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

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

club

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