56: Chris Coleman, Blackburn Rovers, Panini Football Sticker Album, The Official PFA Collection, A-Z of ALL the Top Players from All the Top Teams in ‘97
Emlyn Shepherdson-Jones takes us on a journey through the career of a national icon today who took the Welsh men’s national football team to the brink of continental glory. His commitment to his country was evident in the accompanying quote for today’s sticker where he stated “I have my heart set on a place in France in 1998 with Wales”. These words obviously came off the back of back-to-back thrashings of San Marino in the summer of 1996 rather than the subsequent drubbing at the hands of the Netherlands and a ten goal thriller with Turkey. Eighteen years later, however, he was in France with the Red Dragons. Over to Emlyn with the rest.
I grew up speaking Welsh with my father, and still retain a level of fluency in the language, but have to take steps to try and retain the skill. One useful technique for this is utilising the Welsh language channel S4C, with the coverage of the Welsh football and rugby teams' fixtures with Welsh commentary a great option. In addition to this, some of the original programming has been particularly helpful, including Colleen Ramsey (wife of Aaron) with her cooking show, and 'Iaith ar Daith', or Language Road Trip, a programme covering the learning journey of new Welsh speakers. Participants have included Ruth Jones, Carol Vorderman, James Hook and Adrian Chiles among many others. I recently picked up an episode detailing a hero of Welsh football, both as a player and later as one of the most successful managers in the nation's history – and got to watch him trip Owain Tudur Jones into a big puddle.
Chris Coleman began his career in the Manchester City youth setup, however left without playing a senior game after suffering from homesickness. Having grown up in the area, he returned to his hometown to join Swansea City, and quickly became a regular, also helping the side to two wins in the Welsh Cup. After four years and one promotion with the side, he had done enough to earn attention from the top division, and he was signed by Steve Coppell for Crystal Palace. He was straight into the team and performed well, Palace finishing tenth and also benefitting from a fair few goals from Coleman – not least because he was often picked at centre forward when numbers were short in place of his usual centre back berth.
Palace were a slight yo-yo club at the time, and suffered two relegations during Coleman's spell there, bouncing back at the first attempt but then bouncing straight back down again. An offer of £2.8m from reigning Premier League champions Blackburn Rovers was too good to turn down, and Coleman moved on. Despite owner Jack Walker having shovelled over £14m into the side, Blackburn couldn't maintain the form that had won them the title, and when Achilles problems and competition for places saw him make only eight appearances the following season, Coleman decided to take the gamble to drop two divisions, joining another megabucks owner in Harrods boss and all round dubious individual Mohamed Al-Fayed at Fulham.
Coleman started well for the Cottagers and before long had been appointed captain helping the club to promotion in his second season. Things were going well for the side in the second tier as well, however, in January 2001 Coleman was involved in a car crash. Recounting the incident, he bemoaned the fact that he had swerved to avoid a pheasant, losing control of his Jaguar and ploughing through an iron fence and into a tree. He shattered his right leg's fibula and tibia and ruptured the ligaments in his knee, also breaking his ankle. The pheasant was unharmed.
In an interview, Coleman described his leg as looking like somebody had slapped half a pound of mincemeat onto the front of his shin, and underwent five operations in a week as surgeons attempted to rescue the mangled limb. With the muscle having been torn from his leg, muscle from his left latissimus dorsi was implanted and shaped around a metal rod. While he did manage to return to training and play in a reserve game, he was forced to admit defeat and retire in October 20)2, joining the Fulham coaching staff.
A proud Welshman, Coleman had first been capped for his nation in 1992 while still with Palace. He went on to play 32 times, chipping in with four goals, one on his debut. He also made an unexpected appearance from the bench in May 2002, to make his last senior appearance as a footballer before retiring due to the injury he had suffered over a year prior. As last bows go, it was a pretty decent one, with Wales holding out for a clean sheet to beat Germany 1-0. As it happened, this wouldn't be the last involvement he had with the Red Dragons.
Having joined the Fulham coaching staff following his retirement, Coleman was entrusted with the caretaker manager's job following the dismissal of Jean Tigana as he struggled to keep the team in the Premier League. Managing to guide the club to a respectable 14th spot, Coleman was handed the manager's job on a full-time basis, becoming in the process the youngest permanent Premier League manager at only 32. In his first full season the club rose to the 9th spot, however player sales made his job tougher, and though he never failed to keep the team above the relegation zone, a seven-game streak without a win saw him sacked in April 2007. He then had spells in charge of Real Sociedad, Coventry City and AEL before the tragic death of close friend Gary Speed led to an opportunity to take charge of the Wales national team.
Things didn't start brilliantly, with five losses on the bounce including a 6-1 drubbing by Serbia which almost led to his resignation. However, results slowly turned round, and by October 2015, Wales had risen to 8th in the World Rankings and qualification for Euro 2016 was confirmed. This was a golden summer for fans of the side – for anyone under 58 it was a first tournament qualification in their lifetime, and I remember the Manic Street Preachers soundtracking the summer as Wales continued through the tournament, topping their group despite a late loss to England, and watching the team take apart a fancied Belgium team to reach the semi-finals. I was watching in a pub in Exeter and had to confirm to a confused patron that yes, it was that Sam Vokes that just scored in an international quarter-final.
Sadly, a loss to a pre-moth Ronaldo-inspired Portugal saw Wales eliminated, and a poor start to the qualifying campaign meant that Wales could not qualify for the World Cup in 2018. With interest high owing to the performances at the previous tournament, Coleman tendered his resignation, and moved on to struggling Sunderland. This meant that he would be featured in the new documentary series, 'Sunderland 'Til I Die', a fly on the wall series detailing the club's attempt to return to the Premier League. Unfortunately there were no Hollywood stars injecting funds into the club, and Sunderland were ultimately relegated, providing a bit of a downer ending for the show and absolutely zero appearances from Ryan Reynolds. Coleman was dismissed by the club's new owners.
Since leaving Sunderland, Coleman has worked in punditry, and had a number of short-term management roles, including stints in China, Greece and Cyprus, and is currently manager of Belgian side OH Leuven. He has also received a number of awards for his achievements with Wales, including an OBE, an honorary degree, and two University fellowships. Clearly inspired by the aforementioned splashing around while learning Welsh with Owain Tudur Jones, he has also endorsed a government initiative to double the number of Welsh speakers by 2050. A true legend of the Welsh game, as is anyone featured on the Manic Street Preachers' 'Together Stronger (C'mon Wales)'. Pob hwyl yn Ngwlad Belg Chris.
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