Profile of Peter Reid on Famous Like Me

Peter Reid (Born June 20, 1956 in Huyton, Merseyside) was one of the most talented football players of the 1980's when he turned out for Bolton, Everton and England.

Playing career

Signed professional forms with Bolton Wanderers in 1974. He first won a medal when Bolton won the championship of the Football League Second Division in 1978. He was transferred to Everton for a cut-price fee of £60,000 in 1982 only 12 months after a much larger fee had been mooted. A succession of injuries had cut the price.

At club level his greatest achievement was as part of the Everton team which in 1984 won the FA Cup, in 1985 and 1987 the Football League championship and in 1985 the European Cup Winners' Cup. They nearly won a unique treble but lost 1-0 to Manchester United in the FA Cup final. In that game, Reid was recklessly challenged by Manchester United defender Kevin Moran who became the first player to be sent off in an FA Cup final. Peter Reid was voted PFA Footballer of the Year in 1985. He made 229 appearances (plus six as substitute) for Everton.

Reid won 13 caps for England. Given his chance by the injuries to other players, he became the lynchpin of the England team in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. Reid was given a free transfer to Queens Park Rangers in 1989 but only stayed for ten months before starting his managerial career.

Managerial career

Manchester City

Reid's managerial career began in November 1990 at Manchester City. He was appointed player-manager at the Maine Road club after Howard Kendall resigned to begin the second of his three spells in charge of Everton. In 1990-91, Manchester City finished fifth (one place above neighbours Manchester United) and equalled this achievement the following season. In the first season of the Premier League (1992-93), City slipped slightly into ninth place and Reid was suddenly dismissed just after the start of the following season in a surprise decision especially considering the depths to which City would sink after his departure.

Sunderland

Peter Reid made his return to management in March 1995 with Sunderland, who were battling against relegation in Division One. He kept the club in Division One and the following season they were crowned champions of the division and were promoted to the Premiership. The following season they were relegated back to Division One after losing their final game of the season, so their new 42,000-seat Stadium of Light would replace Roker Park initially as a Division One stadium rather than one hosting Premiership football.

Sunderland missed automatic promotion by one place in 1997-98, and drew 4-4 with Charlton Athletic in the Division playoff final. Peter Reid's side missed out on promotion after losing 8-7 in a penalty shoot out in one of the most dramatic games ever seen at Wembley Stadium.

The following season, free scoring striker Kevin Phillips was instrumental in getting Sunderland promoted back to the Premiership as Division One champions with a record breaking 105 points. This time round Sunderland's return to the top flight would be longer and more successful.

Throughout 1999-2000, Sunderland were competing for a place in European competition but in the end missed out after finishing in seventh place. Still, Peter Reid's team had achieved one of the highest finishes ever achieved by a Premiership team in the season after promotion. Phillips was the highest league scorer in England with 30 goals in the Premiership.

For a while in 2000-01, Sunderland were second in the Premiership and it looked as though they would secure qualification for the UEFA Champions League, but their form dipped in the final stages of the season and again they finished seventh. After two successive seventh place finishes, Reid was now confident that Sunderland could make it third time lucky in their quest for a European place. But it was not to be.

Sunderland ended the 2001-02 season one place above the Premiership relegation zone with 28 goals - fewer than any other team in the division. In a bid to halt the decline, Reid paid a club record £6million for Norwegian striker Tore André Flo from Rangers, but the reinforcements were not successful and he was let go in October 2002 after nearly eight years as Sunderland manager.

Leeds

Peter Reid was out of work until March 2003, when he was appointed interim manager of Leeds United after the dismissal of Terry Venables. The Elland Road club had been hit by £80million debts after their £100million outlay on new players in the space of five seasons had failed to land them a trophy. Reid looked to be just the man to reverse the decline, especially after a 6-1 away win over Charlton Athletic and a 3-2 away win over Arsenal which ended the opposition's Premiership title hopes. But the club was still in a financial crisis and Reid's new signings over the summer of 2003 were all free transfers and loan deals.

Twelve games into the 2003-04 season, Leeds were bottom of the Premiership with eight defeats, two wins, two draws and just eight points. A 6-1 defeat at Portsmouth was the final straw for the club's board of directors and in November Reid was dismissed after less than eight months in charge.

Coventry City

Leeds were eventually relegated from the Premiership, but by that time Peter Reid had already found himself a new job. He was appointed manager of Coventry City and was aiming to get the club back into the Premiership and settled into its new 32,000-seat stadium for the 2005-06 season. However, Reid left the club by mutual consent on January 6, 2005 with the club 20th in the Football League Championship having lost five of their previous eight league games.

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Peter Reid