Jon Gittens
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| Jon Gittens | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jonathan Antoni Gittens | |
| Date of birth | January 22, 1964 | |
| Place of birth | Moseley, England | |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | |
| Playing position | Centre back | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Blackfield & Langley (Manager) | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| Paget Rangers | ||
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1985-1987 1987-1991 1991-1992 1992 1992-1993 1993-1996 1996-1998 1998-2000 2000-2001 2001 |
Southampton Swindon Town Southampton → Middlesbrough (loan) Middlesbrough Portsmouth Torquay United Exeter City Nuneaton Borough → Dorchester Town (loan) |
18 (0) 126 (6) 19 (0) 12 (1) 13 (0) 83 (1) 78 (9) 82 (4) |
| Teams managed | ||
| 2002-2004 2007- |
Fareham Town Blackfield & Langley |
|
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Jonathan Antoni (Jon) Gittens, born Moseley 22 January 1964, is a former footballer who played for Southampton as well as for Swindon Town, Middlesbrough, Portsmouth, Torquay United and Exeter City.
Contents |
[edit] Playing career
Gittens started his career with Midlands Combination side Paget Rangers whilst taking a two-year course in menswear tailoring when he was spotted by Southampton.
Gittens joined the Saints in October 1985 for a fee of £10,000. At the time of his signing he was raw but had pace and was considered one for the future. He made his league debut in a 2-0 victory at Birmingham City on 19 April 1986 and retained his place for the next 3 games. In the following season he was in and out of the team, usually as a replacement for Mark Wright or Kevin Bond.
In July 1987 he became a free agent and, having found it difficult to hold down a regular place in the Southampton side, he moved to Swindon Town for a fee of £40,000. The fee was fixed by tribunal, the first Saints had been involved in as a selling side. Gittens was a strong player in the centre of Swindon's defence, and formed a great partnership with Colin Calderwood. He had a tendency to be rough at times, and was always likely to be booked (but was sent only sent off twice). In March 1991, after 126 games for the Robins, Chris Nicholl re-signed him for Southampton, and he returned to The Dell, this time for a fee of £400,000.
Although he played in the final 8 games of the 1990-91 season, replacing the injured Kevin Moore alongside Neil Ruddock, he fell out of favour the following season under new manager Ian Branfoot, and was used as cover for Richard Hall.
Having again failed to establish himself at The Dell, he joined promotion chasing Middlesbrough on loan in February 1992. With promotion to the new Premiership duly achieved he made the permanent move to Middlesbrough in July that summer for a fee of £350,000. As Middlesbrough struggled at the foot of the table, Gittens lost his place, and left on a free transfer in August the following year, joining Portsmouth.
In August 1996, after 83 games for Pompey he joined Torquay United on a free transfer, one of Kevin Hodges' first signings. Despite achieving national attention by allegedly punching West Ham United's Romanian international Florin Raducioiu in a friendly later that month (his first game for the Gulls) he settled in well at Plainmoor in terms of first-team football. However travelling in from Dorchester was causing him problems and on 24 March 1997, after falling out with the management team, he was released on full pay until the end of the season. He returned the following season and finished it as the club's player of the year with an appearance at Wembley in the playoff final defeat at the hands of Colchester United, Gittens giving away a harshly awarded penalty.
He moved to local rivals Exeter City in July 1998 on a free transfer, having previously been linked with a move to Swansea City as player-coach. He played 82 times for the Grecians, but was released at the end of the 1999-2000 season as part of Noel Blake's mass clearout, joining Conference side Nuneaton Borough on 6 August 2000.[1] He had an unsuccessful time with Nuneaton, joining Dorchester Town on a three month loan deal in January 2001.
[edit] Coaching and management career
Gittens joined the coaching staff at Fareham Town in December 2001 and was appointed as manager in June 2002.[2] Following a disagreement with the Club, notably over their decision to scrap the reserve team [3], Gittens resigned in late July 2004 [4]
After leaving Fareham he Managed and coached the successful Solent University side Team Solent in the Southampton League. In May 2007, he was named as the Manager of Sydenhams Wessex League Division 1 team, Blackfield & Langley. Gittens is a UEFA "A" Licenced coach who currently works part time as Coach Eduacator while studying at Bournemouth University.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Gittens joins Nuneaton Borough. news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved on June 11, 2007.
- ^ Gittens appointed as Fareham's new boss. www.nonleaguedaily.com. Retrieved on June 11, 2007.
- ^ Has Gittens walked out on Town?. www.nonleaguedaily.com. Retrieved on June 11, 2007.
- ^ Gittens confirms split. www.nonleaguedaily.com. Retrieved on June 11, 2007.
