Russell James Coughlin (15 February 1960 – 3 August 2016) was a Welsh professional footballer who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Coughlin began his professional career with

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in 1977, but after failing to break into the first team at Maine Road, he joined Blackburn Rovers the following year. At

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the Football League and Premier League, who have played there since 1890. It is an all seater multi-sports facili ...

, he made 24 league appearances in two years. In 1980, Coughlin moved north to join

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

. He went on to make 130 league appearances for the

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

ns, scoring thirteen goals. Four years later, in 1984, Coughlin moved to England's south coast to sign for

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

. There, he broke the 130-league-game mark again, scoring eighteen goals in the process. In 1987, he returned to the north-west to join Sam Ellis's

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

. He made his debut for ''the Seasiders'' on 12 December, in a 1–1 draw at

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

in the league. He scored his first goal for the club three games later, in another 1–1 draw, this time at Notts County. He went on to make 24 appearances and score two goals in total during the 1987–88 league campaign. The following season, 1988–89, Coughlin spent the majority of his games as strike partner to new signing

Andy Garner Andrew Garner (born 8 March 1966) is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League for Derby County and Blackpool. He is a first-team coach at Mansfield Town. Playing career Born in Stonebroom, Derbyshire, Ga ...

. In 42 league appearances, he scored five goals, three of which were from the penalty spot. He also scored in Blackpool's League Cup campaign, in a 2–0 second round, first leg victory over

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

at Bloomfield Road on 27 September 1988. In 1989–90, under new manager Jimmy Mullen, Coughlin returned to his favoured midfield role. He made 34 league appearances and scored one goal as Blackpool finished second-bottom and were relegated to

Division Four The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

. Coughlin left the seaside early the following season after a loan spell at Shrewsbury Town. Coughlin joined his hometown club,

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

, for the 1990–91 season, and went on to make 101 league appearances for the Welshmen, before leaving for Exeter City in 1993, in part-exchange for

John Hodge John Hodge may refer to: *John R. Hodge (1893–1963), United States Army officer *John E. Hodge (1914–1996), American chemist *John Hodge (politician) (1855–1937), British politician *John Hodge (engineer) (1929–2021), British-born aerospace ...

. After a two-year spell with Exeter, Coughlin brought his career to a close with

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

in 1996. He made almost 600 appearances and scored 41 goals in his 19-year

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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

career. In August 2016, Coughlin died at Cumberland Infirmary after suffering a medical event while behind the wheel of his car and being involved in a crash in

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

. A wreath was laid for him at Bloomfield Road before the opening 2016–17 Football League Two fixture between

and Exeter City, both of whom he had played for in his career.

References

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coughlin, Russell 1960 births 2016 deaths Footballers from Swansea Welsh men's footballers Manchester City F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Welsh people of Irish descent Men's association football midfielders Road incident deaths in England English Football League players