John Michael Cornforth (born 7 October 1967) is a former

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

international football player and is now a coach. Originally from

Whitley Bay Whitley Bay is a seaside town in the North Tyneside borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It formerly governed as part of Northumberland and has been part of Tyne and Wear since 1974. It is part of the wider Tyneside built-up area, being around e ...

in the north-east of England, Cornforth and his family have been settled in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

for some time. Cornforth is currently assistant manager at Northern Premier side

Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is a football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secretary before fo ...

Playing career

Cornforth usually appeared in midfield during his playing days. He made a total of 322 starts for his various clubs over his career, scoring 36 goals in the process. Whilst at Swansea City he was a part of the team that won after a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

in the

1994 Football League Trophy Final The 1994 Autoglass Trophy Final was the 11th final of the domestic football cup competition for teams from Second Division and Third Division for the Football League Trophy. The Final was played at Wembley Stadium, London on 24 April 1994. Th ...

. At one point he commanded a transfer fee of £350,000, in his 1996 transfer from Swansea to Birmingham City. His four-and-a-half years and nearly 200 games for Swansea led him to declare himself "a true Jack".

International career

Cornforth was eligible to play for the

Wales national football team ) , Association = Football Association of Wales (FAW) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , Coach = Rob Page , Captain = Gareth Bale , Most caps = Gareth Bale (111) , Top scorer = Gareth ...

due to his paternal grandmother, who was from Llantrisant. He had two caps before a

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in a toy Jacob's la ...

injury interrupted his career.

Coaching career

Cornforth was player-coach, assistant manager and manager of

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

. In July 2004 he joined the coaching team (unpaid) at his local side Crediton United. In September 2004 he took over from Peter Nicholas as manager of Newport County but was sacked in 2005. In January 2006 Cornforth took over as caretaker manager at

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

from Leroy Rosenior with the side deep in relegation trouble; soon afterwards, he was appointed as manager until the end of the season. The side's form worsened however, and

Ian Atkins Ian Leslie Atkins (born 16 January 1957) is an English football manager, scout, and former player. Atkins amassed over 300 appearances for Shrewsbury Town, the club where he began his career. He also made appearances in the Football League for ...

replaced Cornforth in April, having joined the club as an advisor to Cornforth the previous month. Against all odds, Atkins managed to rescue the side and lift them a comfortable three points clear from relegation. In August 2007, Cornforth rejoined his local side Crediton United as an advisor. The following month he was reported to be combining this role with working as a milk tanker driver, while hoping for a return to football management at a higher level. In November 2010 Cornforth was appointed Manager of South West Peninsula League side Witheridge. In February 2012 Cornforth joined Blyth Spartans F.C. as Assistant manager to Tom Wade.

Honours

Individual * PFA Team of the Year: 1994–95 Second Division

References

External links

Soccerbase player profileProfile
at UpThePosh! The Peterborough United Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Cornforth, John 1967 births Living people Welsh footballers Wales international footballers Sunderland A.F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Welsh football managers Newport County A.F.C. managers Exeter City F.C. managers Torquay United F.C. managers English Football League players People from Whitley Bay Footballers from Tyne and Wear Association football midfielders