Richie Powling (born 21 May 1956) 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 le ...

who played as a defender and who later became a manager.

Playing career

Born in

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...

, Powling began his career at

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 ...

, signing on apprentice terms in September 1971. A regular for the club's reserve teams while still just fifteen, he turned professional in July 1973. He made his first-team debut in a 2–0 defeat to

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

on 27 October 1973, but only played twice more that season. He went on to win three

England youth England national under-18 football team, also known as England under-18s or England U18(s), represents England in association football at under-18 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England ...

caps during the 1973–74 season. A bit-part player during 1973–74, he made only eleven appearances during the 1974–75 season. Powling then established himself in the first team in November 1975, remaining in the team remainder of the 1975–76 season, during which he scored his first goal in a 1–1 draw at

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

and played a total of 33 matches. However, following the arrival of new manager

Terry Neill William John Terence Neill (8 May 1942 – 28 July 2022) was a Northern Irish football player and manager. A centre-back, he captained and later managed Arsenal, guiding the club to a European final in 1980 and three consecutive FA Cup final ...

, defenders Pat Howard and Willie Young, as well as a spate of injuries, Powling lost his regular place in the team, playing just 11 times in 1976–77 season. After appearing against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

in September 1977, he suffered an ankle injury, then knee damage, causing him to miss the rest of the 1977–78 and 1978–79 seasons. He made a comeback in the reserves at the end of 1979–80 but never fully recovered and did not play for the first team again. In total he played 59 times for Arsenal, scoring three goals. He then left the club in 1981 to play for non-League clubs

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

and

Grays Athletic Grays Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Grays, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Parkside in nearby Aveley. History The club was established as Grays Juniors in 1890, before merging with former S ...

before retiring.

Managerial career

Powling began his management career at Tiptree United in 1984, before moving to Harwich & Parkeston. Between 1992 and 1997 he managed Sudbury Town, leading them to their greatest period of success; during his time as manager Sudbury were promoted to the Premier Division of the Southern League and reached the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

second round for the first (and only) time in their history. After leaving Sudbury he took over as manager of

Braintree Town Braintree Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road. History The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team o ...

in April 1999, but was sacked in December that year. After returning to Harwich on the coaching staff in 2000, he joined Clacton Town in 2002, and became the club's

Director of Football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

in 2003.Soccer: Powling steps up
Gazette, 9 September 2003

References

External links

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Richie Powling
Sporting Heroes {{DEFAULTSORT:Powling, Richie Living people 1956 births English men's footballers Footballers from the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham People from Barking, London Men's association football defenders Arsenal F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players English football managers English Football League players