Russell Charles Osman (born 14 February 1959) 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 ...

who played as a centre back in the Football League for

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

, Leicester City, Southampton,

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 ...

, Brighton & Hove Albion and

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

. Osman played senior international football for England, for whom he received eleven caps. He is now a football pundit in the Indian Super League.

Playing career

Osman was born in Repton, Derbyshire, the son of Rex Osman who played a handful of games for Derby County in the early 1950s. Osman played nearly 400 games for

, winning the

1980–81 UEFA Cup The 1980–81 UEFA Cup was won by Ipswich Town on aggregate over AZ Alkmaar. According to the 1979 UEFA decision, Fairs Cup entry criteria were finally abolished, and UEFA ranking was introduced. Albania did not join, and it ceded its place to ...

. Osman also contributed to Ipswich's victorious

1977–78 FA Cup The 1977–78 FA Cup was the 97th season of the world's oldest knockout football competition, The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup. The final saw Ipswich Town beat Arsenal 1–0, with a goal from Roger Osborne. First round proper ...

campaign, making four appearances during the run. However he wasn't part of the squad for the final itself. Osman also represented his country 11 times. His first England cap came against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in a friendly on 31 May 1980, his last on 21 September 1983 in England's 1–0 Euro 84 qualifying match defeat to Denmark.

Managerial career

Later in his playing career he was player-manager of

, and had a brief spell as caretaker manager of

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

before later managing

. He had a brief role as joint caretaker manager of Bristol Rovers in 2004. In November 2007, he was appointed as assistant manager to

Paul Tisdale Paul Robert Tisdale (born 14 January 1973) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of club Stevenage. As a player, Tisdale represented Southampton, Bristol City, FinnPa, Panionios and Yeov ...

at Exeter City. In February 2011 he was appointed coach of the Ipswich Town Under 18s. He left the role in August 2013. In July 2015 Osman joined Newport County as assistant manager to Terry Butcher. Butcher, Osman and Steve Marsalla were sacked on 1 October 2015 with Newport bottom of league two after gaining just 5 points from the first 10 matches of the 2015–16 season.

''Escape to Victory''

He played Doug Clure, one of the prisoner-of-war footballers, in the 1981 film '' Escape to Victory'', which also included American actor

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...

, British actor Michael Caine, Swedish actor Max von Sydow, and football stars

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...

Ossie Ardiles Osvaldo César Ardiles (born 3 August 1952), often referred to in Britain as Ossie Ardiles, is an Argentine football manager, pundit and former midfielder who won the 1978 FIFA World Cup as part of the Argentina national team. He now runs ...

, and Kazimierz Deyna. The film was based on a game between an Allied team and a Nazi German team during the Second World War.

Career statistics

Honours

Ipswich Town * UEFA Cup:

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

Individual *Football League First Division PFA Team of the Year: 1980–81 * Ipswich Town Hall of Fame: Inducted 2011

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Osman, Russell 1959 births People from Repton Living people English footballers England international footballers England B international footballers England under-21 international footballers Ipswich Town F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Sudbury Town F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players English football managers Cardiff City F.C. players Bristol City F.C. managers Cardiff City F.C. managers Bristol Rovers F.C. managers Association football central defenders Exeter City F.C. non-playing staff Newport County A.F.C. non-playing staff UEFA Cup winning players Outfield association footballers who played in goal