Ian Brightwell

Ian Brightwell

Personal information
Full name	Ian Robert Brightwell
Date of birth	9 April 1968 (1968-04-09)
Place of birth	Lutterworth, England
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position	Defender
Youth career
1982–1986	Manchester City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1986–1998	Manchester City	321	(18)
1998–2000	Coventry City	0	(0)
2000	→ Walsall (loan)	10	(0)
2000–2002	Walsall	74	(0)
2002	Stoke City	5	(0)
2002–2004	Port Vale	37	(0)
2004–2008	Macclesfield Town	21	(0)
Total		468	(18)
National team
1988–1989	England under-21	4	(2)
Teams managed
2007–2008	Macclesfield Town
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Ian Robert Brightwell (born 9 April 1968 in Lutterworth, Leicestershire) is an English former footballer, he played for six clubs, most notably spending twelve years with Manchester City. In 2004 he turned his hand to management, after leaving the management position at Macclesfield Town in 2008, he became assistant-coach at Port Vale – a position he vacated on 28 February 2009.

Early life

Brightwell was born in Lutterworth but grew up in Congleton, with his parents; Olympic gold medalist Ann Packer and 400m runner Robbie Brightwell. His younger brother David also played for Manchester City.

Club career

Manchester City

Brightwell began his career at Manchester City, where he signed schoolboy forms at the age of 14. He was part of the 1986 FA Youth Cup winning team that also included the likes of Paul Lake and David White, who also broke into the first team in the mid-1980s.

Brightwell made his City debut on 23 August 1986 against Wimbledon. He was a versatile player who played at every single outfield position during his career at the club. However, he was most commonly used either as a right-back or as on the right side of midfield. He did not score many goals, but did memorably shoot into the top corner from 25 yards on 3 February 1990, to earn City a draw at rivals Manchester United.

In early 1993, Brightwell snapped his patella tendon, and was sidelined for more than a year. He did eventually recover, and returned to the City line-up where he remained through most of the 1990s. His last year at City coincided with the team's worst season ever – the 1997–98 season that ended with relegation to the third level for the first time in the club's history.

At the end of the ill-fated 1997–98 season, after 378 first-team appearances for City, Brightwell had a testimonial match and was given a free transfer, joining Coventry City.

From Coventry to Vale

Two years later, having spent all of his Coventry career a virtual spectator, he joined Walsall for an eventful two year spell which saw relegation and a dramatic Division Two play-off final win in May 2001. He joined Stoke City in March 2002. However in August that year he moved on to local rivals Port Vale.

International career

He was capped four times by England Under-21, scoring twice.

Coaching and Management career

Brightwell was appointed as a coach at Port Vale in June 2003, a position he left in May 2004.

He joined Macclesfield as a reserve team coach in the summer of 2004. However, he remained registered as a player, and played sporadically for the Silkmen in the 2004–05, 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. He was appointed caretaker manager of Macclesfield on 2 October 2006 after the sacking of manager of Brian Horton, before the board appointed Paul Ince as permanent manager on 23 October 2006.

Ince resigned on 24 June 2007 to take over at MK Dons, upon which Macclesfield appointed Brightwell as permanent manager, with Asa Hartford as his assistant. He and Hartford left the club in February 2008 after a poor run of results and were replaced by former Lincoln boss Keith Alexander.

In October 2008 Brightwell was brought to back to Port Vale by Dean Glover in a temporary coaching capacity. He spent five months with the Valiants, leaving the club at the end of February 2009.

Personal life

He is a married man and has two children with his wife- Sally.

Managerial stats

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	L	D	Win %
Macclesfield Town		2 October 2006	23 October 2006	4	0	3	1	00.00
Macclesfield Town		29 June 2007	27 February 2008	38	7	18	13	18.42

Honours

as a player

with Manchester City

• FA Youth Cup winner: 1986

with Walsall

• Football League Second Division play-off winner: 2001

with Stoke City

• Football League Second Division play-off winner: 2002

External links

• Ian Brightwell career stats at Soccerbase
• Ian Brightwell management career stats at Soccerbase