Wayne Biggins

Wayne Biggins
Personal information
Full name Wayne Biggins
Date of birth 20 November 1961 (1961-11-20) (age 50)
Place of birth Sheffield, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position Striker
Youth career
Lincoln City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1980–1981 Lincoln City 8 (1)
1981–1982 Matlock Town
1982–1983 King's Lynn
1983–1984 Matlock Town
1984–1985 Burnley 78 (30)
1985–1988 Norwich City 79 (16)
1988–1989 Manchester City 32 (9)
1989–1992 Stoke City 122 (46)
1992–1993 Barnsley 47 (16)
1993–1994 Celtic 9 (0)
1994–1995 Stoke City 27 (6)
1995 → Luton Town (loan) 7 (1)
1995 Oxford United 10 (1)
1995–1997 Wigan Athletic 51 (5)
1997–1998 Leek Town 8 (0)
1998–2003 Stocksbridge Park Steels
2004–2005 Buxton
Teams managed
2002–2003 Stocksbridge Park Steels
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Wayne Biggins (born 20 November 1961) is an English former professional footballer born in Sheffield who made more than 450 appearances in the Football League and also played in the Scottish Football League.[1] He was a striker and was nicknamed "Bertie" throughout his career.[2]

Contents

Career

Biggins was a latecomer to league football, for although he began his career with Lincoln City he played just eight games for them before he was released. He then played non-league football for Matlock Town and King's Lynn while working as a hod carrier.[2] Biggins found a way back into league football with Burnley in 1984, for whom he scored 29 goals in 78 appearances. His form attracted the attention of Norwich City, whose manager Ken Brown signed him in October 1985 for a transfer fee of £35,000.[3] Norwich were re-building their squad after relegation from the first division and were looking to bounce back to the top flight at the first attempt. They succeeded, and Biggins ended the season with a second division championship medal.[2] He stayed at Carrow Road until the summer of 1988 when Manchester City's new manager Mel Machin – who had until that summer been Brown's assistant at Norwich – took him to Maine Road.[2] He scored 9 goals in 32 games for Manchester City before moving to Stoke City, where he scored 46 goals in 122 games, and then to Barnsley.[1]

Lou Macari then signed him for Celtic. His and Macari's time at Celtic coincided with a period generally regarded by the club's fans as the worst in their history. Biggins struggled to make an impact at Parkhead and is not remembered with fondness by the club's supporters.[4]

He returned to Stoke for £125,000 on transfer deadline day in March 1994[5], before playing out his league career with Luton Town, Oxford United and Wigan Athletic.[6] He won a Third Division championship medal with Wigan in 1997.[7] He went back into non-league football with Leek Town before moving to Stocksbridge Park Steels, where he became assistant manager and then manager until November 2003. He later played for and coached Buxton.[2]

Honours

Norwich City
Stoke City
Wigan Athletic

References

  1. ^ a b "Wayne Biggins". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player/waynebiggins.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-12. 
  2. ^ a b c d e "Wayne Biggins". Flown From The Nest. Steve Whitlam. http://www.ex-canaries.co.uk/players/biggins.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-12. 
  3. ^ "Biggins joins Norwich for £35,000". The Times (London). 1985-10-12. 
  4. ^ "Wayne Biggins". TheCelticWiki. http://www.thecelticwiki.com/page/Biggins,+Wayne. Retrieved 2009-07-12. 
  5. ^ [1]
  6. ^ "Wayne Biggins". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=672. Retrieved 2009-07-12. 
  7. ^ "Latics A-Z : Neil Bailey to Tony Black". Ye Olde Tree And Crown. Bernard Ramsdale. http://www.yeoldetreeandcrown.co.uk/modules/news/article.php?storyid=51. Retrieved 2009-07-12. 

External links