| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Terence Bradley Gibson | ||
| Date of birth | (1962-12-23)23 December 1962 (age 62) | ||
| Place of birth | Walthamstow, London, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)[1] | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1979–1980 | Tottenham Hotspur | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1979–1983 | Tottenham Hotspur | 18 | (4) |
| 1981 | →GAIS (loan) | 13 | (5) |
| 1983–1986 | Coventry City | 98 | (43) |
| 1986–1987 | Manchester United | 23 | (1) |
| 1987–1993 | Wimbledon | 86 | (22) |
| 1992 | →Swindon Town (loan) | 9 | (1) |
| 1993 | Peterborough United | 1 | (0) |
| 1994–1995 | Barnet | 32 | (5) |
| Total | 280 | (81) | |
| International career | |||
| 1978 | England Schoolboys | 8 | (5) |
| 1979–1980 | England Youth | 14 | (4) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Terence Bradley Gibson (born 23 December 1962) is an English former professionalfootballer who played as aforward for several clubs, includingTottenham Hotspur,Coventry City,Manchester United andWimbledon.
Born inWalthamstow, Gibson was educated atHighams Park School inHighams Park, London. He started his career atTottenham Hotspur, making his first team debut at the age of 17 years and 6 days, before moving toCoventry City in 1983. In 1981, he was loaned out to the Swedish teamGAIS, who in that time played in the Swedish second division.
At Coventry, his impressive tally of 52 goals in just over 100 appearances (including a hat-trick in Coventry's 4–0 league win overLiverpool atHighfield Road in December 1983)[2] earned him a high-profile transfer toManchester United in January 1986. His arrival came whenMark Hughes was in the process of agreeing a transfer toFC Barcelona of Spain for the end of the season, and managerRon Atkinson was looking to buy a new striker. However, with Hughes not leaving until the close season and his strike partnerFrank Stapleton staying put, Gibson spent most of his time on the bench and his chances of first team action barely improved even when Hughes left as Atkinson had since signed strikerPeter Davenport. United had been top of the league when Gibson had joined them but a disappointing second half of the season saw them drop down to fourth place, and Atkinson was sacked in early November following a poor start to the1986–87 season. His successorAlex Ferguson did not appear to want to keep Gibson at United, and with the arrival ofBrian McClair in the 1987 close season Gibson leftOld Trafford after just 18 months.
He later was a part of theWimbledon team that won the1988 FA Cup Final against Liverpool.[3] Other clubs includeSwindon Town,Peterborough United andBarnet as player coach alongsideRay Clemence, while he also had brief stints as a trialist withCharlton Athletic and as a non-contract player with Tottenham, but did not play in either club's first team during those spells.
Gibson had spells as youth team coach and caretaker manager atBarnet after retiring from playing in 1995. He was also coach of theNorthern Ireland national team, assisting his former Wimbledon teammateLawrie Sanchez to victories over England, Spain and Sweden among others. Prior to this he was assistant manager atWycombe Wanderers, also working alongside Sanchez where together they guided the third-tier team to theFA Cup semi-finals in 2001 where they were narrowly defeated 2–1 by Liverpool. He was also appointed as coach ofPremier League clubFulham in April 2007 assisting in the survival of the club in the Premier League. Gibson left the club after the departure of Sanchez in December 2007.[4]
He works as a co-commentator onSky Sports' coverage of Spanish football. Gibson gained extensive experience of Spanish football while working as a scout for Premier League clubsBolton Wanderers andManchester City.[5] He combined this role with coaching Northern Ireland and was based in Southern Spain.
Gibson is married to Paula and they have two children.[6] He is a Tottenham Hotspur fan, having played for them in the early part of his career.[7]
Wimbledon