Colin West

Colin West (born 13 November 1962) is an English former footballer who played as a forward, and now works assistant manager to Keith Curle at Northampton Town. In all he scored 158 goals in 555 league games in the English Football League, Conference and the Scottish Football League.

For the player whose clubs included Chelsea and Dundee, see Colin West (footballer, born 1967). For the English children's book author and illustrator, see Colin West (author).

Colin West
Personal information
Full name Colin West[1]
Date of birth (1962-11-13) 13 November 1962
Place of birth Wallsend, England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Northampton Town
(assistant manager)
Youth career
1979–1980 Sunderland
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1980–1985 Sunderland 102 (21)
1985–1986 Watford 45 (20)
1986–1987 Rangers 10 (2)
1987–1989 Sheffield Wednesday 45 (8)
1989–1992 West Bromwich Albion 73 (22)
1991 → Port Vale (loan) 5 (1)
1992–1993 Swansea City 33 (12)
1993–1998 Leyton Orient 142 (42)
1997 → Northampton Town (loan) 2 (0)
1998 → Rushden & Diamonds (loan)
1998–1999 Rushden & Diamonds 5 (1)
1999–2000 Northwich Victoria 1 (0)
2000–2001 Hartlepool United 1 (0)
Total 464 (129)
Teams managed
2002 Hartlepool United (caretaker)
2007 Millwall (caretaker)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He began his career at Sunderland in 1981, playing more than 100 games for the Black Cats before moving on to Watford in March 1985. He was sold on to Rangers the following year for £180,000, though made only occasional appearances as Rangers won the Scottish Football League Premier Division title during the 1986–87 season. He returned to England with Sheffield Wednesday in September 1987 for a fee of £150,000. Two years later he signed with West Bromwich Albion, before he joined Swansea City in August 1992, following a loan spell at Port Vale. He moved on to Leyton Orient in July 1993 and spent five years at the club. In 1997, he was loaned out to Northampton Town, before he switched clubs to Conference club Rushden & Diamonds. The next year he signed with Northwich Victoria, before signing with Hartlepool United in 2000. After retiring in 2001, he spent the next ten years coaching at various clubs, including: Hartlepool United, Sheffield Wednesday, Stockport County, Millwall, Southend United, Notts County, Carlisle United and Northampton Town. He served both Hartlepool United and Millwall as caretaker-manager.

Playing career

Sunderland

West turned professional in July 1980, and made his debut for Sunderland on 20 April 1981 against West Bromwich Albion in a 2–1 defeat at The Hawthorns under caretaker-manager Mick Docherty.[3] The club narrowly avoided relegation out of the First Division in 1981–82 under new boss Alan Durban, finishing just one place and two points above relegated Leeds United. They then finished four places and three points above the drop in 1982–83. West was the club's top scorer in 1983–84 with nine goals. The next season, he scored three goals over the two legs in the League Cup semi-final win over Chelsea, but was left out of the Wembley final by manager Len Ashurst. Following this snub he joined league rivals Watford for £115,000 in March 1985.[4] The "Black Cats" went on to lose their top-flight status in 1984–85, finishing two places and ten points short of safety. He scored 28 goals in 122 competitive appearances for Sunderland.[5]

Watford, Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday

He was the club's top scorer in 1985–86 with 16 goals. In total he hit 23 goals in 56 league and cup appearances for Graham Taylor's Watford, before he moved on to Scottish Premier Division club Rangers for a £200,000 fee in May 1986, then managed by Graeme Souness.[4] He played 12 games at Ibrox in the title winning 1986–87 campaign, scoring three goals. He returned to England to sign with First Division side Sheffield Wednesday for £150,000 in September 1987.[4] The club finished eleventh in 1987–88 under Howard Wilkinson's stewardship, before heading into a relegation dogfight under Peter Eustace in 1988–89. West made 57 league and cup appearances at Wednesday, scoring 13 goals.

West Bromwich Albion

He signed with Second Division side West Bromwich Albion in exchange for Carlton Palmer in February 1989, but was unable to fire Brian Talbot's side into the play-offs in 1988–89, as they ended up two places and four points short of their target. The "Baggies" dropped to 20th in 1989–90, and were just two places and three points above relegated Bournemouth. The 1990–91 season was a disaster, and West Brom were relegated into the Third Division for the first time in their history. Not highly rated at the Hawthorns,[6] he made 73 league appearances, scoring 22 goals, during his stay in the West Midlands. He joined Second Division club Port Vale on loan in November 1991, making five appearances and scoring one goal for John Rudge's side.[7]

Swansea City

He was signed by Swansea City manager Frank Burrows in August 1992, and scored two goals in his first start for the club in a 2–0 win over former side Port Vale.[8] He went on to score 12 goals in 33 Second Division appearances, as the "Swans" reached the play-offs in 1992–93, only to be sent off for fouling Ian Hamilton during a 2–0 defeat by his former club West Bromwich Albion in the second leg of the semi-finals, which left Swansea with a 3–2 aggregate loss.[8] West later said that "I instantly thought 'why on earth did I do that?' but the referee rightly sent me off. It was a very sad way for me to end my time with the club."[8]

Leyton Orient

West switched to Second Division rivals Leyton Orient in July 1993, who were then by managed by his former boss Peter Eustace. The "O's" finished 18th in 1993–94, before being relegated in last place in 1994–95. The club struggled in the fourth tier, and posted a 21st-place finish in 1995–96 under Pat Holland, three positions above Torquay United, the English Football League's bottom club. He scored five goals in 26 appearances in 1996–97, as Orient moved up to 16th under Tommy Taylor's stewardship. In total he made 142 league appearances for Leyton Orient, scoring 42 goals.[9] In September 1997, he joined Second Division side Northampton Town on loan, but made just two goalless appearances for Ian Atkins' "Cobblers". Two months later he was loaned out to Rushden & Diamonds of the Conference, in a move that reunited him with former manager Brian Talbot, and helped to fire the "Diamonds" to a fourth-place finish in 1997–98.

Later career

West signed with Rushden & Diamonds permanently for the 1998–99 season, and helped the club to another fourth-place finish. He moved on to Mark Gardiner's Conference strugglers Northwich Victoria in the 1999–2000 campaign, before ending his career at Hartlepool United, where he made just a single appearance in 1999–2000.

Style of play

West was a forward who was "powerful in the air and determined on the ground".[10]

Coaching career

When West joined Hartlepool United in November 1999 he was appointed as assistant manager to Chris Turner.[8] The pair helped the club avoid falling into the Conference when they arrived, before they led the club to three successive Third Division play-offs, though they never made it past the semi-finals.[11] When Turner left the club to take over as manager of Sheffield Wednesday in November 2002, West briefly took charge of the first team on a caretaker basis.[12] After a win and a draw, West left to team up with Turner at Hillsborough,[13] and later followed him to Stockport County, before the pair left Edgeley Park in December 2005.[14]

He then spent time as reserve team coach at Millwall, being appointed assistant caretaker-manager to Richard Shaw after Willie Donachie was dismissed.[15] He later took up the reserve team coaching position at Southend United in December 2008.[16] Three months later, with Turner back in charge at "Pools" on a caretaker basis, West left the position at Southend to return to Hartlepool as assistant coach.[17] He left Hartlepool again in June 2010 after the club chose not to renew his contract. In February 2012, Notts County manager Keith Curle recruited West to work as a coach.[18] He left the club a year later, when Curle was sacked.[19] He was appointed assistant manager at Carlisle United when Curle took charge of the club in September 2014.[20] The pair left Brunton Park at the end of the 2017–18 season.[8] On 1 October 2018, Curle was appointed as Northampton Town, and again hired West as his assistant.[21]

Statistics

Playing statistics

Source:[22][23][9][24]

Club Season Division League National Cup Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Sunderland 1981–82 First Division 1860010196
1982–83 First Division 2331030273
1983–84 First Division 38922424413
1984–85 First Division 2331083326
Total 102214216512228
Watford 1984–85 First Division 1270000127
1985–86 First Division 331383304416
Total 452083305623
Rangers 1986–87 Scottish Premier Division 921021123
1987–88 Scottish Premier Division 10000010
Total 1021021133
Sheffield Wednesday 1987–88 First Division 25741743612
1988–89 First Division 2012020241
Total 45861946013
West Bromwich Albion 1988–89 Second Division 1780000178
1989–90 Second Division 2143010254
1990–91 Second Division 2881120319
1991–92 Third Division 41001152
1992–93 Third Division 31000031
Total 732241418124
Port Vale (loan) 1991–92 Second Division 51000051
Swansea City 1992–93 Second Division 331252614415
Leyton Orient 1993–94 Second Division 431420304814
1994–95 Second Division 30921743914
1995–96 Third Division 391610114117
1996–97 Third Division 2332131285
1997–98 Third Division 70001080
Total 142427215616450
Northampton Town (loan) 1997–98 Second Division 20000020
Rushden & Diamonds 1999–2000[25] Conference 51000051
Northwich Victoria 1999–2000[25] Conference 10000010
Hartlepool United 1999–2000 Third Division 10001020
Career total 46412935115618555158

Managerial statistics
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
PWDLWin %
Hartlepool United (caretaker) 7 November 2002 21 November 2002 2 1 1 0 050.0
Millwall (caretaker) 8 October 2007 7 November 2007 5 1 2 2 020.0
Total 7 2 3 2 028.6

Honours
Rangers

References
  1. "Colin West". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  2. "Colin West". www.adrianbullock.com. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  3. "West Bromwich Albion 2–1 Sunderland". The Stat Cat. Archived from the original on 31 May 2008. Retrieved 12 August 2008.
  4. "Profile" (PDF). watfordfcarchive.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 September 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  5. "Profile". thestatcat.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 August 2006. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  6. "Never again..." BBC Sport. 1 April 2003. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
  7. Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 305. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  8. "Where are they now? Colin West | Swansea City FC". www.swanseacity.com. 28 May 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  9. "Stats". Neil Brown stat site. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  10. Dykes, Garth; Lamming, Doug (2000). All the Lads: A Complete Who's Who of Sunderland AFC. Great Britain. p. 449. ISBN 9781899538157.
  11. "Colin West". inthemadcrowd.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 February 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  12. "West stays in charge at Pool". BBC Sport. 14 November 2002. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  13. "West moves to Owls". BBC Sport. 21 November 2002. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  14. "Manager Turner leaves Stockport". BBC Sport. 27 December 2005. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  15. "Lions not rushing to appoint boss". BBC Sport. 9 October 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  16. "West joins Southend coaching team". BBC Sport. 17 December 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  17. "Pools appoint West as assistant". BBC Sport. 11 February 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  18. "Keith Curle appointed new Notts County manager". BBC Sport. 20 February 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  19. "League One Notts County sack Keith Curle following poor run of form". Sky Sports. 3 February 2013. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  20. "Keith Curle: Carlisle name ex-England defender as manager". BBC Sport. 19 September 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  21. "Former Carlisle Utd boss Keith Curle appointed Northampton Town manager". News and Star. 1 October 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  22. Colin West at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  23. "West, Colin". FitbaStats. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  24. Colin West at Soccerbase
  25. "Games played by Colin West in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
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