Ronnie Coyle (4 August 1964 – 12 April 2011) was a Scottish 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 ...

who played as a defender.

Early life

Coyle was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and educated at St. Gerard's Secondary School. Coyle played for

Celtic Boys Club St Patrick's Sports Academy is a youth football and sports club based in Motherwell, near Glasgow in Scotland. It operates football teams in age groups from under-9 to under-19. Formerly Celtic Boys Club, it helped more than 50 players towards p ...

and the Scotland Under-15 schoolboy honours team, alongside, among others,

Paul McStay Paul Michael Lyons McStay, , nicknamed The Maestro, (born 22 October 1964) is a Scottish former professional footballer who spent his entire career with Celtic, making his senior debut in 1982 and retiring in 1997. He captained both Scotland and ...

John Robertson John, Jon, or Jonathan Robertson may refer to: Politicians United Kingdom politicians * J. M. Robertson (John Mackinnon Robertson, 1856–1933), British journalist and Liberal MP for Tyneside 1906–1918 *John Robertson (Bothwell MP) (1867–1926) ...

and Ally Dick, which defeated

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

5–4 in 1980.

Career

Coyle began his professional career as a youngster with

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

. After just two appearances and a loan period with

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

, Coyle had a brief spell with

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

before moving to

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 ...

. After a year with Rochdale, Coyle moved to

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, ...

club

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leag ...

in 1988. In his eight years with Rovers, Coyle won two First Division titles and a

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 ...

, also playing in Raith's only season in Europe. After helping Rovers secure a mid-table finish in the Premier Division, Coyle moved on to

Ayr United Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is ...

, where he spent a season before similar spells with

Albion Rovers Albion Rovers Football Club is a semi-professional football team from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League Two, the fourth tier of the Scotti ...

and East Fife. Coyle finished his career with Queen's Park. Coyle – who moved out of football and worked in sales and marketing back in his native

– was part of a number of former Raith players who lent his weight to the 'Reclaim the Rovers' campaign, taking part in a fundraising walk in the summer of 2005. In April 2009 Coyle was diagnosed with a form of leukaemia for which he was admitted to the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre. On 27 March 2011

hosted a benefit match for him involving their 1994 Coca-Cola Cup winning team and the

runners-up team with Celtic coming out on top 4–2 on penalties after a 3–3 draw. Coyle died just weeks later on 12 April 2011 from the disease he had battled. He was survived by his wife Joan and their three children, Kevin, Briony and Georgia.

Honours

;Raith Rovers *

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as t ...

: 2 :: 1992–93, 1994–95 *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

: 1 :: 1994–95 ;Ayr United *

Scottish Second Division The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SFL ...

: 1 :: 1996–97

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coyle, Ronnie Scottish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Celtic F.C. players Clyde F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Raith Rovers F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players Albion Rovers F.C. players East Fife F.C. players Queen's Park F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players 1964 births 2011 deaths Deaths from leukemia in Scotland Footballers from Glasgow