Tony Coton

Anthony Philip Coton (born 19 May 1961) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Tamworth, he made 500 appearances in the Football League and Premier League for Birmingham City, Watford, Manchester City and Sunderland.[2] After injury put an end to a ten-year coaching career, he spent time as a players' agent before working in scouting.

Tony Coton
Personal information
Full name Anthony Philip Coton[1]
Date of birth (1961-05-19) 19 May 1961
Place of birth Tamworth, England
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 [ Manchester United (Goalkeeper scout)
Youth career
Mile Oak Rovers
1977–1978 Birmingham City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1978–1984 Birmingham City 94 (0)
1979 → Hereford United (loan) 0 (0)
1984–1990 Watford 233 (0)
1990–1996 Manchester City 164 (0)
1996 Manchester United 0 (0)
1996–1997 Sunderland 10 (0)
National team
1992 England B 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Birmingham City

Coton started his professional career at Birmingham City in 1978, having signed from Mile Oak Rovers the previous year. He made his Football League debut as a 19-year-old, on 27 December 1980 in the First Division match against Sunderland. His first touch of the ball was to save a penalty awarded after 54 seconds.[3] By the 1982–83 season he had established himself as Birmingham's first-choice goalkeeper[4] and was named Player of the Year.[5]

Watford

Birmingham were relegated from the First Division at the end of the next season, but Coton found his way back into the top flight with a transfer to Watford, for a sum of £300,000.[6] He soon replaced Steve Sherwood in Watford's goal and at the end of his second full season at Vicarage Road he won the Hornets' Player of the Season and Display of the Season awards, the latter for a clean sheet against Liverpool. He remained with the club even after their relegation from the First Division in 1988. He went on to become Watford Player of the Season for an unprecedented third time in 1989–90.[7] Coton later became the second player to be inducted into Watford's Hall of Fame, behind club legend Luther Blissett.

Manchester City

Before the start of the 1990–91 season, Coton was bought for just under £1 million by Manchester City manager Howard Kendall. At the time, he was one of the most expensive goalkeepers to be signed by any British club. He went on to win the City Player of the Year award in both the 1991–92 and 1993–94 seasons. They finished fifth in the First Division during his first two seasons at Maine Road and ninth in the first season Premier League. However, they dipped to 16th in 1993–94 and 17th in 1994–95, although he remained first-choice goalkeeper under subsequent managers Peter Reid and Brian Horton.

Manchester United

Coton's time at Manchester City was cut short by injury in 1995, and the signing of Eike Immel. In January 1996, he moved across the city to Manchester United for £500,000, a record fee for a transfer between United and City, to be understudy to Peter Schmeichel.[8] He never played a first team game for United, made the substitutes' bench only once, and moved on to Sunderland after just six months, for a fee of £600,000.[9]

Sunderland

He made a few impressive performances for his new club (who had just been promoted to the Premier League as Division One champions) before breaking his leg in five places during a league match against Southampton. The injury marked the end of his playing career.[10]


International

Coton won an England B cap during his time at City, and was also called up to the senior team by Graham Taylor in November 1993.[11]

Later career

From 1997 to 2007, Coton was goalkeeping coach at Manchester United. He was forced to step down from the position in December 2007 due to a knee injury that stopped him participating in training sessions. He had had two operations in four months to correct his ongoing knee problems, but after discussions with his surgeon and the Manchester United medical staff, they agreed that retirement was the best option. Coton remained at Manchester United until the end of his contract in June 2008, but with reduced coaching responsibilities.[12]

He went on to become a player's agent.[13][14]

Coton spent time as chief scout of Wigan Athletic in 2014, and also scouted for Bolton Wanderers,[15][16] before joining Aston Villa in 2015 as goalkeeping scout.[17] He then spent two years as their head of domestic scouting,[18] before returning to Sunderland as head of recruitment in June 2018.[19]

References
  1. Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 79. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  2. "Tony Coton". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 24 November 2009.
  3. Bulman, Andy. "Tony Coton". Birmingham City F.C. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  4. Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 218. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  5. "Player of the Year". The Birmingham City FC Archive. 13 December 2002. Archived from the original on 30 March 2003.
  6. "Watford in move to sign Coton". The Times. 25 September 1984. p. 30.
  7. "Player of the Season". Watford F.C. 16 October 2009. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2009.
  8. White, John D. T. (29 May 2008). "January". The Official Manchester United Almanac (1st ed.). London: Orion Books. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-7528-9192-7.
  9. "On This Day (C)". Sunderland A.F.C. Archived from the original on 12 June 2012.
  10. "Past Players (C)". Sunderland A.F.C. Archived from the original on 4 November 2006.
  11. "Football: Taylor preparing to go out with a bang: Ripley called up to join familiar faces as manager resists recruiting young generation for England's mission improbable in Bologna". Independent. 9 November 1993. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  12. Bartram, Steve (11 January 2008). "Coton forced to retire". ManUtd.com. Archived from the original on 12 February 2008. Retrieved 11 January 2008.
  13. Mathieson, Stuart (15 January 2008). "Coton keeps up tradition". Manchester Evening News. MEN Media. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  14. Shail, Mark (12 October 2009). "It was never going to be easy for Ben Foster". GiveMeFootball. Professional Footballers' Association. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2009.
  15. Chamberlain, Oscar (11 June 2018). "New appointment: Coton named head of recruitment". Sunderland A.F.C. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  16. "David Kerslake joins Malky Mackay's coaching staff". Wigan Athletic F.C. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  17. Mullock, Simon (15 April 2015). "Aston Villa: Tony Coton appointed specialist goalkeeping scout". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  18. Ireland, Shane (3 June 2018). "Key Aston Villa transfer figure set for exit to former club – reports". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  19. "Tony Coton: Sunderland appoints former goalkeeper as head of recruitment". BBC Sport. 11 June 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
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