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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ian Simon Woan[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1967-12-14)14 December 1967 (age 57) | ||
| Place of birth | Heswall, England | ||
| Position(s) | Left winger | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Everton assistant coach from January 2023-January 2025 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1980–1983 | Manchester United | ||
| 1983–1985 | Everton | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1985 | Heswall | ||
| 1985–19?? | Caernarfon Town | ||
| 19??–1989 | Newtown | (38) | |
| 1989–1990 | Runcorn | 36 | (12) |
| 1990–2000 | Nottingham Forest | 218 | (41) |
| 2000 | Barnsley | 3 | (0) |
| 2000–2001 | Swindon Town | 22 | (3) |
| 2001 | Columbus Crew | 3 | (0) |
| 2001 | Miami Fusion | 1 | (0) |
| 2002–2003 | Shrewsbury Town | 50 | (7) |
| 2003–2004 | Syracuse Salty Dogs | 41 | (3) |
| 2007 | Hucknall Town | 0 | (0) |
| Total | 352 | (104) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2009 | Portsmouth (caretaker) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ian Simon Woan (born 14 December 1967) is an English football coach and former professionalfootballer who was assistant manager ofPremier League sideEverton.
As a player, he was aleft winger who notably played in thePremier League forNottingham Forest, where he overall played a decade at theCity Ground, winning two promotions and playing in theUEFA Cup. He also had brief spells in theFootball League withBarnsley,Swindon Town andShrewsbury Town, as well as time inMajor League Soccer withColumbus Crew andMiami Fusion before finishing his career with lower-league stateside teamSyracuse Salty Dogs although in 2007 he briefly came out of retirement withHucknall Town. Prior to his professional career he had played in Wales withCaernarfon Town andNewtown and with non-league sidesHeswall andRuncorn.
Following retirement, Woan returned to Swindon Town as a youth team coach before joiningRushden & Diamonds as a first team coach. He returned to Forest as a youth team coach in 2007 before joiningPortsmouth, where in 2009 he took over as caretaker manager. He has since held the role of assistant manager atWatford before joining Burnley. He parted company with Burnley on 15 April 2022. On 30 January 2023, Woan was appointed assistant manager ofEverton.[2]He held this position until 9th January 2025.
Born inHeswall,Cheshire, Woan started his career in 1985 atEverton but never made a start for the then First Division club. He spent five years playing in the lower leagues, including spells atHeswall, Welsh sidesCaernarfon Town andNewtown, andRuncorn. His big break came, aged 22, when on 14 March 1990 he joined first division sideNottingham Forest for a fee of £80,000.[3]
Woan did not make an appearance for the Midlanders in the latter half of the1989–90 season, his debut coming almost ten months after joining the club. He made his first appearance on 2 January 1991 as a substitute in a 6–2 victory overNorwich City and went on to make 12 appearances that season, scoring three league goals. He started the1991 FA Cup final againstTottenham Hotspur, and was taken off after 63 minutes forSteve Hodge. Forest went on to lose the match in extra time.
On 20 April 1992, Woan scored the first goal in a 2–1 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford, as United's title challenge imploded in the run-in of the last season of the old First Division.
Praised for his languid left foot, attacking flair, crossing and shooting ability, but questioned over his lack of pace, Woan established himself as one of the most prominent figures in the Forest team.[citation needed] Forest finished in third place in the1994–95 season, booking aUEFA Cup place for the following year.
In the fifth round of the 1995–96 FA Cup, Woan scored two long-range free-kicks, the second from an acute angle, to secure a 2–2 draw with Tottenham. Woan later said "I knew I wouldn't stand a chance [of taking the free kicks] hadStuart [Pearce] not been injured. I've tried that [the second free-kick] a hundred times and it always ends up in the Trent!"[citation needed] Forest went on to win the replay atWhite Hart Lane 3–1 on penalties after a 1–1 draw, with Woan converting hisspot kick. Forest made it to the quarter-finals of both the FA Cup and UEFA Cup in1995–96 but finished 9th in the league and failed to qualify for Europe. In the penultimate game of the season, Forest facedNewcastle United, who were still hoping to secure their firstPremier League title. In an echo of his late intervention in 1992, Woan scored a long distance effort and the game finished 1–1. The title subsequently went toManchester United.
Following managerFrank Clark's departure in December 1996, Woan's Forest career began to suffer although the winger was the only player to play for the Reds in each year of the 1990s. During his ten-year spell at the club, Woan made 189 league appearances – as well as 32 substitute appearance – delivering 31 goals during his time.
Upon leaving Forest in 2000, and after a short trial withBolton Wanderers, Woan signed forSwindon Town and in the 2000/01 season, producing three goals from 25 appearances.
A year later Woan found himself joining American teamColumbus Crew. Married to an American wife, the then 33-year-old winger endured a difficult season inMajor League Soccer with the team winning just two of their eight opening matches. This led to the replacing of managerTom Fitzgerald, the man who had secured Woan's contract in America.
At the end of the season, Woan was traded to theMiami Fusion and finished his MLS career with them.[4]
In 2002, Woan returned to England and signed for strugglingShrewsbury Town, who were at the bottom of the Third Division. Woan teamed up with ex-Forest strikerNigel Jemson and the pair notably inspired the Shrews to one of their greatest ever results. TheShropshire outfit defeatedEverton – who featured a youngWayne Rooney – in January 2003 in the third round of theFA Cup, with Jemson scoring twice. It was Woan's last minute cross that ensured thePremier League side's fate, but the Shrews were knocked out of the competition 4–0 byChelsea the next round in a televised match. Shrewsbury were relegated that season and Woan returned to America.
Woan then joined theSyracuse Salty Dogs of theA-League (the U.S. second tier) and competed in another season in the States before deciding to return to England.
Woan headed back to Swindon Town, taking charge of the under 18 side at theCounty Ground until deciding to move toRushden & Diamonds as first team coach forPaul Hart in July 2006. Following the sacking of Hart later on in 2006, Woan then returned to Nottingham Forest, charged with coaching some of the youngsters coming through the Forest Academy. In March 2007 he was signed forHucknall Town by one-time teammateAndy Legg, but didn't play in any games.
On 7 July 2007, Premier League outfitPortsmouth announced that Woan had joined as coach of their Under-18s. In November 2009, he was appointed joint caretaker manager at Portsmouth along withPaul Groves, following the dismissal of Hart. His appointment only lasted several days, and he moved aside for the arrival ofAvram Grant as the full-time manager.
In the summer of 2010, following the departure of Grant toWest Ham United and the appointment ofSteve Cotterill as the new Portsmouth manager, Woan was appointed first team coach. In June 2011, he joinedWatford as assistant manager.
In the summer of 2012, Woan andTony Loughlan departed Watford afterGianfranco Zola's appointment as manager.
On 30 October 2012, Woan linked up with former management partnerSean Dyche atBurnley.[5] Woan was dismissed along with Dyche on 15 April 2022.[6]
On 30 January 2023, Woan was appointed assistant manager ofEverton.[7]
He is the son ofAlan Woan who also played professionally, most notably forNorthampton Town,Crystal Palace andAldershot.[8]
He is married to anAmerican woman named Kelly.[9]