Simon Peter Tracey (born 9 December 1967) 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 ...

who made more than 300 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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

playing as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

for Wimbledon,

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games a ...

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 two ...

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 2 ...

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 ...

and Wimbledon. He is currently chief scout at

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland L ...

Playing career

Tracey played most of his professional career at

. He started out as a goalkeeper at Wimbledon in 1985. He made his debut in a 2–1 loss to Liverpool in the Charity Shield in 1988 after

Dave Beasant David John Beasant (; born 20 March 1959) is an English football coach and former football goalkeeper. As a player, he was a goalkeeper, who notably played top-flight football for Wimbledon, Newcastle United, Chelsea, Southampton and Nottingh ...

, the hero of the FA Cup Final win that gave Wimbledon their place in the match, had been sold to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional Association football, football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football league system, English football. The club was ...

. He kept his place for the first League game of the season but did not perform well in a 5–1 defeat and was dropped and replaced temporarily with Ron Green and then, permanently,

Hans Segers Johannes "Hans" Segers (born 30 October 1961) is a Dutch football coach and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. As a player, he notably spent eight years with Wimbledon where he featured in the Premier League. He also played ...

. He was sold on to Sheffield United in 1988 for £7,500 and was part of the team that was promoted from the old Third Division in the 1988-89 season finishing in second place. He was an ever-present during the following season when United were again promoted, this time to the old First Division and also won the club's player of the season award for the same season. Tracey remained first-choice in the top flight and was again player of the season, this time for the 1991-92 season. Tracey then suffered regular injuries and his games were limited by the arrival of Alan Kelly in the summer of 1992 for the first season of the new

FA Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

. During this time he had

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

spells at several clubs, including

and his old team Wimbledon. Whilst on loan at Manchester City in November 1994, Tracey appeared in a 5–0 loss to rivals Manchester Utd, the worst losing margin for City in a

Manchester Derby The Manchester derby refers to football matches between Manchester City and Manchester United, first contested in 1881. City play at the City of Manchester Stadium in Bradford, east Manchester, while United play at Old Trafford in the borough ...

. A loan spell at

during the 1994-95 season was a nightmare for Tracey. He made three appearances - in the first he ran out of his area allowing

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed ...

to score an easy goal, in the second he was stretchered off with an injury and in the third he let in five goals in an

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 competit ...

tie at Everton. In 2000 when he played at Norwich for Sheffield United he made a similar charge from his area that allowed Norwich striker

Craig Bellamy Craig Douglas Bellamy (born 13 July 1979) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward and is current assistant manager at EFL Championship side Burnley. Born in Cardiff, Bellamy began his senior playing career with N ...

to score. In 1995, he had a short spell on loan at

but did not play for the first team, then played one game back at Wimbledon in a 4–1 defeat to Forest. Tracey again featured regularly for Sheffield United in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and in total went on to make 382 appearances for United until 2003. His playing days came to an end when he suffered an injury during pre-season to the 2002–2003 season and once recovered, summer signing

Paddy Kenny Patrick Joseph Kenny (born 17 May 1978) is a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, Kenny began his career with Bradford Park Avenue before turning professional in the summer of 1998 upon ...

had cemented his place in the first team. This led to Tracey retiring from football. Tracey received a testimonial in 2003 for his long-standing career at Sheffield United.

Coaching career

Tracey began his goalkeeper coaching career in 2004 at

Rotherham United F.C. Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

, replacing previous coach Graham Brown. His position lasted until October 2009, when he joined

Mark Robins Mark Gordon Robins (born 22 December 1969) is an English football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Coventry City in the EFL Championship. As a player, he was a striker and is best known for his time in the Premier League ...

John Breckin John Breckin (born 27 July 1953) is an English former professional footballer who played as a left-back. He is the uncle of Nottingham Forest defender, Ian Breckin and is also the great uncle of Manchester City midfielder, Kian Breckin (who ...

and

Nick Daws Nicholas John Daws (born 15 March 1970) is an English football manager, coach and former professional footballer who is head of recruitment at Scottish Premier League side Motherwell. As a player, he was a midfielder from 1986 until 2005 notabl ...

at Barnsley. He joined

as chief scout in October 2019.

References

External links

Profile of Simon Tracey
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tracey, Simon 1967 births Living people English footballers Wimbledon F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Premier League players Association football goalkeepers Rotherham United F.C. non-playing staff Barnsley F.C. non-playing staff Carlisle United F.C. non-playing staff Chesterfield F.C. non-playing staff