John Coleman (born 12 October 1962) is an English
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...
and former player. He is currently the manager of
League of Ireland Premier Division
The League of Ireland Men's Premier Division (), also known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Republic of Ireland and the highest level of the Republic of I ...
side
Waterford
Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...
.
Playing career
Coleman had a long playing career, mainly in
non-league football
Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...
for
Kirkby Town,
Burscough
Burscough () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of West Lancashire, Lancashire, England. The town is located approximately north-northeast of Liverpool and southwest of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. Its north ...
,
Marine, Southport,
Runcorn F.C. Halton
Runcorn F.C. Halton was an England, English association football, football Club (organization), club that played in Runcorn, Widnes and Prescot at various points during its existence.
History
The club was founded in 1918 as Highfield and Camden ...
,
Macclesfield Town,
Morecambe
Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768.
Name
The first use of the name was by John Whit ...
,
Lancaster City and
Ashton United. He also had a short spell in Wales with
Rhyl
Rhyl (; , ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire in Wales. The town lies on the coast of North Wales, at the mouth of the River Clwyd.
To the west is Kinmel Bay and Towyn, to the east Prestatyn, and to the south-east Rhuddlan ...
. He was one of the most prolific non-league goalscorers in history, with over 500 goals to his name in a career spanning almost two decades. This success saw him play for the
England National Game XI (the England team for semi-professional players) and receive many Player of the Year awards from the clubs he played for.
Coleman is ranked fifth on Southport's list of highest goalscorers of all-time.
Managerial career
He was appointed
player-manager
A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...
of Ashton United in 1997. After two years, he joined
Accrington Stanley
Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...
then playing in the
Northern Premier League First Division
The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English football league system.
Geographically, the league c ...
. His -year tenure saw the club win three promotions as champions to enter
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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...
in 2006. He was also the club's longest ever serving manager. At the time of his departure to Rochdale, Coleman was the third longest serving manager in England, behind
Sir Alex Ferguson and
Arsène Wenger
Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Development. ...
.
On 24 January 2012, Coleman and his assistant Jimmy Bell were appointed by
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...
to replace
Steve Eyre, who had left the club the previous month. Their contracts were terminated by Rochdale on 21 January 2013 following a poor run in form.
In October 2013, Coleman declared his interest in replacing
Dave Hockaday as manager of
Forest Green Rovers, but returned to Southport as manager on 7 December 2013, with Jimmy Bell once again as his assistant.
He took over as manager of
Sligo Rovers
Sligo Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional association football, football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland.
The club was founded in 1928 and have been in ...
in June 2014.
On 18 September 2014, Coleman was confirmed as manager of
Accrington Stanley
Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...
for his second spell with the club. In the
2015–16 season, Coleman led Accrington to a 4th place finish, missing out on automatic promotion on the final game of the season by goal difference.
In the play-offs, Accrington lost to
AFC Wimbledon
AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system.
The club was founded in ...
after extra time in the semi-finals.
In the
2017–18 season, the club won the League Two title to reach the third tier of English football for the first time in the club's history. His achievement earned him the
EFL Manager of the Season award for 2017–18.
They were relegated to League Two at the end of the
2022–23 season.
On 3 March 2024, Coleman was sacked by Accrington the day after a 4–0 defeat to
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...
with the club in 16th position.
At the time of his departure, he was the longest-serving manager purely in the EFL having been in charge for 9 years and 6 months.
Across his two spells with the club, Coleman was in charge for 1,098 matches.
On 5 January 2025, Coleman was appointed manager of League Two side
Gillingham on a short-term contract until the end of the season. On 25 March 2025 Coleman left his position as Gillingham manager after achieving just 2 wins in 14 games and leaving Coleman with the lowest win ratio of any permanent manager in the club's history.
On 3 May 2025, Coleman was appointed manager of
League of Ireland Premier Division
The League of Ireland Men's Premier Division (), also known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Republic of Ireland and the highest level of the Republic of I ...
club
Waterford
Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...
.
Managerial statistics
Honours
Player
Individual
*
Southport
Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...
Player of the Year: 1986–87
Manager
Accrington Stanley
*
EFL League Two
The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...
:
2017–18
*
Conference National
The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...
:
2005–06
*
Northern Premier:
2002–03
*
Northern Premier League Division One:
1999–2000
*
NPL Challenge Cup: 2000–01
*
NPL Challenge Shield: 2001–02, 2002–03
*
Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy: 2000–01, 2004–05
Individual
*
EFL Manager of the Season: 2017–18
*
League One Manager of the Month: December 2019, November 2020
*
League Two Manager of the Month: September 2015, March 2017, February 2018, March 2018
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, John
1962 births
Living people
Footballers from Liverpool
English men's footballers
England men's semi-pro international footballers
Men's association football forwards
Burscough F.C. players
Marine A.F.C. players
Southport F.C. players
Runcorn F.C. Halton players
Macclesfield Town F.C. players
Rhyl F.C. players
Witton Albion F.C. players
Morecambe F.C. players
Lancaster City F.C. players
Ashton United F.C. players
National League (English football) players
English football managers
Ashton United F.C. managers
Accrington Stanley F.C. managers
Rochdale A.F.C. managers
Southport F.C. managers
Sligo Rovers F.C. managers
Gillingham F.C. managers
Waterford F.C. managers
English Football League managers
National League (English football) managers
Northern Premier League managers
Knowsley United F.C. players