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Tommy Coyne

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Tommy Coyne
Personal information
Full name Thomas Coyne
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s) Striker

Thomas "Tommy" Coyne (born November 14, 1962 in Govan, Scotland) is a Scottish-born 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 1981-2 season, in which he scored 9 goals in 31 matches. After scoring 19 in 38 matches in his second season, he began the 1983-4 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 1987-8 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 1988-9 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, 1990-1 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 1992-3 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 1994-5 he was again the Scottish Premier Division's top scorer, and scored 59 goals in 132 games for Motherwell.

Tommy Coyne is the only player to be Scottish Premier (SPL only started in 1998 ?) 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[1] and picked up the Scottish Second Division Manager of the Month award a month later.[2] However, he was sacked after six months after the club had entered administration[3] despite the club being near the top of Division Two. Soon after leaving Clydebank he joined Albion Rovers,[4] where he ended his playing career. His son, also named Tommy is also a striker and currently plays for Albion Rovers.

International career

In his international career, Coyne won 22 caps and scored 6 goals. He made his international debut on March 25, 1992 against Switzerland in a friendly played at Lansdowne Road, Dublin. This game would also be the international debut for Eddie McGoldrick and would be Paul McGrath's fiftieth cap. Coyne would have to wait just 27 minutes before scoring his first international goal. He was replaced by John Aldridge in the eightieth minute, who would convert 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[5] but he failed to score in the tournament. His best game for Ireland was the 4–0 victory over Liechtenstein on October 12 1994, played at Lansdowne Road. Coyne would score two goals in the opening four minutes of the game but failed to achieve his hat trick. He would play his last game for the Republic, coming on as a substitute for David Connolly, in the one all draw with Belgium on October 29, 1997. The game was the first leg of a playoff for qualification for the 1998 World Cup, Belgium would win the second leg 2–1 and ultimately qualify 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 2003-4, but Coyne was sacked in July 2005.

References

  1. ^ "Clydebank 1-0 Stenhousemuir". BBC Sport website. 2000-08-12. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  2. ^ "Double triumph for Falkirk". BBC Sport website. 2000-10-06. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  3. ^ "Coyne tossed by Bankies". BBC Sport website. 2001-02-01. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  4. ^ "Albion Rovers 0-1 Elgin City". BBC Sport website. 2001-02-17. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  5. ^ "FIFA Player Statistics: Tommy Coyne". FIFA.com. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
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