Brian Horton

Football manager infobox
playername = Brian Horton


fullname = Brian Horton
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1949|2|4|df=y
cityofbirth = Hednesford
countryofbirth = England
currentclub = Hull City (Assistant Manager)
position = Midfielder
years = 1970-1976
1976-1981
1981-1984
1984-1986
clubs = Port Vale
Brighton and Hove Albion
Luton Town
Hull City
caps(goals) = 236 (33)
218 (33)
118 0(8)
038 0(0)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
manageryears = 1984–1988
1988–1993
1993–1995
1995–1997
1998–1999
1999–2004
2004–2006
managerclubs = Hull City
Oxford United
Manchester City
Huddersfield Town
Brighton & Hove Albion
Port Vale
Macclesfield Town

Brian Horton (born 4 February 1949 in Hednesford, Staffordshire) is an English football manager, currently working as the assistant manager at Hull City. Horton is one of the few managers in English football to have taken charge of teams in more than a thousand games.

Playing career

Horton was a respected journeyman midfield player who started his career as a member of Walsall's youth team. He never played for the Saddlers' first-team and dropped down to his non-league home town club Hednesford Town before signing for Port Vale in July 1970. Legend has it that his transfer fee was a pint of shandy, as the cash-strapped potteries club haggled with the Hednesford Town chairman by plying him with alcohol. Vale sold Horton (much to the disappointment of their fans) to Brighton and Hove Albion in March 1976 for a fee of £30,000.

Horton later moved to Luton Town and his most famous moment as a player was Luton's last-day relegation escape at Manchester City in 1983, in which manager David Pleat danced across the pitch in infamous jubilation. Horton became player-manager of Hull City a year later, winning promotion to the Second Division in 1985.

Managerial career

At Hull, Horton's reputation as a strong-minded, tactically-aware manager quickly built and he came very close to earning the club promotion to the First Division in 1986. He quit playing shortly afterwards to concentrate on full-time management but was sacked, to the dismay of some fans and most of the players, in early 1988 after a short run of games without a win. He then became assistant manager to Mark Lawrenson at Oxford United and took over the main job after Lawrenson was dismissed following the sale of star player Dean Saunders.

Horton's own tenure at the Manor Ground lasted five years and although Oxford stayed clear of the drop from the Second Division, they never looked like gaining promotion and Horton's tenure at the club was uneventful (with the exception of the 1991-2 season in which a bankrupt Oxford, in the wake of their chairman's death and subsequent financial crisis, escaped relegation with a last-day win at Tranmere).

In August 1993, four games after the start of the 1993–94 FA Premier League campaign, Horton resigned as Oxford manager to replace Peter Reid as manager of Manchester City, to the surprise of many supporters and commentators, who were expecting the appointment of someone more high profile. City's previous three seasons in the top flight had yielded top-ten finishes but Horton struggled with injuries - key striker Niall Quinn was missing through a cruciate ligament injury - and City were 20th and bottom in mid-February. But then Horton transformed his attack by signing Uwe Rösler, Paul Walsh and Peter Beagrie, and City escaped relegation after losing only 2 of the last 14 games of the season.

Horton played with two out and out wingers in 1994–95, Peter Beagrie and Nicky Summerbee. This led to Rösler, Walsh and Quinn scoring 47 goals between them, but also to some heavy defeats, such as the 5-0 loss to Manchester United F.C. City were sixth on 3 December and there was talk of a much-awaited return to European football, but they won only four of their remaining 25 league games, finishing just four points clear of relegation, and Horton was sacked.

Despite this, Horton was not regarded as "all that bad" by many City fans, and his successor Alan Ball was more heavily criticised as City were finally relegated in his first and only season as manager. The decline that occurred at the club under Horton was not reversed until they finished ninth in the 2003 Premier League.

He made a swift return to management with Huddersfield Town, who had just won promotion to Division One via the Division Two playoffs under Neil Warnock. Horton had accepted the offer to take over at the West Yorkshire club following Warnock's surprise resignation. 1995-96 was a promising season for the Terriers. Horton seemed to have breathed new life into the club and they reached the fifth round of the FA Cup, narrowly suffering a replay defeat at home to Wimbledon. But the season ended in disappointment when Huddersfield's league form slumped and they finished eighth, just missing out on a playoff place. Despite the club record £1.2million signing of Bristol Rovers striker Marcus Stewart, Huddersfield were unable to make a mark on Division One in 1996-97 and they finished 20th - just two places ahead of the relegation zone. Horton was sacked in September 1997 after a poor start to the season.

In February 1998, Horton returned to one of his old clubs as a player when he became manager of Brighton and Hove Albion who were enduring the blackest spell in their history. The previous season they had come minutes away from suffering relegation to the Conference, and things were little better this time round. They were second from bottom in Division Three but a large gap separated them from bottom club Doncaster Rovers. Horton kept the Seagulls flying clear of relegation and their league form was better in 1998-99, but in January 1999 Horton left to take charge of another of his old clubs, Port Vale after the sacking of long-serving manager John Rudge.

Although Vale survived relegation in 1999, it only postponed the inevitable as in the following season Vale finished second from bottom in Division One and were relegated in his first full season as manager. Despite a poor start to the following season, Horton was named Division Two Manager of the Month for March 2001, after a good run of results ended fears of a second successive relegation. He also won his first trophy as a manager during the season as Port Vale won the LDV Vans Trophy coming from behind to beat Brentford at the Millenium Stadium [cite news
title = Horton named manager of month
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/1257722.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2001-04-03
accessdate = 2007-11-10] He remained in charge at Port Vale until February 2004, when he somewhat suprisingly left the club by mutual consent with the club in 7th position and challenging for a playoffs spot. It materialised later that the Port Vale board were going to cut costs for the following campaign and Horton would not have been offered a new contract on the same terms and also would have had his playing budget slashed. [cite news
title = Horton leaves Port Vale
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/p/port_vale/3483155.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2004-02-12
accessdate = 2007-11-10] He was succeeded by Martin Foyle.

Horton was appointed as manager of Division Three strugglers Macclesfield Town at the start of April 2004, replacing John Askey. This was initially until the end of the season, but in May he was given the job on a permanent basis. [cite news
title = Silkmen appoint Horton
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/macclesfield_town/3678273.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2004-05-11
accessdate = 2007-11-10] He rejuvenated a demoralised side and kept them in the Football League. Horton celebrated his 1000th game as a manager on 3 November 2004, as Macclesfield beat Mansfield 4–0 in the LDV Vans Trophy. [cite news
title = Horton celebrates milestone win
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/macclesfield_town/3979121.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2004-11-03
accessdate = 2007-11-10] Many pundits were tipping the Silkmen to slip out of the newly-named Coca-Cola League Two at the end of the 2004-05 season, but Horton proved all the observers wrong as his side were in the top-seven of the division virtually all season long. Horton also won the League Two Manager of the Month award for February. [cite news
title = Horton wins manager of the month
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_3/4315147.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2005-03-03
accessdate = 2007-11-10] Macclesfield qualified for the playoffs in sixth place, but their promotion challenge was finally ended by Lincoln City in the semi-finals. They were not to challenge again in 2005-06, finishing 17th.

Horton was relieved of his duties at Macclesfield Town in late September 2006 after his team failed to win any of their opening twelve League games, leaving them bottom of the Football League.

On 23 May 2007, Horton returned to Hull City as assistant manager to Phil Brown, helping the club win promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs on 24 May 2008, the first time Hull City will have played top-flight football in 104 years. This appointment came 19 years after he resigned as Hull manager. cite news
title = Horton will assist Brown at Hull
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/hull_city/6684483.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2007-05-23
accessdate = 2007-05-23]

Horton lives in Cheadle Hulme, near Stockport, with his family. Horton has two children twins Matt and Lucy Horton from a previous marrage

Honours

Manager

Promotions

*1984–85: Division Three 3rd (promotion to Division Two) - Hull City

Cups

*2000–01: Football League Trophy Winner - Port Vale

Notes

Managerial stats

External links

*soccerbase (manager)|id=248|name=Brian Horton
* [http://www.ambernectar.org/herohorton.shtml Brian Horton article] at Amber Nectar