 Symons (front) as manager ofFulham in 2015 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Christopher Jerry Symons[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1971-03-08)8 March 1971 (age 54)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Basingstoke, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Portsmouth | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1988–1995 | Portsmouth | 160 | (10) |
| 1995–1998 | Manchester City | 124 | (4) |
| 1998–2001 | Fulham | 102 | (13) |
| 2001–2005 | Crystal Palace | 49 | (0) |
| Total | 435 | (27) | |
| International career | |||
| 1992–2001 | Wales | 37 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2003 | Crystal Palace (caretaker) | ||
| 2008–2009 | Colchester United (caretaker) | ||
| 2014–2015 | Fulham | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Christopher Jerry "Kit"Symons (born 8 March 1971) is a professionalassociation football coach and former player who was most recently assistant manager ofGreek Super League sideAtromitos.
As a player, he was adefender who began his career withPortsmouth before playing in thePremier League withManchester City,Fulham andCrystal Palace. He earned 36 international caps forWales, scoring twice.
Following retirement he has largely worked as a coach, although he was briefly manager of Fulham and had caretaker spells in charge of Crystal Palace andColchester United. He has predominantly worked as an assistant to his former teammateChris Coleman with Fulham, Wales,Sunderland,Hebei FC and currently Atromitos.
Symons was born inBasingstoke,Hampshire.[2] He made more than 100 league appearances for each of his first three clubs –Portsmouth,Manchester City andFulham. He played for Fulham until December 2001, when he was signed byCrystal Palace for £400,000, the club at which he finished his playing career after 60 senior appearances.[3][4]
Symons qualified to play for Wales because his father was fromCardiff.[5]He won 36 caps forWales, scoring twice.[6] His first appearance was against theRepublic of Ireland on 19 February 1992[5] and his last appearance was on 6 October 2001 againstBelarus.[7]
He becamecaretaker manager at Palace, and following the subsequent appointment ofIain Dowie he combined the roles of player and assistant manager, as the club gained promotion to thePremier League.[8]
AfterPeter Taylor was dismissed as Palace manager on 8 October 2007,[9] Symons was confirmed as caretaker manager before the appointment ofNeil Warnock three days later.[10] Palace did not play during this time.[11] Following Warnock's appointment, Symons stepped down from his position of assistant manager and left the club on 15 October 2007.[12]
Symons joinedColchester United on 16 January 2008 followingMicky Adams' resignation as assistant manager the previous week.[13] He was appointed as Colchester's caretaker manager on 22 September 2008 after the departure ofGeraint Williams.[14] He led the club to two wins in five games,[15] in the process becoming the bookie's favourite to get the job full-time.[16] However, he left the club afterPaul Lambert took over as manager on 9 October 2008.[17]
Symons was subsequently employed byFulham as Senior Scout and Academy Coach.[18]
In January 2012 Symons was appointed to theWales national team coaching staff under team managerChris Coleman.[19]
On 18 September 2014, Symons was confirmed as caretaker manager of Fulham following the departure ofFelix Magath.[20] On 29 October 2014, after a string of good results (5 wins in 9 games), Symons was announced as the full-time manager of Fulham.[21] Symons stated that it was "no secret this is a club that is very close to my heart and this is a job I've always really wanted to do."[22] Khan also stated that Symons' "passion for everything that Fulham represents came through loud and clear."[22]
In July 2015, Symons resigned his position with the Wales national team to concentrate on his role with Fulham.[23]
Symons was dismissed by Fulham on 8 November 2015, the day after a 5–2 defeat byBirmingham City atCraven Cottage.[24]
Symons rejoined Wales as coach in August 2016.[23] On 17 November 2017, Symons left his coaching role with Wales following the resignation of Chris Coleman.[25] On 19 November 2017, Symons was announced as assistant manager atSunderland following Coleman's appointment as manager.[26] Both were released from their contracts after Sunderland's relegation toLeague One was confirmed.[27] In June 2018, after Coleman's appointment as manager ofHebei China Fortune, Symons again joined him as assistant.[28]
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Crystal Palace (caretaker) | 3 November 2003 | 22 December 2003 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 033.3 | [29][30] |
| Crystal Palace (caretaker) | 8 October 2007 | 11 October 2007 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | !— | [9][10][11] |
| Colchester United (caretaker) | 22 September 2008 | 11 October 2008 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 040.0 | [14][15][31] |
| Fulham | 18 September 2014 | 8 November 2015 | 64 | 22 | 17 | 25 | 034.4 | [30] |
| Total | 78 | 27 | 20 | 31 | 034.6 | |||
