| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ian Robert Brightwell[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1968-04-09)9 April 1968 (age 56) | ||
| Place of birth | Lutterworth, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1982–1986 | Manchester City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1986–1998 | Manchester City | 321 | (18) |
| 1998–2000 | Coventry City | 0 | (0) |
| 2000 | →Walsall (loan) | 10 | (0) |
| 2000–2002 | Walsall | 71 | (0) |
| 2002 | Stoke City | 4 | (0) |
| 2002–2004 | Port Vale | 37 | (0) |
| 2004–2006 | Macclesfield Town | 21 | (0) |
| Total | 464 | (18) | |
| International career | |||
| 1988–1989 | England U21 | 4 | (2) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2004 | Port Vale (caretaker) | ||
| 2006 | Macclesfield Town (caretaker) | ||
| 2007–2008 | Macclesfield Town | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ian Robert Brightwell (born 9 April 1968) is an English former professionalfootballer andmanager. As a player, he was adefender from 1986 to 2006 and played 468 league games in a 20-year career in theFootball League andPremier League.
He started his professional career atManchester City in 1986, having won theFA Youth Cup with the club, and remained atMaine Road for the next 12 years, helping City to winpromotion out of theSecond Division in1988–89. He joinedCoventry City in 1998 before moving on toWalsall two years later. He helped the "Saddlers" to win the Second Divisionplay-offs in2001 before he joinedStoke City in March 2002. After playing for the "Potters" in their Second Division play-off success in2002, he moved on toPort Vale. He was appointed as acoach atVale Park in June 2003 before joiningMacclesfield Town as a player-coach a year later. He served the club ascaretaker manager in October 2006 before being given the job permanently in June 2007. He leftMoss Rose in February 2008 after a poor start to the 2007–08 season.
Brightwell began his career at Manchester City, signing schoolboy forms at 14. He was part of the1986FA Youth Cup winning team that also included the likes ofPaul Lake andDavid White. Brightwell made his City debut underBilly McNeill on 23 August 1986 againstWimbledon and therefore came into the first-team picture just as City wererelegated out of theFirst Division in1986–87 under McNeill and assistant turned replacementmanagerJimmy Frizzell. Brightwell became known as a versatile player who played at every single outfield position during his career at the club; however, he was most commonly used either as a right-back or on the right side of midfield. City then finished ninth in theSecond Division in1987–88, beforeMel Machin led them topromotion in1988–89 with a second-place finish; they ended 17 points behind championsChelsea and one point ahead of third-placeCrystal Palace. Brightwell was alsocapped four times byEngland under-21s, scoring twice, in 1988 and 1989. He did not score many goals but did memorably shoot into the top corner from 25 yards (23 m) on 3 February 1990 to earn City a draw withrivalsManchester United atOld Trafford.[3] They ended the1989–90 season in 14th place under short-term bossHoward Kendall, behind United only ongoal difference.
City shot up the table in1990–91 underPeter Reid, finishing in fifth place, though still 21 points behind championsArsenal. He helped City to record a fifth-place finish in1991–92, some 12 points behind championsLeeds United. They then finished ninth in1992–93, the first-ever season ofPremier League football. New managerBrian Horton led the club to disappointing 16th and 17th-place finishes in1993–94 and1994–95; Brightwell did not feature in the first-team however, as he snapped hispatellatendon, and was sidelined for more than a year. He did eventually recover and returned to the City line-up for the1995–96 campaign underAlan Ball, but could not prevent the "Sky Blues" from being relegated in 18th spot, finishing behindSouthampton due to their inferior goal difference.
The1996–97 season was turbulent, with Ball being replaced bySteve Coppell, who was in turn replaced byFrank Clark; Brightwell remained a constant first-team presence however, making 39 appearances. He played just 25 games in1997–98 though. He was powerless to prevent City from being relegated to the third tier for the first time inthe club's history. He was given atestimonial match and afree transfer, having made 382 league and cup appearances, scoring 19 goals, in an 18-year association with theMaine Road club.
Brightwell joinedPremier League sideCoventry City for the1998–99 season, but was given just oneLeague Cup game by managerGordon Strachan. He leftHighfield Road at the end of the1999–2000 season without having featured for the "Sky Blues" in the league. He wasloaned out toFirst Division sideWalsall at the end of the1999–2000 campaign, playing ten games, but could not prevent the "Saddlers" from suffering relegation.
Despite Walsall's relegation, Brightwell had impressed managerRay Graydon during his time at theBescot Stadium and joined the club permanently in the summer of 2000. He played 54 games in the2000–01 campaign, helping the club to qualify for theSecond Divisionplay-offs with a fourth-place finish. He played the full 120 minutes of theplay-off final at theMillennium Stadium, as Walsall beatReading 3–2 afterextra time, having to come from behind twice in the game.
Brightwell returned to the third tier when he joinedGuðjón Þórðarson'sStoke City in March 2002.[4] He played just four league games for the "Potters" in2001–02, though came on forTony Dinning 85 minutes into Stoke's 2–0 win overBrentford in theplay-off final.[5]
In August 2002 Brightwell moved on tolocal rivalsPort Vale, who were back in the Second Division under the management of his former boss atManchester City,Brian Horton.[6] He played 38 games for the "Valiants" in2002–03, before he was appointed as acoach atVale Park in June 2003.[7] He featured three times for the Vale first-team in2003–04, before he left the club in May 2004.[8] He also served the club ascaretaker manager for less than 24 hours between Brian Horton's resignation andMartin Foyle's appointment in February 2004.
Brightwell then joined Brian Horton atMacclesfield Town as areserve team coach and also remained registered as a player. He played sixLeague Two and twoFA Cup games for the "Silkmen" in2004–05, all in the first half of the campaign. He then played 11 league games in the2005–06 campaign, and played five league and cup games at the start of the2006–07 season.
Brightwell was appointed caretaker manager atMacclesfield Town on 2 October 2006 after the sacking of manager ofBrian Horton,[9] before the board appointedPaul Ince as permanent manager three weeks later; Ince took them to a 22nd-place finish in2006–07, one place and two points above the relegation zone. Ince resigned on 24 June 2007 to take over atMilton Keynes Dons. Macclesfield appointed Brightwell as permanent manager, withAsa Hartford as his assistant.[10] The pair left the club in February 2008 after a poor run of results and were replaced byKeith Alexander; Brightwell was allowed to stay atMoss Rose as Alexander's assistant manager, but declined the offer.[11] Alexander kept the club in theFootball League with a 19th-place finish in2007–08.
In October 2008, Brightwell was brought back to Port Vale byDean Glover in a temporary coaching capacity.[12] He spent five months with the "Valiants", leaving the club at the end of February 2009.[13] He appeared in the Master's Tournament at the2009 HKFC International Soccer Sevens, and began working atBBC Radio Manchester as a co-commentator.[14]
Brightwell was born inLutterworth but grew up inCongleton, with his parents; Olympic 800m gold medalistAnn Packer and 400m runnerRobbie Brightwell.[15] His younger brotherDavid also played for Manchester City. He is a married man and has two children with his wife Sally.[16]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other[a] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Manchester City | 1986–87 | First Division | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 |
| 1987–88 | Second Division | 33 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 6 | |
| 1988–89 | Second Division | 26 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 6 | |
| 1989–90 | First Division | 28 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 2 | |
| 1990–91 | First Division | 33 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 42 | 0 | |
| 1991–92 | First Division | 40 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 1 | |
| 1992–93 | Premier League | 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 1 | |
| 1993–94 | Premier League | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1994–95 | Premier League | 30 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 0 | |
| 1995–96 | Premier League | 29 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 0 | |
| 1996–97 | First Division | 37 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 2 | |
| 1997–98 | First Division | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | |
| Total | 321 | 18 | 23 | 1 | 31 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 382 | 19 | ||
| Coventry City | 1998–99 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Walsall (loan) | 1999–2000 | First Division | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Walsall | 2000–01 | Second Division | 44 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 54 | 0 |
| 2001–02 | First Division | 27 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 0 | |
| Total | 71 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 85 | 0 | ||
| Stoke City | 2001–02 | Second Division | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Port Vale | 2002–03 | Second Division | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 0 |
| 2003–04 | Second Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 37 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 0 | ||
| Macclesfield Town | 2004–05 | League Two | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 2005–06 | League Two | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2006–07 | League Two | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 464 | 18 | 31 | 1 | 40 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 548 | 19 | ||
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Macclesfield Town | 2 October 2006 | 23 October 2006 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 000.0 |
| Macclesfield Town | 29 June 2007 | 27 February 2008 | 38 | 7 | 13 | 18 | 018.4 |
| Total[20] | 42 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 016.7 | ||
Manchester City
Walsall
Stoke City
