Richard Andrew Dryden (born 14 June 1969) is an English 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 le ...

turned

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

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

Playing career

Born in

Stroud Stroud is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021. Below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the Five ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, Dryden started his career as a trainee with Bristol Rovers, joining them as a professional on 14 July 1987. He then joined Exeter City on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

on 22 September 1988 before signing permanently on 8 March 1989 for a fee of £10,000, where he first played under manager Terry Cooper. During Dryden's time at Exeter, he made a total of 92 appearances and also spent time on loan with

Manchester City 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 Salford to the west. The tw ...

. While at Exeter, he played a major part in their 1989–90 Fourth Division title triumph. Notts County was the next stop for Dryden, joining on 9 August 1991 for a fee of £250,000. He moved on to

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

for £165,000 on 19 March 1993, where he was re-united with Terry Cooper. After Birmingham, Dryden moved on 16 December 1994 to

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 £140,000, the rivals of his first club, Bristol Rovers. On the recommendation of Terry Cooper, now Southampton's chief scout, Dryden moved to

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

on 6 August 1996 for £150,000. He made his debut on 18 August 1996 at home to Chelsea and successfully marked

Gianluca Vialli Gianluca Vialli (; born 9 July 1964) is an Italian former football manager and player who played as a striker. Since retiring, he has gone into management, punditry and worked previously as a commentator for Sky Sport Italia. He is currently ...

out of the game in a 0–0 draw. Although he featured regularly in the first team under manager

Graeme Souness Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, and current TV pundit. A midfielder, Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s, player-manager of Ranger ...

in 1996–97 (making 29 league appearances), the remainder of his time at The Dell was difficult as Southampton had 5 managers during the course of his 5 seasons with the club. He played a total of 54 games for the

FA 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 Foo ...

side, scoring 4 goals in all competitions. Three of these goals came in Southampton's run in the 1996–97 League Cup. This included a goal against Peterborough United and two against

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

; one in the original tie and another in the replay. His only other goal for Southampton came against

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 ...

in the league. He was also loaned out to

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

, Northampton Town and Swindon Town while at Southampton. Whilst at Stoke he played as a substitute as they won the

2000 Football League Trophy Final The 2000 Football League Trophy Final (known as the Auto Windscreens Shield for sponsorship reasons) was the 17th final of the domestic football cup competition for teams from the Second and Third Division of the Football League. The match wa ...

. He signed on loan for Swindon on 24 November 2000. Dryden's spell at the club hardly started well – he was credited with an own goal on his debut, during a 3–0 loss at home against

on 25 November. This was followed by two consecutive victories against Northampton Town and Rotherham United, but his final four appearances for Swindon all ended in defeat. On 2 February 2001, Dryden joined Luton Town on a permanent contract. He moved on to

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 ...

on 11 July 2002 after playing for the club on loan in the 2001–02 season. May 2003 saw him join Worksop Town for a brief spell before moving to Tamworth.

Managerial and coaching career

Dryden was appointed assistant manager of Tamworth when Mark Cooper took charge of the club in April 2004. On 24 January 2007, Dryden's contract with Tamworth was terminated by mutual consent, at the same time as Cooper's contract. In March 2007, Dryden signed for Shepshed Dynamo. In November 2007, he became manager of Conference North club

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Midland Football League, the ninth tier of English football. Established in 1902, the club play at Claines Lane. Worcester City's ...

but left this post after being sacked on 17 January 2010. He was subsequently appointed assistant manager at

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

, but was dismissed together with Mark Cooper on 14 October 2011. Dryden was appointed as York City's head of youth team coaching in July 2012, working alongside youth team coach Steve Torpey. He left in December 2014 after a reorganisation of the club's youth coaching structure. In October 2015, he was officially confirmed as the new under 21s manager at Notts County. Following the departure of

Ricardo Moniz Ricardo Moniz (born 17 June 1964) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Hungarian Nemzeti Bajnokság I club Zalaegerszeg. Career He played for RKC Waalwijk, HFC Haarlem, Helmond Sport and FC Eindh ...

as manager in January 2016, he was appointed caretaker manager of the first team. Following Mark Cooper's appointment as Notts County manager in March 2016, he became a part of Cooper's backroom team in the first team set-up once again. In June 2016, he joined Indian club

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

as assistant coach. In May 2021, Dryden followed Mark Cooper again to be his assistant at

Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

. On 20 March 2022, Dryden left the club following the mutual termination of Cooper's contract.

Career statistics

Source:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dryden, Richard 1969 births Living people People from Stroud Sportspeople from Gloucestershire English footballers Association football defenders Bristol Rovers F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players Worksop Town F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players Shepshed Dynamo F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players National League (English football) players English football managers Worcester City F.C. managers Notts County F.C. managers National League (English football) managers English Football League managers Tamworth F.C. non-playing staff York City F.C. non-playing staff Forest Green Rovers F.C. non-playing staff Bury F.C. non-playing staff Leyton Orient F.C. non-playing staff Barrow A.F.C. non-playing staff Association football coaches