 2010, Betsy was studying for a BA Honours Degree in Professional Sports Writing and Broadcasting at
Staffordshire University
, mottoeng = Dare to know
, type = Public
, endowment = £70 million (2015)
, administrative_staff = 1,375
, chancellor = Francis Fitzherbert, 15th Baron Stafford
, vice_chancellor = Professor Martin Jones
, ...
.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''Scores and results list Seychelles' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Betsy goal.''
Honours
Individual
*
PFA Team of the Year:
2005–06 Football League Two
*
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-professi ...
Team of the Year:
2014–15
References
External links
*
Wycombe Wanderers profile*
Nothing in life is easy, says Kevin Betsy. But I am inspired to become a great coach like my heroesseychelleslife.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Betsy, Kevin
1978 births
Sportspeople from Woking
Living people
People with acquired Seychellois citizenship
Seychellois footballers
Seychelles international footballers
Seychellois football managers
English footballers
English football managers
English people of Seychellois descent
Association football midfielders
Woking F.C. players
Fulham F.C. players
AFC Bournemouth players
Hull City A.F.C. players
Barnsley F.C. players
Hartlepool United F.C. players
Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players
Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players
Bristol City F.C. players
Yeovil Town F.C. players
Walsall F.C. players
Southend United F.C. players
Premier League players
English Football League players
National League (English football) players
Bognor Regis Town F.C. players
Alumni of Staffordshire University
Fulham F.C. non-playing staff
Fleet Town F.C. players
England semi-pro international footballers
Black British sportspeople
Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff
Crawley Town F.C. managers
Wigan Athletic F.C. non-playing staff
Association football coaches
English Football League managers