| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1972-11-01)1 November 1972 (age 52) | ||
| Place of birth | Erith, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Maldon & Tiptree (manager) Northern Ireland U21 (assistant manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1989–1991 | West Ham United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1991–1992 | West Ham United | 0 | (0) |
| 1992–1997 | Swindon Town | 164 | (22) |
| 1997–2003 | Manchester City | 206 | (39) |
| 2003–2004 | West Ham United | 27 | (1) |
| 2004–2006 | Ipswich Town | 58 | (0) |
| 2006 | →Doncaster Rovers (loan) | 13 | (0) |
| 2006–2008 | Doncaster Rovers | 2 | (1) |
| 2008 | Scunthorpe United | 0 | (0) |
| 2008 | →Mansfield Town (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 2008–2015 | Needham Market | 16 | (1) |
| Total | 491 | (64) | |
| International career | |||
| 1995–2002 | Northern Ireland | 32 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2015–2016 | Chatham Town | ||
| 2016–2018 | Maldon & Tiptree | ||
| 2020–2025 | Needham Market | ||
| 2025– | Maldon & Tiptree | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Kevin Horlock (born 1 November 1972) is a football manager and former professionalfootballer. He is the manager ofMaldon & Tiptree and assistant manager of theNorthern Ireland under-21 team.
As a player he was a midfielder who notably played forManchester City, for whom he played in three different divisions including thePremier League. He also played forSwindon Town,West Ham United,Ipswich Town,Doncaster Rovers andMansfield Town. Horlock was well known for his accurate set pieces and is particularly skilled at taking free kicks. Born in England, Horlock is a formerNorthern Ireland international earning 32 caps.
As a manager he has previously coached non-league teamsChatham Town andMaldon & Tiptree. He has also coached at youth team level forColchester United.
Horlock started his career as a trainee withWest Ham United in 1989 but did not graduate to the first team and moved toSwindon Town in August 1992 where he spent a single season in thePremier League in 1993–94.[2] Over the next few seasons he made his name as a versatile midfielder capable of playing on the left or in the centre, or at left-back. He also scored goals regularly, with 16 in the 1995–96 season.[3] He made 200 appearances in all competitions, scoring 26 goals, in five seasons at Swindon before joiningManchester City in January 1997.[4]
Horlock wasFrank Clark's first signing forManchester City for a transfer fee reported as being between £1.25 million and £1.5 million.[5] He made his debut in a 4–1Division One win againstOxford United and scored his first goal for Manchester City three weeks later against his former club Swindon. The following season, he was a regular in the first team until suffering an injury which sidelined him for four months.[6] During Horlock's absence, Clark was sacked and chairmanFrancis Lee later observed that Horlock was one of only two good purchases Clark made.[7] City were struggling at the foot of the table, and were relegated on the final day of the season despite a 5–2 win atStoke City, in which Horlock scored the fifth goal.[8] Horlock became Manchester City's primarypenalty taker in the 1998–99 season, a role in which he continued for the next three seasons. Later that season Horlock was sent off in a match againstAFC Bournemouth in unusual circumstances, receiving a second yellow card for "walking towards the referee in an aggressive manner while asking a question". Horlock's best season was probably the 2001–02 season where he was deployed in the holding midfield role and helpedManchester City earn promotion in stylish manner, the team scoring 108 goals.[9] One of the most notable moments of his career was the1999 season play-off final againstGillingham when he scored the first goal of the comeback when Manchester City won on penalties after being 2–0 down until the last five minutes of the game. Horlock wore the number 6 shirt[10] Horlock made 232 league and cup appearances, scoring 44 goals, in seven years at Manchester City.[11]
Horlock was signed byGlenn Roeder forWest Ham United for a fee of £300,000 in August 2003.[12] He made 27 league appearances for West Ham in the 2003–04 season[13] and scored once against Wigan[14] but fell out of favour with managerAlan Pardew and missed the play-offs games at the end of the season.[2] He was given a free transfer toIpswich Town in July 2004,[13] where he made 58 league appearances[11] before joiningDoncaster Rovers on loan in February 2006[15] and being allowed to leave Ipswich at the end of the 2005–06 season.[16] He joined Doncaster on a permanent two-year contract in May 2006[17] but missed the majority of the 2006–07 season due to a serious knee injury sustained in Doncaster's 3–1 victory overCrewe Alexandra in August 2006,[18] a game in which he also scored his first goal for the club.[19] A dislocated shoulder further restricted his opportunities, and in January 2008 his contract was cancelled by mutual consent.[20] The next day, Horlock was signed byScunthorpe United on a contract until the end of the season.[21] However, he did not feature in the first team and joinedMansfield Town in March 2008 on loan until the end of the 2007–08 season.[22]Horlock signed forEastern Counties League Premier Division sideNeedham Market as player/assistant manager on a twelve-month contract on 8 August 2008.[23]
Horlock was first capped in April 1995 versusLatvia and went on to make 32 appearances forNorthern Ireland,[2] before retiring from international football in 2003 for personal reasons.[24] In August 2013 Horlock was appointed assistant manager of theNorthern Ireland under 21 team.[25]
Horlock progressed through the coaching ranks at his former club Needham Market, where he had been assistant manager and had set up the club's academy in 2010. He left in 2015 when he was appointed asmanager ofIsthmian League Division One South sideChatham Town on 15 October 2015.[26] Horlock combined both his Needham Market and Chatham Town roles with the assistant manager's job to theNorthern Ireland under-21 team, a position he was appointed to in August 2013.[27]
Horlock left Chatham on 1 May 2016 to concentrate on his coaching roles with Northern Ireland andColchester United, having guided Chatham to a 19th-position finish in the league.[28] Horlock had been coaching Colchester's under-18 side alongsideWayne Brown. He was named as Brown's assistant for the under-21 side following a number of coaching changes at the U's. This coincided with the announcement that Horlock would take charge ofMaldon & Tiptree in the Isthmian League Division One North on 16 May, taking over fromSteve Ball.[29] He guided the Jammers to second position in the table, securing a place in the play-offs.[30]
In May 2018, Horlock and Wayne Brown switched roles, with Horlock taking charge of Colchester's under-23 team and Brown taking the reins at Maldon & Tiptree.[31]
On 20 June 2019, Horlock left Colchester to return toNeedham Market as the club's new academy manager.[32] In February 2020, he was appointed manager.[33] Having led the club to the Southern Premier Division Central title in the2023–24 season, he announced his resignation in February 2025 with the club sitting bottom of National League North.[34]
On 5 February 2025, Horlock was appointed manager of Maldon & Tiptree, returning to the Isthmian League Premier Division side after six-and-a-half years.[35]
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Chatham Town | 15 October 2015 | 1 May 2016 | 34 | 10 | 4 | 20 | 029.41 | |
| Maldon & Tiptree | 16 May 2016 | 22 May 2018 | 109 | 56 | 14 | 39 | 051.38 | |
| Total | 143 | 66 | 18 | 59 | 046.15 | |||
Swindon Town
Manchester City
Individual
