Colin Calderwood

Lore & Background

Calderwood started his career at Mansfield Town, making 100 league appearances. He moved to Swindon Town in 1985, where he became club captain and helped the club win the Fourth Division title, a second successive promotion via the playoffs, and promotion to the top flight in 1990. He was arrested and questioned in an irregular payments scandal but was not charged. He later played for Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, and Notts County, with his playing career ended by a broken leg while at Notts County in 2001. As a manager, he led Northampton Town to promotion in 2006, then Nottingham Forest to promotion in 2008 before being sacked in December 2008. He later managed Hibernian and Cambridge United, and worked as assistant manager to Chris Hughton at Newcastle United, Birmingham City, Norwich City, and Brighton & Hove Albion.

In Their Own Story

The floodlights at the City Ground hummed with a low electric buzz, the kind that made the air feel thick and close. It was a Tuesday in February, and the crowd was a sea of red, their breath misting in the cold. Calderwood laced his boots in the tunnel, the leather creaking, and ran his thumb over the laces the way he always did. Up the stairs, the roar hit him like a wall of sound. He didn't look up at the stands. He never did. He just nodded to the man beside him, felt the familiar weight of the red shirt on his shoulders, and walked out onto the grass. The ball would come. He would win it. That was the job, and he would do it again, and again, until the whistle blew. The crowd didn't need to know his name. They just needed to know that the middle of the pitch was locked, and it always was.

Reader's Guide

Colin Calderwood is best known as a solid centre-back who played in the Premier League for Tottenham and Aston Villa, and as a manager who secured promotions for Northampton Town and Nottingham Forest. His managerial career included stints at Hibernian and Cambridge United, and he frequently served as assistant manager to Chris Hughton.

Did You Know?

• Calderwood was capped 36 times for Scotland and played at both Euro 96 and the 1998 World Cup.
• He was arrested and questioned in connection with Swindon Town's irregular payments scandal but was not charged.
• As Nottingham Forest manager, he sold his manager of the month award on eBay to raise funds for hospital patients in Nottingham.
• He made four appearances in Tottenham's 1999–2000 League Cup campaign, though Tottenham did not win that competition.