John David Polston (born 10 June 1968) is an English football coach and former professional footballer. He was a defender who began his career with

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

, before notably playing for

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

where he featured in the

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 ...

and

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

. He later retired with a spell in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

with

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Playing career

In March 1990, Polston and his brother Andy, became the first brothers to play together in the Spurs first team since 1912, although neither was a regular player and Andy played just once for Spurs. John left Spurs in 1990, after making 28 appearances for the club, when Norwich manager

Dave Stringer David Stringer (born 15 October 1944 in Great Yarmouth) is an English former footballer and manager of Norwich City. As a player, he won the fans' vote to be Norwich City player of the year in 1972, the same year that they won promotion to the ...

paid £300,000 for him. Polston was a key member of the Norwich team that finished third in the inaugural season of the Premier League (1992–93) and captained the side in the club's first ever European tie (in the UEFA Cup against

Vitesse Arnhem Vitesse may refer to: * Vitesse Models, a diecast model car company * Vitesse (band), Dutch rock band * Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, a car * Rover 216 Vitesse, a car * Rover 3500 Vitesse, a car * Rover 800 Vitesse, a car * Triumph Vites ...

) the following season, scoring the second goal in a 3–0 win. In the run-in to the end of the 1992–93 season, he scored a vital winning goal against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

at Carrow Road the day after his wife had given birth to their first child, Ron Aidy Polston. Following his release from Norwich in 1998, Polston joined

. Polston retired from football in April 2001 after failing to recover from a knee injury. John is now a personal trainer.

Coaching career

In September 2018, Polston join

John Madejski Academy John Madejski Academy (JMA) is an 11–19 years old academy in Reading, Berkshire, England. JMA is part of the White Horse Federation Trust. Louise Baker became principal of JMA in September 2020. JMA's curriculum includes technology, music, ...

's Football team as Lead Development Squad coach.

Personal life

His brother

Andy Andy may refer to: People * Andy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Horace Andy (born 1951), Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer born Horace Hinds * Katja Andy (1907–2013), German-American pianist and pi ...

was also a professional player and the two were on the books of

at the same time.

References

*''Canary Citizens'' by Mark Davage, John Eastwood, Kevin Platt, published by Jarrold Publishing, (2001),

External links

Career information at ex-canaries.co.ukCareer stats at SoccerbaseWokingham and Embrook FC homepage
1968 births English footballers Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Reading F.C. players Living people Premier League players Men's association football defenders Footballers from Walthamstow {{England-footy-defender-1960s-stub