Colin Gibson (footballer)

For other people named Colin Gibson, see Colin Gibson (disambiguation).

Colin Gibson

Personal information
Full name	Colin John Gibson
Date of birth	6 April 1960 (1960-04-06) (age 51)
Place of birth	Bridport, England
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position	Left back Midfielder
Youth career
	Aston Villa
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1978–1985	Aston Villa	185	(10)
1985–1990	Manchester United	79	(9)
1990	→ Port Vale (loan)	6	(2)
1990–1994	Leicester City	59	(4)
1994	Blackpool	2	(0)
1994–1995	Walsall	33	(0)
Total		362[1]	(25)
National team
1981	England U21	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Colin John Gibson (born 6 April 1960) is an English former football player. He was an attacking left back who could also play in midfield. In a 17-year career, he scored 25 goals in 362 appearances in the Football League.

Gibson started his career at Aston Villa in 1978 and made around 200 appearances for the club in seven years, as well as winning the league title and two European trophies. He moved on to Manchester United in 1985, and during his five years at United he played 79 league games. He signed with Leicester City in 1990, after a short loan at Port Vale. After a four-year spell with the Foxes, he transferred to Blackpool, before finishing his career at Walsall.

Playing career

Born in Bridport, Dorset, Gibson started his career with Aston Villa where he won the First Division in 1980–81 followed by the European Cup and European Super Cup in 1982. He was transferred to Manchester United in 1985, and remained there for five years, though by the time of their FA Cup victory in 1990 he was rarely involved in first team games due to manager Alex Ferguson's decision to field Lee Martin as left back.

In September 1990, he joined Port Vale on loan, scoring on his debut at left back in a 3–2 defeat at Hull City on 29 September. He returned to Manchester the next month after a further five games for the Valiants.^[2] He left United for Leicester City in December 1990 for £100,000.

He did well at Filbert Street, helping them avoid relegation from the Second Division in 1990-91 before playing his part in the revival under new manager Brian Little. After two successive playoff final defeats, he finally helped Leicester reach the top flight (by then the Premier League) in 1994 with a 2-1 win over local rivals Derby County at Wembley Stadium.

However, Gibson was not part of Leicester's first top flight season of the 1990s, as he signed for Third Division Walsall and helped them win promotion before retiring from playing.

Post-retirement

He was a commentator on BBC Radio Leicester for the live coverage of Leicester City matches. After news of the sacking of Craig Levein, he declared his interest in the manager's job live on air. Caretaker manager Rob Kelly was eventually given the job on a permanent basis.

Honours

Aston Villa

• Football League First Division (1): 1980–81
• European Cup (1): 1981–82
• European Super Cup (1): 1982

Manchester United

• FA Cup winner: 1990

References

1. ^ Stats from Neil Brown's site
2. ^ Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 111. ISBN 0952915200. http://www.amazon.ca/Port-Vale-Personalities-Jeff-Kent/dp/0952915200. 

External links

• Colin Gibson career stats at Soccerbase

Persondata
Name	Gibson, Colin
Alternative names
Short description	Footballer
Date of birth	6 April 1960
Place of birth	Bridport, England
Date of death
Place of death