Tommy Coyne

Tommy Coyne

Personal information
Full name	Thomas Coyne
Date of birth	14 November 1962 (1962-11-14)
Place of birth	Govan, Scotland
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position	Striker
Youth career
1980–1981	Hillwood Boys Club
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1981–1983	Clydebank	80	(38)
1983–1986	Dundee United	62	(9)
1986–1989	Dundee	89	(50)
1989–1993	Celtic	105	(43)
1993	Tranmere Rovers	12	(1)
1993–1998	Motherwell	132	(59)
1998–2000	Dundee	18	(0)
1999	Falkirk	8	(1)
2000–2001	Clydebank	15	(4)
2001	Albion Rovers	1	(0)
Total		522	(205)
National team
1992–1997	Republic of Ireland	22	(6)
Teams managed
2000	Clydebank
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Thomas "Tommy" Coyne (born 14 November 1962 in Govan) is a former international footballer who played for the Republic of Ireland team due to his Irish ancestry.

Club career

Tommy Coyne played for Hillwood Boys Club before starting his professional career at Clydebank, where he made his debut in the 1981-82 season, in which he scored 9 goals in 31 matches. After scoring 19 in 38 matches in his second season, he began the 1983-84 season with 10 goals in 11 games before being sold to Dundee United, then a rising force in Scottish football as part of the New Firm, for £60,000. However, Coyne failed to reproduce his form at Tannadice and scored only 9 goals in 62 games, though he did score a few goals in the UEFA Cup. Halfway through the 1986-7 season he was transferred to city rivals Dundee, where he found his scoring boots again, notching up 9 goals in 20 games in the second half of the season. In the 1987-88 season Coyne was top scorer in the Premier Division as he scored 33 goals in 43 matches. After scoring 9 goals in 20 matches at the start of the 1988-89 season he was sold on to Celtic.

Coyne again failed to reproduce his form at the start of his Celtic career and did not score for the remainder of the season. The following season was also hardly a success, with 7 goals in 23 games. The next season, 1990-91 saw Coyne revert to his previous form with 18 goals in 26 games, as he finished the season as top scorer. Despite scoring 15 goals in the following season and 3 in 10 games at the start of the 1992-93 season, Coyne was transferred to Tranmere Rovers in March 1993.

After a short spell in England, Coyne returned to Scotland to join Motherwell in November 1993 for £125,000. In 1994-95 he was again the Scottish Premier Division's top scorer, and scored 59 goals in 132 games for Motherwell.

Coyne is the only player to be Scottish Premier Division top scorer with three different clubs.

Coyne left for Dundee in 1998, where he was loaned out to Falkirk. He then returned to his first club, Clydebank, as player/manager in August 2000 and picked up the Scottish Second Division Manager of the Month award a month later. However, he was sacked after six months after the club had entered administration despite the club being near the top of Division Two. Coyne's wife had died while he was in England, and while he was playing for Motherwell against Rangers he was reportedly taunted by a section of Rangers fans with: "Tommy, Tommy, where's your wife?" and "home alone."

Soon after leaving Clydebank he joined Albion Rovers, where he ended his playing career.

International career

In his international career, Coyne won 22 caps and scored 6 goals. He made his international debut on 25 March 1992 against Switzerland in a friendly played at Lansdowne Road, Dublin. This game was the international debut for Eddie McGoldrick and was Paul McGrath's fiftieth cap.Coyne waited just 27 minutes before scoring his first international goal. He was replaced by John Aldridge in the eightieth minute, who converted from the penalty spot to make it a 2–1 victory for the Republic. Coyne started three of Ireland's four matches in the 1994 World Cup but he failed to score in the tournament.

His best game for Ireland was the 4–0 victory over Liechtenstein on 12 October 1994, played at Lansdowne Road. Coyne scored two goals in the opening four minutes of the game but failed to achieve his hat trick. He played his last game for the Republic, coming on as a substitute for David Connolly, in the 1-1 draw with Belgium on 29 October 1997. The game was the first leg of a playoff for qualification for the 1998 World Cup, Belgium won the second leg 2–1 and qualified for the 1998 World Cup.

Managerial career

After finishing his playing career, Coyne coached Junior club Bellshill Athletic. The club won the West Division One in 2003-04, but Coyne was sacked in July 2005.^{[citation needed]}

Family

Coyne's son, also named Tommy is also a striker and currently plays for Linlithgow Rose where he has gained a player of the year award and scored 38 goals in the 2009/10 season.^{[citation needed]}.

Coyne's other son, Bradley Coyne plays for East Stirlingshire in the Scottish Third Division, on loan from SPL side, St Mirren.

External links

• Tommy Coyne career stats at Soccerbase
• Tommy Coyne profile Post War English & Scottish Football League A - Z Players Database