John Coleman (footballer, born 1962)

John Coleman (born 12 October 1962) is an English football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of League of Ireland Premier Division side Waterford.

John Coleman

Personal information
Date of birth	(1962-10-12) 12 October 1962 (age 62)
Place of birth	Kirkby,[1] England
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Waterford (manager)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1979–1982	Kirkby Town
1983–1984	Burscough
1984–1985	Marine
1985–1988	Southport	89	(49)
1988	Runcorn	6	(1)
1988	Macclesfield Town	11	(1)
1988–1989	Rhyl
1989–1990	Witton Albion
1990–1996	Morecambe
1996–1997	Lancaster City
1997–1999	Ashton United
Managerial career
1997–1999	Ashton United
1999–2012	Accrington Stanley
2012–2013	Rochdale
2013–2014	Southport
2014	Sligo Rovers
2014–2024	Accrington Stanley
2025	Gillingham
2025–	Waterford
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Coleman had a long playing career, mainly in non-league football for Kirkby Town, Burscough, Marine, Southport, Runcorn F.C. Halton, Macclesfield Town, Morecambe, Lancaster City and Ashton United. He also had a short spell in Wales with Rhyl. He was one of the most prolific non-league goalscorers in history, with over 500 goals to his name in a career spanning almost two decades. This success saw him play for the England National Game XI (the England team for semi-professional players) and receive many Player of the Year awards from the clubs he played for.

Coleman is ranked fifth on Southport's list of highest goalscorers of all-time.^[2]

Managerial career

He was appointed player-manager of Ashton United in 1997. After two years, he joined Accrington Stanley then playing in the Northern Premier League First Division. His 12+1⁄2-year tenure saw the club win three promotions as champions to enter the Football League in 2006. He was also the club's longest ever serving manager. At the time of his departure to Rochdale, Coleman was the third longest serving manager in England, behind Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger.

On 24 January 2012, Coleman and his assistant Jimmy Bell were appointed by Rochdale to replace Steve Eyre, who had left the club the previous month.^[3] Their contracts were terminated by Rochdale on 21 January 2013 following a poor run in form.^[4] In October 2013, Coleman declared his interest in replacing Dave Hockaday as manager of Forest Green Rovers,^[5] but returned to Southport as manager on 7 December 2013, with Jimmy Bell once again as his assistant.

He took over as manager of Sligo Rovers in June 2014.^[6]

On 18 September 2014, Coleman was confirmed as manager of Accrington Stanley for his second spell with the club.^[7] In the 2015–16 season, Coleman led Accrington to a 4th place finish, missing out on automatic promotion on the final game of the season by goal difference.^[8] In the play-offs, Accrington lost to AFC Wimbledon after extra time in the semi-finals.^[8] In the 2017–18 season, the club won the League Two title to reach the third tier of English football for the first time in the club's history.^[9][10] His achievement earned him the EFL Manager of the Season award for 2017–18.^[11]

They were relegated to League Two at the end of the 2022–23 season.^[12] On 3 March 2024, Coleman was sacked by Accrington the day after a 4–0 defeat to Wrexham with the club in 16th position.^[12] At the time of his departure, he was the longest-serving manager purely in the EFL having been in charge for 9 years and 6 months.^[12] Across his two spells with the club, Coleman was in charge for 1,098 matches.^[12]

On 5 January 2025, Coleman was appointed manager of League Two side Gillingham on a short-term contract until the end of the season.^[13] On 25 March 2025 Coleman left his position as Gillingham manager^[14] after achieving just 2 wins in 14 games and leaving Coleman with the lowest win ratio of any permanent manager in the club's history.

On 3 May 2025, Coleman was appointed manager of League of Ireland Premier Division club Waterford.^[15]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 23 May 2025^[16][17][18]

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	From	To	Record
			P	W	D	L	Win %
Ashton United	1 August 1997	1 May 1999	91	53	21	17	058.24
Accrington Stanley	1 May 1999	23 January 2012	587	236	148	203	040.20
Rochdale	24 January 2012	21 January 2013	52	14	14	24	026.92
Southport	7 December 2013	3 May 2014	25	8	8	9	032.00
Sligo Rovers	21 June 2014	18 September 2014	15	7	3	5	046.67
Accrington Stanley	18 September 2014	3 March 2024	511	200	128	183	039.14
Gillingham	5 January 2025	25 March 2025	14	2	7	5	014.29
Waterford	3 May 2025	Present	3	1	1	1	033.33
Total			1,298	521	330	447	040.14

Honours

Player

Individual

• Southport Player of the Year: 1986–87^[19]

Manager

Accrington Stanley

• EFL League Two: 2017–18
• Conference National: 2005–06^[20]
• Northern Premier: 2002–03^[20]
• Northern Premier League Division One: 1999–2000^[20]
• NPL Challenge Cup: 2000–01^[20]
• NPL Challenge Shield: 2001–02, 2002–03^[20]
• Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy: 2000–01, 2004–05^[20]

Individual

• EFL Manager of the Season: 2017–18^[11]
• League One Manager of the Month: December 2019,^[21] November 2020^[22]
• League Two Manager of the Month: September 2015,^[23] March 2017,^[24] February 2018,^[25] March 2018^[26]