Nigel Spink
English footballer
title: "Nigel Spink" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1958-births", "living-people", "footballers-from-chelmsford", "english-men's-footballers", "aston-villa-f.c.-players", "uefa-champions-league–winning-players", "west-bromwich-albion-f.c.-players", "millwall-f.c.-players", "forest-green-rovers-f.c.-players", "english-football-league-players", "premier-league-players", "men's-association-football-goalkeepers", "english-football-managers", "forest-green-rovers-f.c.-managers", "england-men's-international-footballers", "england-men's-b-international-footballers", "birmingham-city-f.c.-non-playing-staff", "wigan-athletic-f.c.-non-playing-staff", "bristol-city-f.c.-non-playing-staff", "swindon-town-f.c.-non-playing-staff", "sunderland-a.f.c.-non-playing-staff", "chelmsford-city-f.c.-players", "association-football-goalkeeping-coaches"] description: "English footballer" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Spink" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary English footballer ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox football biography"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Nigel Spink |
| image | Nigel Spink (cropped).jpg |
| caption | Spink in 1982 |
| fullname | Nigel Philip Spink |
| height | |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Chelmsford, England |
| position | Goalkeeper |
| youthyears1 | –1976 |
| youthclubs1 | West Ham United |
| years1 | 1976–1977 |
| clubs1 | Chelmsford City |
| caps1 | 17 |
| goals1 | 0 |
| years2 | 1977–1996 |
| clubs2 | Aston Villa |
| caps2 | 361 |
| goals2 | 0 |
| years3 | 1996–1997 |
| clubs3 | West Bromwich Albion |
| caps3 | 19 |
| goals3 | 0 |
| years4 | 1997–2000 |
| clubs4 | Millwall |
| caps4 | 44 |
| goals4 | 0 |
| years5 | 2000–2001 |
| clubs5 | Forest Green Rovers |
| caps5 | 14 |
| goals5 | 0 |
| totalcaps | 455 |
| totalgoals | 0 |
| nationalyears1 | 1983 |
| nationalteam1 | England |
| nationalcaps1 | 1 |
| nationalgoals1 | 0 |
| nationalyears2 | 1991 |
| nationalteam2 | England B |
| nationalcaps2 | 2 |
| nationalgoals2 | 0 |
| manageryears1 | 2000–2002 |
| managerclubs1 | Forest Green Rovers |
| :: |
| name = Nigel Spink | image = Nigel Spink (cropped).jpg | caption = Spink in 1982 | fullname = Nigel Philip Spink | height = | birth_date = | birth_place = Chelmsford, England | position = Goalkeeper | currentclub = | youthyears1 = –1976 | youthclubs1 = West Ham United | years1 = 1976–1977 | clubs1 = Chelmsford City | caps1 = 17 | goals1 = 0 | years2 = 1977–1996 | clubs2 = Aston Villa | caps2 = 361 | goals2 = 0 | years3 = 1996–1997 | clubs3 = West Bromwich Albion | caps3 = 19 | goals3 = 0 | years4 = 1997–2000 | clubs4 = Millwall | caps4 = 44 | goals4 = 0 | years5 = 2000–2001 | clubs5 = Forest Green Rovers | caps5 = 14 | goals5 = 0 | totalcaps = 455 | totalgoals = 0 | nationalyears1 = 1983 | nationalteam1 = England | nationalcaps1 = 1 | nationalgoals1 = 0 | nationalyears2 = 1991 | nationalteam2 = England B | nationalcaps2 = 2 | nationalgoals2 = 0 | manageryears1 = 2000–2002 | managerclubs1 = Forest Green Rovers Nigel Philip Spink (born 8 August 1958) is an English football coach and former professional footballer.
He played as a goalkeeper from 1976 until 2001. He made his name at Aston Villa and also made one appearance for England at international level on the tour of Australia in 1983. He also played in the Football League for West Bromwich Albion and Millwall, and at non-league level for Chelmsford City and Forest Green Rovers, the latter he would go on to manage between 2000 and 2002. Spink later worked as a goalkeeping coach for Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic, Sunderland and Bristol City.
Club career
Spink began his career with Writtle Minors F.C. at junior level before going as a school boy to West Ham United, but soon moved to Chelmsford City and then, at the age of 18, to Aston Villa.
At Villa it was almost five years before his big break in the first team came along, and it came on the biggest stage of all – the European Cup Final. Ten minutes into the 1982 final against Bayern Munich, Villa's first choice goalkeeper, Jimmy Rimmer, was injured and substitute keeper Spink was called into action, having only made one previous appearance in the first team. Spink performed superbly, keeping a clean sheet, and Villa won the game 1–0. By coincidence, Spink and Rimmer are two of the four England goalkeepers with the shortest international career (45 minutes).
He went on to make 460 appearances for Villa, making his last appearance as an outfielder against QPR in December 1995, having replaced the injured Ian Taylor in the final minute. He then moved to neighbouring club West Bromwich Albion in 1996, almost two decades after first joining Villa. Spink made 24 appearances in all for Albion, and became the oldest goalkeeper to appear for the club when, at the age of 39 years and 19 days, he kept goal in a League Cup tie against Cambridge United on 27 August 1997, a record since broken by Dean Kiely at .
A £50,000 move in September 1997 took him down a division to Millwall in Division Two, and he continued playing at The Den for another three seasons until he finally retired in June 2000, just before his 42nd birthday.
International career
Spink played for England B in 1991 and he made his only England appearance as a substitute on 19 June 1983 during the 1–1 draw against Australia.
Coaching career
After retiring as a player, Spink had a two-year spell as manager of Forest Green Rovers in the Conference National. He led Forest Green to the 2001 FA Trophy final but they lost 1–0 against Canvey Island at Villa Park. He was eventually sacked in September 2002.
He then worked under Steve Bruce at Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic and Sunderland as a goalkeeping coach. He left Sunderland on 6 December 2011, following Bruce's dismissal a few days earlier. Spink was goalkeeping coach at Bristol City from February 2012
Personal life
After the end of the 2012–13 season, Spink left the game and started his own courier business.
Honours
Aston Villa
Individual
References
References
- (1980). "Rothmans Football Yearbook 1980–81". [[Queen Anne Press]].
- Matthews, Tony. (2005). "The Who's Who of West Bromwich Albion". Breedon Books.
- Gallacher, Eric. ''Writtle Football Club Centenary Book 1902/03 to 2002/03''.
- https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/nigel-spink
- [[John Ruddy]] and [[Chris Kirkland]] are the other two.
- (17 July 2011). "Villa's Fab 50 top player countdown: 9 Nigel Spink". [[Aston Villa F.C.]].
- {{Soccerbase season. 4190. 2009
- "Nigel Spink".
- "Australia vs. England 1983-06-19".
- (11 May 2001). "Spink on brink of cup glory". BBC Sport.
- (13 May 2001). "Canvey stun Forest to lift Trophy". BBC Sport.
- (1 September 2002). "Forest Green sack Spink". BBC Sport.
- (6 December 2011). "O'Neill confirms backroom additions". Sunderland A.F.C.
- (23 February 2012). "Nigel Spink joins Bristol City as goalkeeping coach". BBC Sport.
- Kendrick, Mat. (15 June 2013). "Then and Now: Nigel Spink keeps himself busy on the road". Birmingham Mail.
- Lovejoy, Joe. (27 March 1994). "Football / Coca-Cola Cup Final: Saunders destroys United's dream: Aston Villa's master plan puts paid to Ferguson's malfunctioning Big Red Machine as Kanchelskis is dismissed".
- Lynch. "The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes".
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