- Alan Curbishley
Infobox Football biography
playername = Alan Curbishley
fullname = Llewellyn Charles Curbishley
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1957|11|8
cityofbirth =Forest Gate , East London
countryofbirth =England
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
height = 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
nickname = Curbs
position =Midfielder
currentclub = None
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1975-1979
1979-1983
1983-1984
1984-1987
1987-1990
1990-1993
clubs = West Ham United
Birmingham City
Aston Villa
Charlton Athletic
Brighton & Hove Albion
Charlton Athletic
Total
caps(goals) = 085 0(5)
130 (11)
036 0(1)
063 0(6)
116 (13)
028 0(0)
458 (36)
nationalyears = 1978
nationalteam = England U21
nationalcaps(goals) = 001 0(0)
manageryears = 1991-2006
2006-2008
managerclubs = Charlton Athletic
West Ham UnitedLlewellyn Charles 'Alan' Curbishley (born 8 November 1957 in
Forest Gate , East London), is a former football manager and former professional player.He has worked in the
English Premier League in management roles at Charlton Athletic and, more recently,West Ham United , the post from which he resigned on 3 September 2008. cite news | date=2008-09-03 | url=http://www.whufc.com/page/News/0,,12562~1383779,00.html | title=West Ham United Club Announcement | work=whufc.com | accessdate=2008-09-03]Background
Alan Curbishley was born in
Forest Gate ,London , in 1957, one of a total of five children born to a London docker and his wife. He grew up a mile fromWest Ham Station .cite news | date=2006-04-02 | url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article701088.ece | title=England calling? | publisher=Times Online | accessdate=2007-06-12] cite news | date=2006-08-19 | url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2006/08/19/sfnmot19.xml&page=3 | title=Happy taking his eye off the ball | publisher=Telegraph.co.uk | accessdate=2007-06-12] He was educated at South West Ham Technical School andIlford County High School . Curbishley is married and lives inAbridge ,Essex . [cite news | date=2007-04-13 | url=http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2002390000-2007170134,00.html | title=Curbs to muck in | publisher=The Sun | accessdate=2007-06-12] He is the younger brother of the rock promoterBill Curbishley , whose clients includeThe Who . [Alan Curbishley. "Valley of Dreams", page 12. HarperCollins. (2006) ISBN 0007140452.] [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2006/08/19/sfnmot19.xml "Happy taking his eye off the ball"] , Telegraph, 19 August 2006. Retrieved 29 June 2007.]Playing career
Club career
He began his football playing career with West Ham United, joining them as an apprentice on leaving school in the summer of 1974.cite book | last = Blows | first = Kirk | coauthors = Ben Sharratt | title = Claret and Blue Blood. Pumping Life Into West Ham United| publisher =Mainstream Publishing (Edinburgh) Ltd| date =2002| pages =pp. 132-136| isbn =1-84018-489-2 ] After impressing in West Ham's South East Counties League side and owing to an injury crisis following pre-season training, he was named as substitute against Everton in August 1974 at the age of 16 and became the youngest ever West Ham player to be named on the teamsheet, although he did not play. He made his first team debut in a 1-0 home defeat against Chelsea in March 1975, coming into the team for
Billy Bonds who was out with an injury, and in the summer, he was a member of the , alongsideAlvin Martin ,Geoff Pike , andPaul Brush , that was beaten by Ipswich Town 5-1 on aggregate in the final of the FA Youth Cup. His first win with the club and first goal came in a 2-1 home win over Newcastle in October 1975, in which he had replaced an injuredTrevor Brooking in the starting line. His arrival in the first team was so impressive that he was given the nickname "Whizz" by team-matePat Holland . He appeared in both legs of the West Ham's European Cup Winners' Cup 3rd round tie against Den Haag in March 1976, aged 18, although he did not play in the semi-final games against Eintracht Frankfurt nor in the final against Anderlecht.cite book | last = Northcutt | first = John| title = The Definitive West Ham United F.C. | publisher =Tony Brown, Nottingham| date =2003| pages =p. 91| isbn =1-899468-19-6 ] He made two league and cup appearances in 1974-75, 18 appearances in 1975-76, 12 appearances in 1976-77 and 36 appearances in 1977-78, while competing for a midfield position withTrevor Brooking ,Alan Devonshire ,Pat Holland ,Geoff Pike andBilly Bonds . After West Ham were relegated at the end of the 1977-78 season, he fell out with manager,John Lyall , and although he made a further 28 appearances for West Ham in 1978-79, he subsequently transferred to Birmingham City in April 1979 for a fee of £225,000. He joined local rivals Aston Villa in 1983 but a change of managers saw him transferred again to Charlton Athletic in the following year. He began his first period at Charlton Athletic in 1984, moving to Brighton & Hove Albion in 1987. He helped them win promotion to the Second Division as Third Division runners-up in his first season.He returned to Charlton as player/coach under the management of
Lennie Lawrence in 1990 and would stay there for 16 years.International career
Curbishley was capped at schoolboy level for England and was a regular in the England youth team. While at Birmingham City, he won his only England U-21 cap against Switzerland in 1980. He was selected for the England B squad in 1981 but a fractured kneecap ended his involvement with England.
Management career
Charlton Athletic
When Lawrence left in July 1991, Curbishley became joint manager of the club with
Steve Gritt . He took sole command from June 1995 and masterminded the revival of the club's fortunes with two promotions and consolidation into the Premier League.cite news | date=2006-04-29 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/charlton_athletic/4958402.stm | title=Curbishley to leave Charlton job | work=BBC Sport | accessdate=2006-06-12] He gained a reputation for signing good players for low prices, such asClive Mendonca , John Robinson,Dean Kiely ,Mark Kinsella ,Chris Powell ,Danny Mills , Andy Hunt andDarren Bent and also proved adept at bringing young players through the ranks, such asLee Bowyer ,Richard Rufus , Scott Parker andPaul Konchesky . He celebrated his 600th game in charge of the team with a 1-0 victory at one of his old clubs, Birmingham, in September 2005. [cite news | date=2006-02-17 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4722748.stm | title=Birmingham 0-1 Charlton | publisher=BBC Sport | accessdate=2007-06-12]Curbishley was named by the media as amongst the favourites to succeed
Sven-Göran Eriksson when it was announced in January 2006 that Eriksson would step down as England manager after the2006 FIFA World Cup . [cite news | date=2005-02-13 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4722748.stm | title=O'Neill tops England manager poll | publisher=BBC Sport | accessdate=2006-12-13] Several British Sundaynewspaper s reported in March 2006 that Curbishley had been interviewed for the job of England manager by the Football Association. The post however eventually went toSteve McClaren . [cite news | date=2006-05-04 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4969592.stm | title=McClaren named as England manager | publisher=BBC Sport | accessdate=2006-08-18]Richard Murray , chairman of Charlton Athletic, announced in April 2006 that Curbishley would leave the club at the end of the 2005/06 season. Curbishley denied that this had anything to do with being interviewed for the England manager post and speculation that this was so later proven false whenSteve McClaren was announced as England's head coach. Curbishley managed his 729th and final game as manager of Charlton away to Manchester United on 7 May 2006, which Charlton lost 4-0. Overall, he managed 729 games for the Addicks, just one fewer than the record held byJimmy Seed .West Ham United
After a short spell away from the game, which was augmented by work as a television pundit, Curbishley returned to management in December 2006 when he was appointed as manager of West Ham United. [cite news | date=
2006-12-13 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/6171205.stm| title=Curbishley named West Ham manager | publisher=BBC Sport | accessdate=2007-08-18] After looking certain for relegation, Curbishley led West Ham to seven wins out of their last nine games,beating Blackburn, Everton, Bolton, Wigan, Arsenal, Middlesbrough and a last-day 1-0 win at Manchester United, to keep West Ham in the Premier League [cite news | date=2007-05-14 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/6652329.stm| title=Magnusson hails West Ham survival | publisher=BBC Sport | accessdate=2007-08-18] . Before the start of the Premier League 2008/09 season, there was ever increasing speculation about his future at the club. Despite the club taking 6 points out of their first 3 games, he was unhappy with the club's transfer policy after key players were sold without his permission, a claim refuted by the West Ham United board of directors,and he tendered his resignation from the post, which was accepted by the board on the 3 September 2008.cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/sep/03/westhamunited.premierleague1|title=Alan Curbishley resigns as West Ham|date=2009-09-03|publisher=The Guardian|accessdate=2008-09-12]Managerial stats
:"As of 17 May 2008."
References
External links
*soccerbase (manager)|19|Alan Curbishley
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