Brian Tiler (15 March 1943 – 30 June 1990) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

Career

Tiler began his career at his home town club Rotherham United where he made his debut in 1962–63. He spent seven seasons at Millmoor, playing more than two hundred league games, before moving on to

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

in December 1968. At Aston Villa, Tiler had the misfortune of being a member of the side that were relegated to the Third Division for the first and only time in the club's history in 1969–70. However, he was also a member of the Villa side that won promotion two years later. In October 1972, he was transferred to Carlisle United, where he finished his

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 ...

career. In 1974, he was appointed player-manager of non league

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

, where he spent two years, and won the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

in 1974–75. He played eleven league games for Wigan before leaving the club in 1976. He would later return to Springfield Park as the coach of the Zambia national team, who Wigan played a friendly against in October 1978. He then moved to America to join the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

, originally as a player before joining the coaching staff. In 1980, he became assistant manager to Ron Newman at the

Miami Americans The Miami Americans was an United States Soccer Federation, American soccer club based in Miami, Florida that was a member of the American Soccer League (1933-1983), American Soccer League. The team existed for only the 1980 season and played the ...

in the franchise's only year of existence. After nine games, Newman quit to take over as coach at the San Diego Sockers, and Brian Tiler stepped up to become Head Coach until the team's demise at the end of the season. Tiler later became managing director at

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. ...

, where he helped engineer Bournemouth's first ever promotion to the Second Division in 1986–87 along with his friend, team manager

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former association football, football manager (association football), manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United F.C., West Ham United, Portsmouth F.C., ...

Death

In June 1990, Tiler was killed in a car accident in Italy, when a car collided head on with the minibus in which Tiler and Redknapp were travelling.The gains of Harry's game
''The Independent'' (16 April 1995) Redknapp was also badly injured in the accident, but survived and went on to make a full recovery. The pair were in Italy watching that summer's

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

References

External links

NASL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiler, Brian 1943 births 1990 deaths American Soccer League (1933–1983) coaches English men's footballers English expatriate men's footballers English football managers Rotherham United F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Portland Timbers (1975–1982) players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. managers Road incident deaths in Italy Portland Timbers (1975–1982) head coaches North American Soccer League (1968–1984) head coaches American soccer coaches 1978 African Cup of Nations managers Men's association football central defenders English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Footballers from Rotherham English Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen