Profile of Brian Talbot on Famous Like Me

Brian Talbot (born July 21, 1953) is an English football manager and former player.

A midfielder, Talbot began his footballing career as an apprentice with Ipswich Town in 1968, turning professional in 1972; in the meantime he had spent two seasons on loan with Canadian club Toronto Metros. He made 227 appearances for Ipswich, and won the 1978 FA Cup with the club, before moving to Arsenal in January 1979 for a fee of £450,000.

Talbot immediately became a first-team player at Arsenal. He played for the Gunners in the FA Cup final of that year, scoring a goal in a thrilling 3-2 victory over Manchester United; Talbot thus achieved the rare distinction of winning the FA Cup with two different teams in consecutive seasons. The following year he set a club record, as an ever-present in Arsenal's marathon 1979-80 season (the club reached the finals of both the FA Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup, but lost them both), he played a total of 70 matches in a single season.

Talbot's impressive stamina and fitness meant he played nearly every Arsenal first-team game for the next five seasons, missing fewer than half a dozen League games. In all, the strong and sturdy midfielder played 327 first-yeam matches for the Gunners, scoring 49 goals. He also played for England, five times while at Ipswich and once as an Arsenal player.

After leaving Arsenal in June 1985 he went on to play for Watford, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Fulham and Aldershot. From 1984 to 1988 Talbot was also chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association.

Talbot first tasted football management with West Bromwich Albion, where he served as player-manager from November 1988 to January 1991, and then at Aldershot (February–November 1991). He subsequently managed Maltese club Hibernians, where his team won the island's Premier League in 1993 and 1994.

Talbot returned to English club football as part of the coaching staff of Rushden and Diamonds, then in the Football Conference, in 1997. After a spell as head coach he was appointed club manager before the start of the 1999-2000 season. At the end of the 2000-01 season Rushden secured promotion to the Football League under his management. The team reached the Third Division playoffs in 2002 but lost in the final. In their second season in the League they secured the 2003 Division Three Championship, but were relegated the following season, Talbot having left the club in March 2004 after 7 years to take over at Oldham Athletic.

Talbot succeeded in keeping Oldham in the Football League Second Division in 2004, but resigned in March 2005. In May 2005 he signed a two-year contract as manager of Oxford United before the final game of the 2004-05 season.

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