Martin Drury (born 10 April 1986) 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 ...

coach and former player who is an academy coach at

Manchester United 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 City of Salford, Salford to ...

Playing career

Born in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

, Drury played as a

left 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 ...

for

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

, Belper Town, and

Bradford (Park Avenue) Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in , at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The name derived from their former hom ...

. He retired at the age of 28 due to injury.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Drury worked for Bradford (Park Avenue) (as both assistant manager and then manager), and also as a coach at

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

. At Park Avenue, he was appointed manager in April 2015, replacing John Deacey. He left the club in March 2016, and was replaced by

Darren Edmondson Darren Stephen Edmondson (born 4 November 1971) is an English football coach and former player who currently manages Penrith. Edmondson spent around half his professional playing career with Carlisle after signing as a youth player in 1990, la ...

. Drury joined

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

in 2016, initially working in their Academy. In July 2017 he became a full-time youth coach at the club, and in May 2018 he became Lead Development Coach for the club's entire youth set-up. He later worked as first-team coach under both

Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...

and

David Hopkin David Isaac Hopkin (born 21 August 1970) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player who was most recently the manager of Ayr United. As a player he was a midfielder from 1989 until 2003, notably in the English Premier League i ...

. In February 2019, after the resignation of Hopkin, Drury was appointed as the club's caretaker manager. A few days later he appointed

Paul Caddis Paul McLean Caddis (born 19 April 1988) is a Scottish football coach and former professional footballer who played in more than 350 professional matches at club level and represented his country at youth and senior levels. Having predominantly ...

as club captain, replacing Anthony O'Connor. Drury's first game in charge, on 2 March 2019, was a 5–1 away defeat against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. After the game, Drury said that appointing a new permanent manager was a "matter of urgency". Two days later, on 4 March 2019,

Gary Bowyer Gary David Bowyer (born 22 June 1971) is an English professional football coach and former player who is the manager of Scottish club Dundee. As a player, he made 52 league appearances for Hereford United, Nottingham Forest and Rotherham United ...

was appointed as Bradford City manager until the end of the 2018–19 season. Drury was retained by the club as a coach. By August 2021 his role was 'Senior Technical and Tactical Coach'. He became Head of Academy Coaching in March 2022, and later that month spoke positively about the achievements of the youth team. In July 2022 he became an academy coach at

Personal life

As of November 2012, Drury was married with two sons.

References

1986 births Living people English footballers Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Belper Town F.C. players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players Association football fullbacks English football managers Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. non-playing staff Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. managers Boston United F.C. non-playing staff Bradford City A.F.C. non-playing staff Bradford City A.F.C. managers Association football coaches Manchester United F.C. non-playing staff {{England-footy-defender-1980s-stub