Gary Paul Colin Childs (born 19 April 1964) is an English former professional

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 ...

and coach. Playing as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, he made 422 appearances and scored 45 goals 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 ...

between 1982 and 1997 playing for

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

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 ...

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

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club is known as 'the ...

and then having a spell as manager of Wisbech Town. He went on to hold various positions within the youth system at Grimsby Town and work as sports development manager at

Grimsby Institute of Further & Higher Education Grimsby Institute of Further & Higher Education and University Centre Grimsby (often Grimsby Institute or GIFHE or Grimsby College or UCG) is a further education college, and higher education university in Grimsby in North East Lincolnshire in E ...

. He represented England at youth level.

Playing career

Childs was born in

Kings Heath Kings Heath (historically, and still occasionally King's Heath) is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, four miles south of the city centre. Historically in Worcestershire, it is the next suburb south from Moseley on the A435 road, A435 Alces ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. He started his football career as a trainee with West Bromwich Albion, moving on for a fee of £15,000 to Walsall where he played 180 games in all competitions. A move to Birmingham City followed for a fee of £21,500, and two seasons later he joined Grimsby Town.He helped Grimsby to two successive

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

s, from the Fourth Division in the 1989–90 season and from the Third Division the following year. Released by Grimsby after eight years and nearly 300 games, Childs was appointed

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

of Wisbech Town, newly elected to the Southern League Midland Division. He led the club to fifth place in the league and the second round proper 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 ...

before poor form led to his dismissal. He then joined

where he stayed until the end of the 1999–2000 season.

Coaching career

He is a qualified

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

, former community Officer at

, and Sports Development Manager at

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Childs, Gary 1964 births Living people Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Wisbech Town F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Grimsby Town F.C. non-playing staff