Nigel Philip Spink[2] (born 8 August 1958) is an English football coach and former professional footballer.
 Nigel Spink (1982) | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nigel Philip Spink | ||
| Date of birth | 8 August 1958 | ||
| Place of birth | Chelmsford, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1976 | West Ham United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1976–1977 | Chelmsford City | 10 | (0) |
| 1977–1996 | Aston Villa | 361 | (0) |
| 1996–1997 | West Bromwich Albion | 19 | (0) |
| 1997–2000 | Millwall | 44 | (0) |
| 2000–2001 | Forest Green Rovers | 14 | (0) |
| Total | 448 | (0) | |
| International career | |||
| 1983 | England | 1 | (0) |
| 1991 | England B | 2 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2000–2002 | Forest Green Rovers | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
He played as a goalkeeper from 1976 until 2001. He made his name at Aston Villa and also made one appearance for England at international level on the tour of Australia in 1983. He also played in the Football League for West Bromwich Albion and Millwall, and at non-league level for Chelmsford City and Forest Green Rovers, the latter he would go on to manage between 2000 and 2002. Spink later worked as a goalkeeping coach for Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic, Sunderland and Bristol City.
Playing career
editSpink began his career with Writtle Minors F.C. at junior level[3] before going as a school boy to West Ham United, but soon moved to Chelmsford City and then, at the age of just 18, to Aston Villa. It was almost five years before his big break in the first team came along, and it came on the biggest stage of all – the European Cup Final. Ten minutes into the 1982 final against Bayern Munich, Villa's first choice goalkeeper, Jimmy Rimmer, was injured and substitute keeper Spink was called into action, having only made one previous appearance in the first team. Spink performed superbly, keeping a clean sheet, and Villa won the game 1–0. By curious coincidence, Spink and Rimmer are two of the four England goalkeepers with the shortest international career (45 minutes).[4]
He went on to make 460 appearances for Villa, making his last appearance as an outfielder against QPR in December 1995, having replaced the injured Ian Taylor in the final minute.[5] He then moved to neighbouring club West Bromwich Albion in 1996, almost two decades after first joining Villa. Spink made 24 appearances in all for Albion, and became the oldest goalkeeper to appear for the club when, at the age of 39 years and 19 days, he kept goal in a League Cup tie against Cambridge United on 27 August 1997,[2] a record since broken by Dean Kiely at 39 years, 189 days.[6]
A £50,000 move in September 1997 took him down a division to Millwall in Division Two, and he continued playing at The Den for another three seasons until he finally retired in June 2000, just before his 42nd birthday.
Coaching career
editAfter retiring as a player, Spink had a two-year spell as manager of Forest Green Rovers in the Conference National. He led Forest Green to the 2001 FA Trophy final but they lost 1–0 against Canvey Island at Villa Park.[7][8] He was eventually sacked in September 2002.[9]
He then worked under Steve Bruce at Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic and Sunderland as a goalkeeping coach. He left Sunderland on 6 December 2011, following Bruce's dismissal a few days earlier.[10] Spink was goalkeeping coach at Bristol City from February 2012[11]
Personal life
editAfter the end of the 2012–13 season, Spink left the game and started his own courier business.[12]
Honours
editAston Villa
Individual
References
edit- ^ Rollin, Jack, ed. (1980). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1980–81. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 54. ISBN 0362020175.
- ^ a b Matthews, Tony (2005). The Who's Who of West Bromwich Albion. Breedon Books. pp. 220–221. ISBN 1-85983-474-4.
- ^ Gallacher, Eric. Writtle Football Club Centenary Book 1902/03 to 2002/03.
- ^ John Ruddy and Chris Kirkland are the other two.
- ^ "Villa's Fab 50 top player countdown: 9 Nigel Spink". Aston Villa F.C. 17 July 2011. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
- ^ "Games played by Dean Kiely in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ^ "Spink on brink of cup glory". BBC Sport. 11 May 2001.
- ^ "Canvey stun Forest to lift Trophy". BBC Sport. 13 May 2001.
- ^ "Forest Green sack Spink". BBC Sport. 1 September 2002.
- ^ "O'Neill confirms backroom additions". Sunderland A.F.C. 6 December 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
- ^ "Nigel Spink joins Bristol City as goalkeeping coach". BBC Sport. 23 February 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ^ Kendrick, Mat (15 June 2013). "Then and Now: Nigel Spink keeps himself busy on the road". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
- ^ Lovejoy, Joe (27 March 1994). "Football / Coca-Cola Cup Final: Saunders destroys United's dream: Aston Villa's master plan puts paid to Ferguson's malfunctioning Big Red Machine as Kanchelskis is dismissed". The Independent. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
- ^ Lynch. The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes. p. 147.
External links
edit- Nigel Spink at Soccerbase