Colin Calderwood

Lore & Background

As a player, he was a centre-back who played in the Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa and in the Football League for Mansfield Town, Swindon Town, Nottingham Forest and Notts County. He was capped 36 times for Scotland and was part of their Euro 96 and World Cup 98 squads. Following retirement, he became manager of Northampton Town in 2003, guiding the club to promotion in 2006. He then became manager of Nottingham Forest helping the club win promotion in 2008. Calderwood was sacked by Forest in December 2008 and then moved to Newcastle United, working as first team coach. After a year with the Tyneside club, Calderwood became a manager again by moving to Hibernian, but he was sacked after just over a year in that job. He was associated with Chris Hughton for several years, working as his assistant manager at Newcastle United, Birmingham City, Norwich City and Brighton & Hove Albion. After a spell as assistant manager at Aston Villa, he returned to full-time management and had two years in charge of Cambridge United.

Reader's Guide

Calderwood started his career at Mansfield Town, playing 100 league games. He moved to Swindon Town in 1985, where he was captain and won the Fourth Division title, then a second successive promotion via playoffs. He helped Swindon reach the top flight in 1990, though the club was later demoted and reinstated due to an irregular payments scandal; Calderwood was arrested and questioned but not charged. After injury and further promotions, he joined Tottenham Hotspur in 1993 for a tribunal-set fee of £1.25 million. He played for Tottenham for five years, gaining many of his Scotland caps, and represented Scotland at Euro 96 and the 1998 World Cup. He moved to Aston Villa in March 1999, then had brief spells with Nottingham Forest and Notts County before retiring due to a broken leg suffered while with Nottingham Forest. As a manager, he led Northampton Town to promotion in 2006, then Nottingham Forest to promotion in 2008. He was sacked by Forest in December 2008. He then worked as first team coach at Newcastle United, and later as assistant manager to Chris Hughton at Newcastle, Birmingham City, Norwich City, and Brighton & Hove Albion. He managed Hibernian from October 2010 to November 2011, winning 12 of 49 matches. He became assistant manager at Aston Villa under Steve Bruce, then manager of Cambridge United in December 2018.

Did You Know?

• He sold his manager of the month award on eBay to raise funds for hospital patients in Nottingham, but this anecdote is unconfirmed and lacks a reliable source.
• He was arrested and questioned in connection with Swindon Town's irregular payments scandal but was not ultimately charged.