Terry Gibson
Encyclopedia
Terence Bradley "Terry" Gibson (born 23 December 1962 in Walthamstow
) is an English
former footballer who played as a forward for several clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur
, Coventry City
, Manchester United
and Wimbledon
.
in Highams Park
, London
. He started his career at Tottenham Hotspur
, making his first team debut at the age of 17 years and 6 days, before moving to Coventry City
in 1983. In 1981, he was loaned out to the Swedish team GAIS
, who in that time played in the Swedish second division.
At Coventry, his impressive tally of 52 goals in just over 100 appearances (including a hat-trick in Coventry's famous 4-0 league win over Liverpool
at Highfield Road
in December 1983) earned him a high-profile transfer to Manchester United
in January 1986. His arrival came when Mark Hughes
was in the process of agreeing a transfer to FC Barcelona
of Spain
for the end of the season, and manager Ron Atkinson
was looking to buy a new striker. However, with Hughes not leaving until the close season and his strike partner Frank Stapleton
staying put, Gibson spent most of his time on the bench and his chances of first team action barely improved even when Hughes left as Atkinson had since signed striker Peter Davenport. The Reds had been top of the league when Gibson had joined them but a disappointing second half of the season sucked them down to fourth place, and Atkinson was sacked in early November following a terrible start to the 1986-87 season
. His successor Alex Ferguson
did not appear to want to keep Gibson at United, and with the arrival of Brian McClair
in the 1987 close season Gibson was on his way out of Old Trafford
after just 18 months.
He later was a part of the Wimbledon
team that won the 1988 FA Cup Final against Liverpool. Other clubs include Swindon Town
, Peterborough United
and Barnet
as player coach alongside Ray Clemence
, while he also had brief stints as a trialist with Charlton Athletic
and as a non-contract player with Tottenham, but did not play in either club's first team during those spells.
after retiring from playing in 1995. He was also coach of the Northern Ireland national team
, assisting his former Wimbledon team-mate Lawrie Sanchez
to victories over England, Spain and Sweden amongst others. Prior to this he was assistant manager at Wycombe Wanderers, also working alongside Sanchez where together they guided the third tier team to the FA Cup
semi-finals in 2001 where they were narrowly defeated 2-1 by Liverpool. He was also appointed as coach of Premier League club Fulham
in April 2007 assisting in the survival of the club in the Premier League. Gibson left the club after the departure of Sanchez in December 2007.
He is now working as a co-commentator on Sky Sports
' coverage of Spanish football. Gibson gained extensive experience of Spanish football whilst working as a Scout for Premier League clubs Bolton Wanderers
and Manchester City
. He combined this role with coaching Northern Ireland and was based in Southern Spain.
Walthamstow
Walthamstow is a district of northeast London, England, located in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It is situated north-east of Charing Cross...
) is an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
former footballer who played as a forward for several clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
, Coventry City
Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...
, Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
and Wimbledon
Wimbledon F.C.
Wimbledon Football Club was an English professional association football club from Wimbledon, south-west London. Founded in 1889 as Wimbledon Old Central Football Club, the club spent most of its history in amateur and semi-professional non-League football before being elected to the Football...
.
Playing career
Gibson was educated at Highams Park SchoolHighams Park School
Highams Park School is a mixed, comprehensive 11-18 school in Highams Park, London. The school is a dual specialist Technology College and Sports College.-Houses:The school has four houses:*Burnell *Payling *Gibson *Forest...
in Highams Park
Highams Park
Highams Park is a district in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, England, adjacent to Epping Forest. The forest at Highams Park contains a boating lake formed by Humphry Repton after damming the River Ching. There are parks and basic shopping facilities such as Budgens, but no major supermarket...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He started his career at Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
, making his first team debut at the age of 17 years and 6 days, before moving to Coventry City
Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...
in 1983. In 1981, he was loaned out to the Swedish team GAIS
GAIS
Göteborgs Atlet- och Idrottssällskap is a Swedish football club based in Gothenburg, currently playing in Allsvenskan. The club is commonly referred to simply as GAIS, while its fans also refers to the club as grönsvart or the mackerels because of the traditional shirt colours...
, who in that time played in the Swedish second division.
At Coventry, his impressive tally of 52 goals in just over 100 appearances (including a hat-trick in Coventry's famous 4-0 league win over Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
at Highfield Road
Highfield Road
The Highfield Road Stadium was a football stadium in the city of Coventry, England. It was the home ground for Coventry City F.C. until the club moved to the new Ricoh Arena after the 2005-06 season...
in December 1983) earned him a high-profile transfer to Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
in January 1986. His arrival came when Mark Hughes
Mark Hughes
Leslie Mark Hughes, OBE , is a former Welsh international footballer. As an international footballer, he made 72 appearances and scored 16 goals....
was in the process of agreeing a transfer to FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
for the end of the season, and manager Ron Atkinson
Ron Atkinson
Ronald Ernest Atkinson, commonly known as "Big Ron" and "Bojangles" is an English former football player and manager. In recent years he has become one of Britain's best-known football pundits...
was looking to buy a new striker. However, with Hughes not leaving until the close season and his strike partner Frank Stapleton
Frank Stapleton
Francis Anthony "Frank" Stapleton is an Irish former football player and manager. He is best remembered for his time at Arsenal, Manchester United and as a pivotal player for the Republic of Ireland...
staying put, Gibson spent most of his time on the bench and his chances of first team action barely improved even when Hughes left as Atkinson had since signed striker Peter Davenport. The Reds had been top of the league when Gibson had joined them but a disappointing second half of the season sucked them down to fourth place, and Atkinson was sacked in early November following a terrible start to the 1986-87 season
1986-87 in English football
The 1986–87 season was the 107th season of competitive football in England.- First Division :The First Division championship went to Everton in their final season under the management of Howard Kendall before his departure to Athletic Bilbao. His side overcame a spate of injuries to fight off...
. His successor Alex Ferguson
Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...
did not appear to want to keep Gibson at United, and with the arrival of Brian McClair
Brian McClair
Brian John McClair is a former Scottish international football player who played as a forward, notable for his near 11-year spell at Manchester United, as well as important tenures at Scottish clubs Celtic and Motherwell...
in the 1987 close season Gibson was on his way out of Old Trafford
Old Trafford
Old Trafford commonly refers to two sporting arenas:* Old Trafford, home of Manchester United F.C.* Old Trafford Cricket Ground, home of Lancashire County Cricket ClubOld Trafford can also refer to:...
after just 18 months.
He later was a part of the Wimbledon
Wimbledon F.C.
Wimbledon Football Club was an English professional association football club from Wimbledon, south-west London. Founded in 1889 as Wimbledon Old Central Football Club, the club spent most of its history in amateur and semi-professional non-League football before being elected to the Football...
team that won the 1988 FA Cup Final against Liverpool. Other clubs include Swindon Town
Swindon Town F.C.
Swindon Town Football Club are a team based in Swindon, Wiltshire. Currently in League Two, Swindon have been managed by Paolo Di Canio since 23 May 2011...
, Peterborough United
Peterborough United F.C.
Peterborough United Football Club are a professional English football club based in Peterborough. Peterborough United formed in 1934 and played in the old Midland League, which they won six times; eventually being admitted to the Football League in 1960, replacing Gateshead. Their home ground is...
and Barnet
Barnet F.C.
Barnet Football Club is an English football team from High Barnet, London, England, currently playing in Football League Two. The ground is in the town of Barnet within the London Borough of Barnet....
as player coach alongside Ray Clemence
Ray Clemence
Raymond Neal "Ray" Clemence, MBE is one of English and European football's most decorated goalkeepers ever and was part of the Liverpool team of the 1970s.-Scunthorpe United:...
, while he also had brief stints as a trialist with Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...
and as a non-contract player with Tottenham, but did not play in either club's first team during those spells.
Post-playing career
He had spells as youth team coach and caretaker manager at BarnetBarnet F.C.
Barnet Football Club is an English football team from High Barnet, London, England, currently playing in Football League Two. The ground is in the town of Barnet within the London Borough of Barnet....
after retiring from playing in 1995. He was also coach of the Northern Ireland national team
Northern Ireland national football team
The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...
, assisting his former Wimbledon team-mate Lawrie Sanchez
Lawrie Sanchez
Lawrence Philip "Lawrie" Sanchez is a former Northern Irish football manager, and a former player. He is currently the manager of League Two side Barnet...
to victories over England, Spain and Sweden amongst others. Prior to this he was assistant manager at Wycombe Wanderers, also working alongside Sanchez where together they guided the third tier team to the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
semi-finals in 2001 where they were narrowly defeated 2-1 by Liverpool. He was also appointed as coach of Premier League club Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
in April 2007 assisting in the survival of the club in the Premier League. Gibson left the club after the departure of Sanchez in December 2007.
He is now working as a co-commentator on Sky Sports
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
' coverage of Spanish football. Gibson gained extensive experience of Spanish football whilst working as a Scout for Premier League clubs Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....
and Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
. He combined this role with coaching Northern Ireland and was based in Southern Spain.