Chris Sulley

Chris Sulley
Personal information
Full name Christopher Stephen Sulley[1]
Date of birth (1959-12-03) 3 December 1959
Place of birth Camberwell, England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing position Left back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1978–1981 Chelsea 0 (0)
1981–1986 Bournemouth 206 (3)
1986 Dundee United 7 (0)
1986–1992 Blackburn Rovers 134 (3)
1992–1993 Port Vale 40 (1)
1993–1994 Preston North End 21 (1)
Total 408 (8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Christopher Stephen Sulley (born 3 December 1959) is an English former professional footballer who played as a left back. He played 401 games in the Football League and seven games in the Scottish Football League.[2]

He began his career at Chelsea in 1978, though did not play a league game for the club, and instead joined Bournemouth in 1981. After five years on the south coast, during which he was twice promoted and lifted the Football League Trophy, he signed with Blackburn Rovers via Dundee United. He won the Full Members Cup with Rovers in 1987, and stayed for six years, before moving on to Port Vale after Rovers won promotion to the top-flight in 1992. He switched to Preston North End the following year, before retiring in 1994. During his career he was involved in five play-off competitions, only one of which (Blackburn in 1992) ended in promotion.

Playing career

Sulley began his career with Chelsea, but failed to make a senior appearance at Stamford Bridge under Danny Blanchflower or Geoff Hurst, as the "Pensioners" were relegated out of the First Division in 1978–79 and then remained in the Second Division in 1979–80 and 1980–81.

He moved on to Fourth Division side Bournemouth in March 1981.[3] David Webb's side won promotion to the Third Division after occupying the final promotion place in 1981–82. They maintained their third tier status in 1982–83 and 1983–84 as new manager Don Megson was quickly replaced by Harry Redknapp. Redknapp coached the club to victory in the 1984 Football League Trophy final, as they beat Hull City 2–1 at Boothferry Park. The "Cherries" continued to remain in the Third Division in 1984–85 and 1985–86, before they topped the division in 1986–87 after winning 19 of their 23 league games at Dean Court.

After making over 200 appearances for Bournemouth, he moved to Scotland to play for Dundee United in 1986. He featured only eight times for manager Jim McLean, including one appearance at the very beginning of the club's UEFA Cup run to the final and moved back to England within three months with Blackburn Rovers, converting a loan move into a £15,000 deal.[4]

He won the Full Members Cup at Wembley in 1987, Colin Hendry scoring the only goal of the game against Charlton Athletic. Rovers finished the 1987–88 season in the Second Division play-off zone, but lost out to Sulley's former club Chelsea. The "Riversiders" again reached the play-offs in 1988–89, but were defeated by Crystal Palace in the final. A third successive play-off appearance in 1989–90, this time Rovers lost to Swindon Town at the semi-final stage. After Rovers struggled in 1990–91 their manager Don Mackay departed. Bankrolled by Jack Walker, new manager Kenny Dalglish took the Lancashire outfit into the top-flight via the play-offs, as Rovers defeated Leicester City 1–0 in the final. In his six years with Blackburn, Sulley made close to 150 appearances.

Sulley moved to John Rudge's Port Vale in July 1992, and played 53 games in league and cup in 1992–93, though missed both the League Trophy and play-off finals at Wembley.[5] He then left Vale Park and signed with John Beck's Preston North End on a free transfer in June 1993. The 1993–94 season would see one last play-off heartbreak for Sulley, as the "Lambs" lost 4–2 to Wycombe Wanderers in the final.

Coaching career

After retiring in 1994, Sulley took up a coaching post with Preston North End at their centre of excellence in 1995. From there, he moved back to Blackburn Rovers and then on to Bolton Wanderers, originally as under-19s coach, in 1998.[6][7] He left his position at Bolton in March 2008. In March 2011, Sulley was appointed as director of the Leeds United academy.[8] He left the post in April 2012.[9] In November 2013, he was appointed as joint Head of Coaching for the under-5s to under-13s at the Everton Academy.[10]

Statistics

Source:[11]

Club Season Division League FA Cup Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Chelsea 1978–79 First Division 00000000
1979–80 Second Division 00000000
Total 00000000
Bournemouth 1980–81 Fourth Division 80000080
1981–82 Fourth Division 4604050550
1982–83 Third Division 4611050521
1983–84 Third Division 4625080592
1984–85 Third Division 2304040310
1985–86 Third Division 3704060470
Total 20631802802520
Blackburn Rovers 1986–87 Second Division 1300020150
1987–88 Second Division 3401030380
1988–89 Second Division 1903050270
1989–90 Second Division 3602020400
1990–91 Second Division 2532010283
1991–92 Second Division 70002090
Total 1343601501553
Port Vale 1992–93 Second Division 4014070511
Preston North End 1993–94 Third Division 2110030241
Career Total 40182805304828

Honours

with Bournemouth
with Blackburn Rovers
with Port Vale
  • TNT Tournament winner: 1992

References

  1. ↑ "Chris Sulley". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  2. ↑ "Stats". Neil Brown stat site. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  3. ↑ Struthers, Greg (8 January 2006). "Caught in Time: Bournemouth beat Manchester United, FA Cup, 1984". London: The Times. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  4. ↑ "Rovers: Harford tracking Euro aces". This is Lancashire website. 14 August 1996.
  5. ↑ Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 283. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  6. ↑ Chronnell, Liam (17 November 2007). "Academy Profile: The future is White". The Bolton News.
  7. ↑ "Bolton Wanderers FC International Academy". Bolton Wanderers FC. Archived from the original on 22 February 2008. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
  8. ↑ "New Academy Manager Appointed". leedsunited.com. 1 March 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  9. ↑ "United's Academy Boss Departs". thesquareball.net. Archived from the original on 20 April 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  10. ↑ "Profile". LinkedIn. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  11. ↑ Chris Sulley at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
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