Chris Coleman - football player, coach. During the player’s career, he took the position of defender on the field. The latest success is the success of a mentor for the Wales team.
Football career
Chris Coleman’s early years were spent in English Manchester City. The player got into the club’s academy when he was 16 years old. Subsequently, the young talent was not lucky enough to play a single minute on the field for the basic composition of the “townspeople”. With the leadership of the team, Chris Coleman had only a junior, preliminary agreement.
In 1987, the player was bought by the Swansea City club, which represented the hometown of a young football player. At that time, the team played in the fourth largest English division. Chris Coleman signed an agreement with the club as a free agent.
In four seasons of playing for the team from the Welsh city of Swansea, the young talent managed to enter the field in 160 fights. During this time, the defender scored two goals scored. As part of the club, the player twice became the owner of the Wales Cup.
In 1991, Chris Coleman received an offer from the management team of the Crystal Palace Premier League. The debut of the young defender for the new club took place in the same year. Coleman defended the colors of the glaziers until 1995. Subsequently, the player was recognized by the fans of the team as one of the best players in the history of the club.
According to the results of the 1995/1996 season, Crystal Palace flew into the second English division. Wanting to continue playing in the Premier League, Chris Coleman signed a contract with the Blackburn Rovers club, the colors of which he defended from 1997 to 2001.
This was followed by a transition to Fulham. Pretty soon, Coleman earned the honorary title of team captain. Together with partners, the defender managed to rise from the third division of the country and reach the Premier League.
In January 2002, Chris Coleman was in a serious remake. While traveling around Surrey, his car skidded on a slippery road. The football player received several difficult injuries. The damage caused Chris to think about prematurely ending his career as a player.
Team appearances
Chris Coleman (Wales) made his debut in the national team in 1992. The first match in the national team for the defender was a friendly game against Austria. The young football player received the right to enter the field at the 59th minute of the meeting. Just before the end of the match, Chris managed to sign the goal in the opponent’s goal and achieve a draw for the team in the confrontation.
In an official meeting, Coleman first played on March 9, 1994. In the match of the Wales team against the national team of Norway, which took place in Cardiff, the defender was included in the starting lineup. The only goal scored by the Welshmen in the duel was on Chris’s account.
The last time the player received an invitation to the national team on May 14, 2002, when the Welsh were to hold a friendly match against the German team. The fight ended with a victory for Wales.
In total, Chris Coleman spent 32 matches for the national team. During this time, the talented defender managed to chalk up 4 goals into the opponents' goal.
Chris Coleman - Coach
After a fatal injury received in a car accident, a former football player received an offer from the management of Fulham to remain in the team and take a position in the coaching staff. Just a year later, the coach of the team Jean Tigan was fired. Thus, his place was taken by Chris Coleman. Successful leadership of the London team allowed the team to leave the relegation zone and retain their residence in the Premier League for the next season. Following a Fulham performance next year, the team ended up in 9th place in the standings, which allowed Coleman to conclude a long-term contract with the club as head coach.
The subsequent results of the team’s performance were not so impressive. The club fought for survival in the championship for several years in a row. In the spring of 2007, the patience of the leadership of the team was over. After 7 consecutive lost matches, Fulham removed Coleman from the position of mentor.
Further, Chris was followed by work at the Spanish club Real Sociedad. The coach was destined to return to England a year later. The interest in his services was shown by the leadership of the Coventry City team, which played in the second most important division - the Championship. Despite the task of entering the Premier League, the club was forced to fight for survival for several seasons. In 2010, the agreement with the coach was terminated.
Mentoring Wales
In 2012, Chris Coleman officially became the new mentor of the national team of Wales. Despite the rather mediocre expectations from the work of the young coach, the team not only successfully passed the qualifying round for the European Championship 2016, but was also able to surprise the public with a bright game in a series of playoff matches. As a result, the leadership of the Coleman team was rated more than positive by the Wales Football Federation.
Achievements
As a player, Chris Coleman won the Wales Cup 2 times, playing as part of Swansea City. Another significant event in the career of the defender is the victory of Fulham in the Championship and the team's entry into the Premier League. The latest achievement of Chris is the successful work as a coach of the Wales team in the qualifying round and the final part of Euro 2016.