Tommy Coyne

Tommy Coyne
Personal information
Full name Thomas Coyne[1]
Date of birth (1962-11-14) 14 November 1962
Place of birth Govan, Scotland
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Playing position Striker
Youth career
1980–1981 Hillwood Boys Club
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1981–1983 Clydebank 80 (38)
1983–1986 Dundee United 62 (9)
1986–1989 Dundee 89 (50)
1989–1993 Celtic 105 (43)
1993 Tranmere Rovers 12 (1)
1993–1998 Motherwell 132 (59)
1998–2000 Dundee 18 (0)
1999 → Falkirk (loan) 8 (1)
2000–2001 Clydebank 15 (4)
2001 Albion Rovers 1 (0)
Total 522 (205)
National team
1992–1997 Republic of Ireland 22 (6)
Teams managed
2000–2001 Clydebank
2003–2005 Bellshill Athletic
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Thomas Coyne (born 14 November 1962) is a former football player and manager. Coyne played for several clubs, mostly in Scotland, including Clydebank, Dundee United, Dundee, Celtic and Motherwell. He was the top goalscorer of the Scottish Premier Division three times, a feat he achieved with three clubs (Dundee, Celtic and Motherwell). Coyne played international football for the Republic of Ireland, qualifying due to his Irish ancestry. Towards the end of his playing career he was also the manager of Clydebank, a position he left after six months.

Club career

Tommy Coyne played for Hillwood Boys Club before starting his professional career at Clydebank, where he made his debut in the 1981-82 season, in which he scored 9 goals in 31 matches. After scoring 19 in 38 matches in his second season, he began the 1983-84 season with 10 goals in 11 games before being sold to Dundee United, then a rising force in Scottish football as part of the New Firm, for £60,000. However, Coyne failed to reproduce his form at Tannadice and scored only 9 goals in 62 games, though he did score a few goals in the UEFA Cup.

Halfway through the 1986-7 season he was transferred to city rivals Dundee, where he found his scoring boots again, notching up 9 goals in 20 games in the second half of the season. In the 1987-88 season season Coyne was top scorer in the Premier Division as he scored 33 goals in 43 matches. After scoring 9 goals in 20 matches at the start of the 1988-89 season he was sold on to Celtic.

Coyne again failed to reproduce his form at the start of his Celtic career and did not score for the remainder of the season. The following season was also hardly a success, with 7 goals in 23 games. The next season, 1990-91 saw Coyne revert to his previous form with 18 goals in 26 games, as he finished the season as top scorer. Despite scoring 15 goals in the following season and 3 in 10 games at the start of the 1992-93 season, Coyne was transferred to Tranmere Rovers in March 1993.

After a short spell in England, Coyne returned to Scotland to join Motherwell in November 1993 for £125,000. In 1994-95 as the club finished league runners-up he was again the Scottish Premier Division's top scorer, and scored 59 goals in 132 games for Motherwell. He is the only player to be Scottish Premier Division top scorer with three clubs.[2]

Coyne left for Dundee in 1998, where he was loaned out to Falkirk. He then returned to his first club, Clydebank, as player/manager in August 2000[3] and picked up the Scottish Second Division Manager of the Month award a month later.[4] However, he was sacked after six months after the club had entered administration[5] despite the club being near the top of Division Two. Coyne's wife had died while he was in England.[6] Soon after leaving Clydebank he joined Albion Rovers,[7] where he ended his playing career.

International career

In his international career, Coyne won 22 caps for the Republic of Ireland and scored 6 goals. He made his international debut on 25 March 1992 against Switzerland in a friendly played at Lansdowne Road, Dublin. This game was the international debut for Eddie McGoldrick and was Paul McGrath's fiftieth cap. Coyne waited just 27 minutes before scoring his first international goal. He was replaced by John Aldridge in the eightieth minute, who converted from the penalty spot to make it a 2–1 victory for the Republic. Coyne started three of Ireland's four matches in the 1994 World Cup[8] but he failed to score in the tournament.

His best game for Ireland was the 4–0 victory over Liechtenstein on 12 October 1994, played at Lansdowne Road. Coyne scored two goals in the opening four minutes of the game but failed to achieve his hat trick. He played his last game for the Republic, coming on as a substitute for David Connolly, in the 1-1 draw with Belgium on 29 October 1997. The game was the first leg of a playoff for qualification for the 1998 World Cup, Belgium won the second leg 2–1 and qualified for the 1998 World Cup.

Managerial career

After finishing his playing career, Coyne coached Junior club Bellshill Athletic.[9] The club won the West Division One in 2003-04, but Coyne left the job in July 2005.[10]

Family

Coyne's eldest son, also named Tommy, is also a striker and played for clubs in the lower senior leagues in Scotland and for Linlithgow Rose in the Junior grade where he has gained a 'player of the year award' and scored 38 goals in the 2009/10 season[6]. Another son, Bradley, played for Stirling Albion in the Scottish Third Division.

Honours

Dundee United
Celtic

References

  1. ↑ "Tommy Coyne". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  2. ↑ Brown, Alan. "Scotland - List of Topscorers". RSSSF, 5 June 2014. Retrieved on 6 July 2014.
  3. ↑ "Clydebank 1-0 Stenhousemuir". BBC Sport. 12 August 2000. Retrieved 30 March 2008.
  4. ↑ "Double triumph for Falkirk". BBC Sport. 6 October 2000. Retrieved 30 March 2008.
  5. ↑ "Coyne tossed by Bankies". BBC Sport. 1 February 2001. Retrieved 30 March 2008.
  6. 1 2 "Tommy Coyne and son: Tommy guns". The Scotsman. 22 May 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  7. ↑ "Albion Rovers 0-1 Elgin City". BBC Sport. 17 February 2001. Retrieved 30 March 2008.
  8. ↑ "FIFA Player Statistics: Tommy Coyne". FIFA.com. Retrieved 30 March 2008.
  9. ↑ "Mowgli improving with age". Falkirk Herald. 3 March 2005. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  10. ↑ The Herald. "McCormack quits as Ochilview assistant to manage Bellshill". 19 July 2005. Retrieved on 6 July 2014.
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