David Geddis (born 12 March 1958) is a

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 ...

coach and scout, a former professional football player and England Youth and B international. As a player, he scored 77 goals from 264 appearances 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 ...

Biography

Playing career

When Ipswich Town's leading goal scorer, Trevor Whymark, was injured against Norwich City on

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1977, Geddis replaced him in the line-up and remained in the side. This enabled Geddis to become one of the youngest players ever to make an appearance in 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 ...

final, as Ipswich progressed through the competition to Wembley, where they beat

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. Geddis delivered the cross which led to Roger Osborne's winning goal.

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

, who was elected Prime Minister the following year, when interviewed at the end of the match, mistakenly identified Trevor Whymark as the star player, not realising that although his name was in the programme as the Ipswich number 10, it was in fact Geddis who had caught her eye. He was transferred to Aston Villa in 1979 for £300,000 and the following season won a league championship medal by being one of the 14 players Villa used that season. He filled in whenever Gary Shaw or Peter Withe were injured or suspended and is best remembered for scoring two goals in the 3–0 win over rivals

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

. Geddis was an unused substitute during Aston Villa's victory in the 1982 European Cup Final. He was a popular figure at

Villa Park Villa Park is a association football, football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, with a seating capacity of 42,918. It has been the home of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witt ...

, but limited first team opportunities saw him move to then Second Division club

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

in September 1983, where he scored 24 goals in 45 starts before attracting the interest of his former Villa boss Ron Saunders at promotion-chasing Birmingham City just before Christmas 1984. He joined for a fee of £80,000 and quickly became a fans' favourite, largely due to his contribution to the promotion-winning campaign of the 1984–85 season. He went on to play for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

, Shrewsbury Town,

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

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

Coaching career

In January 2002 Geddis was brought in by Sir Bobby Robson to work as coach alongside John Carver at Newcastle United. He was released from the position in September 2004 when Graeme Souness took over as manager and brought his own backroom staff with him from Blackburn Rovers. Most recently, Geddis was reserve team coach at Leeds United, a job he took up after scouting for England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson and

the Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He also coached an English celebrity team, alongside former manager Terry Venables, for the Soccer Aid charity football match. On 23 October 2006, Geddis replaced Carver as Leeds'

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...

. His only match in charge of the first team was the 3–1 League Cup defeat to Southend United, yet he was still not in complete control as Dennis Wise had input on team selection, having agreed terms with Leeds earlier in the day. On 25 October, Wise and his assistant Gustavo Poyet officially joined the club as the new management team. Geddis parted company with United on 19 December 2006.

Honours

As a player

Ipswich Town *

: 1977–78 Aston Villa * First Division: 1980–81 * FA Charity Shield:

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

(shared) * European Cup: 1981–82

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geddis, David 1958 births Living people Footballers from Carlisle, Cumbria English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers England men's B international footballers Ipswich Town F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Darlington F.C. players English football managers Newcastle United F.C. non-playing staff Leeds United F.C. non-playing staff Leeds United F.C. managers Men's association football forwards English Football League players UEFA Champions League–winning players