Nigel Spink
| Nigel Spink | ||
 Nigel Spink (1982)
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| Personnel | ||
|---|---|---|
| Surname | Nigel Philip Spink | |
| birthday | August 8, 1958 | |
| place of birth | Chelmsford , England | |
| position | goal | |
| Juniors | ||
| Years | station | |
| West Ham United | ||
| Men's | ||
| Years | station | Games (goals) 1 |
| Chelmsford City | ||
| 1977-1996 | Aston Villa | 361 (0) |
| 1996-1997 | West Bromwich Albion | 19 (0) |
| 1997-2000 | Millwall FC | 44 (0) |
| 2000-2001 | Forest Green Rovers | 14 (0) |
| National team | ||
| Years | selection | Games (goals) |
| 1983 | England | 1 (0) |
| Stations as a trainer | ||
| Years | station | |
| Forest Green Rovers | ||
| 1 Only league games are given. | ||
Nigel Philip Spink (born August 8, 1958 in Chelmsford ) is a former English football goalkeeper . He was under contract with Aston Villa for almost two decades from 1977 and came in 1983 to his only international match for the England team . He experienced his sporting climax in the final of the European championship competition, when he came into the game with the experience of only one professional appearance for the injured Jimmy Rimmer and without conceding a goal in the 1-0 win against FC Bayern Munich .
Athletic career
Spink began his career as a student at West Ham United before moving to his home club Chelmsford City - while studying football, he completed an apprenticeship as a plasterer . Due to his consistently good performances, he caught the eye of the talent scouts at Aston Villa and the coach there Ron Saunders was ready to guide the just 18-year-old and five-month-old goalkeeper to Birmingham. Saunders made it clear to his new goalkeeper from the start that the road to becoming a regular goalkeeper should be long.
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On Boxing Day in 1979, Spink made his debut for Aston Villa when he faced long-time England goalkeeper Peter Shilton in the 2-1 loss to Nottingham Forest . The next competitive game followed almost two and a half years later and his second appearance within five years should be needed in the most important European club soccer game. After just ten minutes in the European Cup final against FC Bayern Munich, goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer felt a neck injury that had already hampered him considerably during training. Spink represented Rimmer without a mistake after his substitution, ensured with parades - including several times against Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Bernd Dürnberger - that Aston Villa remained without conceding a goal and was thus largely responsible for the victory of the after the only goal in the game by Peter Withe "Villans". However, with this achievement he did not automatically earn a regular place; Rimmer returned at the beginning of the 1982/83 season between the posts, but at the latest after his departure to Swansea City in the summer of 1983, Spink was promoted more often to the regular formation. Mervyn Day was a permanent competitor at this time and until his transfer to Leeds United in January 1985, the former young professional of 1975 came in place of Spink on 30 appearances in the two seasons 1983/84 and 1984/85.
In the rest of the 1980s Spink was undisputed "number 1" at Aston Villa, which was relegated to the second division during this time (1987), but then suddenly won the runner-up in the top division again (1990). In the last season mentioned, Spink did not miss a single game in the league. In the English national team, however, he did not get a chance and his debut on June 19, 1983 against Australia (1: 1) should be Spink's only international match. The emerging competition in the person of Les Sealey was Spink at Aston Villa at the beginning of the Premier League era, but when the up-and-coming Mark Bosnich was signed, the career of the mid-thirties in Birmingham slowly came to an end. In the 1994 league cup win against Manchester United , Spink was only on the bench.
After more than 450 competitive games for Aston Villa, Spink turned his back on the club and joined neighboring West Bromwich Albion . There he was still in 19 championship games in goal and on August 27, 1997, at 39 years and 19 days, became the oldest goalkeeper in the history of "WBA". He then ended his career at Millwall FC before making his last active appearances at Forest Green Rovers at the age of 42 . There he was after ten games together with his former teammate at Aston Villa, Dave Norton, player-coach . Spink ended his career at the end of the season, but stayed with the Rovers as a coach.
Spink later became a goalkeeping coach in Steve Bruce's coaching staff at Birmingham City and followed Bruce to other positions at Wigan Athletic and Sunderland . After Bruce and his entire coaching staff were laid off at Sunderland in 2011, Spink decided to leave the football business as the seven-day-a-week workload in the Premier League had become too much. Together with a friend, he founded the logistics company S&M Couriers and drives tours across Great Britain himself.
successes
- European champion cup: 1982
- European Supercup winner: 1982
- English league cup winner: 1994
Web links
- Official website of Spinks company
- Nigel Spink in the soccerbase.com database
Individual evidence
- ↑ They think it's all over: ex-footballers on life after the final whistle , Guardian article , April 24, 2015
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Spink, Nigel |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Spink, Nigel Philip |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English football goalkeeper |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 8, 1958 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Chelmsford |