Chris Waddle

Chris Waddle
Waddle in 2012
Personal information
Full name Christopher Roland Waddle[1]
Date of birth (1960-12-14) 14 December 1960 (age 63)
Place of birth Felling, England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Position(s) Winger, attacking midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1978–1980 Tow Law Town
1980–1985 Newcastle United 170 (46)
1985–1989 Tottenham Hotspur 138 (33)
1989–1992 Marseille 107 (22)
1992–1996 Sheffield Wednesday 109 (10)
1996 Falkirk 4 (1)
1996–1997 Bradford City 25 (6)
1997 Sunderland 7 (1)
1997–1998 Burnley 32 (1)
1998 Torquay United 7 (0)
2000–2002 Worksop Town 60 (3)
2002 Glapwell 2 (0)
2002 Stocksbridge Park Steels 1 (0)
2013 Hallam 1 (0)
2023 Hallam 0 (0)
Total 663 (126)
International career
1984 England U21 1 (1)
1985–1991 England 62 (6)
Managerial career
1997–1998 Burnley
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Christopher Roland Waddle (born 14 December 1960) is an English former professional football player and manager. He had a spell as Burnley manager during the 1997–98 season, but has not returned to coaching since. Largely since retiring he has worked in the media for BBC Radio 5 Live as part of their Premier League and Champions League team. He currently works as a commentator.

Nicknamed "Magic Chris", football journalist Luke Ginnell wrote that Waddle was "widely acknowledged as one of the finest attacking midfielders in Europe".[3] During his professional career, which lasted from 1978 to 1998, he played for several clubs, including Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Olympique de Marseille and Sheffield Wednesday. In 1989, his transfer from Tottenham to Marseille for £4.5 million made him the third most valuable player in the world, and he won three successive Ligue 1 titles with the club and played in the 1991 European Cup Final.[4] While playing for Wednesday in the Premier League he was voted FWA Footballer of the Year for his performances in the 1992-93 season. He also played in the Premier League for Sunderland, in the Scottish Premiership with Falkirk and in the Football League for Bradford City, Burnley and Torquay United. He finished his career in non-League football with Worksop Town, Glapwell and Stocksbridge Park Steels, later whilst in his fifties, he continued to play at semi-professional level for Northern Counties East League side Hallam. Waddle earned 62 caps for England between 1985 and 1991, which included being a member of the teams which reached the quarter-finals of the 1986 FIFA World Cup and the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup. He also played for England at UEFA Euro 1988.

  1. ^ "Chris Waddle". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  2. ^ Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 368. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
  3. ^ Ginnell, Luke (21 September 2018). "Waddle at Marseille: How Magic Chris found freedom in France". These Football Times. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  4. ^ "British footballers abroad and how they rated – 10 hits and 10 misses". The Daily Telegraph. 22 February 2017. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2019.