Christopher Martin Casper (born 28 April 1975) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former player who is the academy manager at side

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

. As a player he was a defender who played in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

for

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

and

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. An injury forced him to retire from playing in 2000 at the age of 24. Casper proceeded into management and took charge of Team Bath in 2002 before moving to Football League Two club Bury for three years. At the time, he was the youngest manager in the top four tiers of the

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the ...

. However, a run of poor form in 2008 led to his departure from Bury. Casper then took backroom jobs at Bradford City and

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

, before joining the

as a club support manager.

Early life

Casper was born in

, Lancashire, and attended the town's St Theodore's RC High School. He is the son of former

forward and manager Frank Casper.

Playing career

Manchester United

Casper joined

as a trainee in 1991 and played in their FA Youth Cup winning team a year later. When still only 17, he signed professional terms in January 1993, making his United debut in the League Cup game against Port Vale at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

on 5 October 1994. Casper was a product of the same United youth setup that sparked the highly successful careers of players such as

David Beckham Sir David Robert Joseph Beckham ( ; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Primarily a right winger and known for his range of passing, cross ...

, Paul Scholes,

Gary Neville Gary Alexander Neville (born 18 February 1975) is an English football pundit, former coach and player, and co-owner of English Football League club Salford City. As a player, Neville was a right-back and spent his entire career with Manches ...

Phil Neville Philip John Neville (born 21 January 1977) is an English association football, football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Major League Soccer club Portland Timbers. He is also the co-owner of Salford City F.C., Salford ...

and Nicky Butt, who all spent a decade or more with the club, helping them win numerous trophies and also being regular members of the

England national football team The England national football team have represented England in international Association football, football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by the Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in Eng ...

. Casper served as captain of the England youth team, and was a member of the UEFA European Under-18 Championship winning side in 1993. He also appeared for the England under-21 side in the

Toulon Tournament The Maurice Revello Tournament (officially French: the ''Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello''), previously known as the Toulon Tournament, is a Association football, football tournament, which traditionally features invit ...

against

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

in June 1995. Casper later had several spells on loan at

and

during the 1990s, but was unable to claim a regular place in the first team at

and he was sold to Division Two side

in November 1998 for £300,000.

Reading

He was playing for Reading against Cardiff City in a Division Two fixture on Boxing Day 1999 when he suffered a double leg fracture. This was the last professional game that Casper, then aged 24, ever played, as he later announced his retirement the following year after failing to recover sufficiently from the injury. More than four years later, he secured undisclosed compensation in an out-of-court settlement with Richard Carpenter, the Cardiff City player whose tackle had caused his career-ending injury. By this stage, Casper was a youth team coach at Bury.

Managerial and coaching career

Team Bath

While undergoing rehabilitation at the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

, he coached Team Bath along with Paul Tisdale, and it was that side that reached the first round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

in 2002–03.

Bury

He left to join Bury as youth coach before taking charge of the reserves in the 2004–05 season. At the beginning of the 2005–06 season, with six defeats from the first nine games, he replaced Graham Barrow as manager. Casper offered to resign in 2006 when Bury were thrown out of the FA Cup in the 2006–07 season for fielding an ineligible player, but this was rejected by the club's board. After a run of poor results he was fired in January 2008.

Bradford City

Five months later, he was appointed youth team coach at fellow League Two side Bradford City, taking over from Jon Pepper.

Grimsby Town

On 1 December 2009, Casper was appointed assistant manager to Neil Woods at

, replacing Brian Stein. Town suffered relegation from the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

and Casper stepped down as assistant manager at the end of the season.

FA Premier League

On 30 June 2010, Casper joined the

as a club support manager working within the academy system. The role sees him working with the eight top-flight clubs in the north west to help them implement educational programmes and work with their academies.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Manchester United * FA Charity Shield:

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

England U18 * UEFA European Under-18 Championship:

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

References

External links

* *
England FA profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Casper, Chris 1975 births Footballers from Burnley Living people Men's association football defenders English men's footballers English football managers Manchester United F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Swindon Town F.C. players Reading F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Bury F.C. managers Bradford City A.F.C. non-playing staff Grimsby Town F.C. non-playing staff Salford City F.C. non-playing staff Burnley F.C. non-playing staff