Colin Campbell Little (born 4 November 1972) 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 ...

who played as a striker. After starting in non-league football with Rossendale United and

Hyde United Hyde United Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England. Formed in 1919, they were renamed Hyde F.C. between 2010 and 2015 as part of a sponsorship deal with Manchester City.Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

in 1996. He had loan spells with

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 ...

and

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was wound-up after a High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 ...

, and later made his stay in Macclesfield permanent. Little made eight appearances for

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

before joining

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population ...

in 2004 – where he went on to make over 200 appearances for the club. He later played for

F.C. United of Manchester Football Club United of Manchester is a semi-professional football club based in Moston, Manchester, England, that competes in the , the seventh tier of the English football league system, and plays home matches at Broadhurst Park. Found ...

, Altrincham,

New Mills New Mills is a town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England, south-east of Stockport and from Manchester at the confluence of the River Goyt and Sett. It is close to the border with Cheshire and above the Torrs, a deep gorge cut t ...

and Witton Albion. Little worked as an Under-15s coach during his time at

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

, and joined Manchester United as an Under-13s coach in 2009. He now works for the club as an Under-18s coach.

Career

Born in

Wythenshawe Wythenshawe () is a district of the city of Manchester, England. Historically in Cheshire, Wythenshawe was transferred in 1931 to the City of Manchester, which had begun building a massive housing estate there in the 1920s. With an area of approx ...

, Manchester, Little began his career in non-League football with Rossendale United before signing for

manager

Dario Gradi Dario Gradi, MBE (born 8 July 1941) is an Italian-English former amateur football player, coach and manager. He was associated for more than 36 years with Crewe Alexandra, where he was variously manager, director of football and director of t ...

he signed for them for £50,000 in the summer of 1996. After initial success at Crewe he became a journeyman around

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

, playing for

and

before being released in 2004. Shortly after this Little signed for

. He was the club top scorer at Altrincham for the next four seasons. He scored his 100th goal for the club in the 1–0 victory away to

Newcastle Blue Star Newcastle Blue Star F.C. is a football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was established in 1930 and joined the Wearside League in 1973. In 1978, it won the FA Vase. Having won promotion to the Northern Premier League Premier Divi ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

fourth qualifying round on 26 October 2008. On 7 April 2010, it was announced that Little would leave Altrincham at the end of the 2009–10 season, to become assistant coach for Manchester United under-13s. He joined

FC United of Manchester Football Club United of Manchester is a semi-professional football club based in Moston, Manchester, England, that competes in the , the seventh tier of the English football league system, and plays home matches at Broadhurst Park. Founded ...

as a player in the summer of 2010 and was named in the 21 player squad for the 2010–11 season by the club. He then scored 2 goals in his league debut on 8 August 2010 for the club after coming on as a substitute in a 5–1 victory over

Retford United Retford United Football Club (also known as the Badgers) are an England, English association football, football club based at Cannon Park in Retford, Nottinghamshire. They currently play in the . History The club was founded in 1987 by Retfor ...

. However, on 10 September 2010 it was announced he had left the club to re-sign for Altrincham on a pay-as-you-play, home game-only deal, whilst still coaching at Manchester United. He did not make another appearance for Altrincham before he signed for

in early October 2010. He made his first, and only appearance for the club on 9 October against

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest a ...

, before then signing for Witton Albion on 26 October 2010. Little retired from playing at non-League level in 2012 although can still be found turning out for Sunday League sides in the Wythenshawe area.

Honours

;with Crewe Alexandra *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third t ...

play-off final winner:

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Little, Colin Living people 1972 births People from Wythenshawe English men's footballers Rossendale United F.C. players Hyde United F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players F.C. United of Manchester players New Mills A.F.C. players Witton Albion F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players Manchester United F.C. non-playing staff Men's association football forwards