Steve Cotterill

Football player infobox
playername = Steve Cotterill


fullname = Stephen John Cotterill
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1964|7|20
height = height|ft=6|in=1
cityofbirth = Cheltenham
countryofbirth = England
currentclub =
position = Striker"
years = 1988-1989
1989-1993
1992
1993-1996
clubs = Burton Albion
Wimbledon
→ Brighton & Hove Albion (loan)
Bournemouth
caps(goals) = 42 0(30)
44 0(19)
11 0(5)
45 (15)
youthyears =
youthclubs =
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
manageryears = 1995-1996
1997-2002
2002
2004-2007

managerclubs = Sligo Rovers
Cheltenham Town
Stoke City
Burnley

managercaps(goals) = -
255
13
95

Stephen John Cotterill, born July 20, 1964 is an English former footballer and manager. He was last employed at Burnley, where he was manager from June 2004 to November 2007. He also had spells at Sligo Rovers, Cheltenham Town and Stoke City.

Playing career

Cotterill started his playing career in the non-leagues as a forward who could play centrally or in wide positions, playing non-professionally at clubs like Cheltenham Town, Alvechurch and Burton Albion. He then signed his first professional deal at Wimbledon after a £120,000 deal was done with Burton. It was a giant step up for Cotterill, going from the non-Leagues to the Premiership. He made 44 appearances in 4 years at Wimbledon and went out on loan to Brighton to recapture his fitness following a horrific cruciate knee-ligament injury. This led to further games at the Dons and he turned down a £500,000 bid from Sounthampton before finally moving on again to Bournemouth.

Cotterill signed for Bournemouth in the summer of 1993 for the fee of £120,000. He was out of contract and this fee was set by the then Transfer Tribunal. In 3 years at Bournemouth he got his career back in good shape scoring 19 goals in 44 league starts for the club. While at the club he picked up 3 player of the season awards but had to finish his career in 1995 after another bad knee injury from which he was unable to fully recover.

Management

ligo Rovers

Following on from Lawrie Sanchez, Sligo Rovers appointed Cotterill in 1995. He led the club to third place in the Premier Division of the Football League of Ireland and his side also reached the League Cup final, where they lost on penalties to Shelbourne. Cotterill also led them into Europe, playing against teams such as Nantes where they earned a 3-3 draw and another credible 0-0 draw against Dutch outfit, Heereenveen.

Cheltenham Town

Cotterill joined Cheltenham when they were still a non-league club and he built up a successful side which won promotion from the Southern Football League Premier Division to the Football Conference in only his first full year at the club. He won the FA Trophy in 1998, beating Southport 1-0 in the final, and Cheltenham finished 2nd in the Conference the same year, their first season in that league. Cheltenham won the Conference and with it promotion to the Football League the following year. His first two seasons in the Third Division saw them finish in the top half. In 2001-02,the club reached the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time in its history, ended only by a 1-0 away defeat to West Bromwich Albion and including the defeat of Cotterill's future club Burnley. He twice won the prestigious award of Manager of the Year during his tenure. Cotterill took Cheltenham into the Second Division that season, following a play-off victory over Rushden & Diamonds at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. He was awarded his UEFA Pro License in 2002.rte

toke City

Cotterill left Cheltenham to join Stoke City in the summer of 2002. He only managed 13 games for the club before being asked to join Sunderland as their assistant manager. As Howard Wilkinson's assistant, they were tasked with keeping Sunderland in the Premiership. However, Wilkinson was sacked quickly, and Cotterill left the club in the summer of 2003 after taking full charge of the side.

Burnley

In the summer of 2004 a decision by Burnley not to renew the contract of their manager, Stan Ternent, led to Cotterill being named as the new manager of the club. In his first season at the club they reached the third round of the Carling Cup, beating Aston Villa 3-1 on the way. They also reached the fifth round of the FA Cup beating Premiership side Liverpool 1-0. After losing striker and captain Robbie Blake and young midfielder Richard Chaplow they finished 13th in the Championship. In 2005-06 he led Burnley to a 17th placed finish, again having to sell his star striker, this time being the club's leading goal scorer Ade Akinbiyi to Sheffield United for £1.75 million.

The 2006-07 season began well, with a series of wins. Cotterill also won the Championship Manager of the Month for October. However Burnley were dealt a blow when leading goalscorer Andy Gray was sidelined until February in November. Ade Akinbiyi was re-signed in the January transfer window, but the striker was unfit and failed to make an impact.

Cotterill eventually left the club on 8 November 2007 by mutual consent after earning the title of longest serving manager in the league with 3 years and 7 months service. He left the club in a strong position in the league, having won 5, drawn 6 and lost 4 placing them 3 points off the play-offs with a game in hand.

Minnesota Thunder

Steve Cotterill was offered the chance to become the Head Coach and Technical Director of Minnesota Thunder after Amos Magee stepped down. Cotterill was offered a temporary 7 week contract with a view to a longer deal when the season ended after the initial 7 weeks, however, due to a being given a two weeks waiting time for a work permit (only leaving 5 weeks at MT) Cotterill decided to turn this opportunity down. [ [http://www.clarets-mad.co.uk/news/loadnews.asp?cid=TMNW&id=399980 Cotterill in at Minnesota] ]

Manager honours*

*FA Trophy 1998
*Football Conference 1999; runner up 1998
*Nationwide League Division 3 play-off 2002

*All with Cheltenham Town *.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

*soccerbase|id=1682|name=Steve Cotterill
*soccerbase (manager)|id=1577|name=Steve Cotterill

Persondata
NAME = Steve Cotterill
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Football Manager
DATE OF BIRTH = July 20, 1964
PLACE OF BIRTH = Cheltenham, England
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =