Colin West

For the English children's book author and illustrator, see Colin West (author).

Colin West

Personal information
Date of birth	(1962-11-13) 13 November 1962
Place of birth	Wallsend, England
Height
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
1979–1980	Sunderland
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1980–1985	Sunderland	102	(21)
1985–1986	Watford	45	(20)
1986–1987	Rangers	10	(2)
1987–1989	Sheffield Wednesday	45	(8)
1989–1992	West Bromwich Albion	73	(22)
1991	→ Port Vale (loan)	5	(1)
1992–1993	Swansea City	33	(12)
1993–1998	Leyton Orient	142	(42)
1997	→ Northampton Town (loan)	2	(0)
1998	→ Rushden & Diamonds (loan)	2	(3)
1998–1999	Rushden & Diamonds	6	(6)
1999–2000	Northwich Victoria	1	(0)
2000–2001	Hartlepool United	1	(0)
Total		467	(137)
Managerial career
2002	Hartlepool United (caretaker)
2007	Millwall (caretaker)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Colin West (born 13 November 1962) was an English footballer who played as a forward, and now works assistant manager to Keith Curle at Carlisle United. In all he scored 126 goals in 448 league games in the Football League, and also made numerous appearances in the Scottish Football League and at non-league level.

He began his career at Sunderland in 1981, playing more than 100 games for the "Black Cats" before moving on to Watford in March 1985. He was sold on to Rangers the following year for £180,000, before he returned to England with Sheffield Wednesday in September 1987 for £150,000. Two years later he signed with West Bromwich Albion, before he joined Swansea City in August 1992, following a loan spell at Port Vale. He moved on to Leyton Orient in July 1993 and spent five years at the club. In 1997 he was loaned out to Northampton Town, before he switched clubs to Conference club Rushden & Diamonds. The next year he signed with Northwich Victoria, before signing with Hartlepool United in 2000. After retiring in 2001, he spent the next ten years coaching at various clubs.

Playing career

West turned professional in July 1980, and made his debut for Sunderland on 20 April 1981 against West Bromwich Albion in a 2–1 defeat at The Hawthorns under caretaker-manager Mick Docherty. The club narrowly avoided relegation out of the First Division in 1981–82 under new boss Alan Durban, finishing just one place and two points above relegated Leeds United. They then finished four place and three points above the drop in 1982–83. West was the club's top scorer in 1983–84 with nine goals. The next season he scored three goals over the two legs in the League Cup semi-final win over Chelsea, but was left out of the Wembley final by manager Len Ashurst. Following this snub he joined league rivals Watford for £115,000 in March 1985. The "Black Cats" went on to lose their top-flight status in 1984–85, finishing two places and ten points short of safety. He scored 28 goals in 122 competitive appearances for Sunderland.

He was the club's top scorer in 1985–86 with 16 goals. In total he hit 23 goals in 56 league and cup appearances for Graham Taylor's Watford, before he moved on to Scottish Premier Division club Rangers for a £200,000 fee in May 1986, then managed by Graeme Souness. He played 12 games at Ibrox in the title winning 1986–87 campaign, scoring three goals. He returned to England to sign with First Division side Sheffield Wednesday for £150,000 in September 1987. The club finished eleventh in 1987–88 under Howard Wilkinson's stewardship, before heading into a relegation dogfight under Peter Eustace in 1988–89. West made 57 league and cup appearances at Wednesday, scoring 13 goals.

He signed with Second Division side West Bromwich Albion in exchange for Carlton Palmer in February 1989, but was unable to fire Brian Talbot's side into the play-offs in 1988–89, as they ended up two places and four points short of their target. The "Baggies" dropped to 20th in 1989–90, and were just two places and three points above relegated Bournemouth. The 1990–91 season was a disaster, and West Brom were relegated into the Third Division for the first time in their history. Not highly rated at the Hawthorns, he made 73 league appearances, scoring 22 goals, during his stay in the West Midlands. He joined Second Division club Port Vale on loan in November 1991, making five appearances and scoring one goal for John Rudge's side.

He was signed by Swansea City manager Frank Burrows in August 1992, and scored 12 goals in 33 Second Division appearances, as the "Swans" reached the play-offs in 1992–93, only to be beaten by his former club West Bromwich Albion at the semi-final stage. West switched to Second Division rivals Leyton Orient in July 1993, who were then by managed by his former boss Peter Eustace. The "O's" finished 18th in 1993–94, before being relegated in last place in 1994–95. The club struggled in the fourth tier, and posted a 21st-place finish in 1995–96 under Pat Holland, three positions above Torquay United, the Football League's bottom club. He scored five goals in 26 appearances in 1996–97, as Orient moved up to 16th under Tommy Taylor's stewardship. In total he made 142 league appearances for Leyton Orient, scoring 42 goals. In September 1997, he joined Second Division side Northampton Town on loan, but made just two goalless appearances for Ian Atkins' "Cobblers". Two months later he was loaned out to Rushden & Diamonds of the Football Conference, in a move that reunited him with former manager Brian Talbot, and helped to fire the "Diamonds" to a fourth-place finish in 1997–98. West signed with Rushden & Diamonds permanently for the 1998–99 season, and helped the club to another fourth-place finish. He moved on to Mark Gardiner's Conference strugglers Northwich Victoria in the 1999–2000 campaign, before ending his career at Hartlepool United, where he made just a single appearance in 1999–2000.

Coaching career

When West joined Hartlepool United in November 1999 he was appointed as assistant manager to Chris Turner. The pair helped the club avoid falling into the Conference when they arrived, before they led the club to three successive Third Division play-offs, though they never made it past the semi-finals. When Turner left the club to take over as manager of Sheffield Wednesday in November 2002, West briefly took charge of the first team on a caretaker basis. After a win and a draw, West left to team up with Turner at Hillsborough, and later followed him to Stockport County, before the pair left Edgeley Park in December 2005.

He then spent time as reserve team coach at Millwall, being appointed assistant caretaker-manager to Richard Shaw after Willie Donachie was dismissed. He later took up the reserve team coaching position at Southend United in December 2008. Three months later, with Turner back in charge at "Pools" on a caretaker basis, West left the position at Southend to return to Hartlepool as assistant coach. He left Hartlepool again in June 2010 after the club chose not to renew his contract. In February 2012, Notts County manager Keith Curle recruited West to work as a coach. He left the club a year later, when Curle was sacked. He was appointed assistant manager at Carlisle United when Curle took charge of the club in September 2014.

Statistics

Playing statistics

• Sourced from Colin West profile at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)

Club	Season	Division	League		FA Cup		Other		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Sunderland	1981–82	First Division	18	6	0	0	1	0	19	6
	1982–83	First Division	23	3	1	0	3	0	27	3
	1983–84	First Division	38	9	2	2	4	2	44	13
	1984–85	First Division	23	3	1	0	8	3	32	6
	Total		102	21	4	2	16	5	122	28
Watford	1984–85	First Division	12	7	0	0	0	0	12	7
	1985–86	First Division	33	13	8	3	3	0	44	16
	Total		45	20	8	3	3	0	56	23
Sheffield Wednesday	1987–88	First Division	25	7	4	1	7	4	36	12
	1988–89	First Division	20	1	2	0	2	0	24	1
	Total		45	8	6	1	9	4	60	13
Port Vale (loan)	1991–92	Second Division	5	1	0	0	0	0	5	1
West Bromwich Albion	1988–89	Second Division	17	8	0	0	0	0	17	8
	1989–90	Second Division	21	4	3	0	1	0	25	4
	1990–91	Second Division	28	8	1	1	2	0	31	9
	1991–92	Third Division	4	1	0	0	1	1	5	2
	1992–93	Third Division	3	1	0	0	0	0	3	1
	Total		73	22	4	1	4	1	81	24
Swansea City	1992–93	Second Division	33	12	5	2	6	1	44	15
Northampton Town (loan)	1997–98	Second Division	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Leyton Orient	1993–94	Second Division	43	14	2	0	3	0	48	14
	1994–95	Second Division	30	9	2	1	7	4	39	14
	1995–96	Third Division	39	16	1	0	1	1	41	17
	1996–97	Third Division	23	3	2	1	3	1	28	5
	1997–98	Third Division	7	0	0	0	1	0	8	0
	Total		142	42	7	2	15	6	164	50
Hartlepool United	1999–2000	Third Division	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
Career Total			448	126	34	11	54	17	536	154

Managerial statistics

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	From	To	Record
			P	W	D	L	Win %
Hartlepool United (caretaker)	7 November 2002	21 November 2002	2	1	1	0	50.0
Millwall (caretaker)	8 October 2007	7 November 2007	5	1	2	2	20.0
Total			7	2	3	2	28.6

Honours

with Rangers

• Scottish Football League Premier Division champion: 1986–87

External links

• Colin West career statistics at Soccerbase