Martin Ling
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 15 July 1966 | ||
| Place of birth | West Ham, London, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1983–1986 | Exeter City | 117 | (14) |
| 1986 | Swindon Town | 2 | (0) |
| 1986–1991 | Southend United | 136 | (30) |
| 1991 | → Mansfield Town (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 1991–1996 | Swindon Town | 150 | (10) |
| 1996–2000 | Leyton Orient | 148 | (8) |
| 2000 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 8 | (1) |
| Total | 564 | (63) | |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2003–2009 | Leyton Orient | ||
| 2009 | Cambridge United | ||
| 2009–2011 | Cambridge United | ||
| 2011–2013 | Torquay United | ||
| 2015 | Swindon Town | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Martin Ling (born 15 July 1966) is an English football manager and former player, who was last the manager of Swindon Town in League One. He played in over 100 Football League matches for Exeter City, Southend United, Swindon Town and Leyton Orient, before moving into management where he led Orient for over five years from 2003 until 2009.
Born in West Ham, Greater London, Ling started his career with Exeter City. After a brief spell at Swindon Town in which he made just two appearances, Ling began a five-year spell with Southend United in 1986. During this period he won promotion from the Fourth Division twice, in 1987 and 1990. Swindon paid £15,000 to re-sign Ling in March 1991 where he played 150 league games. As a left-winger, he played in the Swindon side that won promotion to the Premier League (via the Division One playoffs) in 1993.
Following his success at Swindon, Ling joined Leyton Orient who he would later go on to coach and manage. He played over 150 games for Orient before transferring to Brighton and Hove Albion in 2000 for a short period. Later in 2000, Ling rejoined Orient as a coach whilst continuing to play semi-professionally for Purfleet in the Isthmian League until hanging up his boots in September 2001.
He was appointed manager of Leyton Orient in December 2003, after a spell as caretaker manager. In the 2005–06 league campaign he guided Orient to automatic promotion from League Two on the final day of the season, and then successfully kept the club in League One in the following season. The following season, Ling was able to bring Leyton Orient to 14th position in League One, after topping the table for three months early in the season. On 18 January 2009, with Leyton Orient in 21st place and in the relegation zone, the decision was taken for Ling and his assistant Dean Smith to leave the club by mutual consent.
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