Ian Sampson (born 14 November 1968) is an English former

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 ...

. He played as a defender for Goole Town,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. He is the assistant manager at

Playing career

In his playing days he was a central defender, beginning his professional career in

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

when

signed him from non-league Goole Town. He only made 21 appearances in four years however, before joining Northampton in

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 ...

after a successful loan spell. He played for the Cobblers for 10 years, making 449 appearances, placing him second in the list of appearance makers behind Tommy Fowler. Sampson retired from the game at the end of the 2003–04 season. He had a brief loan spell at

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, featuring in their makeshift squad for the

Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was discon ...

. He even managed to score during Spurs' only victory in the campaign against

NK Rudar Velenje Nogometni klub Rudar Velenje (), commonly referred to as NK Rudar Velenje or simply Rudar Velenje, is a Slovenian football club from Velenje which competes in the Slovenian Second League, the second tier of the Slovenian football league system. ...

Managerial career

After retiring from playing, Sampson joined the

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

youth team set-up as coach before being promoted to first-team coach in 2006. He was appointed as joint caretaker manager on 20 December 2006, following the resignation of John Gorman. On 2 January 2007, Northampton announced that former

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

boss Stuart Gray had been appointed as the new manager, with Sampson and fellow caretaker Jim Barron staying on as first team coaches. Following the sacking of Stuart Gray on 8 September 2009, Sampson was appointed as caretaker manager for the second time and on 5 October 2009 he was named Northampton manager until the end of the season. Sampson won the League Two Manager of the Month award in January 2010, after Northampton won three and drew two of their five games. This was the first time a Northampton Manager had won the award since 2006. Sampson was sacked by Northampton Town on 2 March 2011 following a run of 7 games without a win, ending in a 3–2 defeat by

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

, leaving the Cobblers in 16th place in League Two. Sampson had received mixed reaction from the stands, with some supporters wanting a change, however he was one of the club's most popular managers and, notably, his team beat the Premier League side

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

at Anfield, on penalties, in the League Cup in September 2010. Northampton also beat Crewe 6–2 at Sixfields with debutant Shaun Harrad scoring. On 9 March 2011 he confirmed he had applied for the vacant managerial post at

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 ...

. Sampson become the manager at Corby Town. one day after the club was taken over by businessman Kevin Ingram. However, after five straight defeat at the start of the 2012–13 season Sampson resigned as manager at Corby Town. On 16 October 2019, Sampson returned to

as the new Academy Manager, officially returning to the club he previously managed. On 10 February 2021, Sampson became caretaker assistant manager along with Marc Richards after the sacking of Keith Curle. In December 2024, following the resignation of Jon Brady, Sampson was once again appointed caretaker manager.

Honours

Northampton Town *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 Football League, 1920–21 and again from 1958–59 Football League, 1958 until 1991–92 Football League, 1992. When the FA Premier League ...

play-offs:

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

Individual * League Two Manager of the Month: January 2010

References

External links

Ian Sampson profile at ntfc.co.uk
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sampson, Ian 1968 births Living people Footballers from Wakefield English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Sunderland A.F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players English football managers Northampton Town F.C. managers Corby Town F.C. managers English Football League managers English Football League players