| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Martin Ling[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1966-07-15)15 July 1966 (age 59)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | West Ham,[1] London, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Leyton Orient(Director of football) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1983–1986 | Exeter City | 117 | (14) |
| 1986 | Swindon Town | 2 | (0) |
| 1986–1991 | Southend United | 136 | (30) |
| 1991 | →Mansfield Town (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 1991–1996 | Swindon Town | 150 | (10) |
| 1996–2000 | Leyton Orient | 148 | (8) |
| 2000 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 8 | (1) |
| 2000–2001 | Purfleet | ||
| Total | 564 | (63) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2003–2009 | Leyton Orient | ||
| 2009–2011 | Cambridge United | ||
| 2011–2013 | Torquay United | ||
| 2015 | Swindon Town | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Martin Ling (born 15 July 1966) is an Englishfootball manager and former player currentlydirector of football forLeyton Orient. He played in over 100Football League matches for each ofExeter City,Southend United,Swindon Town andLeyton Orient, before moving into management. He led Orient for more than five years from 2003 until 2009, and went on to manageCambridge United,Torquay United and Swindon Town.
Born inWest Ham, Greater London, Ling started his career withExeter City. After a brief spell atSwindon Town in which he made just two appearances, Ling began a five-year spell withSouthend United in 1986. During this period he won promotion from theFourth Division twice, in 1987 and 1990. Swindon paid £15,000 to re-sign Ling in March 1991 where he played 150 league games. As a left-winger, he played in the Swindon side that won promotion to thePremier League (via theDivision One playoffs) in 1993.
Following his success at Swindon, Ling joinedLeyton Orient who he would later go on to coach and manage. He played over 150 games for Orient before transferring toBrighton and Hove Albion in 2000 for a short period. Later in 2000, Ling rejoined Orient as a coach whilst continuing to play semi-professionally forPurfleet in theIsthmian League until hanging up his boots in September 2001.
He was appointed manager of Leyton Orient in December 2003, after a spell as caretaker manager. In the2005–06 league campaign he guided Orient to automatic promotion fromLeague Two on the final day of the season, and then successfully kept the club in League One in the following season. The following season, Ling was able to bring Leyton Orient to 14th position in League One, after topping the table for three months early in the season. On 18 January 2009, with Leyton Orient in 21st place and in the relegation zone, the decision was taken for Ling and his assistantDean Smith to leave the club by mutual consent.[3]
After leaving Orient, Ling was hired byHibernian to set up a network of scouts in England for theScottish Premier League club, while also identifying players himself.[4] In May 2009, he unsuccessfully applied for the vacant managerial position atPort Vale.[4][5]
In July 2009, Ling was appointed the manager ofCambridge United in theConference National, succeedingGary Brabin who despite a successful first season had left the club due to differences with the club's chairman, George Rolls.[6][7] However, after only eight days at Cambridge, Ling resigned on 4 August 2009 citing irreconcilable differences with Rolls.[8] Cambridge United started the new season under the caretaker stewardship ofPaul Carden, but after chairman Rolls left the club on 5 August 2009, Ling said he would be keen to return as manager.[9] On 12 August, sixteen days after his initial appointment, Ling was reappointed as Cambridge manager with Carden as assistant.[10] The Cambridge board praised his honesty, integrity and strength of character during the period between his resignation and reappointment.[10]
After the dramatic off-field start to his Cambridge career, the on-field action started relatively calmly, with Ling guiding the club to 12th after three months of the season, including a 7–0 win overForest Green Rovers.[11] However, things took a dramatic turn for the worse when the club failed to win a league game between 31 October 2009 and 6 March 2010, which left them in the relegation zone in 21st place.[12] A good end to the season – Cambridge won 9 of the final 14 games – saw Ling guide the club out of the relegation battle to a 10th-place finish.[11]
Ling released a number of the 2009–10 squad at the end of that season, including established players such asDanny Potter andCourtney Pitt,[13] and began to rebuild the squad in time for the upcoming season with the signings of a number of players including formerHiston players Danny Wright andDanny Naisbitt in May 2010, as well as talented youngster Jai Reason.[14] The signings ofConal Platt,[15]Adam Miller (who reportedly turned down interest fromLeague One sidesSheffield Wednesday andBradford City to join the club),[16][17] and veteran strikerDaryl Clare, who arrived for a fee of £10,000,the signing led Ling to claim that his squad was all-but complete.[18]
The season started really badly, however, with no win coming until the 6th game, at home toEastbourne Borough.[19] Despite a shortFA Cup run, which ended in a 2–1 First Round replay at League OneHuddersfield Town, following a televised 0–0 at theAbbey, Ling's signings generally struggled on and off the field.[19][20] After four consecutive losses, including to lowlyHayes & Yeading, the board were forced to issue a vote of confidence in Ling's management.[21] Despite this, the club's poor form continued. Following a goalless draw withHiston, there were chants of "Ling Out". However Ling refused to quit, stating "they [the fans] can moan all they like, but I'm going nowhere".[22] Ling was sacked by the Cambridge United board after a further run of four straight defeats.[23]
Martin Ling unsuccessfully applied for theGrimsby Town managerial vacancy a month later.[citation needed]
He was appointedTorquay United manager on 13 June 2011 after the departure ofPaul Buckle toBristol Rovers.[24] With Buckle taking goalkeeperScott Bevan and forwardChris Zebroski with him to theMemorial Stadium, Ling made moves for strikersRene Howe andTaiwo Atieno, midfieldersChris McPhee andIan Morris, defendersBrian Saah,Daniel Leadbitter andJoe Oastler, and goalkeepersBobby Olejnik andMartin Rice.
Ling's first game in charge of United was the 2–1 friendly win overTiverton Town. His new-look Torquay side had a good pre-season, winning againstExeter City,Bristol City,Truro City andWeston-super-Mare as well as Tiverton, and losing just once, toBurnley. Ling also had a good start inLeague Two, drawing againstBurton Albion on the opening day of the season before recording away wins at Bristol Rovers andAldershot Town,[25] leaving Torquay fourth in the table after three league games.
On 2 January 2012, Ling guidedTorquay United to a 2–1 win overPlymouth Argyle atHome Park; having beatenthe Pilgrims 3–1 atPlainmoor earlier in the season, this ensured a first double win overPlymouth Argyle since 1972.[26] Although they occupied an automatic promotion spot on several occasions towards the end of the season, a late loss of form – which saw United fail to win any of their last five league fixtures – meant that Torquay had to settle for a play-off place. The club was drawn to playCheltenham Town in the play-off semi-finals, and, following a 2–0 loss atWhaddon Road, a 2–1 reverse in the home leg atPlainmoor condemned Torquay to another year inLeague Two.[27]
Ling made a number of transfers ahead of the2012–13 season, releasing forwardTaiwo Atieno, defendersLathaniel Rowe-Turner and Ed Palmer; signingCraig Easton,Ryan Jarvis,Nathan Craig,Michael Poke andAaron Downes on free transfers; and purchasingBilly Bodin fromSwindon Town for £70,000 – just £5,000 less than Torquay's record fee paid, forLeon Constantine in 2004.[28]
Torquay also sold Olejnik toPeterborough United for £300,000, defenderMark Ellis toCrewe Alexandra for £80,000, and midfielderEunan O'Kane toAFC Bournemouth for £150,000.
Ahead of the 2012–13 season, Ling targeted an automatic promotion berth, tellingBBC Radio Devon: "I would set my sights at the top three with the play-offs as the safety ... if you don't set out to finish where the success lies, you're selling yourself short."[29] Opening their league campaign with a 0–0 draw at newly promotedFleetwood Town, Torquay drew four of their first five fixtures, their other early result a 4–2 win overRochdale.
After taking the Torquay job, Ling wrote a weekly column in the local newspaperHerald Express, covering both his playing and managerial career as well as sport in general. On 28 January 2013 Assistant Shaun Taylor led Torquay to victory away at Exeter City, with Ling away suffering from an illness. It was from this point that Ling commenced a four-month absence from the club to receive treatment for depression. In his absenceAlan Knill was appointed caretaker manager until such time as Ling was fit to resume his post.[30] On 29 April 2013 Torquay United controversially announced that it would be terminating Ling's contract with immediate effect, saying that "the decision is based purely on footballing grounds, after falling from play-off contenders last season to just escaping relegation this time around, and early exits in all three cup competitions." However the club thanked Ling for his work over the last two years and wished him every success in the future.[31]
On 3 November 2015, Ling was named as manager of League One sideSwindon Town, a club he had two spells with as a player. However, Ling resigned on 29 December 2015 for health reasons.
On 23 June 2017 Ling was named as director of football of Conference sideLeyton Orient[32]
In August 2019 Ling discussed hismental health problems.[33]
Individual
Leyton Orient
Individual
