.jpg) Spink in 1982 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nigel Philip Spink | ||
| Date of birth | (1958-08-08)8 August 1958 (age 67) | ||
| Place of birth | Chelmsford, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[1] | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1976 | West Ham United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1976–1977 | Chelmsford City | 17 | (0) |
| 1977–1996 | Aston Villa | 361 | (0) |
| 1996–1997 | West Bromwich Albion | 19 | (0) |
| 1997–2000 | Millwall | 44 | (0) |
| 2000–2001 | Forest Green Rovers | 14 | (0) |
| Total | 455 | (0) | |
| International career | |||
| 1983 | England | 1 | (0) |
| 1991 | England B | 2 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2000–2002 | Forest Green Rovers | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Nigel Philip Spink[2] (born 8 August 1958) is an English football coach and former professionalfootballer.
He played as agoalkeeper from 1976 until 2001. He made his name atAston Villa and also made one appearance forEngland at international level on the tour of Australia in 1983. He also played in theFootball League forWest Bromwich Albion andMillwall, and at non-league level forChelmsford City andForest Green Rovers, the latter he would go on to manage between 2000 and 2002. Spink later worked as a goalkeeping coach forBirmingham City,Wigan Athletic,Sunderland andBristol City.
Spink began his career with Writtle Minors F.C. at junior level[3] before going as a school boy toWest Ham United, but soon moved toChelmsford City and then, at the age of 18, toAston Villa. It was almost five years before his big break in the first team came along, and it came on the biggest stage of all – theEuropean Cup Final. Ten minutes into the1982 final againstBayern Munich, Villa's first choice goalkeeper,Jimmy Rimmer, was injured and substitute keeper Spink was called into action, having only made one previous appearance in the first team. Spink performed superbly, keeping a clean sheet, and Villa won the game 1–0. By coincidence, Spink and Rimmer are two of the four England goalkeepers with the shortest international career (45 minutes).[4]
He went on to make 460 appearances for Villa, making his last appearance as an outfielder againstQPR in December 1995, having replaced the injuredIan Taylor in the final minute.[5] He then moved to neighbouring clubWest Bromwich Albion in 1996, almost two decades after first joining Villa. Spink made 24 appearances in all for Albion, and became the oldest goalkeeper to appear for the club when, at the age of 39 years and 19 days, he kept goal in a League Cup tie against Cambridge Unitedon 27 August 1997,[2] a record since broken byDean Kiely at 39 years, 189 days.[6]
A £50,000 move in September 1997 took him down a division toMillwall in Division Two, and he continued playing atThe Den for another three seasons until he finally retired in June 2000, just before his 42nd birthday.
After retiring as a player, Spink had a two-year spell as manager ofForest Green Rovers in theConference National. He led Forest Green to the 2001FA Trophy final but they lost 1–0 againstCanvey Island atVilla Park.[7][8] He was eventually sacked in September 2002.[9]
He then worked underSteve Bruce atBirmingham City,Wigan Athletic andSunderland as a goalkeeping coach. He left Sunderland on 6 December 2011, following Bruce's dismissal a few days earlier.[10] Spink was goalkeeping coach atBristol City from February 2012[11]
After the end of the 2012–13 season, Spink left the game and started his own courier business.[12]
Aston Villa
Individual
Media related toNigel Spink at Wikimedia Commons