 Hitchcock at West Ham, April 2010 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1962-10-05)5 October 1962 (age 63) | ||
| Place of birth | Canning Town, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1] | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | New England Revolution (goalkeeping coach) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| –1983 | Barking | ||
| 1983–1984 | Nottingham Forest | 0 | (0) |
| 1984 | →Mansfield Town (loan) | 14 | (0) |
| 1984–1988 | Mansfield Town | 168 | (0) |
| 1988–2001 | Chelsea | 96 | (0) |
| 1990 | →Northampton Town (loan) | 17 | (0) |
| 1993 | →West Ham United (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2001–2004 | Watford | 0 | (0) |
| Total | 295 | (0) | |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Kevin Hitchcock (born 5 October 1962) is an English football coach and former professionalfootballer who is goalkeeping coach ofMLS sideNew England Revolution.
As a player, he was agoalkeeper who made nearly 300 league appearances, notably playing in thePremier League forChelsea between 1988 and 2001. He also had spells in the top flight forNottingham Forest,West Ham United andWatford that yielded no appearances. He played the rest of his career in theFootball League forMansfield Town andNorthampton Town.[1]
Since his retirement he was worked at numerous clubs as a goalkeeping coach, includingBlackburn Rovers,Manchester City, West Ham United,Fulham,Queens Park Rangers,Birmingham City andChennaiyin FC.
Hitchcock was born inCanning Town,London, and playednon-league football forBarking, having been on Chelsea Youth books for 1978/9 but playing just 2 games plus 1 substitution appearance in their Junior League team, before being released at the end of the season. He joinedNottingham Forest in 1983 for a fee of £15,000. He spent time on loan toMansfield Town in 1984, and joined the club for a fee of £140,000 at the end of the 1983–84 season without having played for Forest's first team.[1] He stayed with Mansfield for four seasons, helping the club topromotion from theFourth Division in 1986,[2] and played a major part in their 1987Football League Trophy victory againstBristol City, saving two penalties in theshootout.[3][4]
Hitchcock joinedChelsea for £250,000 in March 1988, and made his debut on 26 March in a 1–0 defeat toSouthampton. He remained at Chelsea until 2001 and made 96 league appearances, 4 of which were from the bench.[1] His final appearance for Chelsea came against Tottenham in May 1999.[5] Bad luck with injuries left him stuck behind numerous other goalkeepers in the pecking order which was one of the main reasons for him making so few appearances in all that time at the club.[3] He left Chelsea in 2001 to take up the post of goalkeeping coach atWatford, who had just appointedGianluca Vialli, late of Chelsea, as their new manager.[6]
He left Watford in 2004 to link up with former Chelsea teammateMark Hughes as goalkeeping coach atBlackburn Rovers, following him toManchester City in 2008. On 19 December 2009, he left the club alongside Mark Hughes[7]
In March 2010, he was appointed goalkeeping coach at West Ham United,[8] replacingLuděk Mikloško, but as of June 2010 he left the club along withSteve Clarke. In August 2010 he was appointedFulham's primary goalkeeping coach and he left Fulham in June 2011 with the arrival of new Fulham managerMartin Jol, who appointedHans Segers as his new goalkeeping coach.[9] In January 2012 Hitchcock linked up, once again, with former Chelsea teammateMark Hughes atQueens Park Rangers to take up the post of goalkeeping coach.[citation needed] He left the club in 2015 when a contract renewal was not offered.[citation needed]
In December 2016, Hitchcock was appointed goalkeeping coach at Birmingham City by new manager and former teammate Gianfranco Zola.[citation needed] He remained with the club under Zola's successorsHarry Redknapp andSteve Cotterill, but left when Cotterill was sacked in March 2018 with the team in the relegation zone.[10]
In July 2018, he was appointed as a goalkeeping coach atIndian Super League clubChennaiyin FC, working underJohn Gregory.[11]
On 30 April 2019, Hitchcock moved toMLS to become the goalkeeping coach atNew England Revolution.[12]
Hitchcock's son,Tom, also played football professionally as aforward.[13]
Mansfield Town
Chelsea
Individual
