Brian Tinnion

This article is about the Bristol City footballer born in 1968. For the Wrexham footballer born in 1948, see Brian Tinnion (footballer).

Brian Tinnion

Personal information
Full name	Brian Tinnion
Date of birth	23 February 1968 (1968-02-23)
Place of birth	Stanley, England
Playing position	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1986–1989	Newcastle United	32	(2)
1989–1993	Bradford City	145	(22)
1993–2005	Bristol City	458	(36)
2005–2006	Aldershot Town	7	(1)
2006–2007	Weston-super-Mare	?	(?)
2007	Team Bath	?	(?)
Teams managed
2004–2005	Bristol City
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Brian Tinnion (born 23 February 1968) is a British former footballer and ex-manager. He made over 450 appearances for Bristol City, including a spell as player-manager. He started as a left-back but later became a goal-scoring left-sided midfielder.

Career

He was born in Stanley, County Durham and was recruited by Newcastle United as an apprentice after scouts had spotted his useful left foot, he went on to be a member of the Newcastle United FA Youth Cup winning side of 1985 that included the likes of Paul Gascoigne. Tinnion signed as a professional before a first-team home game on the pitch of St James' Park a few days after his eighteenth birthday in 1986. In the 1987–88 season, he started 30 league games for the Magpies in the left-back slot. He earned a call-up to the England Under-21 squad in May 1988 for a tour of Toulon but unfortunately had to pull out injured.

He moved from Newcastle to Bradford City in March 1989. He played a total of 173 senior matches for the Bantams, scoring 29 goals, before moving to Bristol City in March 1993.

He went on to become one of City's dominant players of the 1990s. He switched from wide on the left flank into the centre of a three-man midfield under new manager Danny Wilson in 2000 and the role often gave him time and space to execute through balls, such was his form in that role that he was voted as the best player in his division. He became player-coach in 2000 (and had helped coach the club's youth teams since the mid-90s) and succeeded Danny Wilson as manager in 2004.

Tinnion's first season in charge saw Bristol City fail to make the play-offs and the 2005–06 season started inconsistently, leaving the City fans unconvinced about his ability to make his move into management successful. City's league results failed to improve in 2005/6, and capitulating in a 7–1 thrashing by Swansea City on September 10, 2005 was the final straw; facing a wave of discontent among the supporters, Tinnion stepped down as manager the following day.

After his departure from Bristol City, Tinnion trained with Cheltenham Town, turning out for them in a reserve match, and then joined Conference side Aldershot.

He subsequently played for Conference South side Weston-super-Mare and in January 2007 joined Team Bath.

Tinnion has since retired from playing in the summer of 2007, and planned to concentrate on his football schools in Spain and England.

External links

• Brian Tinnion management career stats at Soccerbase