Coleman with Wales in 2016
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Personal information | |||||||||
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Full name | Christopher Patrick Coleman | ||||||||
Date of birth | 10 June 1970 | ||||||||
Place of birth | Swansea, Wales | ||||||||
Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||
Playing position | Defender | ||||||||
Club information | |||||||||
Current team
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Wales (manager) | ||||||||
Youth career | |||||||||
–1986 | Manchester City | ||||||||
Senior career* | |||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||
1986–1987 | Manchester City | 0 | (0) | ||||||
1987–1991 | Swansea City | 160 | (2) | ||||||
1991–1995 | Crystal Palace | 154 | (13) | ||||||
1995–1997 | Blackburn Rovers | 28 | (0) | ||||||
1997–2002 | Fulham | 136 | (8) | ||||||
Total | 478 | (23) | |||||||
National team | |||||||||
1992–2002 | Wales | 32 | (4) | ||||||
Teams managed | |||||||||
2003–2007 | Fulham | ||||||||
2007–2008 | Real Sociedad | ||||||||
2008–2010 | Coventry City | ||||||||
2011–2012 | Larissa | ||||||||
2012– | Wales | ||||||||
Honours
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
Christopher Patrick Coleman, OBE (born 10 June 1970) is a Welsh professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of the Wales national team.
As a player, Coleman usually played in defence, while also occasionally appearing as a forward. He won 32 caps playing for Wales. Coleman's playing career ended at the age of 32, when his leg was broken in a car crash. Following this, he started his coaching career.
In his first full season as manager of Fulham, Coleman guided the club to ninth place in the 2003–04 Premier League. After leaving Fulham, Coleman was appointed manager of Real Sociedad, where he resigned in January 2008 due to differences with the incoming president. He returned to England to manage Coventry City, but was dismissed in May 2010 following a poor run of results. Coleman then managed Greek side Larissa for the first half of the 2011–12 season before resigning due to financial troubles at the club. In 2012, he took over as Welsh national manager after the death of Gary Speed, and led Wales to UEFA Euro 2016, their first major tournament since the 1958 FIFA World Cup, where they made the semi-finals.
Coleman was born in Swansea to an Irish father. He has two sisters. He started school at St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School and then went to Bishop Vaughan RC School. As a child, he grew up a keen supporter of Liverpool – his favourite player being Emlyn Hughes. The first professional team he was contracted to was Manchester City, aged 16, although he later left them, citing homesickness as the major reason. He then joined Swansea City.