| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Colin John Gibson[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1960-04-06)6 April 1960 (age 65)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Bridport, England[2] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[3] | ||
| Position(s) | Left-back Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1976–1978 | 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 | 364 | (25) | |
| International career | |||
| 1981 | England U21 | 1 | (0) |
| 1984 | England B | 1 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Colin John Gibson (born 6 April 1960) is an English formerfootballer. He was an attackingleft back who could also play inmidfield. In a 17-year career, he scored 34 goals in 448 league and cup appearances and also woncaps for theEngland under-21 andEngland B teams.
Gibson started his career atAston Villa in 1978 and made around 200 appearances for the club in seven years, as well as winning theFirst Division title, theEuropean Cup and theEuropean Super Cup. He moved on toManchester United in 1985, and during his five years at United he played 79 league games. He signed withLeicester City in 1990, after a shortloan atPort Vale. After four years with the "Foxes" in which he helped the club to winpromotion to thePremier League via theplay-offs in1994, hetransferred toBlackpool, before finishing his career by winning promotion out of theThird Division withWalsall in 1995.
Born inBridport, Dorset, Gibson started his career as ayouth team scholar atAston Villa in July 1976 and turned professional after he played in the 1978FA Youth Cup defeat toCrystal Palace.[2] After making his debut againstBristol City on 18 November 1978, he broke into the first-team in aRon Saunders side narrowly missing out on European qualification in1978–79 and1979–80. He faced competition fromGary Williams,Mike Pejic, andEamonn Deacy for the left-back spot. He went on to make 21 appearances in the1980–81 season, as the "Villans" were crownedFirst Division champions. He then played atWembley in the1981 FA Charity Shield, as Villa shared the trophy after a 2–2 draw withTottenham Hotspur.[2] In the1981–82 campaign, he featured in both legs of theEuropean Cup wins overIcelandersValur and German sideBerliner FC Dynamo, but remained on the bench for the1982 European Cup final victory overBayern Munich atDe Kuip. He took the trophy out on a night of drinking withGordon Cowans and lost it before it was returned to him the following day by police officers.[4]
Gibson featured in both legs of Villa's1982 European Super Cup victory overBarcelona, as Villa overturned a 1–0 defeat at theCamp Nou to claim anextra time victory atVilla Park.Tony Barton's side went on to reach the quarter-finals of the European Cup in1982–83, where they were knocked out by aJuventus side fronted byMichel Platini. This was the end of the club's glory years, as they could only manage tenth-place league finishes in1983–84 and1984–85. VillamanagerGraham Turner allowed Gibson to betransferred toManchester United in November 1985 for a fee of £275,000.[5]
Gibson scored five goals in 22 games in the1985–86 campaign, scoring his first goal for United in a 1–0 New Year's Day victory overBirmingham City atOld Trafford.[6] He also scored goals againstManchester City at home andLiverpool atAnfield, earning United a draw on both occasions. He played 26 games in the1986–87 season, as an under-performing United side cost managerRon Atkinson his job.[6] Gibson made 33 starts in the1987–88 season, as the "Red Devils" finished second in the league behind Liverpool.[6] After the season ended he was rarely involved in first-team games due to managerAlex Ferguson's decision to fieldLee Martin as left-back. He was also beset with injury problems, which kept him out of action for protracted periods. He played three first-team games in the entire1988–89 season.[6] By the end of the1989–90 season, he was fit and had appeared in the firstFA Cup semi-final againstOldham Athletic.[6]
In September 1990, he joinedSecond Division clubPort Vale onloan, scoring on his debut at left-back in a 3–2 defeat byHull City atBoothferry Park on 29 September.[7] He leftVale Park and returned to Manchester the next month after a further five games forJohn Rudge's "Valiants".[7]
He left United forDavid Pleat'sLeicester City in December 1990 for £100,000.[8] He did well atFilbert Street, helping the "Foxes" to avoidrelegation from the Second Division in1990–91 undercaretaker managerGordon Lee. He then played his part in the revival under new managerBrian Little. City finished fourth in1991–92, before losing 1–0 toBlackburn Rovers in theplay-off final. They again suffered heartbreak in1992–93, reaching theplay-off final again, only to lose 4–3 toSwindon Town (Gibson was an unusedsubstitute).[9] A third consecutiveplay-off final appearance came at the end of the1993–94 campaign, and this time Leicester wonpromotion with a2–1 victory overDerby County as Gibson played the game as a central midfielder.[10] During his time at City he became the first substitute to be substituted, and the first substitute to besent off.[8]
Gibson never featured for Leicester in thePremier League, however, and instead signed forBlackpool. He played just two Second Division games forSam Allardyce's "Seasiders" at the start of the1994–95 season, before departingBloomfield Road forThird Division clubWalsall. He played 33 league games to helpChris Nicholl's "Saddlers" to win promotion as the division's runners-up in1994–95. He then departed theBescot Stadium and retired from theFootball League.
Gibson won onecap for theEngland under-21s on 8 September 1981, in a 0–0 draw withNorway.[11] He also won one cap for theEngland B team on 13 November 1984, in a 2–0 win overNew Zealand at theCity Ground.[12]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Aston Villa | 1978–79 | First Division | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| 1979–80 | First Division | 31 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 40 | 2 | |
| 1980–81 | First Division | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 0 | |
| 1981–82 | First Division | 23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 36 | 0 | |
| 1982–83 | First Division | 23 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 33 | 2 | |
| 1983–84 | First Division | 28 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 39 | 5 | |
| 1984–85 | First Division | 40 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 44 | 6 | |
| 1985–86 | First Division | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 2 | |
| Total | 185 | 10 | 12 | 1 | 41 | 6 | 238 | 17 | ||
| Manchester United | 1985–86 | First Division | 18 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 24 | 6 |
| 1986–87 | First Division | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 1 | |
| 1987–88 | First Division | 29 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 36 | 2 | |
| 1988–89 | First Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1989–90 | First Division | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | |
| Total | 79 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 97 | 10 | ||
| Port Vale (loan) | 1990–91 | Second Division | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| Leicester City | 1990–91 | Second Division | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| 1991–92 | Second Division | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 23 | 3 | |
| 1992–93 | Second Division | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 | |
| 1993–94 | Second Division | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 0 | |
| Total | 59 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 73 | 4 | ||
| Blackpool | 1994–95 | Second Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Walsall | 1994–95 | Third Division | 33 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 40 | 1 |
| Career total | 364 | 25 | 28 | 1 | 66 | 8 | 448 | 34 | ||
Aston Villa
Leicester City
Walsall