Antony Caig (born 11 April 1974) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player, who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

. He is currently the head of academy goalkeeping for Premier League Club

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

. Caig is also the

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

national team goalkeeping coach.

Playing career

Caig made his name playing for

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

from 1990 to 1998, some highlights of this time being the penalty saves in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

against

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

in 1997 and winning the 3rd division championship in 94/95 setting a then clean sheet record. However, in 1998 he was controversially allowed to leave by club owner

Michael Knighton Michael Knighton (born 4 October 1951) is an English businessman, best known for his involvement in Manchester United and Carlisle United football clubs. Knighton first came to prominence in 1989 for his aborted £20 million bid to buy Manc ...

before the end-season transfer deadline. He had made 244 league and 40 cup appearances for the club. Caig's departure left Carlisle United without a permanent goalkeeper, circumstances which led to a famous goal by on-loan goalkeeper

Jimmy Glass James Robert Glass (born 1 August 1973) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is chiefly remembered for scoring the last-minute goal against Plymouth Argyle which kept Carlisle United in the Football Lea ...

saving the club from relegation. He then joined

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

on 25 March 1999 for a reported small fee of £40,000; he was able to establish himself as a regular in the first team, and won a place in the Carling Opta Division Two "Team of the Week" in October 1999. He made 49 league appearances and 12 cup appearances in his two-year stint at

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a association football, football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool Football Club since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two be ...

, during which time he was sent on loan to

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

, before signing for them permanently in 2001. However, he was to make just one Premier League appearance for them against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

before moving to Scotland later that same year to join

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

(SPL) club Hibernian. Although not a regular starter and made 14 appearances in 18 months at the club. In January 2003 Caig moved back to England and joined

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

. However, he spent three years at

St James' Park St James' Park is a Association football, football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United. With a seating capacity of 52,305, it is the List of football stadiums in England, 8th la ...

without making a first team appearance, being backup to long time goalkeepers

Shay Given Séamus John James Given (born 20 April 1976) is an Irish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Irish goalkeepers of all time ...

and

Steve Harper Stephen Alan Harper (born 14 March 1975) is an English former professional footballer, and currently first team coach for Newcastle United and goalkeeping coach for the Northern Ireland national team. He is best known for his time playing at ...

. He spent a short loan spell at

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

and in 2006 he signed for

USL First Division The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second ...

club,

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, ...

in Canada on 13 April 2006.Caig returning to England.
/ref> He made his first appearance for them on 14 May 2006. With the Whitecaps he won the 2006 USL First Division Championship, when they beat

Rochester Raging Rhinos Rochester Rhinos, formerly known as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, was an American association football, soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. The club won the 1999 U.S. Open Cup, marking the only time a non-Major League Soccer ...

2–0 in the Play-offs Final. He also kept eleven clean sheets, and in doing so broke Mike Franks' record of ten clean sheets in 2003. On 20 June 2007, the Whitecaps announced that Caig would be returning to England for personal reasons despite having signed with the Whitecaps through the end of the season. He had played a total of 39 games for the Whitecaps. He signed on amateur terms with SPL club Gretna in October 2007 after a long running transfer saga. The SPL had initially objected to Gretna signing Caig because he had still been under contract with Vancouver at the closure of the summer 2007 transfer window. Caig played nine times for Gretna in the league and cup in a short spell and also served as a goalkeeping coach. He then moved to

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

in January 2008, where he was to serve as cover to

Pat Onstad Patrick Stewart Onstad (born January 13, 1968) is a Canadian former professional soccer goalkeeper who serves as the General Manager of the Houston Dynamo. During his career, Onstad played with a variety of clubs in Canada and the United State ...

. He made his Dynamo debut on 6 April 2008 as a substitute after Onstad was injured. Due to Onstad's injury, Caig played again on 9 April in the 2008

CONCACAF Champions' Cup The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, a ...

semi-final 2nd leg against

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

n club

Deportivo Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its Association football, football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, Costa Rica, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aym ...

, Caig then played other MLS and Concacaf Champions league games before returning to the UK at the end of that MLS season. On returning to England he signed for Chesterfield on a short-term deal. After leaving Chesterfield, Caig signed a deal to join

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...

of the

Conference North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 o ...

to team up with former Carlisle teammate Darren Edmondson, now the manager of Workington.

Coaching

Caig started coaching Carlisle United's goalkeepers while still playing for Workington where he won the Non-League Goalkeeper of the Year award for 2009–10 and also the Reds Player of the Year award and National supporters award in helping Workington to a fourth-place finish. Carlisle then entered negotiations with Workington to allow Caig to combine his coaching duties with serving as an understudy to current first choice goalkeeper Adam Collin. During the 2014–15 season he was, alongside

Paul Thirlwell Paul Thirlwell (born 13 February 1979) is an English former professional footballer who is assistant manager at Harrogate Town. He is also a former England U21 international. Career Thirlwell was born in Washington, Tyne and Wear, and began hi ...

, made caretaker manager for four games following the dismissal of

Graham Kavanagh Graham Anthony Kavanagh (born 2 December 1973) is an Irish football manager and former professional player. Kavanagh had a 19-year-long career and played for Middlesbrough, Stoke City, Cardiff City, Wigan Athletic, Sunderland, Sheffield Wednes ...

as manager. After an injury to first choice goalkeeper Mark Gillespie in September 2014, Caig was re-registered as a player to provide cover for backup goalkeeper Dan Hanford. He was allocated the number 29 shirt. In June 2015 Caig signed for

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

as a goalkeeping coach, the same role he held at Carlisle United. He left Hartlepool United in January 2017 due to a change of management and took a role at Newcastle United Academy coaching the 12-16 goalkeepers, then in June 2017 left Newcastle and became Bury head goalkeeping coach, assisting Lee Clark and Alan Thompson. Caig's contract was terminated once Bury were expelled from the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

, he then took up a position as a goalkeeping coach of

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

club Livingston. On 26 November 2020, Caig and David Martindale became co-caretaker managers of Livingston following Gary Holt's resignation. He initially stayed with the club after Martindale was appointed manager on a permanent basis, but left Livingston in May 2021 to focus on coaching work with the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA incl ...

. Caig briefly joined

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foot ...

club

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

as part-time goalkeeping coach in June 2021, before taking the Head of Goalkeeping Performance position on a full-time basis at Premiership level with

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

the following month. In 2022 Caig returned to Newcastle United to take up a new position of head of academy goalkeeping, co-ordinating the staff and development program of the 9-21s goalkeepers, in March 2024 Caig became the

national team goalkeeping coach a role he combines with his role at Newcastle United.

Honours

Carlisle United *

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 ...

: 1994–95; promotion: 1996–97 *

: 1996–97,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

; runner-up: 1994–95 Vancouver Whitecaps *

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

: 1996–97 Third Division *National Conference Keeper of the Year 2009–10

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caig, Tony 1974 births Living people People from Cleator Moor English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Carlisle United F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010) players Gretna F.C. players Houston Dynamo FC players Chesterfield F.C. players Workington A.F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players Scottish Premier League players USL First Division players Major League Soccer players English expatriate men's footballers Bury F.C. non-playing staff Hartlepool United F.C. non-playing staff English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Dundee United F.C. non-playing staff Newcastle United F.C. non-playing staff Association football goalkeeping coaches Footballers from Cumbria