Ian Bishop (footballer)

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This article is about the footballer. For the cricketer, see Ian Bishop.

Ian Bishop (born on 29 May 1965 in Liverpool) is a former footballer who played as a midfielder.

He began his career at Everton but failed to break into the first team. After spells at Crewe Alexandra, Carlisle United and Bournemouth he signed for Manchester City in 1989. Bishop was a good passer of the ball and in his 24 appearances for Manchester City in his first spell helped the team demolish their local rivals Manchester United 5-1. Despite being popular with the Manchester City supporters he was sold by then manager Howard Kendall to West Ham United.

Bishop joined in the same week as Trevor Morley and Colin Foster, as manager Lou Macari continued to rebuild the West Ham squad. He spent the majority of his career at West Ham, playing 254 times between 1989 and 1998, scoring 6 goals and becoming something of a cult figure.

In 1998, having become surplus to requirements at the Boleyn Ground, he returned to Manchester City. His second spell at the club saw the team relegated to what was then division two, but then promoted to division one and in the following season to the premiership. Bishop was an integral player in the team which earned promotion to the premiership but only played ten times for the club in the top flight. He transferred to Miami Fusion in March 2001 and played Major League Soccer, before finishing his playing career with a stint at the New Orleans Shell Shockers in the USL Premier Development League.