Steven Wigley (born 15 October 1961) is an English football

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 * Co ...

and former player for

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 ...

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 ...

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. Since 2011, the first te ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

and Exeter City. He made 340 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 ...

. He is the former manager of

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

and the former assistant manager of Bristol City. He is the current Manager for Fulham U23.

Playing career

Born in

Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manc ...

, Wigley earned a reputation as a tricky winger for home-town club

Curzon Ashton Curzon Ashton Football Club is an association football club based in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. Founded in 1963 and nicknamed "The Nash", the club is affiliated to the Manchester Football Association and currently com ...

, jinking his way through defences and dazzling crowds with his skilful ball displays. It was this that attracted

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Engli ...

who promptly signed him for

. After making his debut as a 21-year-old, Wigley played 82 times for Forest before moving to

in 1985. Unfortunately, he never found success in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

and moved to

soon after, when a spectacular display against

persuaded that club's manager, Alan Ball, to sign him. After spending four years of mixed fortunes on the South Coast, helping Portsmouth to the 1992 FA Cup semi final where they lost on a penalty shootout to Liverpool, Wigley moved to Exeter to finish his Football League playing career and then having a brief spell with non-league Bognor Regis Town before taking on his first managerial job at Aldershot Town.

Coaching and managerial career

Aldershot Town

Wigley was appointed as manager of Aldershot Town after the departure of Steve Wignall. The Shots were by this time in the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

first division but failed to achieve promotion under Wigley's leadership, finishing 4th, 5th and finally 7th in his three-year period with the club. Wigley is one of only two Aldershot Town managers not to have achieved promotion during his spell in charge of the Club.

Nottingham Forest

After three years at Aldershot, Academy Director Paul Hart persuaded him to return to Nottingham Forest as assistant academy director. In his time at Forest, Wigley moved up the ranks to become first team coach before short-lived Saints boss Stuart Gray lured him to

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

director in the summer of 2001. At the same time, David Platt, England Under 21 manager, asked Wigley to help out with coaching the young internationals.

Southampton

During

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Co ...

's reign at Southampton, Wigley moved to focus more on the first team than the academy players. When Strachan left the club in 2004, Wigley was asked to step in as caretaker. Wigley clearly felt ill at ease in charge of the Saints so after two games in charge,

Paul Sturrock Paul Whitehead Sturrock (born 10 October 1956) is a Scottish former football coach and former player. As a player, Sturrock spent his entire senior career with Dundee United, making more than five hundred appearances between 1974 and 1989. He ...

was brought in from

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 ...

. During the rumoured player disputes with Sturrock, Wigley stepped in as an intermediary and helped solve differences at the club. When Sturrock left the club in August 2004 only two games into the new season, chairman Rupert Lowe confirmed that Wigley had been appointed full-time manager and not just caretaker. Opponents of Wigley claimed that, with only three years in charge of Aldershot, a non-league club, he was not yet ready for

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 ...

management. However, some fans were happy with the appointment as it meant that

Glenn Hoddle Glenn Hoddle (born 27 October 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He currently works as a television pundit and commentator for ITV Sport and BT Sport. He played as a midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco, Chelsea and ...

, widely reviled by many Saints fans could not return. Wigley's first tenure in the Premiership ended prematurely: he was dismissed by Southampton on 8 December after just 14 matches, the only win coming in the local derby against arch-rivals and former club Portsmouth. Wigley resumed duties with the club's young players but finally left the club later in the season.

Manchester City

After leaving Southampton, Wigley joined up with former Nottingham Forest teammate

Stuart Pearce Stuart Pearce (born 24 April 1962) is an English professional football manager and former player, who was most recently a first-team coach for Premier League club West Ham United. He was nicknamed "Psycho" for his unforgiving style of play. ...

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 ...

as assistant manager/first team coach. During his first season at City, he guided City's reserve team to third place in the Premiership North Reserve League. Wigley left City after Pearce was sacked in May 2007.

England Under-21

Wigley teamed up with Pearce again, this time as

England Under-21 The England national under-21 football team, also known as England under-21s or England U21(s), is considered to be the feeder team for the England national football team. This team is for England players aged under 21 at the start of the cale ...

coach, after Pearce was appointed to this role in 2007. In August 2007

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world ...

appointed Wigley as a national coach, assuming responsibility for the 17–21 age groups to help develop young players. When Pearce was made caretaker manager of the full England team in February 2012, Wigley accompanied him as his assistant.

Bolton Wanderers

On 8 July 2008, Wigley joined the

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pik ...

backroom staff as head coach following a decision by Gary Megson to restructure the club's coaching staff. On 30 December 2009, he and Chris Evans were appointed joint caretaker managers of Bolton following Megson's sacking, but he left the club a few days later after

Owen Coyle Owen Columba Coyle (born 14 July 1966) is a professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Scottish Championship club Queen's Park. He played as a striker for several clubs in England and Scotland, and made on ...

's appointment.

Hull City

On 17 March 2010, he was appointed as coach at

club,

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's ...

, under new manager, Iain Dowie.

Bristol City

On 18 August 2010, Wigley became assistant manager to

Keith Millen Keith Derek Millen (born 26 September 1966) is an English football manager and former player who played as a centre back. He was most recently manager of Carlisle United. Millen was appointed as Steve Coppell's successor, after Coppell chose t ...

at Bristol City on a one-year rolling contract. Millen stated: "Steve was the man I wanted. He was always the name at the front of the list." Millen left the club in October 2011, and Wigley left a few weeks later by mutual consent.

Hull City

On 18 November, Wigley rejoined Hull City as first-team coach. After

Steve Bruce Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. He most recently managed West Bromwich Albion. Born in Corbridge, Northumberland, he was a promising school ...

was appointed team manager on 8 June 2012, Wigley and fellow first team coach

Stuart Watkiss Stuart Watkiss (born 8 May 1966) is an English football coach and former professional player who is the assistant coach of Indian Super League club Jamshedpur. As a player, he was a defender and notably played in the Football League with Wolv ...

left the club.

Fulham

Shortly afterwards, Wigley was appointed head of coaching and under-18 manager at the

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswo ...

Academy.

Nottingham Forest

Wigley left Fulham in May 2014 to again team up with Stuart Pearce as his assistant manager at Nottingham Forest. After

Dougie Freedman Douglas Alan Freedman (born 25 May 1974) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He is the current sporting director of Crystal Palace. Freedman played as a striker, primarily for Crystal Palace and also had spells as a ...

replaced Pearce as manager on 1 February 2015, Wigley and the remainder of the backroom staff left the following day.

Return to Fulham

On 30 June 2015, Wigley rejoined Fulham as under-18s manager. In 2021, he was promoted to manager of the under-23s.Why Steve Wigley’s promotion is a serious step forward
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References

External links

Management statistics on Soccerbase
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wigley, Steve 1961 births Living people Footballers from Ashton-under-Lyne English footballers Men's association football wingers English Football League players Curzon Ashton F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Bognor Regis Town F.C. players English football managers Premier League managers English Football League managers Isthmian League managers Aldershot Town F.C. managers Southampton F.C. managers Bolton Wanderers F.C. managers Nottingham Forest F.C. non-playing staff Southampton F.C. non-playing staff Manchester City F.C. non-playing staff Bolton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff Hull City A.F.C. non-playing staff Bristol City F.C. non-playing staff Fulham F.C. non-playing staff