Brian Horton

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Brian Horton (born February 4, 1949 in Hednesford) is an English football manager, currently out of a job after being sacked by Macclesfield Town on October 1, 2006. Horton is one of the few managers in English football to have taken charge of teams in more than a thousand games.

Horton was a respected journeyman midfield player who started his career with Walsall and his home town Hednesford before signing for Port Vale in July 1970. Legend has it that his transfer fee was a pint of shandy, as the cash-strapped potteries club haggled with the Hednesford Town chairman by plying him with alcohol. Vale sold Horton (much to the disappointment of their fans) to Brighton and Hove Albion in March 1976 for a fee of £30,000

Horton later moved to Luton Town and his most famous moment as a player was Luton's last-day relegation escape at Manchester City in 1983, in which manager David Pleat danced across the pitch in infamous jubilation. Horton became player-manager of Hull City a year later.

At Hull, Horton's reputation as a strong-minded, tactically-aware manager quickly built and he came very close to earning the club promotion to the First Division. He quit playing in 1986 to concentrate on full-time management but was sacked, to the dismay of some fans and most of the players, in 1988 after a short run of games without a win. He then became assistant manager to Mark Lawrenson at Oxford United and took over the main job after Lawrenson was dismissed following the sale of star player Dean Saunders.

Horton's own tenure at the Manor Ground lasted five seasons and although Oxford stayed clear of the drop from the Second Division, they never looked like gaining promotion and Horton's tenure at the club was uneventful.

In August 1993, four games after the start of the 1993-94 FA Premier League campaign, Horton resigned as Oxford manager to replace Peter Reid as manager of Manchester City, to the surprise of many supporters and commentators, who were expecting the appointment of someone more high profile. City's previous three seasons in the top flight had yielded top-ten finishes, but their fortunes declined under Horton. They finished 16th in the final Premiership table and scored just 47 league goals, with top scorer Mike Sheron finding the net just six times in the Premiership.

The next year was no better as City continued to struggle, the frailty of their defence was highlighted by a 5-0 hammering away to neighbours United at Old Trafford. Horton was sacked at the end of the season after City came just two places away from relegation.

He made a swift return to management with Huddersfield Town, who had just won promotion to Division One via the Division Two playoffs under Neil Warnock, who had then quit. 1995-96 was a promising season for the Terriers. Horton seemed to have breathed new life into the club and they reached the fifth round of the FA Cup, narrowly suffering a replay defeat at home to Wimbledon. But the season ended in disappointment when Huddersfield's league form slumped and they finished eighth, just missing out on a playoff place. Despite the club record £1.2million signing of Bristol Rovers striker Marcus Stewart, Huddersfield were unable to make a mark on Division One in 1996-97 and they finished 20th - just two places ahead of the relegation zone. Horton was sacked in September 1997 after a poor start to the season.

In February 1998, Horton returned to one of his old clubs as a player when he became manager of Brighton and Hove Albion who were enduring the blackest spell in their history. The previous season they had come minutes away from suffering relegation to the Conference, and things were little better this time round. They were second from bottom in Division Three but a large gap separated them from bottom club Doncaster Rovers. Horton kept the Seagulls flying clear of relegation and their league form was better in 1998-99, but in January 1999 Horton left to take charge of another of his old clubs, Port Vale after the sacking of John Rudge.

He remained in charge at Port Vale until February 2004. Although Vale survived relegation in 1999, it only postponed the inevitable as in the following season Vale finished second from bottom in Division One and were relegated in his first full season as manager. He remained at the helm for the next three-and-a-half years but promotion back to Division One never looked a real possibility and he was succeeded by Martin Foyle three months before the end of the 2003-04 season.

Within a few weeks of leaving Port Vale, Brian Horton landed the manager's job at Division Three strugglers Macclesfield Town. He rejuvenated a demoralised side and kept them in the Football League, but many pundits were tipping the Silkmen to slip out of the newly-named Coca-Cola League Two at the end of the 2004-05 season. Horton proved all the observers wrong as his side were in the top-seven of the division virtually all season long before they qualified for the playoffs in sixth place. Their promotion challenge was finally ended by Lincoln City in the semi finals. They were not to challenge again in 2005-06, finishing 17th.

Horton was relieved of his duties at Macclesfield Town in late September 2006 after his team failed to win any of their opening twelve League games, leaving them bottom of the Football League.

Horton lives in Cheadle Hulme with his family.

[edit] Managerial stats

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	L	D	Win %
Hull City		June 1, 1984	April 13, 1988	195	77	60	58	39.48
Oxford United		October 25, 1988	August 27, 1993	243	77	101	65	31.68
Manchester City		August 28, 1993	May 16, 1995	96	29	34	33	30.20
Huddersfield Town		June 21, 1995	October 6, 1997	120	39	46	35	32.50
Brighton & Hove Albion		February 26, 1998	January 22, 1999	43	14	19	10	32.55
Port Vale		January 22, 1999	February 12, 2004	262	84	111	67	32.06
Macclesfield Town		April 1, 2004	October 1, 2006	131	47	49	35	35.87

[edit] External links

• Brian Horton management career stats at Soccerbase

Preceded by Colin Appleton	Hull City F.C. manager 1984-1988	Succeeded by Eddie Gray
Preceded by Mark Lawrenson	Oxford United F.C. manager 1988-1993	Succeeded by Maurice Evans (caretaker)
Preceded by Tony Book (caretaker)	Manchester City F.C. manager 1993-1995	Succeeded by Alan Ball
Preceded by Neil Warnock	Huddersfield Town F.C. manager 1995-1997	Succeeded by Peter Jackson
Preceded by Steve Gritt	Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. manager 1998-1999	Succeeded by Jeff Wood
Preceded by Bill Dearden & Mark Grew (caretakers)	Port Vale F.C. manager 1999-2004	Succeeded by Martin Foyle
Preceded by John Askey	Macclesfield Town F.C. manager 2004-2006	Succeeded by Ian Brightwell caretaker