John Schofield (football coach)
Encyclopedia
John David Schofield is an English
football manager
and former player. He was manager of Lincoln City
between May 2006 and October 2007 and was assistant manager of Walsall
before leaving, following a brief stint as caretaker manager. He was assistant manager at Cheltenham Town, where he briefly served as caretaker manager due to Martin Allen
being put on gardening leave, and in 2010 he was appointed as Coach at Cambridge United FC.
ranks, combining this with his job as an apprentice-trained motor mechanic. As a teenager, he had spent a season with Huddersfield Town
's reserve side before joining the then Northern Counties East League side Woolley Miners Welfare who were based in the village of Woolley Colliery
.
He then moved up the non-league pyramid, joining first Shepshed Charterhouse
and then Matlock Town
. In March 1988 he joined Gainsborough Trinity
.
The then Lincoln City
manager Colin Murphy soon spotted his talents and a fee of £10,000 was enough to secure his services. Schofield quickly established himself in the Lincoln team and would go on to make 231 league appearances, scoring 11 times, in his first spell at the club and later be voted as number 47 in Lincoln's list of 100 league legends.
Despite a successful 1993/94 season with Lincoln when he was both club captain and supporters' `Player of the Season', the 1994/95 season found Schofield out of favour with the newly installed Lincoln manager Sam Ellis
and in November 1994 moved on to join Doncaster Rovers
.
He spent three seasons with Doncaster before departing to Mansfield Town
and then Hull City
.
Schofield returned to Lincoln City
in June 2000 to take up the post of Head of Youth Development. With Lincoln beginning to struggle financially, Schofield was also called upon as a player, making a further 19 league appearances before he finally wound his playing career down.
, either making the first team squad or being sold to higher level clubs such as Jack Hobbs
who was sold to Liverpool
and Scott Loach
who moved on to Watford
.
Schofield's good work was rewarded with an increasing role with the first team and he was appointed First Team Coach prior to the start of the 2005/06. The departure of Keith Alexander
as Lincoln's manager in the summer of 2006 saw him appointed as Head Coach with John Deehan
appointed as Director of Football
.
The 2006/07 season started extremely promisingly for Lincoln with a new found commitment to attacking passing football which saw them top the table in October 2006 and be amongst the leading scorers in the league. However, Lincoln's form fell away in 2007 and rather than pushing for automatic promotion they were, for the fifth season running, forced to settle for a place in the play-offs where they were soundly beaten by Bristol Rovers
. The initial promising start however was rewarded when he signed a new two-year deal with the club in April 2006. while in June 2006 this was extended to three years and his title upgraded to Manager.
The poor form exhibited by Lincoln in the second-half of the 2006/07 season has, sadly, been continued in the 2007/08 season and this was met with increasing unease by the Lincoln supporters with a feeling that Schofield has neglected the defence of the squad in favour of his attacking strategy. Schofield was sacked by Lincoln on 15 October 2007. In February 2008 he began coaching at Scunthorpe United
where he helped carried out extra training sessions for players not involved in the first team before departing at the end of the season. In June 2008 he was appointed first-team coach at Walsall
. Schofield was then appointed manager on a caretaker basis after Jimmy Mullen was sacked on January 10, 2009. Schofield was then relieved of his duties after being in charge for just one match, a 1-0 defeat away to Peterborough Utd. New manager Chris Hutchings brought in his own right hand man in ex Walsall player Martin O'Connor. Schofield was appointed as assistant manager at Cheltenham Town until the end of the season.
on a trial basis to assist manager Martin Ling
with the club's pre-season preparations. Having impressed, he joined the club on a two-year contract to become first team coach. Following a run of four successive defeats, culminating in a 4-0 defeat at Bath City
on 29 January 2011, on 1 February 2011 he and Ling departed the club.
Schofield has been highly linked with the vacant managers position at Blue Square North side Boston United after joint managers Rob Scott and Paul Hurst resigned. He lives in the area and is understood to be considering a return to management.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
football manager
Manager (association football)
In association football, a manager is responsible for running a football club or a national team. The manager of a professional club is responsible directly to the club president. The position of manager is almost exclusively used in British football...
and former player. He was manager of Lincoln City
Lincoln City F.C.
Lincoln City Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The club are currently members of the Conference National in 2011–12 following relegation from the Football League....
between May 2006 and October 2007 and was assistant manager of Walsall
Walsall F.C.
Walsall Football Club are an English association football club based in Walsall, West Midlands. They currently play in League One. The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. The club was one of the founder members of the Second...
before leaving, following a brief stint as caretaker manager. He was assistant manager at Cheltenham Town, where he briefly served as caretaker manager due to Martin Allen
Martin Allen
Martin James Allen is a former football player and current manager of Notts County. He played more than 100 games for each Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United before finishing his playing career with Portsmouth and Southend United. Five years later, he took his first job in management, at...
being put on gardening leave, and in 2010 he was appointed as Coach at Cambridge United FC.
Playing career
A combative midfield player, John Schofield began his career in the non-LeagueNon-league football
Non-League football is football in England played at a level below that of the Premier League and The Football League. The term non-League was commonly used well before 1992 when the top football clubs in England all belonged to The Football League; all clubs who were not a part of The Football...
ranks, combining this with his job as an apprentice-trained motor mechanic. As a teenager, he had spent a season with Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town F.C.
Huddersfield Town Football Club is an English football club formed in 1908 and based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. They currently play in League One...
's reserve side before joining the then Northern Counties East League side Woolley Miners Welfare who were based in the village of Woolley Colliery
Woolley Colliery
Woolley Colliery is a village on the edge of the Barnsley and Wakefield districts in Yorkshire, England. The village itself is in South Yorkshire whilst the former colliery is situated in West Yorkshire...
.
He then moved up the non-league pyramid, joining first Shepshed Charterhouse
Shepshed Dynamo F.C.
Shepshed Dynamo F.C. is a football team based in the small town of Shepshed in the North West of Leicestershire, England.Their home ground is called The Dovecote, which is situated on Butthole Lane. Football has been played on this ground for over 100 years...
and then Matlock Town
Matlock Town F.C.
Matlock Town F.C. is an English football club based at Causeway Lane in Matlock, Derbyshire.-History:The club was established in the late 1870s and have competed in the Central Alliance and the Midland Counties League before reaching the Northern Premier League.In the 1974–75 season the club won...
. In March 1988 he joined Gainsborough Trinity
Gainsborough Trinity F.C.
Gainsborough Trinity Football Club are an English football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire.Between 1896 and 1912 they were members of the Football League. They are currently in the Conference North, and play their home matches at The Northolme, which has a capacity of 4,304...
.
The then Lincoln City
Lincoln City F.C.
Lincoln City Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The club are currently members of the Conference National in 2011–12 following relegation from the Football League....
manager Colin Murphy soon spotted his talents and a fee of £10,000 was enough to secure his services. Schofield quickly established himself in the Lincoln team and would go on to make 231 league appearances, scoring 11 times, in his first spell at the club and later be voted as number 47 in Lincoln's list of 100 league legends.
Despite a successful 1993/94 season with Lincoln when he was both club captain and supporters' `Player of the Season', the 1994/95 season found Schofield out of favour with the newly installed Lincoln manager Sam Ellis
Sam Ellis
Samuel "Sam" Ellis is an English football coach and former player. He left his post as assistant manager of on December 30, 2010.-Career:...
and in November 1994 moved on to join Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers F.C.
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in...
.
He spent three seasons with Doncaster before departing to Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town F.C.
Mansfield Town Football Club is an English football club from the former mining town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The club was formed in 1897 as Mansfield Wesleyans and changed its name to Mansfield Wesley in 1906 before settling on Mansfield Town in 1910...
and then Hull City
Hull City A.F.C.
Hull City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, founded in 1904. The club participates in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football...
.
Schofield returned to Lincoln City
Lincoln City F.C.
Lincoln City Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The club are currently members of the Conference National in 2011–12 following relegation from the Football League....
in June 2000 to take up the post of Head of Youth Development. With Lincoln beginning to struggle financially, Schofield was also called upon as a player, making a further 19 league appearances before he finally wound his playing career down.
Management career
He is a UEFA 'A' licence holder, Schofield made impressive progress with Lincoln's youth set-up with a number of promising players, such as Lee FrecklingtonLee Frecklington
Lee Craig Frecklington is a footballer who plays for Peterborough United as a midfielder.-Lincoln City:Born in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Frecklington made his way through Lincoln City's Centre of Excellence. He was rewarded with a scholarship place in the summer of 2002, where he was guided by former...
, either making the first team squad or being sold to higher level clubs such as Jack Hobbs
Jack Hobbs (footballer)
Jack Hobbs is a professional English football player, currently playing for Hull City.-Lincoln City:From Moulton, a small village near Spalding, Lincolnshire, Hobbs played for Moulton Harrox from the age of 10. The former Spalding Grammar School student left Moulton Harrox a few years later when...
who was sold to Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
and Scott Loach
Scott Loach
Scott James Loach is an English footballer. He plays as a goalkeeper for Watford in the Football League Championship, having previously spent loan spells with non-league Stafford Rangers and League Two sides Morecambe and Bradford City. He has played for England at under-21 level, and in August...
who moved on to Watford
Watford F.C.
Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...
.
Schofield's good work was rewarded with an increasing role with the first team and he was appointed First Team Coach prior to the start of the 2005/06. The departure of Keith Alexander
Keith Alexander (footballer)
Keith Alexander was a Saint Lucian footballer and manager. Born in Nottingham, England, he was the manager of League Two side Macclesfield Town at the time of his death, in a career that included international appearances for Saint Lucia. Alexander played for a whole host of lower league football...
as Lincoln's manager in the summer of 2006 saw him appointed as Head Coach with John Deehan
John Deehan
John Matthew Deehan is an English former footballer who in recent years has had several spells in coaching and management. He is currently unemployed having previously held the position of Director of football at Grimsby Town....
appointed as Director of Football
Director of football
"Director of football" is a term describing a senior management figure at a football club, most commonly used in Europe. The exact nature of the role is often unclear and extremely variable and causes much debate in the sports media...
.
The 2006/07 season started extremely promisingly for Lincoln with a new found commitment to attacking passing football which saw them top the table in October 2006 and be amongst the leading scorers in the league. However, Lincoln's form fell away in 2007 and rather than pushing for automatic promotion they were, for the fifth season running, forced to settle for a place in the play-offs where they were soundly beaten by Bristol Rovers
Bristol Rovers F.C.
Bristol Rovers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Bristol, that competes in Football League Two. The team plays its home matches at the Memorial Stadium, in the Horfield area of the city....
. The initial promising start however was rewarded when he signed a new two-year deal with the club in April 2006. while in June 2006 this was extended to three years and his title upgraded to Manager.
The poor form exhibited by Lincoln in the second-half of the 2006/07 season has, sadly, been continued in the 2007/08 season and this was met with increasing unease by the Lincoln supporters with a feeling that Schofield has neglected the defence of the squad in favour of his attacking strategy. Schofield was sacked by Lincoln on 15 October 2007. In February 2008 he began coaching at Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United F.C.
Scunthorpe United Football Club is an English association football team based in the town of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, who play in the Football League One....
where he helped carried out extra training sessions for players not involved in the first team before departing at the end of the season. In June 2008 he was appointed first-team coach at Walsall
Walsall F.C.
Walsall Football Club are an English association football club based in Walsall, West Midlands. They currently play in League One. The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. The club was one of the founder members of the Second...
. Schofield was then appointed manager on a caretaker basis after Jimmy Mullen was sacked on January 10, 2009. Schofield was then relieved of his duties after being in charge for just one match, a 1-0 defeat away to Peterborough Utd. New manager Chris Hutchings brought in his own right hand man in ex Walsall player Martin O'Connor. Schofield was appointed as assistant manager at Cheltenham Town until the end of the season.
Cambridge United
On 6 July 2010 he joined Cambridge UnitedCambridge United F.C.
Cambridge United Football Club is a professional football club from Cambridge, England. They are currently playing the 2011-2012 season in the Conference National, the fifth tier of the English league system, where they have competed since 2005 following their relegation from the Football League...
on a trial basis to assist manager Martin Ling
Martin Ling
Martin Ling is an English football manager and former player, who is currently manager of Torquay United in League Two. He played in over 100 Football League matches for Exeter City, Southend United, Swindon Town and Leyton Orient, before moving into management where he led Orient for over five...
with the club's pre-season preparations. Having impressed, he joined the club on a two-year contract to become first team coach. Following a run of four successive defeats, culminating in a 4-0 defeat at Bath City
Bath City F.C.
Bath City Football Club are a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset. They play in the Conference National league after gaining promotion from the Conference South via the play-offs in May 2010...
on 29 January 2011, on 1 February 2011 he and Ling departed the club.
Schofield has been highly linked with the vacant managers position at Blue Square North side Boston United after joint managers Rob Scott and Paul Hurst resigned. He lives in the area and is understood to be considering a return to management.
Managerial stats
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Lincoln City Lincoln City F.C. Lincoln City Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The club are currently members of the Conference National in 2011–12 following relegation from the Football League.... |
 |
24 May 2006 | 15 October 2007 | 64 | 23 | 14 | 27 | 36.0 |
| Walsall Walsall F.C. Walsall Football Club are an English association football club based in Walsall, West Midlands. They currently play in League One. The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. The club was one of the founder members of the Second... (caretaker) |
|
10 January 2009 | 20 January 2009 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town F.C. Cheltenham Town Football Club is an English football club playing in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. Founded in 1887, the team has played at four different grounds, namely Agg-Gardner's Recreation Ground, Carter's Field and now the Abbey Business Stadium, although it is more... (caretaker) |
|
20 October 2009 | 22 December 2009 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 11.1 |